I visited the Newman Municipal Golf Course and lighthouse jetty woods yesterday afternoon and again on Monday morning.
* Two YELLOW-THROATED VIREOS together in the shrubs by the utility building (Monday). One of these vireos, who sang and sang in the sunshine, was a life bird for Sandy Wold. For me it might have been the first time I’ve ever seen two Yellow-throated Vireos together, and was surely my best-ever viewing of this species (more than 15 minutes, sometimes less than 5 meters away). * Silent male BLACKPOLL WARBLER and BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERS (Sunday) and loud male TENNESSEE WARBLER (Monday) in this same area, both also offering unusually good viewing. I also heard a NORTHERN PARULA (Sunday) and a NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH (Monday). Breeding AMERICAN REDSTARTS are abundant and very cooperative all along the path. * An EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE hawking insects at the interface of the woods and grass (Monday). * One adult and two fledgling GREAT HORNED OWLS (Sunday), in the same area where people have been reporting them recently. I could see the owls only by advancing past the metal plate in the path, to the first stretch with a completely open view of the inlet on the left. Even with help from 24 angry crows, it took me a very long time to see the owls. I found the fledglings first by scanning the dense woods under magnification and barely seeing the owls’ tan down. * One adult and two very young, endearing white hatchling RED-TAILED HAWKS in the nest in the middle of the golf course (Sunday), with a second adult circling and calling close by. * Three SPOTTED SANDPIPERS at the base of the concrete jetty (Monday). Sandy told me she saw four sandpipers before I arrived. My full Monday checklist and a couple of photos are here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S29705580. Mark Chao -- 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/ --
