November 22, 2015 Hurshtown Reservoir
Ed & Cynthia Powers, Stephanie Wagner, and Phil Wixom, as well as trip leaders, John Winebrenner and I, participated in Stockbridge Audubon's final field trip of the fall this late afternoon (3:00-4:45) by driving the dike of HurshtownReservoir in northeast Allen County . We had high hopes of cold-front-deposited waterfowl masses covering the surface from shore to shore, but alas, we found a disappointingly subpar diversity in mostly low numbers. My personal highlight was the cross-county drive required of me to get there, as I enjoyed immensely the highway vistas of snow-covered vegetation in any--indeed, every-- direction. Gorgeous! The group's bird highlights were probably a group of five Sandhill Cranes flying low over the east end of the basin and a single flyover Snow Bunting. Ironically for a trip concentrating on waterfowl, we had as many sparrow species as we had duck species. In fact, the most numerous bird of the day was American Tree Sparrow; we encountered them all along the dike for nearly its entire three-mile length. Our list of 36 species:
American Black Duck- 2
Mallard ~150
Green-winged Teal- 5
Bufflehead- 16
Ruddy Duck- 11
Common Loon- 1
Horned Grebe- 1
Bald Eagle- 3; 2 adult, 1 not aged
Northern Harrier- 3 foraging right along the dike
American Coot ~100
Sandhill Crane- 5
Killdeer- 1
Bonaparte's Gull- 1
Ring-billed Gull ~85
Herring Gull- 2
Mourning Dove- 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker- 1
Downy Woodpecker- 1
Northern Flicker- 1
American Kestrel- 1
Blue Jay- 2
American Crow- 3
White-breasted Nuthatch- 1
Eastern Bluebird- 1
American Robin- 1
European Starling- 2
Snow Bunting- 1; rattled and called as it flew directly over us
American Tree Sparrow- 300+; a guess that's perhaps too low
Savannah Sparrow- 1
White-throated Sparrow- 1 singing
White-crowned Sparrow- 2 singing
Dark-eyed Junco- 5
Northern Cardinal- 4
House Finch- 2
American Goldfinch- 2
House Sparrow ~20
Nearby Cedarville Reservoir was even more devoid of waterfowl, with one Double-crested Cormorant the only additional species of note.
Rodger Rang
Fort Wayne
American Black Duck- 2
Mallard ~150
Green-winged Teal- 5
Bufflehead- 16
Ruddy Duck- 11
Common Loon- 1
Horned Grebe- 1
Bald Eagle- 3; 2 adult, 1 not aged
Northern Harrier- 3 foraging right along the dike
American Coot ~100
Sandhill Crane- 5
Killdeer- 1
Bonaparte's Gull- 1
Ring-billed Gull ~85
Herring Gull- 2
Mourning Dove- 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker- 1
Downy Woodpecker- 1
Northern Flicker- 1
American Kestrel- 1
Blue Jay- 2
American Crow- 3
White-breasted Nuthatch- 1
Eastern Bluebird- 1
American Robin- 1
European Starling- 2
Snow Bunting- 1; rattled and called as it flew directly over us
American Tree Sparrow- 300+; a guess that's perhaps too low
Savannah Sparrow- 1
White-throated Sparrow- 1 singing
White-crowned Sparrow- 2 singing
Dark-eyed Junco- 5
Northern Cardinal- 4
House Finch- 2
American Goldfinch- 2
House Sparrow ~20
Nearby Cedarville Reservoir was even more devoid of waterfowl, with one Double-crested Cormorant the only additional species of note.
Rodger Rang
Fort Wayne
