Tilden and I went out on Monday afternoon to look for birds in observance of the Great (Global) Backyard Bird Count. Here are some highlights.
1. Burdick Hill Road, Lansing The light-morph female ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was perching in the lone tree in the big field on the south side of the road at 1:30 and again at 4:45 PM. We are 5-for-5 in our latest attempts to find this hawk in this exact location over the past three weeks. 2. Indian Field Road Not quite patient enough to scan all the white expanses, we found no Snowy Owls on utility poles or dairy rooftops between Route 90 and Poplar Ridge Road. We did enjoy lots of HORNED LARKS and SNOW BUNTINGS, plus at least one AMERICAN KESTREL. 3. Wells College boathouse We found one female RED-BREASTED MERGANSER out on the water, but otherwise, not as many birds as I was expecting. In retrospect, I'm most surprised not to have seen any American Black Ducks here. 4. Long Point State Park This site laid an unexpected claim to the top four sightings of the day: an adult BALD EAGLE high over the water; seven TUNDRA SWANS flying ponderously past and alighting in the cove to the north; our first AMERICAN WIGEON of the year; and best of all, a FOX SPARROW seen with Song Sparrows, White-throated Sparrows, and juncos in a skirt of exposed grass under a tree near the entrance. Backlighting precluded a good look at the Fox Sparrow's colors, but I did distinguish its facial pattern (very dark overall, without striped look of Song and White-throated) and bold side streaks (helping to further rule out White-throated). Larger size than that of the other sparrows, as well as conspicuous kick-scratching, helped confirm the ID. We also saw our first two AMERICAN ROBINS of 2014, and heard a singing CAROLINA WREN. Mark Chao --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
