April 1st

  The day started out rainy and cold. A light overnight snowfall covered the cars and the ground. The weather report did not bode well for the day and when you add that to the fact that I am not a morning person you have some very good reasons why I should have still been at home sleeping. Yet here I was listening to John Davis who was explaining birding etiquette to the small group of bird watchers who were standing around by the docks while a chilly wind and snowy drizzle blew all around us. As for birding in inclement weather he grinned and simply had this to say, “We are birders. That’s what we do.”

  I’d been in Cooperstown  three days earlier and had familiarized myself with the ducks near the docks. I was excited to see so many ducks on the lake then. I was sure I would find plenty of different species of waterfowl. Grabbing my binoculars I surveyed the swirling mass of ducks. “Let’s see, what we’ve got,” I said to no one in particular,…”a ring-necked duck, and a ring-necked duck, and a ring-necked duck, and a ring-necked duck and another ring-necked duck …” Suffice it to say there was an abundance of ring-necked ducks.  I’d estimate there were about seventy. Tucked in among the ring-necked ducks were a couple pairs of buffleheads, a couple scaup, a pair of mallards, a pair of common mergansers, a redheaded duck and coots. Most of the waterfowl and all of the species that had been there three days ago were still present. Ringed-necks ducks, it turned out, would be the predominant bird of the day.

   Every one split up to car pool for the trip. The first stop was the S.U.N.Y. Biological Field Station. That location didn’t yield much other than a number of ring-necked ducks. As we continued on alongside the lake I was surprised to see how much of the lake was frozen over which previously had been open water.

  At our next stop I was able to add some first of the year finds to my new year’s bird list. Two gadwalls were swimming away as we approached. Three cormorants were all huddled together on one stump. A couple of phoebes were flying about. Canada geese were scattered around the grounds and there was a great blue heron standing in the water.  A bald eagle flew low over a house. Some wood ducks were spotted swimming behind some reeds… and there were also ringed-neck ducks.

  A small sliver of water along the opposite shoreline was the only open water at the next lake that we stopped at. I saw my first of the year American widgeon there… and more ring-necked ducks.

 We drove up a hill. Before us were hundreds (that’s hundreds with an “s”) of Canada geese in a large cornfield. Flying around and over the geese were scores of horned larks and snow buntings. This is the reason that this yearly waterfowl trip has become a favorite of mine. I don’t normally find the diversity of species like we see on this trip, such as these snow buntings and horned larks, in or around Oneonta.

  We next came to a small pond where we usually find plenty of birds, but this year the pond was pretty much frozen over and there was no waterfowl. A kestrel sat on a wire above the road as we drove by.

  We stopped at one final lake. Hooded mergansers were swimming in the water. A harrier soared across the marsh and a great blue heron flapped its way across the lake. As an added bonus two otters trotted around on the ice entertaining everyone with their antics …and there were ring-necked ducks.

  At this point everyone left to return to the cars that were back at the docks. We stopped for coffee and hot chocolate then headed back to the docks also. On the way a small bird flew across the road. When we stopped to try to get a better look at it we noticed a large mixed group of birds in a field off to our right. I don’t know how many different types of birds there were, but it seemed like we just kept finding more species the longer we looked, wild turkeys, mallards, black ducks, crows, starlings, grackles, robins, red-winged blackbirds…

  Once I was back at my car and had said goodbye to my fellow birders I headed toward home. I wasn’t done birding though. I would bird all the way home. I decided to drive down along the back side of the river. As I neared Milford I stopped to look at a number of small birds in the bushes. While I sat there someone else also stopped to look at the small birds too. It was a red-shouldered hawk, a first of the year find. What a great close up look.

  I pulled into the boat launch at Portlandville to check out the waterfowl. There were only Canada geese in the water, but I did see a pair of cardinals and a Carolina wren.

 

  I got nine new first of the season finds on the trip. Now that the birds have started to come back into this area I’ll undoubtedly be going out again soon looking for the next new migrant’s arrival. I'm a birder. It's what I do.