Bad weather sure has boosted the birding for us Chao boys these past two days. Not only did the rain and north winds knock down those shorebirds yesterday, they also prompted the cancellation of Tilden's Saturday plans downstate, freeing him for the first day of the Finger Lakes Spring Bird Quest (SBQ) with me. Perhaps drained by the battering we took twice at Myers, Tilden went to bed four hours early last night and woke early with me today, fully rested and ready to go.
We started at the Etna Nature Preserve along Route 366, joined shortly after our arrival by Betsy Darlington. We found about 17 species in 10 minutes, including a CAROLINA WREN, a female HOODED MERGANSER flying over, and a WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH (a difficult bird to find on some past SBQs). Then we stopped at the Genung Nature Preserve in Freeville. Right at the intersection of Routes 366 and 38 (the eastern corner of the preserve), we saw and heard a rather unexpected YELLOW-THROATED VIREO singing close by. At the parking area a bit further west, we heard PINE WARBLERS, a CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER, and a good variety of common birds, including a DOWNY WOODPECKER (also an embarrassing miss on past SBQs). More than a dozen birders representing a range from Ithaca to Skaneateles joined us for a walk at the Dorothy McIlroy Bird Sanctuary in Summerhill at 8 AM. Birds were considerably quieter and harder to see today than they have been in past years, but we still came across many NORTHERN WATERTHRUSHES and BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLERS, OVENBIRDS, a BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER, a few ALDER FLYCATCHERS, SWAMP SPARROWS, BROWN CREEPERS, and other expected species. Thanks to all for your participation! I look forward to seeing many more of you tomorrow at 8 AM at the Lindsay-Parsons Biodiversity Preserve in West Danby! Mark -- 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/ --
