[nysbirds-l] East Pond Shorebird and Water Level Report

[Andrew Baksh]

Most of the shorebirds that were on the pond over the weekend have pulled out. 
Only 7 species observed this AM in very low numbers.

White-rumped Sandpiper (1), Short-billed Dowitcher (10), Spotted Sandpiper (2), 
Greater Yellowlegs (3), Lesser Yellowlegs (7),  Semipalmated Sandpiper (50), 
Least Sandpiper (13) and American Oystercatcher (24) - included one banded bird.

Non shorebird notables include, Adult Bald Eagle (with a green band), Green 
Winged Teal (2) and Wood Duck (2)

The water level is back up, no doubt as a result of the rain. However, I 
suspect that there might be some back flow taking place during high tide. I am 
going to put in a call to NPS - I am sure they will be thrilled to hear from me.

Regarding the south end of the pond: I have started on opening up the trail 
around the area on the far side. While the trail is wider, please continue to 
exercise caution when walking there and avoid getting too close to the edge.

Good East Pond Birding!


"I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of 
others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence." ~ Frederick 
Douglass

風　Swift as the wind
林　Quiet as the forest
火　Conquer like the fire
山　Steady as the mountain
Sun Tzu  The Art of War

> (__/)
> (= '.'=)
> (") _ (") 
> Sent from somewhere in the field using my mobile device! 

Andrew Baksh
www.birdingdude.blogspot.com
--

NYSbirds-L List Info:
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm

ARCHIVES:
1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html
2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L
3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01

Please submit your observations to eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/

--

[nysbirds-l] East Pond Shorebird and Water Level Report

[Andrew Baksh]

Most of the shorebirds that were on the pond over the weekend have pulled out. 
Only 7 species observed this AM in very low numbers.

White-rumped Sandpiper (1), Short-billed Dowitcher (10), Spotted Sandpiper (2), 
Greater Yellowlegs (3), Lesser Yellowlegs (7),  Semipalmated Sandpiper (50), 
Least Sandpiper (13) and American Oystercatcher (24) - included one banded bird.

Non shorebird notables include, Adult Bald Eagle (with a green band), Green 
Winged Teal (2) and Wood Duck (2)

The water level is back up, no doubt as a result of the rain. However, I 
suspect that there might be some back flow taking place during high tide. I am 
going to put in a call to NPS - I am sure they will be thrilled to hear from me.

Regarding the south end of the pond: I have started on opening up the trail 
around the area on the far side. While the trail is wider, please continue to 
exercise caution when walking there and avoid getting too close to the edge.

Good East Pond Birding!


"I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of 
others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence." ~ Frederick 
Douglass

風　Swift as the wind
林　Quiet as the forest
火　Conquer like the fire
山　Steady as the mountain
Sun Tzu  The Art of War

> (__/)
> (= '.'=)
> (") _ (") 
> Sent from somewhere in the field using my mobile device! 

Andrew Baksh
www.birdingdude.blogspot.com
--

NYSbirds-L List Info:
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm

ARCHIVES:
1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html
2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L
3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01

Please submit your observations to eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/

--

Re: [nysbirds-l] Fwd: A Mystery of Seabirds, Blown Off Course and Starving - The New York Times

[Michael Schrimpf]

Interesting...I'm curious how the timing of the NC wreck compared to the
one in NY - was it also within a day or two, and was it close to Jun 18th?

In thinking about this, and in speaking with Joe when he was writing the NY
Times article, I brought up the need for good baseline data. Based on the
scattered reports of wrecks over the years, it seems that Great Shearwaters
washing ashore in noticeable numbers is not that unusual on the East Coast
- but there are several questions we can't answer without more data:

1) Is this a normal amount of mortality for the northward migration?

2) If so, are there reasons why sometimes the birds are closer to the
coast, allowing us to detect the weak individuals as they hit the beaches?

3) If this is higher than normal mortality, do these periodic wrecks
coincide with oceanographic patterns, either locally or remotely?

4) For comparison, what is the rate of beached Great Shearwaters when we
don't see them coming ashore in a large pulse?


The data in the Haman et al. paper I linked to in a previous thread give us
a good starting point, but they only refer to 'wrecks', and only go up to
2011, so any patterns in the last few years are a mystery.

