The seasonal birding at Monkey Run South was even a little better than I had hoped on Sunday morning.
* Three sightings of probably four FOX SPARROWS -- two along red-blazed trail where it runs low along Fall Creek, one by parking area, one singing near wide grassy path where it crosses the road. The two along the red trail revealed their presence with subtly distinctive rising “tsssst?” calls. They remained unseen for a long time but eventually perched up, even flying to open tree limbs 20+ feet above the trail. * Four HERMIT THRUSHES – one deep in woods along yellow-blazed trail, one by parking area, two calling together unseen (“zhraay”) from conifers up the slope from grassy path * More than a dozen each of PINE SISKINS and GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS * A flock of about 20 CEDAR WAXWINGS feeding in bushes at eye level along the road, often descending to the ground, sometimes occupying the same field of view as the two roadside Fox Sparrows. * PURPLE FINCHES singing along both the road and the trails * COMMON RAVEN calling from the gorge. I also saw an AMERICAN PIPIT flying north over the parking lots of Barnes & Noble and Wegmans yesterday. Mark Chao -- 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/ --
