Greetings,

Today while taking care of business in Columbia County, I decided to stop by Miller Rd in Churchtown with my girlfriend in search of some waterfowl, shorebirds, and other early spring migrants. Upon pulling onto the road, not only did we find the small flooded field on the left dotted with ducks, but we also found 1 Richard Nord scanning the field as well. After a quick catch up, the three of us found the flooded field full of nice surprises. Many Mallards and a few American Black Ducks were accompanied by at least a dozen GREEN-WINGED TEAL and 1 Mallard x American Black Duck hybrid. After some hard scanning and talk of snipe, 5 distant WILSON’S SNIPE were discovered probing the soft ground. After a few minutes these cryptic shorebirds made their way forward allowing nice looks in the open. Other birds present in the field included ~6 KILLDEER, and at least 5 EASTERN MEADOWLARKS. Looking at the Killdeer, the meadowlarks were discovered by Richard and I at the same exact moment (”MEADOWLARKS!”) when one of the males displayed his bright yellow breast in our direction. Upon closer looks it appeared that several birds were displaying from the ground. A few could even be heard singing from across the field. “Spring of the year” indeed.

After scanning the field, a quick drive down to Geoffroy’s Pond yielded 50-60 COMMON MERGANSERS, 2 WOOD DUCKS, several more GREEN-WINGED TEAL, and 2 GREAT BLUE HERON. Finally, tonight while getting out of my car in my driveway, 3 AMERICAN WOODCOCK could be heard peenting and displaying over the nearby field. Funny how it has taken several tries to find these great birds, yet now they are finding me. Hard to beat.

Good Birding,

Chad