We could start answering these questions if we had a system of regular
beach monitoring up and down the Eastern Seaboard - a program like that
exists in the West (the COASST 
program), which I interacted with closely while I was doing my master's
work at the University of Washington. A similar program used to exist here (
SEANET ), but has since been put on hold due
to lack of funding/interest. I contacted the director, Julie Ellis, who
told me that John Stanton at USFWS (cc'ed) is hoping to continue SEANET. If
there's anyone out there interested in helping with that effort, it would
go a long way towards collecting some of these data.


Cheers,
Michael




On Mon, Jul 24, 2017 at 3:33 PM, Paul R Sweet  wrote:

> As a post-script to the Great Shearwater story, a colleague from the North
> Carolina Museum informed me that the wreck extended to that state. One
> rehabber there took in 80 birds.
>
>
>
> *From:* bounce-121663379-11471...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:
> bounce-121663379-11471...@list.cornell.edu] *On Behalf Of *Tshrike19
> *Sent:* Monday, July 17, 2017 1:49 PM
> *To:* NYSBirds-L@cornell.edu
> *Subject:* [nysbirds-l] Fwd: A Mystery of Seabirds, Blown Off Course and
> Starving - The New York Times
>
>
>
> Hi All,
>
>
>
> As Derek mentioned in a previous post, the coastal low pressure system
> that set up from the night of the 6/17 through the 19th, resulted in a
> strong and persistent onshore wind, as well as strong gusts.  This system
> resulted in strong southeast flow from new England all the way to key west
> (I was there at the time), these conditions can certainly help concentrate
> seabirds inshore where they are typically more scarce.   In addition, as
> also mentioned, there is an abundance of bait offshore.  Many of the
> charter and head boat captains I've chatted with (in NJ though) have
> mentioned the abundance of sand eels offshore, with fluke being caught on
> some of the Montauk boats spitting up sand eels on deck and some of the
> charters going for tuna seeing bait balls of sand eels.It's probable
> that large numbers of Shearwaters were already offshore due to food
> availability with the weather system helping to concentrate them inshore.
> If so much food is available offshore, why does it appear many are starving
> is a question though, and we can only speculate as to what may be causing
> this.   Perhaps some of these birds arrived in the NY Bight in bad shape
> already and didn't have the energy to actively forage (sick from a virus,
> toxin load from algae??).  Was anyone able to age the birds they were
> finding dead, or will the folks who are receiving the dead shearwaters be
> able to provide an age breakdown?  Mortality tends to be high in first of
> year birds, if there was a high percentage of young birds in this unusual
> concentration off long Island it wouldn't be unusual finding a number of
> dead birds (with an onshore wind to bring the dead and dying to shore).   A
> fact of nature is that seabirds sometimes wreck in large numbers, it's been
> happening long before we were around.
>
>
>
> tom brown
>
>
>
> Tshrike19
> tshrik...@aol.com
>
> --
>
> *NYSbirds-L List Info:*
>
> Welcome and Basics
> 
>
> Rules and Information
> 

Re: [nysbirds-l] Fwd: A Mystery of Seabirds, Blown Off Course and Starving - The New York Times

[Michael Schrimpf]

Interesting...I'm curious how the timing of the NC wreck compared to the
one in NY - was it also within a day or two, and was it close to Jun 18th?

In thinking about this, and in speaking with Joe when he was writing the NY
Times article, I brought up the need for good baseline data. Based on the
scattered reports of wrecks over the years, it seems that Great Shearwaters
washing ashore in noticeable numbers is not that unusual on the East Coast
- but there are several questions we can't answer without more data:

1) Is this a normal amount of mortality for the northward migration?

2) If so, are there reasons why sometimes the birds are closer to the
coast, allowing us to detect the weak individuals as they hit the beaches?

3) If this is higher than normal mortality, do these periodic wrecks
coincide with oceanographic patterns, either locally or remotely?

4) For comparison, what is the rate of beached Great Shearwaters when we
don't see them coming ashore in a large pulse?


The data in the Haman et al. paper I linked to in a previous thread give us
a good starting point, but they only refer to 'wrecks', and only go up to
2011, so any patterns in the last few years are a mystery.

