I hit several areas at the north end of Hoover Reservoir (Oxbow , Plumb-Wiese Rd) and at the south end of Alum Creek Lake (Dam, Beach area) looking for migrants and strays. No Franklin's Gulls, despite checks of flocks on both reservoirs; they might still be here, but I couldn't find any today. What I did find was the first flush of diving duck migration, along with the last vestiges of landbird migration. Plumb-Wiese and the Alum Creek Lake Dam were especially good in these regards. Notables included:
Ducks - small flocks of Mallards and Ruddies were at Hoover and Alum. Hoover also had 35-40 Hooded Mergansers around Oxbow, while Alum had small groups of Redhead and Lesser Scaup off the dam
Other waterfowl - no loons, but both had small groups of Horned Grebes, and Oxbow had 30+ Coots & 3 Cormorants
Shorebirds - still a few Killdeer at both reservoirs, and the north mudflats at Hoover had 8 Dunlin
Gulls - no Franklin's, but Bonaparte's were common at both reservoirs. The beach flock at Alum had dwindled to 80+ birds, a mix of Herring, Ring-billed, and Bonies.
Flickers - small #s at every stop, but the Alum Creek Lake dam had 7-8.
BrownCreepers - 2 were along the shore at Plumb-Wiese, while the Alum Lake Dam had another
Kinglets - small #s of Golden-crowns at most stops; also had a Ruby-crown at Plumb-Wiese
Pipits - singles were at both Plumb-Wiese mudflats and along the beach at Alum Creek Lake
E.Bluebirds - small groups were flyovers at nearly every stop, continuing the tradition of being a late migrant here.
Waxwings - small flocks at nearly every stop, but at Plumb-Wiese the flock was 50+.
Warblers - nothing but Yellow-rumps, but they were widespread
Sparrows - Tree Sparrows were in small #s at Plumb-Wiese, the dam and the Visitor's Center area at Alum Creek Lake. Otherwise, there was little other than the expected Songs, White-throats, and Juncos
Blackbirds - grackles in several spots. Also had flyover flocks of Redwings and a few Rusty Blackbirds heading south along the shore at Plumb-Wiese
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