I checked out the Deer Creek area again today and there was a modest change over the past few days. With waterfowl hunting going on throughout the area, duck numbers were low. The reservoir held only a few each of Lesser Scaup, Ruddy Ducks, and Mallards. In the areas I could scope out I saw well over 50 Pied-billed Grebes and about 20 Horned Grebes. Bonaparte's Gulls have now taken over as the most abundant gull with hundreds present joining the usual Ring-billeds and Herrings. No Franklin's today that I could find. American Coots also numbered over 100. There is still an Osprey hanging around the reservoir.

In the upper reaches of the reservoir plenty of available mudflats hosted the usuals for the date : Lots and lots of Killdeers, both yellowlegs, Dunlins, Pectoral and Least Sandpipers, and a few Wilson's Snipes.

The Dick Road mudflats continue to host a large number of both yellowlegs. Still lingering with them today were 3 STILT SANDPIPERS, my personal record late date for them.

I found no significant large sparrow flocks in the northern part of the wildlife area this afternoon, but it was quite windy there then. The mother of all sparrow flocks continues in the smartweed jungle on the east side of the Middle Wetland tract. Walking through there any time of day is like walking through a weedy field but instead of flushing up grasshoppers, you flush up sparrows. The species list is almost exclusively Song, Swamp, Savannah, and White-crowned in there. There were far fewer Lincoln's in there today compared to a few days ago. Field Sparrows are still present in good numbers around the east edge but don't seem to venture into the smartweeds like those other species. There is still an abundance of food in there for the sparrows and I would expect this to be a sparrow hot spot all winter. They will surely be joined by Am. Tree Sparrows soon.

Bob Royse


Robert Royse
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www.roysephotos.com

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