Last Sunday Harold Mills and I went into the Fuertes Sanctuary in Stewart Park in search of owls. We found ourselves in even deeper water than we had anticipated--it quickly overcame our tall boots but we soggily waded on. Finally found two GREAT HORNED OWL fledglings sitting snuggled together on an upper branch of the cavity tree. One was quite a bit smaller than the other. Photo can be seen at the below link. I have also put a photo I took about 4 days prior to that of a parent and young one, and a photo I took of an adult in the woods in mid April. The dates are below the photos. Have also posted a pic of what Harold and I guess is a NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH, taken near the swan pen that same morning shortly before we ventured into the woods. It never sang but the habitat (dense shrubs near slow-moving or standing water vs. more open areas with flowing water) and yellowish tinge to the eyebrow suggested Northern to us rather than Louisiana. Please weigh in if this needs correction. Have also posted pictures I took yesterday early evening of a tern, I believe a COMMON TERN, fishing a lake up on Honeypot Rd (Candor). My husband spotted it while driving home from teaching in Candor. Light was poor and the bird was fast; hard to get a good shot. This morning I spotted a gull on Jennings Pond in Danby as I was driving by. Not sure what it was, but posted a bad pic of it I took from car. If you can identify it, please make a comment under photo (Bonaparte's?)
Link for photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/ruby612/IthacaBirds2011# Here at home in Brooktondale, my feeders are awash in color with 4+ Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks, 2+ Baltimore Orioles, Purple Finches, Goldfinches, a Red-Bellied Woodpecker, and a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker (coming in for cracked corn). (can you pls send the Indigo Bunting over this way, Charles? I need some blue...) Melissa Groo -- 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/[email protected]/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/ --
