Date: 11/16/24 7:08 pm From: Derek Courtney <derek.dana.courtney...> Subject: Cheat Lake Waterbird Report
Hi, all!
This morning under cool and misty skies, 20 adventurous souls joined me for Mountaineer Audubon's field trip to Cheat Lake in search of arriving migrant waterfowl. The lake was almost as low as I have ever seen it, but we still found plenty of water to harbor some newly arrived birds. The extensive mudflats surprisingly didn't produce any shorebirds, pipits, or snow buntings ... but the large Canada Goose flock certainly enjoyed the expanse. Highlights were a Ring-billed Gull flock that had an interloping Bonaparte's with them and watching a trio of Surf Scoters while a Common Loon called in the distance. Full totals are entered on eBird and waterbird totals are listed below. Special thanks to Nate Rees and Hannah Clipp for helping get birders on the various birds in the scopes. And an extra-special shout-out to Zealon Wight-Maier who helped with the above AND kept the eBird lists. As you can all tell, I didn't have to do much :)
Cheat Lake --- Uplake Marinas Canada Goose 325 Gadwall 7 Mallard 34 American Black Duck 1 Bufflehead 6 Bonaparte's Gull 1 Ring-billed Gull 53 Double-crested Cormorant 3 Bald Eagle 1
Cheat Lake --- Sunset Harbor with some decoys and duck hunters that might not have been legal Northern Shoveler 1 Mallard 24 American Black Duck 5 Bufflehead 4 Ruddy Duck 24 Pied-billed Grebe 1 Belted Kingfisher 1
Cheat Lake --- Cheat Lake Park Canada Goose 25 Wood Duck 2 Northern Shoveler 4 Mallard 5 Ring-necked Duck 7 Surf Scoter 3 Bufflehead 8 Hooded Merganser 4 Ruddy Duck 3 Horned Grebe 1 Common Loon 2
Thanks to everyone who came out today! And if birding like this intrigues you, please contact me to join in on the Morgantown Christmas Bird Count which will be held on December 14, 2024!
