On the way to Black Creek Marsh early Sunday morning, we came upon a roost of Turkey Vultures at the Farnsworth Middle School, on Rt. 155 in Guilderland.
Turkey Vultures roosting in a snag
A fairly careful count totaled 52 birds, including some on the roofs of the school buildings, but there were likely more out of sight.
Turkey Vultures
At Black Creek Marsh, there was a nice assortment of thirty species present. A red-morph Eastern Screech-Owl was sunning in one of the Wood Duck boxes. Four newly-arrived Tree Swallows were flying around the marsh; they will battle the starlings and woodpeckers for tree cavities to nest in.
Waterfowl observed included Wood Duck (6), Gadwall (4), American Black Duck (6), Blue-winged Teal (6), Green-winged Teal (12), and Hooded Merganser (2). Two Great Blue Herons silently glided by, and a Brown Creeper was singing his spring song. There were still a couple of American Tree Sparrows around, and many singing Song Sparrows setting up territories.
Black Creek Marsh- NYS DEC
Five Rivers, on the other hand, was strangely quiet. We did hear an Eastern Phoebe near the bridge at the Heron Pond, and saw several Tree Swallows checking out bird boxes, with Eastern Bluebirds defending the ones they had already gotten dibs on.
Wood Duck Marsh at Five Rivers
Down along the Vlomankill it was very quiet. We'll have to wait another week or so for the first warblers to make the scene.
Vlomankill Trail at Five Rivers
This morning (April 1st) a Double-crested Cormorant flew down river at Mohawk River Lock 7 in Niskayuna. From the train station building at Lions Park, four more Tree Swallows were seen out over the river. Upon our return home, we found an Eastern Phoebe hawking insects from a telephone wire in our yard. There were some flying insects around this morning before the rain and wind arrived.
TW
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