White-winged Scoters
Virginia Rail (click to see the larger version)
Karen spotted a very cooperative Virginia Rail walking around inside the small satellite hedge this afternoon, April 25. Virginia Rails always remind me of kiwis, though rails and kiwis aren’t closely related.
There was a lot of activity on the lake at Montrose this morning, April 25, including good numbers of Caspian Terns, Double-crested Cormorants, and Red-breasted Mergansers. More exciting were the Bonaparte’s Gulls. In about 45 minutes I estimate I had about 200 moving north past the point, and I only stopped looking when the rain started coming down in earnest. Bonaparte’s Gulls have become rare at Montrose in the spring, so seeing this many was a pleasant surprise. I also had a single Common Loon and White-winged Scoter and flocks of Lesser Scaup. Migrant landbirds were scarce, as would be expected with northeast winds.
I did a brief lakewatch from the end of the fishing pier at Montrose this morning, April 19. There weren’t many birds moving but I did have 2 basic type Red-throated Loons flying north not far offshore. I think it’s getting late for this species. I also had numbers of Horned Grebes and Red-breasted Mergansers on the lake. Landbirds were scarce.