Birding at Hammond Lake

Terry and I went birding this morning at Ive’s Run/Hammond Lake with a large group (9) from Tiadaghton Audubon Society. I was out there just last week but there have been major changes. The lake has been drawn down nearly 5 feet and vast mud flats are now exposed on the western end. This may have been done with the intention of removing some debris that has clogged the channels or so as to work on the dam/spillway. Whatever the reason, the flats have created excellent habitat for many wading birds.



Location: Ive's Run-Crooked Creek
Observation date: 8/8/08
Notes: Hammond Lake has been drawn down several feet exposing wide mud flats on the western end. Swallows, sandpipers, yellowlegs and plovers are using these to good advantage.

The morning started out clear and still but a cool wind out of the northwest brought dark clouds and eventually rain. The temperatures never got abouve 60 degrees F all morning.
Number of species: 33

Canada Goose X
Mallard X
Double-crested Cormorant X
Great Blue Heron X
Green Heron X
Turkey Vulture X
Osprey X
Bald Eagle X
Semipalmated Plover X
Killdeer X
Spotted Sandpiper X
Greater Yellowlegs X
Lesser Yellowlegs X
Semipalmated Sandpiper X
Least Sandpiper X
Ring-billed Gull X
Mourning Dove X
Belted Kingfisher X
Least Flycatcher X
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Tree Swallow X
Cliff Swallow X
Barn Swallow X
American Robin X
Gray Catbird X
Cedar Waxwing X
Common Yellowthroat X
Song Sparrow X
Northern Cardinal X
Rose-breasted Grosbeak X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Common Grackle X

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Weather eventually caused us to pack it in and shortly afterward the sky opened and the rains came. When we got back to the Aerie at 11:30 AM, Terry and I found it had rained 0.12 inches since we had left at 6:30 AM. We had missed most of that being some 15 miles away. No sooner did we get in the house than the rain arrived—again. It poured quite heavily for an hour, stopped, and then rained again for forty-five minutes. It looks like that could be the pattern for the rest of the day.

Oh, and the “high” temperature for the day has been 62°F at 12:30 PM. The fans are all off and the windows are mostly closed. Long sleeves or even a sweater are the rule for the day.