After-work jaunt

Not much to report from an hour or so of after-work birding. Highlight was a singing Red-eyed Vireo - patch bird no. 69 and pretty early. I must say it's pleasant to only hear one before their song becomes a pain in your ear. Still no Yellow-throated warblers or gnatcatchers...                   or Kirtland's warbler....

More spring arrivals and C&O canal

I swung by MNR after this Friday evening and was surprised to find good bird activity. Spring arrivals in the form of Swamp Sparrow (2) and one Pine Warbler were the highlights among 32 species that I tallied in just under an hour. At Lake Needwood, a high count of 17 Double-crested Cormorants was present, probably stopping over on their way to somewhere.
Sunday then I took a colleague out on his virgin birding trip to the C&O canal. Like many beginners Dan  brought his 'opera' binoculars and quickly realized the importance of optics in the game. I was quick in flamboyantly showing off my Zeiss binoculars and scope but I know well enough that my birding optics are the reason I live on a diet of QuickNoodles now. The birding itself was kind of slow. Best birds were found on and over the river with a flock of 20 or so Tree Swallows, cormorants and rafts of Common Mergansers, Ring-necked Ducks and one Herring Gull. As far as I know this is the only reliable site for Common Mergansers in Montgomery County. Only other notable bird was a singing Savannah Sparrow that seemed to get noticed all over the state this weekend.

Sprinter is here

talk about a dumb title, ha! It meant to refer to that short twilight period of birding that we will find ourselves in for the next, say 1-4 weeks, with winter hanger-ons and new spring arrivals mixed in. Today was still pretty quiet in that respect @ Meadowside Nature Center. Only notables were FOS Chipping Sparrow, 1 single Tree Swallow, a single Phoebe and several Wood Ducks. Most of the Ring-necks and Hoodies had left the lakes with only 2 Hoodies remaining. 4 Pied-billed Grebes was a high count for me on L. Needwood and worth trying to take some extraordinarily crappy pictures. Well, I will blame it on the fog.

It's a pied-billed Grebe - just take my word for it

1 of 6 juncos at Lake Needwood

Tundra Bonanza

This was a real roller coaster weather-wise in the Fingerlake region this week end. Coming in on Friday night, it was freezing and I drove through at times heavy snowfall. Sunday came with spring-like temperatures and the winter jacket was replaced by a T-shirt. Anyways, since I am not some old geeser with bladder problems this is as much as I want to discuss the weather. This made for ideal conditions (and light) to go out and view some birds at Montezuma. The place was hootchin with geese, ducks and swans. I counted a whopping 180 Tundra Swans. Trumpeters are resident over summer, but I haven't had Tundras on the site. A single Snow Goose was on site, which I still wish to be a Ross's. Passing over the river, I found 4 Goldeneyes, a species common on the lakes, but new to me on the actual Montezuma premises. I am gutted now in hindsight to find out that a Northern Shrike was present, some place close but the word didn't get out to me, just great!

A. Tree Sparrow

180 Tundra Swans!