Hi all, I saw a couple good birds in Sapsucker Woods this morning. In addition to EASTERN PHOEBES and TREE SWALLOWS, both of which seem to be back in force in the Ithaca area, at least two SWAMP SPARROWS were singing in the marsh beyond the far parking lot. Tired of not seeing Fox Sparrows, I went to the habitat they seem to favor, where brushy areas meet the woods. Sure enough, I found two FOX SPARROWS along the powerline cut on the east side of Sapsucker Woods just before the trail goes into the woods heading south. While I was watching them, a flock of goldfinches flew over with a vocal COMMON REDPOLL among them. It was giving the somewhat siskin-like "kew" calls interspersed with the dry "ch ch ch" calls. I'm amazed this bird is still sticking around, and I wonder if it really is the same individual that others have seen and heard in the northeast Ithaca area for several months now.
The staff and visitors to the Lab have been enjoying the waterfowl diversity on the pond, which today include Mallards, WOOD DUCKS, at least 8 GADWALL (up to 13 or more last week), HOODED MERGANSERS, COMMON MERGANSERS, a RING-NECKED DUCK (which I watched take off and fly north), and a PIED-BILLED GREBE that has been here for several days. Yesterday I walked around the northeast Ithaca area, in my neighborhood around Tareyton and Salem and also in the Bluegrass Lane, Freese Road, and Hanshaw Road vicinity. I really saw very little of note, but perhaps the most interesting bird was a FIELD SPARROW foraging along the road on Salem Drive in the east-west segment north of Hanshaw. -- Jay McGowan Macaulay Library Cornell Lab of Ornithology jw...@cornell.edu -- 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/ --
