Hi all, I watched the lake at Myers Point this morning for a couple hours, ultimately with very little to show for it. Most interesting birds were two female-type WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS off the marina. After that I drove around eastern Lansing and western Groton for a while, checking for Short-eared Owls or field birds. Very quiet there too, but I did stumble upon one cool thing. As I drove on Buck Road approaching the western edge of the Christmas tree farm just west of Scofield Road, a sparrow flew up off the road and I recognized the call note as a White-crowned. I pulled over and pished and watched a sizable group of sparrows appear in the bushed, including ~3 Song Sparrows, ~6 American Tree Sparrows, a handful of Dark-eyed Juncos, and an amazing *12* WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS, all juveniles. This would be an impressive number at any time of year, but all the more so this late in the season, certainly the most I have ever seen in the winter months. They were giving their high-pitched seep call notes and foraging along the road and sitting in the bushes. One even gave a few songs at one point. Very odd! Three of the group: https://picasaweb.google.com/111137855303614931880/Winter20122013#5818493457236437650
-- Jay McGowan Macaulay Library Cornell Lab of Ornithology [email protected] -- 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/ --
