Bennington Lake today

Things have settled down on our Tuesday morning walks now that the summer birds are gone.  Because of the low water, there was only one bird on the water today - a mallard.  Three great blue herons and a great egret were joined by three killdeer, a ring-billed gull and a greater yellowlegs on the shoreline. However, a sharp-shinned hawk scared the shorebirds off. Other raptors included a red-tailed hawk, a male northern harrier and a kestrel.  Robins and juncos were plentiful all around the lake. We saw a several Townsend's solitaires, black-capped chickadees, song sparrows, white-crowned sparrows, Bewick's wrens and two ruby-crowned kinglets.    We didn't see any great horned owls today.  There were numerous northern flickers including one yellow-shafted bird, one northern shrike and seven downy woodpeckers.  All in all it was a typical winter day at the lake.  There was no wind, and no rain so it was a very pleasant walk.     Ginger

American Dipper on Mill Creek

On November 3, Pam Fisher sent me a video of an American dipper on Mill Creek near Rooks Park.  On November 5 she saw it again - this time near the Project Office.  Rodger and I found it this morning back by Rooks Park.  It was singing and having a great time in the water.  In addition, in the past three days I have seen nine hooded mergansers and four common mergansers on Mill Creek between the Project Office and Rooks Park.  There are great blue herons, belted kingfishers, American wigeons and mallards along the creek as well.  It's a nice walk and fun to see the birds.   Ginger

Northern Shrikes at Bennington Lake

We saw two northern shrikes on our walk this Tuesday morning.  One was having some sort of altercation with a kestrel and was very noisy.  There was also a merlin hunting finches in the sunflower patch.  On the water were buffleheads, common mergansers, green-winged teal, northern pintails, mallards and a western grebe.  In the mud we saw long-billed dowitchers, killdeer, ring-billed gulls and greater yellowlegs.   A belted kingfisher was patrolling the canal. There were a few Townsend's solitaires, lots of little winter songbirds, several red-shafted flickers and at least four downy woodpeckers.    Another good walk with  36 species seen.       Ginger

Bennington Lake today

 

We saw 3 surf scoters, a pair of bufflehead, a ring-necked duck, and western grebe a greater yellowlegs and 23 long-billed dowitchers on our morning walk today.  Several Townsend's solitaires called from the treetops and an osprey was circling the lake. There were also over 200 robins, large numbers of flickers,  white-crowned sparrows, cedar waxwings and red-winged blackbirds.  Ruby crowned kinglets, Bewick's wrens, juncos, song sparrows, downy woodpeckers, chickadees and yellow-rumped warblers added to the mix.  It was a cold morning, but we beat the rain.   Ginger

 

Bennington Lake today

Many of the winter birds are back!  There were probably 100 white-crowned sparrows singing from every point on the trail.  Juncos were also plentiful.  We saw four Townsend's solitaires, a varied thrush and saw or heard four hermit thrushes.  Not as many shorebirds today - just killdeers, pectoral sandpipers, greater yellowlegs and long-billed dowitchers.  One great egret and a great blue heron were standing elegantly along the edge of the mud, and an osprey flew over. We saw a total of 40 species.

The fall colors are beautiful, from the golden yellow of the cottonwoods to the deep red of the sumac.  Time to get out and take a walk around the lake.   There is construction starting that will limit use of the entire Kingfisher trail, but there is still a good deal of open area.  Ginger 

Bennington Lake

 

Late afternoon on October 4, I walked Bennington Lake with Mike and MerryLynn and Priscilla Dauble. There were 9 great egrets in the cottonwoods in the southeast corner of the lake.  Shorebirds were abundant—56 killdeer, 2 pectoral sandpipers, 10 long-billed dowitchers, 4 greater yellowlegs, and a least sandpiper. There also was a great variety of waterfowl—common mergansers, American wigeons, northern shovelers, lesser scaup, western grebes, mallards, canada geese, green winged teal, northern pintails, a blue winged teal, a pied bill grebe and a ring-necked duck.  It was very windy we saw very few passerines—a few robins, American pipits and flickers.  There was a varied thrush in the trees by the parking lot.        Ginger

The Mud Flats at Bennington Lake

The water level is very low now at Bennington Lake so there is a very big area of exposed mud.  This morning it was full of shorebirds.  We saw 6 pectoral sandpipers, 6 long-billed dowitchers, 2 greater yellowlegs and 9 killdeer.  There were also two great blue herons, a great egret and a white pelican that could be sick because it we watched it get within two feet of a couple fishermen on the bank.  On the water there were 49 canada geese, 5 American wigeons, a ruddy duck and a western grebe.  A few migrating passerines were still around.  Two orange-crowned warblers, a Wilson's warbler, several yellow-rumped warblers and about 20 American pipits.  There were black-capped chickadees, house finches, white-crowned sparrows, juncos and song sparrows along the trail, 4 downy woodpeckers and several northern flickers.  Because of the low water levels, there could be more shorebirds coming in during the next few weeks.  They are close enough to see from the parking lot with binoculars, although a scope really allows you to get a closer look.   Ginger