Today Betsy Darlington took me to the Finger Lakes Land Trust’s newest preserve, the Logan Hill Nature Preserve in Candor. Betsy and her husband Dick purchased the property in 1972, then donated almost all of it to the Land Trust in February 2015. The preserve encompasses 285 stunningly diverse and biologically rich acres of woods, wetlands, and meadows along Logan Hill Road. I think it clearly stands along with Lindsay-Parsons, the McIlroy Bird Sanctuary, and the Roy H. Park Preserve as one of the very best Land Trust sites for birding near Ithaca.
We found 48 bird species, including HOODED WARBLER, BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER, BLUE-WINGED WARBLER, CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER, EASTERN BLUEBIRD, HERMIT THRUSH, YELLOW-THROATED VIREO, and BLUE-HEADED VIREO. The highlight was my first AMERICAN WOODCOCK in the 10-year history of the Spring Bird Quest (SBQ). This bird flushed up from the leaf litter right next to us, fanning a striking red tail with contrasting black and white terminal bands. It settled again about 50 meters away. We watched it watching us for several minutes. It was only the second woodcock I’ve ever seen at rest by day. We also saw at least 10 species of butterflies – Red Admiral, White Admiral, Mourning Cloak, Black Swallowtail, Tiger Swallowtail, Pearl Crescent, Juvenal’s Duskywing, Little Wood-Satyr, Spring Azure, and Clouded Sulphur. I am looking forward to returning later in the summer to look for butterflies again. I think that the gravel road will be full of them, especially when the rain leaves some puddles behind. My thanks to Betsy for her wonderful company and guidance today, and to both her and Dick for donating such a truly special place to the Land Trust! Mark Chao PS. Tomorrow, I will lead the month’s last bird walk for the SBQ. It will take place at the Ellis Hollow Nature Preserve along Ellis Hollow Creek Road in Dryden, just outside of Ithaca, starting at 8 AM. Running SBQ tally: 121 bird species -- 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/ --
