Since my Jan 4th post, I've heard from several others telling me of kingfishers in the basin, including 2 at Dryden Lake and one on Stevenson Road a few days ago. Hopefully these birds managed get out of the area before this intense freeze set in.
Also, I asked a fish-expert friend what could be available for a kingfisher to catch, presuming any open water, and his reply was that of course there ARE fish in that water since they don't go dormant or hide in the mud in winter, but they are moving VERY slowly. He also reminded me that the (unfrozen) water temperature would be higher than the air temperature. Whether slower-moving fish are easier or more difficult to catch (the latter because maybe kingfishers find their catch by noticing movement?) is interesting to contemplate. Stay warm! Marie Marie Read Wildlife Photography 452 Ringwood Road Freeville NY 13068 USA Phone 607-539-6608 e-mail [email protected] Website: http://www.marieread.com Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Marie-Read-Wildlife-Photography-104356136271727/ ________________________________________ From: [email protected] [[email protected]] on behalf of Dave Nutter [[email protected]] Sent: Friday, January 5, 2018 8:20 PM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Found! > On Jan 4, 2018, at 11:48 AM, Marie P. Read <[email protected]> wrote: > > I haven't seen or heard my backyard tough-guy Belted Kingfisher for several > days... > > Marie At 11:15 this morning I was driving an empty taxi through the intersection of Hanshaw & Niemi Roads when a male Belted Kingfisher flew southwest in front of me. It was below treetop level, so I assume it was on a local trip. The nearby Cornell experimental ponds are frozen. There’s a larger more natural pond nearby (to the NW not SW) but could there be any open water there? And there are other wetlands in the area, but without higher land close by, how could they be spring-fed and open? And what would live in them that a kingfisher could catch this time of year? The temperature was all of 1°F. I thought Marie’s kingfisher up by Mt Pleasant was odd in such cold weather even though there is a swamp near her place. Maybe this is the same bird roughly five miles away. Or maybe her bird went south on the Jan 1 or 2, and this bird is now going south from somewhere else. Anyway, it was a surprise to me. -- 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/ --
