[cayugabirds-l] Yellow-billed Cuckoo early morning

Hi all, Today at 0.45 am I was looking for moths when I heard a calling Yellow-billed cuckoo flyover. Today morning by 4.45 am my yard was very noisy or rather musical with 10 different species calling. Robin was the main singer. There were Carolina wren, male and female cardinals, House

[cayugabirds-l] Glossy Ibis, Montezuma

Larue St. Clair and Jackie Bakker report a GLOSSY IBIS at Knox-Marsellus this morning (31 May 2013). Today's survey does not include the main pool so no word on shorebird numbers there, -- Jay McGowan Macaulay Library Cornell Lab of Ornithology jw...@cornell.edu -- Cayugabirds-L List Info:

[cayugabirds-l] Blue-gray Gnatcatcher oddness

I just took a brief lunchtime walk on the northern part of Wilson Trail at SSW. I saw a small bird flit to a low shrub only 10-12' from me, got on it and ID'd it as a BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER. Then, it flew down to the bark mulch in full sun, spread its wings and wing feathers as wide as possible,

Re: [cayugabirds-l] Blue-gray Gnatcatcher oddness

Perhaps it is trying to dissapate heat. It is awfully warm today. On Fri, May 31, 2013 at 1:07 PM, Chris Pelkie chris.pel...@cornell.eduwrote: I just took a brief lunchtime walk on the northern part of Wilson Trail at SSW. I saw a small bird flit to a low shrub only 10-12' from me, got on it

RE: [cayugabirds-l] Blue-gray Gnatcatcher oddness

Bark mulch has some fungus/bacteria in it to keep weeds from growing, so these may be beneficial to birds too. Plus, it is rough enough to be a scratching surface to remove mites and lice. I have seen this behaviors in house sparrows on the campus where everything is covered with tons of bark

Re: [cayugabirds-l] Glossy Ibis, Montezuma

I was at the Wildlife Drive yesterday, and there were almost no shorebirds. Way out there was a flock of shorebirds zooming about, but that was it. I went there for shorebirds so I was very disappointed . At the visitor there was a pair of Blue Winged Teals. On the drive there were 2 Willow

RE: [cayugabirds-l] Blue-gray Gnatcatcher oddness

Chris, I can think of 4 reasons that could explain this behavior. 1. Some birds, like some people, like to lie in the sun. 2. The bird may have come from bathing, and wishes to dry its feathers quickly. 3. Research has shown that a short period of dry heat (a dryer, for example)

Re: [cayugabirds-l] Flattened birds

On May 12, our SFO group at Arnot saw a brown creeper do the same pose but vertically on a trunk, remaining fully camouflaged when doing so. I wish I had my camera then. Anyhow, I assumed it was sunning itself, a reasonable assumption on that cool day (40s-50s). The fact that your gnatcatcher did

Re: [cayugabirds-l] Flattened birds

My late colleague Jack Christian documented barn and tree swallows taking the low spread-wing posture, exposing their wings fully, on metal barn roofs on hot summer days. I also saw a few instances. One possibility is that direct heat helps drive out feather parasites and exposure to UV and

[cayugabirds-l] Montezuma this evening

Gary and I arrived at Knox Marsellus at. 5:40 this evening. The highlight there was seeing approximately 300 Bank Swallows. There was a total of 7 Wood Ducks and 10 Ruddy Ducks. There was an Indigo Bunting singing along with many Yellow Warblers and Common Yellowthroats. Puddlers Marsh had 4

[cayugabirds-l] dawn Black-billed Cuckoo

I slept with windows open last night because of the days' heat. It was still pretty dark at 4am when I got up for work, but when I neared the window I heard a BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO calling vigorously from my backyard (first yard record!). I think maybe it was replying to my alarm clock, which has a