We could start answering these questions if we had a system of regular
beach monitoring up and down the Eastern Seaboard - a program like that
exists in the West (the COASST 
program), which I interacted with closely while I was doing my master's
work at the University of Washington. A similar program used to exist here (
SEANET ), but has since been put on hold due
to lack of funding/interest. I contacted the director, Julie Ellis, who
told me that John Stanton at USFWS (cc'ed) is hoping to continue SEANET. If
there's anyone out there interested in helping with that effort, it would
go a long way towards collecting some of these data.


Cheers,
Michael




On Mon, Jul 24, 2017 at 3:33 PM, Paul R Sweet  wrote:

> As a post-script to the Great Shearwater story, a colleague from the North
> Carolina Museum informed me that the wreck extended to that state. One
> rehabber there took in 80 birds.
>
>
>
> *From:* bounce-121663379-11471...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:
> bounce-121663379-11471...@list.cornell.edu] *On Behalf Of *Tshrike19
> *Sent:* Monday, July 17, 2017 1:49 PM
> *To:* NYSBirds-L@cornell.edu
> *Subject:* [nysbirds-l] Fwd: A Mystery of Seabirds, Blown Off Course and
> Starving - The New York Times
>
>
>
> Hi All,
>
>
>
> As Derek mentioned in a previous post, the coastal low pressure system
> that set up from the night of the 6/17 through the 19th, resulted in a
> strong and persistent onshore wind, as well as strong gusts.  This system
> resulted in strong southeast flow from new England all the way to key west
> (I was there at the time), these conditions can certainly help concentrate
> seabirds inshore where they are typically more scarce.   In addition, as
> also mentioned, there is an abundance of bait offshore.  Many of the
> charter and head boat captains I've chatted with (in NJ though) have
> mentioned the abundance of sand eels offshore, with fluke being caught on
> some of the Montauk boats spitting up sand eels on deck and some of the
> charters going for tuna seeing bait balls of sand eels.It's probable
> that large numbers of Shearwaters were already offshore due to food
> availability with the weather system helping to concentrate them inshore.
> If so much food is available offshore, why does it appear many are starving
> is a question though, and we can only speculate as to what may be causing
> this.   Perhaps some of these birds arrived in the NY Bight in bad shape
> already and didn't have the energy to actively forage (sick from a virus,
> toxin load from algae??).  Was anyone able to age the birds they were
> finding dead, or will the folks who are receiving the dead shearwaters be
> able to provide an age breakdown?  Mortality tends to be high in first of
> year birds, if there was a high percentage of young birds in this unusual
> concentration off long Island it wouldn't be unusual finding a number of
> dead birds (with an onshore wind to bring the dead and dying to shore).   A
> fact of nature is that seabirds sometimes wreck in large numbers, it's been
> happening long before we were around.
>
>
>
> tom brown
>
>
>
> Tshrike19
> tshrik...@aol.com
>
> --
>
> *NYSbirds-L List Info:*
>
> Welcome and Basics
> 
>
> Rules and Information
> 

[nysbirds-l] Bicknell's Thrush/Spruce Grouse w/young/Red & White-winged Crossbills/Pine Siskins, and more

[Joan Collins]

Just another rainy day in paradise!  Tourist season is in full swing in the
Adirondacks, but I feel bad for people vacationing this week with more
rainy, cool weather.

 

Red Crossbills are widespread and singing.  They have been feeding on
Tamarack cones.  I have recordings that I'll send to Matt Young today - from
Newcomb and the pond at the bottom of the Whiteface Mountain road.  I have
many highlights from the past couple weeks - July 9th was quite a day!  .The
season's first singing White-winged Crossbill in Bloomingdale, a female
Spruce Grouse with 2 chicks in the Madawaska area, and a Bicknell's Thrush
feeding a fledgling on Whiteface Mountain!  I've had more observations of
Bicknell's Thrush young this month.  July is always a great month to observe
Bicknell's Thrush behavior as they actively feed young - and interact with
Swainson's Thrushes.  It is obvious that there is a lot of competition
between these 2 species.  At least 2 Pine Siskins have been found on the
summit of Whiteface Mountain.  It should be quite a remarkable winter this
year.  Another highlight for me was running into Gail Benson and Tom Burke
several times during the past 2 weeks!  They took an interesting photo of a
blue road-killed snake on Tahawus Road - it turns out that Smooth Green
Snakes turn bright blue after they die!

