On Sunday, on the third outing of this year’s Finger Lakes Land Trust Spring Bird Quest (FLLT SBQ), the rains held off long enough for five optimistic birders (including three of us from Ithaca and two all the way from Canadice) to enjoy a slow walk around the new Houghton Land Preserve in Corning.
Our first highlight was a pair of SCARLET TANAGERS, which followed each other closely through an apparent nesting territory right next to the trail. We found a few more tanagers throughout the morning, along with many OVENBIRDS, RED-EYED VIREOS, and EASTERN WOOD-PEWEES, plus a couple of VEERIES, a WOOD THRUSH, and a GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER. Together these birds provided a tidy illustration of an ecological guild of birds of mature eastern deciduous forests. We also found a pair of HAIRY WOODPECKERS around a nest hole. The other highlight of the morning shouldn’t have been a surprise, because I found it here just the other day. But again the two-part song confused me until we spotted the bird high above. It was a male BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER, the first of two we found. We could hear this bird singing even from 80 yards up the trail, from the corner of the big grassy field. Here we could also hear a lone BOBOLINK singing. I think that this had to be the first time I had ever simultaneously found territorial males of these two species. Then on Memorial Day, thirteen birders joined me for the year’s final SBQ walk, this time at the Lindsay-Parsons Biodiversity Preserve in West Danby. It took a lot of walking and waiting and watching, but in the end, our work paid off with highlights filling the cup and spilling over. Here they are: * Singing PRAIRIE WARBLER and BOBOLINK teed up on pine trees near the bench atop the open slope on the blue-blazed trail – long, dazzling, frame-filling scope views for everyone * More long scope views of several charismatic species – INDIGO BUNTING, BALTIMORE ORIOLE, WOOD DUCKS (9+ males on Coleman Lake), and EASTERN KINGBIRD * A pair of EASTERN TOWHEES together in the island of brush and trees at the bottom of the first open field. The female carried a very fat green caterpillar to an unseen nest. * A singing SCARLET TANAGER not far from here, still spectacular even in a brief view at a great distance * Two BROWN THRASHERS along the final stretch of blue-blazed trail before it enters the woods on the way to the railroad tracks * Several CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLERS, a few BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLERS, and a few AMERICAN REDSTARTS scattered throughout – the first two species only briefly seen and the latter not at all * A MOURNING WARBLER heard singing in the first patch of woods near the parking lot * A few ALDER FLYCATCHERS heard singing, including two within earshot of each other near the northern pond complex * The weekend’s only COMMON RAVEN, first spotted by Rick Lightbody (one of about 20 species found today but not on the SBQ walks on Saturday and Sunday) * Two sightings, by just a few group members each time (not me), of presumed YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOOS, plus another cuckoo heard calling. I need to check recordings to confirm what that one was – it was mellow and husky. * At least six GREAT BLUE HERON nests atop the flooded snags in the pond on Sylvan Road, including at least eight cute half-grown chicks Even at such a great place as Lindsay-Parsons, you can’t count on so much excellent viewing on a single outing, especially with a big group like this one – but we got it! I ended up with a modest 65 species for the weekend, not counting a WILD TURKEY whose feathers we found on the trail at the High Vista Preserve, nor a RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD that others found but I missed at Coleman Lake today. Sorry that I didn’t get more ambitious about racking up species at these and other preserves. But I do think that our groups maxed out the enjoyment of birds we did find. So I feel very satisfied, and I hope everyone else does too. Thanks to all for a fantastic weekend! Mark Chao -- 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/ --
