I spent most of the morning checking out access points around the southern portion of Alum Creek Lake, and was pleasantly surprised by a late push of migrants. I stopped at New Galena, the dam area, the Beach & Visitor's Center, SummerRidge access, and the Cheshire area.  I arrived early enough to see large flocks of gulls and waterfowl in the southern reaches and was able to get a decent count before boaters dispersed them all.  Landbirds were also interesting, with good flights of bluebirds, flickers, and sparrows.  Notables included:

Dabbling Ducks - small groups of Gadwall, Pintail, Black Ducks, and Shovelers were around the lake early, then headed south

Diving Ducks - a cluster of 14 Bufflehead, along with some Lesser Scaup and Redheads were also in the southern end early.  The scoters that had been around the dam appear to have moved on.

Loons - a Red-throated and a Common were both in the southern end early, but boat traffic appeared to drive them off

Grebes,Coots - Horned Grebes were at several access points around the lake, with 8 total.  8-10 Coots were off New Galena

Gulls - rough count of 650+ Ring Bills and 20+ Herring were on gravel bars in the southern end before boats dispersed them.  Only 2-3 Bonaparte's remained in the southern reaches of the lake.

Bald Eagles - 2 adults were soaring over the beach area.  No telling if they were residents or migrants.

Flickers - fair flight of them, with 12+ around the southern end of the Lake in the first hours, most moving south.

Blue Jays - a late pulse, with 6-10 at nearly every stop

Kinglets - a few Golden-crowns were at New Galena, plus a late Ruby-crowned was at SummerRidge access

Hermit Thrush - 1 was lurking near the southeast corner of the dam

E.Bluebirds - good movement, with 25+ flying south in small groups during between 8:00-10:00

Horned Larks - small movement, with 2-3 flyovers at both New Galena and the beach area

Sparrows - late push, with small flocks of White-throateds at most stops.  Also had 15+ Tree Sparrows and 2 Field Sparrows in the scrub east of the Visitor's Center, and 3 Fox Sparrows around the trails at New Galena.

Blackbirds - conspicuous by their absence; only had 3-4 Grackles in a small flock at the dam.

Finches - a White-winged Crossbill was a fly-by at New Galena, while American Goldfinches were ubiquitous at each stop.

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