On Saturday morning (4/27/13) I led a CBC field trip on the South Hill Recreationway in the Town of Ithaca. Our group of seven started out at the Juniper Drive gate where we observed several foragaing Ruby-crowned Kinglets. These birds were vocalizing everywhere throughout the morning and the total of 7 reported for the trip is very conservative, possibly by a factor of 2x-3x. A Ruffed Grouse was drumming in the thicket to the north of the grassy path below the Juniper gates. We proceeded up the main rail trail and soon encountered the first of several Blue-headed Vireos we would eventually see/hear. This one was foraging in the same tree as a pair of Purple Finches. Farther along we had two Eastern Towhees countersinging from fields on either side of the main trail.
We then explored some of the woodland trails that run along the gorges feeding Six-mile Creek. One of these yielded a singing Lousiana Waterthrush within 200 meters of the main trail. This is presumably the same bird I heard in the same area last week. Farther downstream we heard a single bout of song from a Winter Wren who then went silent and, like the Waterthrush, defied our efforts to get a look at him. Later, we all had rewarding sunlit views of another Blue-head Vireo foraging at close range while yet another sang in the distance. We flushed a second grouse on the narrow grassy trail that runs below and parallel to the main trail between Northview creek and Juniper. We also scanned the old reservoir from a vantage point far above 2nd dam where scores of Red slider turtles were sunning themselves. In the distance we picked out a pair each of Common Mergansers and Canada Geese. While we ended up doing a bit more hiking than we might have done if some of more of the hoped-for migrants and returning residents had been in evidence it was a glorious spring morning to be out on our local trails. My ebird report follows. South Hill Recreation Way, Tompkins, US-NY Apr 27, 2013 6:48 AM - 10:58 AM Protocol: Traveling 2.5 mile(s) Comments: CBC Birdwalk with Klaus, Paul, David, Lee, Susan, Loretta, Becky. Clear, cool starting in the high 30s; up to the low 50s. 33 species Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 3 Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 2 Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) 2 Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 1 Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 1 Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) 1 Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) 3 Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus) 2 Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 3 Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) 1 Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) 1 Blue-headed Vireo (Vireo solitarius) 2 Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 4 American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 1 Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) 4 Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) 5 White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) 1 House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) 1 Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis) 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) 7 American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 4 European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 4 Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla) 1 Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) 2 Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 3 White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) 2 Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) 2 Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 4 Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 1 Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) 3 Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus) 2 House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 4 View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S13899862 -- 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/ --
