Hi Dave- Sounds like an interesting project! You mentioned that you were looking for opinions about what a birding trail would include - after a quick search, I found a list of US birding trails on the ABA site: http://aba.org/resources/birdingtrails.html The descriptions of each are helpful, and it seems as though there's some variety in what a trail includes. Contacts are listed for the bird trails, too, so you might be able to get advice from other folks. -Liisa
Liisa Mobley On Jun 17, 2017, at 12:03 AM, Upstate NY Birding digest <cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu<mailto:cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu>> wrote: CAYUGABIRDS-L Digest for Saturday, June 17, 2017. 1. Re: Cayuga Lake Birding Trail 2. Tree swallow ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Cayuga Lake Birding Trail From: Jody Enck <jodye...@gmail.com<mailto:jodye...@gmail.com>> Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2017 06:46:50 -0400 X-Message-Number: 1 Hello Dave, I think it would be a wonderful idea to work toward a Cayuga Lake Birding Trail! Given the foundation that already exists through the great book about where to bird in the Cayuga Lake Basin that involved a number of members from the Cayuga Bird Club, I think it is a logical next step to work towards the goal of having a recognized birding trail. I definitely am willing to help out. I encourage others to join in, too. Thanks Jody On Thu, Jun 15, 2017 at 11:14 PM, Dave Nutter <nutter.d...@mac.com<mailto:nutter.d...@mac.com>> wrote: As you have gone birding around the lake, you may have noticed an occasional sign, "Cayuga Lake Scenic Byway," along the loop which includes NYS-34B, NYS-90, NYS-5/US-20, & NYS-89. Like me, you may have said, "Yep, it's scenic, glad someone noticed." And, like me, you may not have realized that this Scenic Byway is not simply a recognition by NYSDOT, it is also managed by a non-profit whose board consists of government & business folks from Cayuga, Seneca, & Tompkins Counties. Given that knowledge, however, I was not surprised that one of their goals is to promote tourism. It turns out that this board wants to develop a "Cayuga Lake Birding Trail," and that a member of that board has asked me to help. That person is Andrea Van Beusichem, who has previously asked me to lead late-summer shorebird field trips into otherwise off-limits parts of Montezuma NWR. Given that the commitment is only one meeting every other month, I said, "Sure!," even though I'm not fond of commitments to be indoors, nor am I sure exactly what they have in mind as an end product, nor do I bring all the necessary skills to the group. I figure birding and birders will benefit if we do a decent job. Birders, particularly from out of the area, may have an easier time knowing where to go, when to go there, and what to look for. People who are not (yet) birders, may get some interest, or at least some respect for the activity. Families vacationing in the area can split their time if some members are more outdoorsy than others. Landowners may be more willing to permit birders access to lakeshore viewing points and even take pride in unusual birds found there. Businesses may take an interest in selling the things that we seek, such as gasoline, coffee and donuts, sandwiches, or ice cream as the price for access to a bathroom, or full sit-down meals, or hotels rooms for out of town folks, or outdoor gear, or optics, particularly if we highlight their business and send patrons their way. Governments may recognize that birders, along with birds and their habitats, are a constituency worth maintaining. I'm looking for additional people who may be interested (Jody or another Cayuga Bird Club representative &/or someone from the Campus Bird Study Group?). I'm looking for opinions as to what a "birding trail" should entail. I figure at a minimum there should be some on-line information, signage at important sites, enthusiastic promotion of _The Cayuga Bird Club guide to Birding the Cayuga Lake Basin Edited by Bob McGuire_, an invitation to subscribe to CayugaBirds-L, and basic instruction on the use and usefulness of eBird. Are there potentially great birding sites around the lake that could use more definite permission to access, or clearer terms? I'm hoping that we can scan the lake from some of the places which the Cayuga Lake Blueways Trail is using for lake access for people using canoes, kayaks, & paddleboards. I also want to encourage people using bikes to bring binoculars, go slow, listen and look for birds, stop frequently, enjoy birding, gorges, trees, and vistas at rest stops, and generally cultivate the opinion that these values can outweigh the distance, speed, or exercise tallied on a ride. In addition to the birds that particularly thrill us as unusual, what species are people not from here most likely to be impressed by even though they are not hard for us to find? If we want to negotiate access to more sites, I want help from a more "people-person." If we want to get grant money to develop the trail, then that's another specialist I'm looking for. Are there existing businesses that you particularly appreciate as a birder or ones that you miss or wish existed? Anyway, please send me feedback. If it gets cumbersome, send it to me off-list, but I hope the subject is of general birding interest at least for a couple days. Thanks for reading and thinking about this stuff. --Dave Nutter Sent from my iPad -- 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/ -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Tree swallow From: Michele Emerick Brown <m...@cornell.edu<mailto:m...@cornell.edu>> Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2017 23:39:28 +0000 X-Message-Number: 2 Has anyone else noticed a lack of tree swallows? I usually have them lined up on my power line and nesting in boxes in the yard, but this year I've seen just one or 2 at a time. Any explanation? Thanks, Michele Brown --- END OF DIGEST -- 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/ --
