Riley's Grebes

Since I was probably the last person to see a Red-necked Grebe this winter I swang by Riley' Lock where they have been seen consistently in recent weeks. Neat to have them come that close to shore. Also pretty special were breeding-plumage Horned Grebes and 2 Rusty Blackbirds, my FOY Eastern Phoebes and a White-breasted Nuthatch that posed nicely for photographs.

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2 Blue Mash lifers

Nice waterfowl assortment this weekend in the area: Lesser Scaup, Mallard, Canada Goose, Canvasback, Ring-necked Ducks and American Coot at Blue Mash, plus Redhead and Wood Duck at the Zion Road Pond, Common Merganser and Hooded Merganser at Lake Needwood. Coot and Canvasback were new additions to the Blue Mash life list currently standing at 136. The year list stands at 53 or 38%. Things are on the move that's for sure!

Blue Mash 3/2/14

Not too much going on at Blue Mash this weekend. The small ice-free patch on the smaller of the two ponds had Mallard and Black Duck. I am pretty sure the rest of the ponds on the landfill side of the fence had more waterfowl. 5 Ring-necked Ducks were headed that way at one point. Lots of Ring-necks on Zion pond, with one Bufflehead and 5 Gadwall, the latter a species had eluded me all year on Blue Mash. As the ice starts melting we should see more migrant waterfowl coming through.

A. Black Duck on the small pond at Blue Mash