At midday on Thursday, I saw two ORCHARD ORIOLES together near the boathouse and Fuertes Sanctuary (swan pen) in Stewart Park. A female offered long views as she foraged low in the willow downstream from the boathouse, in branches drooping right over Cascadilla Creek. A subadult male joined her briefly here, but mostly sang from the trees at the corner of the big lawn. This was my first good look at these birds, despite several attempts and recurrent reports by others since mid-May. I’m glad I tried again, and especially glad that I widened my search to that willow. (From here I also heard a YELLOW-THROATED VIREO singing in the Newman golf course woods.)
Yesterday I decided to go look for bitterns and rails at Montezuma NWR. I didn’t find any, but instead I was abundantly entertained by BLACK TERNS and families of water birds. I even learned something kind of mind-boggling (or maybe relearned what I knew long ago but forgot) – AMERICAN COOT chicks have bald pink crowns, bright red bills, and wispy yet flamboyant orange neck-ruffs, while COMMON GALLINULE chicks are similarly homely but colorful and charming -- bare-pated with a little more yellow on the bill. And I got an even better consolation prize on the way up, as a BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO paused in the open just as I was driving by. Here are my eBird checklists with some photos: Lake Road drive-by cuckoo: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S37589052 Montezuma NWR Wildlife Drive: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S37589209 Stewart Park: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S37605275 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/ --
