Since our Audubon trip to these two areas didn't hit all of the sites I wanted to see, I thought I'd re-check the New Galena boat ramp and visit more of the Hoover mudflats. The New Galena boat ramp was still showing migrants, though Blue jay numbers were on the decline.  The mudflats of upper Hoover were enormous and mostly dry.  The water had receded to past the Osprey nesting platform, making the boardwalk a useless trip, so I focused on the Eastside bays and Wiese/Plumb Road accesses.  The remaining water off Plumb Rd. was so shallow that Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets were standing in it out in the middle of the reservoir.  Highlights for the morning included:

Herons:  both Hoover sites totaled a respectable 25 Great Blue Herons and 8 Great Egrets.  It was very shallow out there.

Waterfowl:  large flocks of Canada Geese were marching over the dry mudflats at Hoover, with 320 at the Eastside bays and 350+ around the Wiese-Boardwalk area.  The only interesting ducks here were 7-8 Green-winged Teal at the very edge of the water.

Raptors:  the New Galena ramp had passage Sharpie and Northern Harrier earlier in the morning, along with a fishing Osprey, while Hoover had 6-8 TVs and a calling Red-shouldered Hawk along the Eastside old roadbed (north of the Yacht club).

Shorebirds:  a cluster of them at the very head of the water in upper Hoover (in the middle of the bay) included 10+ Kildeer, 1 Am.GoldenPlover, 2 Greater and 5 Lesser yellowlegs, 8 Pectoral Sandpipers, 2 Dunlin, and 6 unidentified peep.

Swifts,Swallows:  no swifts(!), but Tree Swallows were at both sites, with a few flying past the boat ramp early, and 15+ flying around the Eastside mudflats.

Woodpeckers - 9 Flickers flew past the boat ramp in two hours, comparable to the 5 seen in 1 hour on Saturday.  A sapsucker was hanging around the boat launch trees, but didn't fly past the ramp.

Flycatchers - only single Phoebes were at each site

Blue Jays - 2 hours at New Galena netted only 56, and the groups were much smaller this morning, including many singles.

Red-br.Nuthatches - singles were at both New Galena and along the Eastside Redbank Road at Hoover.

Vireos - 1 singing Blue-headed was along the Eastside old road

Thrushes,Mimids - a few lingering Swainson's on the trails at New Galena, which also still had 6 Catbirds and a Brown Thrasher.  Migrants were few at the ramp, with only 18 Robins and 2 E.Bluebirds in 2 hours.

Cedar Waxwings - another 20 flew past the boat ramp, very similar to Saturday's number, but lower than the 60+ I had here earlier last week.

Pipits - 10 were roaming the drier reaches of the mudflats at the Wiese access; conditions at Hoover are perfect for them now.

Warblers - very few, but a surprising # flying past the boat ramp, including 15+ Yellow-rumps (they are diurnal migrants), 3 Cape Mays (they can be diurnal migrants), and 2 Tennessee (they shouldn't be).  The Hoover Eastside old Redbank road north of the Yacht club added more Yellow-rumps and a Bl.thr.Green.

Sparrows - a few Chipping flew past the boat ramp, and 5-6 Song Sparrows were in the scrubby edge around it; otherwise sparrows were hard to come by.

Blackbirds - fair #s of Redwings flew past the ramp, with over 100 birds in many small groups.  Also had a few grackles and cowbirds.

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