Robert Busby, Jill Vaughan, Alicia Plotkin, Stuart Krasnoff, Anne Marie and Tim Johnson, and I spent much of Friday morning together in Sapsucker Woods. My main goal was to help Robert, who is visiting from Ireland, to see some life birds. By the time we parted, we had found four, which is something to celebrate, but I must say that our repeated long and fruitless efforts to see incessantly singing target birds proved to be a little frustrating.
Robert's life birds today were HOUSE WREN, MAGNOLIA WARBLER (Wilson Trail North; also heard along Woodleton Boardwalk and Hoyt-Pileated Trail), WILSON'S WARBLER (2 along Wilson Trail North), and VEERY (seen along Wilson Trail in woods; also heard several other places). We also had fine views of Baltimore Orioles, including two at an active nest, at least 2 male and 2 female SCARLET TANAGERS, American Redstarts, and others. Many other interesting species revealed their presence, often quite immediately, by sound only. These species included OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER (near Woodleton), ALDER FLYCATCHER (main pond), YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO (Woodleton/Hoyt-Pileated), PILEATED WOODPECKER, YELLOW-THROATED VIREO (3+), BAY-BREASTED WARBLER (very probable, Hoyt-Pileated Trail high in treetops, but unseen despite much waiting and searching), BLACKPOLL WARBLER (Wilson North), BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER (Hoyt-Pileated), CANADA WARBLER (Woodleton area, probably along road), and NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH (3 on territories by Woodleton -- again we tried and tried to spot one, but failed). Alicia saw a lot of birds before we met up with her, including three Bay-breasted Warblers, a BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER, and a PHILADELPHIA VIREO. I also found CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER on the east side, making for a collective total of 14+ warbler species around today. Mark Chao -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
