Today I led my first ever birding field trip for the Cayuga Bird Club to the Finger Lakes National Forest in (mostly) Schuyler County. Ten courageous birders met me at Teeter Pond at 7:30am for an all day trip through the National Forest to battle mud, mosquitoes, and multiflora rose in the search for birds. We started at the parking lot and birded a bit in Horton Pasture (technically Seneca County), just across the street to the north. This first leg yielded some very cooperative BALTIMORE ORIOLES, singing BROWN THRASHER and NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD for good auditory comparisons, distant BOBOLINKS, very loud FIELD SPARROWS and scope views of a perched RED-TAILED HAWK. At Teeter Pond itself, we had several exuberant YELLOW WARBLERS, freshly arrived from migration and arguing for territory, drumming and foraging YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKERS (this species would be present in good numbers throughout the day), red-winged blackbirds and grackles, and some singing LEAST FLYCATCHERS-another species that would reappear at several locations throughout the day, singing enthusiastic Chi-BECK songs and perching for great views. From Teeter Pond, we carpooled south to Ballard Pond, where we had exceptionally cooperative EASTERN MEADOWLARKS, perched Singing BOBOLINK, a scopable AMERICAN KESTRAL, and a surprising six(!) WILSON'S SNIPE foraging, flying and being super cooperative in the marshy spot across the street from Ballard Pond parking lot. The Snipe were one of the highlights of the day for me, a county bird, and the most I've seen at one time. We also picked up singing SAVANNAH SPARROWS, one of the few birds we would fail to get a look at on the trip. From Ballard we traveled south to the Potomac Wildlife Ponds (and a fortuitous Port-a-John). We walked the loop trail, catching a glimpse of OSPREY above the trees, multiple least flycatchers, double digit numbers of EASTERN TOWHEE, a flyover pair of WOOD DUCK, singing WOOD THRUSH, many singing OVENBIRDS, and briefly vocal VEERY, drumming RUFFED GROUSE, a ROSE_BREASTED GROSBEAK, both resident NUTHATCHES and several species of warbler. We had good views of CHESTNUT-SIDED, heard a few COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, and were blown the raspberry by two BLUE_WINGED WARBLERS from deep brush, offering only fleeting glimpses to some of us. As a consolation for the poor views of Blue-winged, a BLUE-HEADED VIREO popped out and presented himself in a nearly leafless tree for good study. We slogged back through the mud to be surprised by a GREAT-BLUE HERON flying into and perching in a pine tree, which was still hard to discern, despite being 100x bigger than a warbler. Here we parted ways with about half of the party and broke for lunch at Dandy Mart in Hector. From there, we headed back to the Southwest part of the forest and birded several spots along Burnt Hill Rd. We stopped by Gorge Trail, South Burnt Hill Pond, and South Slope Trail. At Gorge Trail we finally got good views of AMERICAN REDSTART, and brief look at a BROAD-WINGED HAWK as it flew away. Some of the best birding of the day was at South Burnt Hill Pond, where we encountered quite a few YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, and in one tree had two NASHVILLE WARBLERS, four PURPLE FINCHES, two Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, and a yellow-rumped. We also had our only MAGNOLIA WARBLER here, as well as calling PILEATED WOODPECKERS, red-breasted nuthatch, and a singing BROWN CREEPER. Our final stop added only a single calling COMMON RAVEN, and several species we'd encountered earlier. I had a fantastic time today. Our final tally was about 67 species, and it is still early in the season. It was great reconnecting with some warblers I got to see on their wintering grounds in January and with the very people who I'd seen them there with. Thank you to everyone who came out, you made the trip so much fun! And thank you to the Cayuga Bird Club for inviting me to lead my first field trip- I can't wait to do another one! See you all soon! Good Birding, Josh
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