On Sunday morning, I too walked around the Star Stanton/Hammond Hill area. Not too many birds. However, along the ridge top, in an area of Norway spruce, I came upon some CROW feathers--11 flight feathers and half a dozen tufts of small body feathers. One of the flight pinions had a dollop of dried (or frozen) blood on it. I checked the area carefully for mammal tracks, finding none. The possible avian predators are 4, but three of them I tentatively eliminated because of prey size and location of attack. Goshawk was my best choice, but I found no other evidence. Thanks, Bob!
Steve Fast Brooktondale -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of bob mcguire Sent: Monday, December 26, 2011 12:01 PM To: cayugabirdlist Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Hammond Hill Goshawk Last Saturday I decided to explore the north end of Hammond Hill SF, an area I almost never visit. As noted then, my reward was a pair of White-winged Crossbills flying over and stopping for the briefest of moments. Today I walked a different route: north on the ATV track (Star Stanton Road, then left just after it breaks from Hammond Hill Rd), to the end and then back on green trails (G2 and G1) to SS Rd. Bird-wise, it was mostly chickadees, 1 Brown Creeper, and a few Blue Jays - until a large, light-colored (undersides) bird flew through the hemlocks to perch out of sight close by. At first I thought "Red- tail", given the size and coloration (and not goshawk because it did not show gray). I played the Red-tail call - no response. Then I played the goshawk call, and it responded immediately! It called several times, and, fortunately, I had my recorder along and got some of it on tape. Blue Jays came in to mob it, and eventually it took off, circling away to the north. At that point I got a better look at the shape, especially the long, narrow tail. Juvenile NORTHERN GOSHAWK. Hammond Hill has about two inches of new snow and makes for a delightful walk. Bob McGuire -- 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/ -- -- 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/ --