 

Sightings from the past couple weeks:

 

Out birding on July 23 in the Long Lake, Newcomb, Minerva, and Tupper Lake
area, we found the following 72 species:

 

Canada Goose

Wood Duck

American Black Duck

Ring-necked Duck

Wild Turkey

Pied-billed Grebe - they have had 2 broods on Shaw Pond - 5 babies in the
latest!

Rock Pigeon

Mourning Dove

Virginia Rail

Wilson's Snipe

Ring-billed Gull

Common Loon

American Bittern - flying at Shaw Pond!

Great Blue Heron

Bald Eagle - adult

Northern Harrier - female

Northern Goshawk

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Hairy Woodpecker

Black-backed Woodpecker - 2!

Pileated Woodpecker

Merlin

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Alder Flycatcher

Least Flycatcher

Eastern Phoebe

Blue-headed Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo

Gray Jay - 5

Blue Jay

American Crow

Common Raven

Tree Swallow

Barn Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Boreal Chickadee - 3

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper

Winter Wren

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Eastern Bluebird

Swainson's Thrush

Hermit Thrush

American Robin

Gray Catbird

Cedar Waxwing

Purple Finch

Red Crossbill - lovely views!

American Goldfinch

Black-and-white Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Northern Parula - nice view!

Magnolia Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler - lovely!

Chestnut-sided Warbler - nice view!

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Palm Warbler

Pine Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Canada Warbler - nice view!

Chipping Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Swamp Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Indigo Bunting

Red-winged Blackbird

Common Grackle

 

Later in the day, as I was about to drive up our road (Tarbell Hill Lane off
Route 28N), screaming birds stopped me.  Two Merlins were attacking Common
Ravens - hitting them hard.  All the birds were vocalizing and it was
chaotic!

 

Out birding on July 20, 2017 for a half-day in the Long Lake, Newcomb,
Minerva, and Tupper Lake areas, we found the following 60 species:

 

Canada Goose

American Black Duck

Ruffed Grouse - 2

Wild Turkey

Pied-billed Grebe - with 5 babies at Shaw Pond!

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Virginia Rail

Sandhill Crane - 4 (family group along Stetson Road in Tupper Lake)

Wilson's Snipe

Ring-billed Gull

Great Blue Heron

Turkey Vulture

Belted Kingfisher

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Alder Flycatcher

Least Flycatcher

Eastern Phoebe

Eastern Kingbird

Blue-headed Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo

Blue Jay

American Crow

Common Raven

Tree Swallow

Barn Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper

Winter Wren

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Swainson's Thrush

Hermit Thrush

American Robin

Gray Catbird

Cedar Waxwing

Purple Finch

Red Crossbill - several with nice views!  (I also got recordings of a bird
in Newcomb.)

Ovenbird

Black-and-white Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Northern Parula

Magnolia Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Palm Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Song Sparrow

Lincoln's Sparrow - singing at Sabattis Bog

Swamp Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Scarlet Tanager

Indigo Bunting - pair

Red-winged Blackbird

Common Grackle

 

Out birding on July 19, 2017 on Whiteface Mountain, Bloomingdale, and Tupper
Lake areas, we found the following 64 species:

 

Canada Goose

Wild Turkey

Wilson's Snipe

Ring-billed Gull

Common Loon - several

Turkey Vulture

Northern Goshawk

Broad-winged Hawk

Belted Kingfisher

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

American Kestrel

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Alder 

[nysbirds-l] Bicknell's Thrush/Spruce Grouse w/young/Red & White-winged Crossbills/Pine Siskins, and more

[Joan Collins]

Just another rainy day in paradise!  Tourist season is in full swing in the
Adirondacks, but I feel bad for people vacationing this week with more
rainy, cool weather.

