Mary Lee
10-14-2009, 10:15 PM
Only two intrepid birders braved the fog and drizzle to bird the drying beds today for the Birding at the Beds outing. The gates were closed so Jim Sipiora and I walked in and birded from the upper levee and most of the lower roads around the ponds. As soon as we emerged from the entry road we were among swirling flocks of barn and cliff swallows and a few tree swallows. It was difficult to estimate numbers, but certainly there were hundreds flying by at eye level in many cases.
The duck population is much more diverse than on our September outing. This is to be expected. The shorebirds were not present probably due to the absence of mud flats which are covered by high water levels. A spotted sandpiper was present.
Two highlights were a very cooperative sedge wren and a sharp-shinned hawk. See below for the full list.
American Coot
Wood Duck
Barn Swallow
Great-blue Heron
Mallard
Cliff Swallow
Great-tailed Grackle
Mourning Dove
Blue-winged Teal
Gadwall
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Ruddy Duck
Northern Pintail
American Wigeon
Northern Shoveller
Sora
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Chickadee
Tree Swallow
Eastern Phoebe
American Crow
Sedge Wren
Red-tailed Hawk
Killdeer
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Green-winged Teal
Turkey Vulture
Red-shouldered Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Blue Jay
Common Yellowthroat
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Spotted Sandpiper
Meadowlark species
Red-winged Blackbird
Carolina Wren
Posted on behalf of Martin Mattingly
The duck population is much more diverse than on our September outing. This is to be expected. The shorebirds were not present probably due to the absence of mud flats which are covered by high water levels. A spotted sandpiper was present.
Two highlights were a very cooperative sedge wren and a sharp-shinned hawk. See below for the full list.
American Coot
Wood Duck
Barn Swallow
Great-blue Heron
Mallard
Cliff Swallow
Great-tailed Grackle
Mourning Dove
Blue-winged Teal
Gadwall
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Ruddy Duck
Northern Pintail
American Wigeon
Northern Shoveller
Sora
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Chickadee
Tree Swallow
Eastern Phoebe
American Crow
Sedge Wren
Red-tailed Hawk
Killdeer
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Green-winged Teal
Turkey Vulture
Red-shouldered Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Blue Jay
Common Yellowthroat
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Spotted Sandpiper
Meadowlark species
Red-winged Blackbird
Carolina Wren
Posted on behalf of Martin Mattingly