Bantam Lake Waterbird Update, 12/15/2011

Bantam Lake's Pt. Folly Marina photographed

by Ashley Hayes on 12/10/2011, showing

that it is still completely ice-free

Lesser Scaup photo from www.utdallas.edu

Hooded Merganser photo by Bob Stanowski

Common Goldeneye photo by

Micahel Woodruff from www.fishandgameidaho.gov

Bufflehead photo from www.flyways.us

A significant increase in waterfowl migration activity has occurred at Bantam Lake in the past week. This coincides with more and more reports of ponds and portions of lakes in Vermont, upstate New York, Quebec, and Ontario icing over. Unlike last year, and many other past years, Bantam Lake was still ice-free as of this morning, 12/15/2011. Relatively mild conditions since early November are the reason for this. While several nights have seen temperatures dip into the 20's, and a couple of recent nights saw temperatures go down into the teens, this has not been enough for ice to form on the Lake. Cemetery Pond and our marshes have iced-over a few times, but they usually opened-up again when daytime temperatures climbed into the 40's. This has been great for waterfowl, as it has provided them with plenty of foraging area. Species which have increased the most in the past week have included Ring-necked Duck (43 on the 13th), Bufflehead (31 on the 13th), Common Goldeneye (35 on the 13th), Hooded Merganser (53 on the 13th), and Common Merganser (55 on the 13th). Also of note were 6 Gadwall on the 13th, 2 Northern Shovelers almost every day, 2 Northern Pintails on the 14th, 4 Lesser Scaup on the 13th, 2 White-winged Scoters on the 8th, a Long-tailed Duck on the 9th, a Ruddy Duck on the 11th, a Red-throated Loon on the 7th, Pied-billed Grebes on several days, and a Red-necked Grebe on the 11th and 12th. In addition, as many as 87 American Coots have been seen daily at the Lake's North Bay. At this point it should be noted that the vast majority of these sightings have come from N. Bay and Pt. Folly. South Bay has produced virtually nothing, and the central section has mainly yielded fish-eating divers. It should also be noted that this number and diversity of waterbirds is above average for so late in the migration season here, even in other years when the Lake has remained ice-free. This could be a product of generally mild conditions all over the northeast, more birds because of their highly successful breeding activity last summer, or an abundance of food at Bantam Lake. Most likely, it is a combination of these things. Whatever it is, we are hopeful that these birds will stay around for the Christmas Bird Count on the 18th, and that a few more will join them. As it is, all of the sightings from today are in the official count period. If you go out to look for these birds, please report your observations to ebird, and share them with the White Memorial Archives.

Results from Saturday's Bird Walk along N. Shore Rd.

Drake Northern Pintail from werc.usgs.gov

Continuing the theme of my recent blog postings about waterfowl surveying at Bantam Lake, this one gives the highlights of our public field trip along N. Shore Rd. this past Saturday, 3/12. The focus was on waterfowl at Bantam Lake and along the Bantam River from the Outlet downstream to the Oxbows. Fortunately for us, N. Shore Rd. affords ample views of these places. Otherwise, we would have had great difficulty accessing Pt. Folly and the Litchfield Town Beach due to serious flooding of those spots. On a positive note, this flooding brought many of the ducks and geese up close to the road as they foraged in the flooded bottomland. Whenever woodlands and shrublands become flooded, waterfowl are quick to exploit the new-found feeding opportunities. Our group of 30 people, including 15 Boy Scouts, were treated to excellent views of a Cackling Goose, 350 Canada Geese, 10 Northern Pintails, 2 Green-winged Teal, 27 American Black Ducks, 70 Mallards, a hybrid American Black Duck x Mallard, 45 Ring-necked Ducks, 2 Buffleheads, 4 Common Goldeneye, 40 Common Mergansers, and 5 Hooded Mergansers. Though 8 Wood Ducks were present, only 6 members of our group got to see them because these birds hid so well among the shrubs. Waterfowl weren't the only birds spotted on this trip. Everyone got to see a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker as it foraged among the trees by the Butternut Brook bridge, a male Eastern Bluebird as it sang from the tops of the trees at the Bantam R. Oxbows, a Red-bellied Woodpecker at Gail Scoville's feeders, and numerous Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, White-breasted Nuthatches, and other common birds. In all, we saw 38 species of birds in 2.5 hours along 1.25 miles of road. We also saw a Muskrat, 2 Red Squirrels, and lots of Gray Squirrels. That's pretty good!

Recent waterfowl surveys at Bantam Lake

Greater White-fronted Goose photo from

dfw.state.or.us via Google Images

Male Wood Duck photo by Bob Stanowski

Male Hooded Merganser photo by

Bob Stanowski

Waterfowl surveying at Bantam Lake's Outlet, which is on N. Shore Rd., has produced an increasing number and variety of birds this week. On Tuesday, 3/8, I focused on counting ducks and geese as they came in to roost between 5:15 p.m. and dark. Most of these birds had spent the day feeding in cornfields around Litchfield, Morris, Bethlehem, and Warren. Among the 1,650 Canada Geese that came in were a Greater White-fronted Goose, a Canada x Greater White-fronted Goose Hybrid, and a Cackling Goose. These are all quite rare in Connecticut. Also seen were 3 Wood Ducks, 45 American Black Ducks, 100 Mallards, 14 Ring-necked Ducks, 26 Hooded Mergansers, and 25 Common Mergansers. Things were a little different when I conducted the survey between 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Friday, 3/11. Most of the Canada Geese were probably still out feeding in area cornfields, as only 325 were counted at the Outlet. These were mostly feeding in the flooded bottomland downstream from the Outlet bridge. With them were 16 Wood Ducks, 185 Mallards, and 1 American Black Duck. The open water closer to Pt. Folly held our first Bufflehead and 2 Common Goldeneyes of 2011. Also there, were 34 Ring-necked Ducks, 5 Hooded Mergansers, and 17 Common Mergansers. Since the bulk of the northbound spring waterfowl migration occurs in March it will be interesting to see what surveys every few days turn up. These will be expanded as the month progresses (and as ice diminishes) to include all of Bantam Lake, plus Little and Cemetery Ponds. Any help with this effort from our readership would be much-appreciated.