NAMC at Green Cay

Ovenbird on the NAMC at Green Cay, excuse the blurry digibinning.


After days of many Prairie Warblers we only managed to find one for the count.

Last bird of the NAMC was a flock of Roseate Spoonbills seen in the distance. As you can see from the photo it was a gorgeous day and we were rewarded with some slight breezes that kept us cool.

On Saturday September 18, 2010 birders from across the country particpated in the North American Migration Count. This year's Green Cay count team consisted of Holly Krahe, Andy Lantz, and myself. We started at 8AM and birded until well after noon. Our count area consists of the 100 acre Green Cay property and the Water Utilities pond across the street which has an additional 0.75 mi nature trail. I am very fortunate that my job allows me to participate in this count during work hours and it's always a day full of fun for me and my volunteers.

We started the count off with one of the best birds of the count, a Merlin. As we continued on we racked up the number of Common Moorhen and the usual waders. On the Cypress Island we found the Northern Waterthrush that has been hanging around all week but we dipped on the Prothonotary that was seen earlier in the week. We found a nice little flock on the Chickee Hammock that gave us the above photographed Ovenbird along with Red-eyed Vireo and young Brown Thrashers. Nearing the half mile trail we found a small flock of early Blue-winged Teal. More of these birds will migrant down in the coming months.

After scoping the parking lot we headed across the street to the Water Utilties pond. We found a few migrants over there as well including our only Prairie Warbler of the count along with quite a few American Redstart. After noon we disbanded our team but I gave it one more spin around the mile trail and managed to pick up the 7 Roseate Spoonbills seen above. We ended the day with 48 species, not a record but certainly a number of migrants were found. Our complete results are listed as follows:

8 Pied-billed Grebe
4 Double-crested Cormorant
13 Anhinga
1 Least Bittern
2 Great Blue Heron
5 Great Egret
3 Snowy Egret
8 Little Blue Heron
14 Tricolored Heron
7 Cattle Egret
4 Green Heron
16 White Ibis
2 Glossy Ibis
7 Roseate Spoonbill
28 Black-bellied Whistling Duck
34 Mottled Duck
16 Blue-winged Teal
5 Black Vulture
7 Turkey Vulture
1 Osprey
1 Merlin
1 Purple Gallinule
158 Common Moorhen
3 Limpkin
25 Rock Pigeon
8 White-winged Dove
1 Mourning Dove
2 Belted Kingfisher
3 Red-bellied Woodpecker
1 Downy Woodpeckere
10 Blue Jay
7 Fish Crow
12 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
9 Northern Mockingbird
6 Brown Thrasher
4 European Starling
4 Red-eyed Vireo
2 Yellow-throated Warbler
1 Prarie Warbler
2 Black-and-white Warbler
4 American Redstart
1 Ovenbird
1 Northern Waterthrush
1 Common Yellowthroat
6 Northern Cardinal
45 Red-winged Blackbird
28 Boat-tailed Grackle
4 Common Grackle

Many thanks go out to Andy and Holly for all their help and Kim and Chris for working the front desk and dealing with some difficult visitors in my absence. I can't wait until the next NAMC!