As Jack Stenger reported yesterday, big waterfowl numbers continue at
Delaware Wildlife Area.  Most of the usual suspects were there, the major
exceptions being black duck (where did they go?), both teal (perhaps still a
little early), and goldeneye; we did find a few canvasbacks.  No mergansers
this time.  However, we carefully checked only the lake (pond? flooded
field?) between the levee and Pnahandle / Leonardsburg Rd; while we did
glance across the reservoir, we did not check the coves and crannies.

Surprisingly, a Lesser Black-backed Gull was in the air over the reservoir
near the beach.  Could this be the bird recently reported from Hoover
Reservoir, slowly making its way to a more suitable location?

A few notes of interest about the waterfowl:

- Both scaup were there, but the lessers numbered in the hundreds while we
found only two greaters.

- Only a few mallards were present, and these were hugging the far (eastern)
edges of the lake below the levee.  No black ducks at all.

- One might expect the ducks to sort themselves out by microhabitat, with
the dabblers in shallows and the diving ducks in the more central
(presumably deeper) aeras.  Well, either the water level is pretty
consistent across the entire lake or the ducks didn't read the field guide:
species intermingled everywhere.  The only exceptions were the
aforementioned mallards and the shovellers, who did hug the edges primarily
on the western end of the lake.

- Toward 5:00 pm, a lot of waterfowl were flocking in the air.  Flocks of a
few hundred waterfowl passing nearby and overheard really are a weclome sign
of spring!

- Grackles are back in force but they all decided to hang out at last low
area on the west end of the marshes near where Leonardsburg Road crosses
Horseshoe Road.

--
Bill Heck

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