Date: 4/17/24 7:32 pm From: <arbour...> <arbour...> Subject: Red Slough Bird Survey - April 17
It started off overcast and mild, turning partly cloudy and warm on the survey today. No wind to speak of. I missed the first half of the morning flight out of the heronry/roost when the Great and Snowy Egrets mainly leave so my numbers of them are low. The heronry on Pintail Lake is really taking off with bird numbers increasing daily and now the Little-blue Herons are starting to nest along with the Anhingas and Neotropic Cormorants. Cattle Egrets look like they are close behind them. A few new migrants were passing through and arriving such as Nashville Warblers and Indigo Bunting and Prairie Warbler. Gallinule numbers are really increasing fast. Saw a couple Purple Gallinules in a fight with their feet like roosters fight. The Brown Booby found on Monday this week was a one day wonder unfortunately. Here is my list for today:
Black-bellied Whistling Duck - 14
Canada Geese – 4
Wood Duck - 8
Blue-winged Teal - 86
Northern Shoveler - 6
Lesser Scaup - 1
Hooded Merganser - 2
Ruddy Duck - 2
Pied-billed Grebe – 41
Neotropic Cormorant - 25 (Many sitting on nests)
Double-crested Cormorant - 24
Anhinga - 163 (Many sitting on nests. Lots of males displaying.)