 

Red Crossbills are widespread and singing.  They have been feeding on
Tamarack cones.  I have recordings that I'll send to Matt Young today - from
Newcomb and the pond at the bottom of the Whiteface Mountain road.  I have
many highlights from the past couple weeks - July 9th was quite a day!  .The
season's first singing White-winged Crossbill in Bloomingdale, a female
Spruce Grouse with 2 chicks in the Madawaska area, and a Bicknell's Thrush
feeding a fledgling on Whiteface Mountain!  I've had more observations of
Bicknell's Thrush young this month.  July is always a great month to observe
Bicknell's Thrush behavior as they actively feed young - and interact with
Swainson's Thrushes.  It is obvious that there is a lot of competition
between these 2 species.  At least 2 Pine Siskins have been found on the
summit of Whiteface Mountain.  It should be quite a remarkable winter this
year.  Another highlight for me was running into Gail Benson and Tom Burke
several times during the past 2 weeks!  They took an interesting photo of a
blue road-killed snake on Tahawus Road - it turns out that Smooth Green
Snakes turn bright blue after they die!

 

Sightings from the past couple weeks:

 

Out birding on July 23 in the Long Lake, Newcomb, Minerva, and Tupper Lake
area, we found the following 72 species:

 

Canada Goose

Wood Duck

American Black Duck

Ring-necked Duck

Wild Turkey

Pied-billed Grebe - they have had 2 broods on Shaw Pond - 5 babies in the
latest!

Rock Pigeon

Mourning Dove

Virginia Rail

Wilson's Snipe

Ring-billed Gull

Common Loon

American Bittern - flying at Shaw Pond!

Great Blue Heron

Bald Eagle - adult

Northern Harrier - female

Northern Goshawk

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Hairy Woodpecker

Black-backed Woodpecker - 2!

Pileated Woodpecker

Merlin

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Alder Flycatcher

Least Flycatcher

Eastern Phoebe

Blue-headed Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo

Gray Jay - 5

Blue Jay

American Crow

Common Raven

Tree Swallow

Barn Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Boreal Chickadee - 3

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper

Winter Wren

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Eastern Bluebird

Swainson's Thrush

Hermit Thrush

American Robin

Gray Catbird

Cedar Waxwing

Purple Finch

Red Crossbill - lovely views!

American Goldfinch

Black-and-white Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Northern Parula - nice view!

Magnolia Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler - lovely!

Chestnut-sided Warbler - nice view!

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Palm Warbler

Pine Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Canada Warbler - nice view!

Chipping Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Swamp Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Indigo Bunting

Red-winged Blackbird

Common Grackle

 

Later in the day, as I was about to drive up our road (Tarbell Hill Lane off
Route 28N), screaming birds stopped me.  Two Merlins were attacking Common
Ravens - hitting them hard.  All the birds were vocalizing and it was
chaotic!

 

Out birding on July 20, 2017 for a half-day in the Long Lake, Newcomb,
Minerva, and Tupper Lake areas, we found the following 60 species:

 

Canada Goose

American Black Duck

Ruffed Grouse - 2

Wild Turkey

Pied-billed Grebe - with 5 babies at Shaw Pond!

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Virginia Rail

Sandhill Crane - 4 (family group along Stetson Road in Tupper Lake)

Wilson's Snipe

Ring-billed Gull

Great Blue Heron

Turkey Vulture

Belted Kingfisher

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Alder Flycatcher

Least Flycatcher

Eastern Phoebe

Eastern Kingbird

Blue-headed Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo

Blue Jay

American Crow

Common Raven

Tree Swallow

Barn Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper

Winter Wren

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Swainson's Thrush

Hermit Thrush

American Robin

Gray Catbird

Cedar Waxwing

Purple Finch

Red Crossbill - several with nice views!  (I also got recordings of a bird
in Newcomb.)

Ovenbird

Black-and-white Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Northern Parula

Magnolia Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Palm Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Song Sparrow

Lincoln's Sparrow - singing at Sabattis Bog

Swamp Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Scarlet Tanager

Indigo Bunting - pair

Red-winged Blackbird

Common Grackle

 

Out birding on July 19, 2017 on Whiteface Mountain, Bloomingdale, and Tupper
Lake areas, we found the following 64 species:

 

Canada Goose

Wild Turkey

Wilson's Snipe

Ring-billed Gull

Common Loon - several

Turkey Vulture

Northern Goshawk

Broad-winged Hawk

Belted Kingfisher

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

American Kestrel

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Alder