Just an addition to Dave Nutter’s wonderful, complete description of the parks west of Cayuga Inlet in Ithaca:
Re NYSEG’s work to provide safe, roomy, wooden nest platforms for Ospreys all over this region, we have their Forester, Paul Paradine, to thank. Paul is quite knowledgeable about birds, biology, and trees & plants & with his NYSEG crew has donated much time to helping Ospreys & other birds. He himself does volunteer work at the Cass Park Children’s Garden & other smaller gardens. Originally from Ontario, he also happens to be the husband of Robyn Bailey who manages bird nest programs for CLO. Paul also has been a huge help to the management of projects at Salt Point by Cayuga Lake & Salmon Creek in Lansing. SPt is owned by NYS DEC, but is managed by Town of Lansing thru work of their Parks & Rec Dept. & Friends of Salt Point, Inc, a volunteer non-profit group that sets policy & organizes projects there, based on the Salt Point Master Plan. Years ago, Bob McGuire, Karen Edelstein & others wrote this plan. Paul does not get enough credit for all the help he has given to birds & other species. Thank you, Paul! Donna Scott Director, Friends of Salt Point, Inc. Lansing Sent from my iPhone On Oct 29, 2021, at 11:38 AM, Dave Nutter <nutter.d...@me.com> wrote: I don’t think this rare bird report went out to the wider listserve. On the morning of October 27th Jay McGowan found 2 CATTLE EGRETS in Cass Park in Ithaca. They were with the couple hundred RING-BILLED GULLS who typically rest in the soccer fields at the north end of Cass Park, but after the heavy rains of the previous day they were foraging in the flooded lawns around the edges of the large pools of water in those soccer fields. All these birds were frequently making short flights to change which field they used. Later in the day at least 1 CATTLE EGRET was resting on the docks in Treman Marina. This morning, October 29th, Jay reports that at least 1 CATTLE EGRET is again in northern Cass Park’s wet soccer fields and on the Treman Marina docks where the gulls (mainly Ring-billed but also some Herring & a few Great Black-backed) typically rest. By the way, I’ve noticed some understandable confusion as to boundaries of these 2 adjacent and popular parks. ALLAN H. TREMAN STATE MARINE PARK (AHTSMP) is east and north of the Hangar Theater, bounded by NYS-89 on the west, Cayuga Lake on the north, and Cayuga Inlet on the east. The south border is very close to the south side of the boat ramp, its associated parking lot, and the entrance road from NYS-89 just south of the Hangar Theater. AHTSMP encompasses the boat ramp, the huge marina, a couple of weedy fields west and northwest of the marina (each with an Osprey nesting platform atop a pole), a bit of woods north of the marina, and an extensive and diverse wetland in the northwest part of the park. This wetland, known locally as Hog’s Hole or the Hog Hole, is named after a guy called Hoggy who lived in the area before the park was created. This State Park also includes a large fenced enclosure for loose dogs, a compromise after years of scofflaw dog-owners breaking the City of Ithaca leash ordinance and the State Park regulations by persistently letting their dogs run around the park off-leash, frequently harassing other park patrons who walk there. The dog pen is the most extensive mowed lawn in AHTSMP, which has no playing fields. There are some formal paths in AHTSMP which were created a couple years ago. Most are paved but some are gravel. Current policy is not to clear snow from any of them. They connect to the Cayuga Waterfront Trail in Cass Park which does clear snow from the CWT. In a very unusual arrangement with the City of Ithaca, this State Park does not charge any entrance fee, although it does charge fees for using or parking at the boat ramp, and of course there is a fee for keeping a boat at the docks in the marina. A perk of the boat housing fee is having restrooms and showers which are locked to keep commoners out. However, the restrooms next to the park office building north of the boat ramp are usually unlocked and available to the general public. The parking lots are used for storing boats in winter but there is still space for park users to park. I believe the reason that this park extends so much farther into Cayuga Lake than does Stewart Park is that much of the land in AHTSMP was created by dumping dirt dug up in the 1960s by significant widening & straightening of Cayuga Inlet which created the Flood Control Channel which is used by rowing crews, and which cut off Inlet Island. In the early 1980s, spoils from dredging of that channel were added which raised the fields above the wetlands and allowed creation of the knoll. (Allan H Treman State Marine Park is not to be confused with Robert Treman State Park, named after Allan’s father, located a few miles south, and encompassing a spectacular gorge with waterfalls, trails, and swimming). CASS PARK, located immediately south of AHTSMP, is owned and managed by the City of Ithaca, which also charges no fees and allows the general public to use it, similar to Stewart Park and numerous smaller parks around the City. Cass Park, unlike Allan Treman, includes playing fields, lots of them. It also includes a covered skating rink that looks like a giant sowbug for ice skating in winter and roller skating in summer. It has a swimming pool for use during a couple of summer months when college students are on break and can be hired as lifeguards. Cass Park has tennis courts (also suitable for pickle ball). The playing fields on the west side of NYS-89, called Union Fields, are equipped with sets of bright lights on tall wooden poles, powered by a noisy smelly generator. Ospreys built a nest atop one of these sets of lights a few years back, and NYSEG transferred the new nest onto a higher platform to prevent a fire from the hot lights. Cass Park has a couple of playgrounds for small kids, a picnic pavilion and a barbecue pit. On a cove of Cayuga Inlet, Cass Park has 3 small docks where Dragonboats reside and paddlecraft may also be launched. There are a couple of restroom buildings in the park, but they are only unlocked during the warmer months. The rink building, during business hours, may be the best bet for a legal public lavatory. Drinking fountains near playing fields may be disconnected. Much of Cass Park is encircled by a 2-mile loop of the paved pedestrian & bike path called the Cayuga Waterfront Trail. (This trail also crosses on the NYS-96 bridge to the east side of the Flood Control Channel then goes north along the east side of Cayuga Inlet to the Farmers’ Market, weaves inland along Cascadilla Creek and then east of Newman Golf Course to Stewart Park.) The CWT extends to the northern border of Cass Park. I believe the row of Yews alongside it belong to Treman. The wooden racks for canoes and kayaks are in Cass Park, even though they are close to Treman’s boat ramp. Cass Park extends south in a wedge to the dead end of Park Road, a remnant of NYS-89 before the big curving NYS-89 bridge with the tile pictures of waterfalls was built. Near the south end of Cass Park is an area managed by a private organization, called the Ithaca Children’s Garden. It is fenced to keep deer out, but people are welcome. Adults have had a wonderful time planting things here, including vegetables which you may sample, beautiful flowers, and things that are better seen than described. There are organized (& deliberately disorganized) programs for kids. One of Ithaca’s wonders resides here: a concrete sculpture of a Snapping Turtle (named Gaia) about 50’ from snout to tail tip and crouching several feet high. An artifact of its construction is a hole in its throat much like a tracheostomy, and Northern Rough-winged Swallows have nested there several years. To the west of Cass Park is the BLACK DIAMOND TRAIL, a gravel pedestrian and bike trail which follows an old railroad grade at a shallow 2% gradient northwest for 8 1/2 miles to the top of Taughannock Falls State Park. It doesn’t feel like work to bike north, but one can largely coast coming back to Ithaca. The Black Diamond Trail is a linear park managed by State Parks. It is also accessible at small parking areas where it crosses 8 roads. This is a wonderful way to view gorges & waterfalls of various sizes (including Taughannock’s secret spiral upper falls), and it’s good from birding, too. - - Dave Nutter -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- 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/ --
