Dessert

Ring-billed Gull

Immature Bald Eagle

Rainy Caspian Tern

Double-crested Cormorant

Wood Duck

Northern Mockingbird

Sandhill Crane

Mallard

Or...the carrot on the stick....It began to rain, literally the moment we pulled into the visitor center parking lot, rendering me grumpy indeed after all that walking in the heat and humidity.

However, we still somehow managed to see some nice birds, although the resulting photos were pretty awful. Best birds were the Caspian Terns, a Pectoral Sandpiper, the Sandhill Cranes, and a Peregrine Falcon that gave us a wonderful flyby at Knox-Marcellus Marsh. We also met a pleasant park volunteer, who was surveying birds at the marsh. She gave us tips on Tundra vs. Trumpeter Swans, for which I thank her plentifully.

Empire Farm Days

Sunrise yesterday...today we will be seeing it in the rear view mirror....

Because we are off to Empire Farm Days, perhaps the biggest farm show in NYS.....gonna to be a hot one but she's tough....she's a harbor chick.

As long as there is a wildlife refuge for dessert....

Meanwhile, here's an old Farm Side, if you need some reading material for the day.

Dessert....so to speak....

This Weekend

Our boy and his lovely girlfriend came home...which in itself was delightful. Made me really happy. They went right out for a rainy Saturday, enjoying our woods and fields and just getting out on the land after too much time in big cities here and there. Then Sunday they took me up to Montezuma for a spin around the wildlife drive.

Great Egret Photo by Alan

Finally got Northern Shovelers, which have been eluding me all year, and as we turned the next to the last corner we were treated to a ballet of fifty or so Great Egrets capering among a motley crew of ducks and shorebirds.

Also by Alan

They were literally breathtaking and gasp-and-point inducing. I suppose it is trite to love these huge, clumsy, yet elegant and graceful at the same time, white-feathered birds, but I always get excited when I see one. Seeing that many all at once was wonderful.

Thanks for a great day, kids. I loved it.

The Camera Bag Saga

I promised you the story of this camera bag for yesterday, but we ended up doing a wild road trip, so here it is today.

We had done most of the big loop around the various impoundments at Montezuma Saturday, when we decided to stop at the new viewing area near the Thruway. It is a great place to look out at some previously hard to see areas around the swamp.  

There, unattended on the deck, was this nice Nikon camera bag. Alan peeked inside but didn't see any ID. We puzzled what to do. We didn't want to just leave it there to be stolen, but we didn't want to look like we were taking it either.

And yes, a guy who pulled up right after us said, "If they were dumb enough to leave it, they deserve whatever they get."

Since we didn't share his opinion, Becky found a phone number for the visitor center and Alan called them while I watched over the bag.

The nice lady at the center said to just bring it down and she would put it in the lost and found.

So we did.

Once there we turned it over and she searched the whole bag. Hidden deep inside were business cards for a photographer, whom she called right away.

The lady who owned the bag hadn't even realized yet that she had left it (with several lenses inside), at the refuge, but she sure was glad that she would be able to come back and pick it up.

And we were kinda glad that we saw it first.

Duck, Duck, Goose

First the duck. The white on this duck is actually white, not an artifact of the light in the photo. I have put it up on every bird group I belong to and no one has ventured a suggestion of what it might be. Leucistic something or other or some kind of duck we don't recognize? any ideas?

It was hanging with a bunch of Blue-wined Teal.

And then the goose....er......geese.....as you may guess we went up to Montezuma Sunday, before visiting Sundae on the Farm later in the day.

And finally....swan lake

Duck, Duck, Duck, ooooohhhh, Cool Duck

We did a few hours up in the swamp on Saturday before the family pic-a-nick....which had me plumb wore out by evening, but what a good day we had.

Besides bazillions of great birds....43 species in all, plus some peeps, which I could neither ID nor photograph.

There was this one duck, which came under a great deal of discussion. Couldn't quite make it fit anything and it wasn't close enough to get a great look at it.

Kinda looked like a Lesser Scaup so I put it down as one but with the disclaimer that we weren't sure. We got several photos though, so it could be checked out by those who know more than we do.

Thanks to the lovely folks who review eBird check lists we now know it was a Ring-necked Duck.

How cool is that?

A Restless Sky

Wood Duck

And a reckless one. 

Even after the big storm wreaked its havoc all over the region, devastating Pine Lake, and ruining vacations everywhere, lightning flickered and whined and tossed bright tantrums all night long.

Pied-billed Grebe

I was awakened once, when I happened to be facing the window, by brilliant red, as a flash so bright it shone right through my eyelids struck something west of the barns.

It was nasty and for many, no doubt terrifying. It hit fast and hard at the end of a day of utter misery from the heat and humidity. If I wanted to live in Louisiana I would move there.....

This photo, taken by Alan, could give you an idea of the density of birds in some places

We hit the swamp early in the morning, an amazingly rewarding time for birding, and saw so many it is going to take me a while to tabulate the list. Becky rode along and very generously served as secretary, which allowed me to see even more birds than usual. Funny how the population changes week to week. Not a Black Tern to be seen, but Common Gallinules abounded.

Peeps, but not of the shorebird kind

Then afternoon brought a family reunion. Everyone got together despite the weather for good food and good company. My knee was giving me fits and Al needed to get home and get some sleep, as he is off to DC for three weeks, so we left pretty early, but it was still a good deal. Four generations of aunts and uncles and cousins and kids....and my own folks too. How cool is that.

Alas, the stormy night did not bring even an ounce of relief from the nasty heat wave and there is none in sight. Can't get laundry dry, or hay either. And never mind webbed feet....I swear I even have webbed ears and eyelids.

Ah, well, I guess it will snow soon enough.