Date: 11/11/24 8:37 pm From: Larry & Penny Alden via groups.io <overlook...> Subject: [hmbirds] Tomhannock Reservoir and vicinity 11-11-2024
I did my annual Veterans Day Tomhannock Reservoir circumnavigation doing the
customary counter-clockwise route with two traditional departures out from
the western shore of the reservoir for the sole purpose of padding our list.
This year I was again accompanied by Jackie Bogardus and Steve Chorvas, both
of whom I rely on to find things I would never hear otherwise.
The weather this year was warm, but it didn't really feel that way with a
moderate wind. We started at about 8:45, hit all the usual spots and
finished around 3:00. The temperature was between 55F and 60F and it was
cloudy the whole day with the exception of some bright sun the first half
hour. There were a couple light sprinkles which barely required windshield
wipers. The water level at the reservoir was lower than normal, with
extensive sandbars exposed at Otter Creek.
We found 51 species, which is a little bit higher than the average of the
last ten years (49.3). We had an additional two "pocket species" seen on our
way to the reservoir after we met up at Walmart (Fish Crow and Red-winged
Blackbird). They are species we were keeping in our pocket in case we needed
them to get a respectable number of species for the day, although we hoped
to have gotten them at the reservoir. I did NOT count these two species in
our total.
I have species records for 27 of the last 28 years (trip totals for all of
them) and I know I've done this count for at least five years before that.
The cumulative list stands at 109 species, with an additional 3 species from
the years before I kept good records.
In what has become par for the course in recent years, the number and
diversity of waterfowl again seemed low on the reservoir this year. There
were no waterfowl whatsoever on Herrington Pond on Northern Turnpike, east
of the reservoir, where we usually add a species or two to our total. We had
no "odd ducks" (e.g., scoters, scaup, long-tailed duck) beyond the usual
suspects for this time and location. Additionally, there were no odd geese
and no grebes, and the only gull seen was a Ring-billed Gull.
We found no shorebirds (even with the exposed flats at Otter Creek) or
falcons, and raptors were limited to Red-tailed Hawks and an adult Bald
Eagle. Our only "winter finch" was a brightly-colored Red-breasted Nuthatch.
Going by my 27-year cumulative list, our best birds were: Wild Turkey (7th
occurrence), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (8),and Common Grackle (7). The only
birds we missed that we usually/often get were the Red-winged Blackbird we
had in our pocket (18 of 27) and Cedar Waxwing (15 of 27).
Here's my list of 51 species:
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
American Black Duck
American Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Wild Turkey
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Ring-billed Gull
Common Loon
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)
Pileated Woodpecker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
House Sparrow
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Fox Sparrow
American Tree Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
Northern Cardinal
Totals for the past 23 Veterans Day counts are as follows:
