End of September

10/1/2016

The last half felt exceedingly slow, but looking at the data the total for the month (~8,500) is on par with the past three years of the count.

Despite the perceived slowness there were a few interesting sightings.

A Great Egret on the 22nd represented a new late date for the count. Great Blue Herons were seen through the end of the month.

DC Cormorants had a season high count of 510 on the 29th (fun fact, the overall total count for the day was 546 birds...diversity!)

Geese numbers increased during this period and along with the Canada's came the first Snow Goose (white) of the season on the 14th with two more passing by on the 26th.

Blue-winged Teal numbers were above average with 2,046 for the period and a high count of 740 on the 12th.
Along with increasing dabbler numbers the first Redhead, Scaup, and Red-breasted Merganser of the fall arrived during this period.

Shorebird numbers are waning, however two Whimbrel on the 13th were the first (and probably last) of the season. The last Semipalmated Plover of the season occurred on the 26th, while the first Am. Golden Plover of the season arrived on the 22th. Presumably the last Semipalmated Sandpiper was on the 15th with the last Baird's Sandpiper on the 26th .

Three Parasitic Jaegers during this period is on par with past years. New for the season was a young Pomarine Jaeger on the 17th. For the season jaeger numbers are well below expectations and are nearly half the average total for this point in the season.

Three young Sabine's Gulls on the 13th represented both the first of the season and a new county high count! Both Great and Lesser Black-backed Gulls were seen through the end of the month.

Six Black Terns on the 15th were presumably the last of the season and on par with average last recorded dates. Forster's Tern had a high count of 10 on 28th and Common Tern had a high for this period of 179 on the 26th. Caspian Terns were recorded in average numbers through the end of the month.

Non-waterbird highlights include 100+ Swainson's Thrushes on the 18th (several eaten by gulls), Winter, Sedge, and Marsh Wrens, Nelson's Sparrow, Indigo Bunting, and Rusty Blackbird.