Hi all, I decided to go check out the meadows for darners and if I am lucky some Somtaochlora and the creek for Least Clubtails, which I did not find any. I did see many darners but could not get close enough view to identify them. But there were no Somatochlora among them.
I ran into some nice birds. Right at the beginning there was a family of Eastern Kingbirds making noise and begging for food. Then in the first patch of conifers I saw a Ruffed Grouse. From the second patch of conifers BARRED OWL called twice. At the bottom of the gorge I found a lone OVENBIRD which gave me very good looks for several minutes while it walked up the tree in nervous manner. Then I heard the Winter Wren sing. I was about to listen to it carefully, then I heard it coming from my pocket, well it was my cell phone trying to get my attention! This is the second time I have been fooled! Then on blue trail, I found a pair Juncos, initially I could not place the calls though sounded familiar, then I looked up to realize they were juncos! In the same area in the hemlocks there was a family of MAGNOLIA WARBLER, parents and three young. Both parents were feeding them with caterpillars from the hemlock trees. I don't know what they were. Young were calling very softly. I did record them but recording is very low but I can hear them. Then found a family of chickadee and they were feeding on green caterpillars from the dogwood shrubs. Later I came across a bunch of fruit eaters feeding on honeysuckle fruits and dogwood fruits that included a HERMIT THRUSH, a VEERY AND several ROBINS, an EASTERN TOWEE, and a family of COMMON YELLOWTHROAT. A very yellow bird with golden rod yellow under parts and white vent, I think it was a BLUE-WINGED WARBLER as it dashed into the pines, I got just a fleeting view. Then there were other usual birds such as Catbird, Goldfinch, Tufted Titmouse, Bue jays, American Crow and there was a lone TV circling in the sky. On the way back at the junction of Hurd Road and Ellis Hollows, I saw a Kestrel perched on a tree. Somewhere a few hundred feet from the junction, I saw several dragonflies in the sky. I could not park and watch as the road was narrow and a car was behind me, but it looked like a feeding frenzy. I wish I had stopped to sort them out! But they were so high it would have been difficult to ID. But the best part of my trip were MSUHROOMS! I photographed 35+ species of mushrooms, they were purple, red, yellow, Styrofoam white, orange, greenish yellow and any other colors in-between. Some were tiny and some were as wide as 5 to 6 inches, some were smooth and others warty. There was one which looked like a wide brimmed hat on a hat rack. I am sure at least a couple of them were edible species. I was stunned by their beauty and variety. I will upload those photos to a website at a later time and give a link at a later time. Overall it was a great trip! I was deciding between MNWR for shorebirds or darners and emeralds. I am glad I did not drive 100+ miles round trip! Cheers Meena Meena Haribal Ithaca NY 14850 http://haribal.org/ http://meenaharibal.blogspot.com/ -- 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/ --
