Well it was great for the bird walkers but I can't quite figure out exactly why. I lead the Beginner Bird walk at Sapsucker Woods at 9:30am. 12 eager birders showed up from as far away as Minnesota and Atlanta, along with several birders from around NY State.
It was 49F, mostly overcast and windy. It was actually quite quiet bird wise with bird calls few and far between. However we took time during the silence of the Fall to talk about the movie The Big Year, birding Apps (such as BirdsEye, Ibird, & Sibley), EBird, Citizen Science,Cornell Lab of Ornithology research projects, the Great Blue Heron Nest, Why birds sing, and looking at Sapsucker drilled trees, and several other bird topics. They seemed quite interested to see & find out about the banded chickadees with the PIT tags and the RFID technology. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/News/RFID.html We witnessed some soaring Red-tailed Hawks interacting with each other and 40 American Crows that were mobbing them. The 3 Pied-billed Grebes seemed to be the birds most of the participants hadn't heard of nor seen. Sapsucker Woods is never devoid of birds but numbers were lower than a typical day today. I was worried the walkers would be disappointed with the bird turnout BUT inexplicably they seemed thrilled with the walk. I am not exactly sure why but it goes to show you that what may seem like a below average bird turnout day can still be exciting for beginner birders. All of them thanked me profusely many times and invited me to come birding in their necks of the woods. They even wanted to give me money saying they would have gladly bought tickets to this kind of bird walk/event and wanting to know how to compensate me. Was a nice compliment and good to feel appreciated. I suggested donations go to the lab of course. I'm not exactly sure which part was so enjoyable to them, perhaps the redtails, or was it my Chickadee imitations? Well maybe not but it is a mystery. Maybe it was that vociferous Red-bellied woodpecker that kept going up nearby snags with a large berry in its mouth the whole time trying to cache it some wondered? Sometimes it is a lot of interesting behaviors by common birds that adds up to an enjoyable experience. I do remember from the first guided bird walk I went on at Sapsucker Woods how much of a good and long-lasting impression it can leave. It is nice have the positive feedback, that is for sure. I hope more of you out there will consider leading bird walks at SSW. It is very rewarding and can change one's life. Sapsucker Woods, Tompkins, US-NY Oct 15, 2011 9:30 AM - 12:45 PM Protocol: Traveling 0.6 mile(s) Comments: Lead SSW Walk 21 species Canada Goose 30 Mallard 25 Pied-billed Grebe 3 Great Blue Heron 1 Turkey Vulture 1 Red-tailed Hawk 2 interacting with each other in flight and also getting mobbed by about 40 crows Mourning Dove 5 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Downy Woodpecker 4 at least 1 female at feeding garden Pileated Woodpecker 1 Eastern Phoebe 1 Blue Jay 10 American Crow 40 Black-capped Chickadee 10 Tufted Titmouse 1 American Robin 1 White-throated Sparrow 2 Red-winged Blackbird 20 Common Grackle 30 House Finch 3 American Goldfinch 15 -- 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/ --
