I stopped briefly at Cone Marsh on my way home from Iowa City today. Most of the action was on the east side of the marsh, viewed from the opening just north of the caboose, with lots of BW Teal, 200+ Snow Geese, about 70 White Pelicans, a couple dozen swans and two Sandhills Cranes. An eagle flushed all the geese and ducks into the air and at one point seemed to be chasing a teal, but did not catch it. After it decamped and the drama settled down, I noticed activity in the nearby bare trees and thickets and over the next few minutes saw three FOY birds: a singing Brown Thrasher on a tree, a pair of Eurasian Tree Sparrows in the grass, and a Fox Sparrow foraging in some leaf litter. My Merlin app also reported a Vesper Sparrow but I did not see it so cannot be certain.
I did not see any shorebirds.
Ron Stakland
Fairfield
