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Posted by Toe on 23:46:45 10/31/08
Before dawn at Lucky Hammock there was a Lesser Nighthawk just south of the hammock. Later, I spotted a Barn Owl flying over the field to the west. Lots of Eagles, Harriers, Cranes, and a gazillion Kestrels around. Around Lucky Hammock itself the most plentiful birds were buntings, both Indigo and Painted, and both sexes. The grass around the hammock is high and the buntings were feeding on the seeds. I was hoping for sparrows across the road, but the field to the east was recently scraped and the grass is too short. I only got a couple of Savannahs here. The Annex had nothing that I can remember.
I then went to research road to look for sparrows there, but the north-south stretch past the research center that has produced good sparrows before(Lapland Longspur, 2004, etc) has very high grass on the shoulder, and the fields are under 2 feet of water in some places. I did find a very cooperative Lincoln's Sparrow at the gate to the missile base, and a White-tailed Kite was perched in a tree inside the base. From here, I went to Gate 15 past Hidden Lake. I walked to the mound and then walked the entire perimeter of the mound. The only notable sightings were an American Bittern along the way, and 2 Lesser Scaup on the south side of the mound. When the Scaup flew, 2 other ducks flew with them that looked like scaup as well. Everywhere inside the park the water is higher than I've ever seen it, and bird numbers are the lowest I can imagine. Maybe it's because most birds can't swim?
I went to Cutler Wetlands to make up for the slow morning and was pleasantly surprised to find more shorebirds than I'd seen there in a while. The water levels here have finally come down a bit (hum? the water level thingy again). There were ~100 Dowitchers, which when flushed by a Harrier I heard some Long-billeds, plenty of both Yellowlegs, some Stilt Sandpipers, a couple of Black-necked Stilts, and 3 Avocets. The only ducks I saw were Mottled, Shovelers, and Blue-winged Teal. Oh yes, that Flamingo character was still there.
I'm kind of disappointed by the scarcity of sparrows, and especially by the scarcity of potential sparrow habitat. If water levels come down, we should be ok though.
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