This  afternoon Linda and I made a quick sweep of Hoover Reservoir. I was 
sitting at  the computer working on preparations for the Hoover Reservoir 
Christmas Bird  Count (Saturday, December 17, 2011) when Linda shook my car 
keys next to my ear.  With the sun out for a change and cabin fever in the 
wings, I put up little  resistance to this idea.  
We  started at Oxbow Road where we observed nice rafts of Hooded Merganser, 
Ruddy  Duck and Redhead. A conservative estimate is 250+ Hooded Merganser, 
150+ Ruddy  Duck and 125+ Redhead. There were lesser numbers of Mallard and 
Bufflehead.  Smaller amounts of Pied-billed Grebe, Horned Grebe and Common 
Loon were also  present at Oxbow.  
Later  we made quick stops at Dustin Road, Twin Bridges, Baldridge Boat 
Ramp, Maxtown  Boat Ramp, and at the dam. There were small groups of waterfowl 
here and there  on the lower portion of Hoover but the best activity was at 
the north end. The  highlights of the lower part of Hoover were Common Loon 
with one group of 9  together, Horned Grebe with about 50 seen, Bonaparte’s 
Gulls and a possible  Franklin’s Gull. I didn’t get a good enough look to 
make a positive call but the  odd man out was definitely not a Bonaparte’s 
Gull. 
A  list of species all seen follows. 
Charlie  Bombaci 
SPECIES  LIST 
Common  Loon         (37) 
Pied-billed  Grebe     (11) 
Horned  Grebe           (56) 
Double-crested  Cormorant    (2) 
Great  Blue Heron 
Turkey  Vulture 
Canada  Goose 
Mallard 
Redhead                   (140) 
Bufflehead                    (3) 
Hooded  Merganser  (300+) 
Ruddy  Duck              (200+) 
Cooper's  Hawk 
Red-tailed  Hawk 
Bonaparte's  Gull 
Ring-billed  Gull 
Herring  Gull 
Mourning  Dove 
Belted  Kingfisher 
Red-bellied  Woodpecker 
Downy  Woodpecker 
Blue  Jay 
American  Crow 
Horned  Lark 
Carolina  Chickadee 
Carolina  Wren 
Eastern  Bluebird 
American  Robin 
Northern  Mockingbird 
European  Starling 
Yellow-rumped  Warbler 
American  Tree Sparrow 
Song  Sparrow 
White-throated  Sparrow 
Dark-eyed  Junco 
Northern  Cardinal 
American  Goldfinch

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