My regular visits to Laurel Creek reservoir + Columbia Lake have re-begun. Columbia Lake no longer has mudflats, so no shorebirds are attracted to there - and, coincidentally, I am not attracted to that location anymore either ;)
Warbler migration is still quite evident - I've seen 17 species of warbler in the county since early September - and a total of 25 this year! And now waterfowl have started to show up. Large flocks of Canada Geese are in the farmers fields, and a few ducks have started to show up as well.
Pied-billed Grebes are very common at the lake, and are often very tame:
Cormorants - a bird that was not present in the summer - are common now:
A small flock of Ruddy Ducks was nice to see yesterday - a vanguard of many more waterfowl to come :)
On another note - I've been doing a 'medium year' in the county. Not quite a big year, but I've been out birding a lot, and really want to see as many species as I can - without going into overdrive. Right now I'm sitting at 164 species - with a few easy ones to get still (Junco, Rough-legged Hawk, Great Black-backed Gull) and plenty of other species that I should get.
My original goal was to see 175 species - now I think I should be able to hit 180! We'll see...
