A vesper sparrow was still across from Freese Road late this morning, flushing up to the lone tree for good looks by SFO groups 1 and 2, rufous shoulder and all. As our group approached the tree, we flushed a snipe from about 10 feet away, who flew a good distance away and melted into the distant pasture. We also heard in the distance the quiet yodeling of what sounded like a loon, but it's hard to convince ourselves that's what it was (then again, Ann had that fly-by calling loon the other morning).
Before that we were at Mount Pleasant where a pair of kestrels gave good looks - initially one was hover-hunting, later they sat next to each other on a power line. There were bluebirds and tree swallows and a savannah sparrow, but otherwise the sky was pretty scant. Before that we were at the Park preserve where we had a red-tailed hawk and sharp-shinned hawk soar by close to each other, and in the thick of the evergreens a golden-crowned kinglet's song sounded like it was no more than a few feet away, but the bird eluded view. A field sparrow's song bounced in the distance throughout our stay. Before that we were at Durland Preserve where we were greeted by a cooperative ruby-crowned kinglet showing off its red crown prominently (only the second time I've seen that) and merrily singing its complicated warble. The lookout tower saw much activity from usual birds, with good looks at red-bellied woodpecker, eastern phoebe, eastern bluebird. A pair of wood ducks popped up in the air briefly with a good number of students getting a brief look. A pair of brown creepers announced their presence then flew by for brief looks before disappearing into the woods. A ruffed grouse thumped off and on for much of the time. A beautiful morning of "upland" birding. Suan -- 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/ --
