The day started looking very good but as soon as we approached Sabattus the fog was thick, we could not even see the lake. No birds, no ducks, we needed a new strategy. Ten people participated and we car pooled to the camp road where we walk the loop along the lake. We found a few birds, the sun was trying to burn off the fog. As we walked behind the camps near the lake we suddenly found a few Buffleheads (very colorful, black and white, birds). Then a bit further there were about 30 of them, with Scaup and Ruddy Ducks mixed in. Now our luck changed. For the rest of the morning we found tons of ducks. Gordon Smith counted over 400 Ruddy Ducks. And we found the Hooded Mergansers by the American Legion building, along with a Kingfisher. It ended up being a great walk with great people and great birds!
Birds seen were:
American Black Duck 2
Mallard 50
Redhead 2 (male and female, close on Riley Rd.,bird of the day for most people)
Ring-necked Duck – 4
Greater Scaup 40
Lesser Scaup 160
Bufflehead 35
Common Goldeneye 2
Hooded Merganser 2
Ruddy Duck 500?
Common Loon 1
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Turkey Vulture 1
American Coot 15
Ring-billed Gull 30
Rock Pigeon 12
Mourning Dove 3
Belted Kingfisher 1
Downy Woodpecker 4
Blue Jay 6
American Crow 30
Black-capped Chickadee 20
Tufted Titmouse 4
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1 H
American Robin 1
European Starling 3
Song Sparrow 2
White-throated Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 3
Northern Cardinal 2
American Goldfinch 2
— Stan DeOrsey