Bald Eagles are apparently on a nest at the south end of Dryden Lake, with at least 2 or 3 immatures staying in the area. That might be a damper on Osprey nesting there.
Kevin Kevin J. McGowan ________________________________ From: bounce-122435459-3493...@list.cornell.edu <bounce-122435459-3493...@list.cornell.edu> on behalf of Candace Cornell <cec...@gmail.com> Sent: Monday, April 2, 2018 6:56 PM To: Dave Nutter; CAYUGABIRDS-L; Cynthia L. Sedlacek Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Ithaca Ospreys, and other stuff I have to correct my email from yesterday. The pair at Cargill have been at the nest since March 31. I saw an osprey sitting on the Church Hill nest in Lansing for a few minutes today, but it flew and didn't return. Orpheus and Ophelia at Salt Point are working on their nest, but also adding a few sticks to the unclaimed Salmon Creek nest. They can't help themselves, they are compulsive nest builders. The empty nest boxes will get occupied eventually. >From yesterdays drive-by survey of over 100 nests, many corroborated by >reports from the Sedlaceks, Becky Sewell, Dave Nutter, and others, I estimate >well over one-third of the Cayuga Lake Basin pairs had returned by April 1, >2018. By next weekend, most will have arrived. Some of the empty nest >platforms will hopefully be claimed by young pairs during the next three weeks. Thanks for everyone's help! Keep reporting your sightings. Eyes to the sky! Candace On Sun, Apr 1, 2018 at 9:48 AM, Candace Cornell <cec...@gmail.com<mailto:cec...@gmail.com>> wrote: Thank you Dave and Cindy to everyone for reporting yesterday's arrival of the ospreys. We should see most ospreys returning to their nests in the next two weeks. Unmated adult birds will also be checking out vacant nest boxes and vying for mates. Young osprey, hoping to breed, usually arrive a week or so after the adult wave, many acting like intruders and pestering nesting pairs. So far Olive and Olin have returned to their McGovern Fields, Ophelia and Orpheus to Salt Point, the Treman Marine Park pair are on the nest, as well as the Union Fields ospreys. I have not seen the Cargil pair yet, but the always arrive at least a day before the Salt Point ospreys and are probably here. Keep you eyes on the vacant nest platforms at Dryden Lake, Taughannock Park, and in Ithaca (the suspension bridge nest in Stewart Park, Hog's Hole, Newman Golf Course, and Cherry St.). Around Lansing, there are vacant platforms at Millikan Station, Salmon Creek at Salt Point, Church Hill, and two on Portland Point. At least a few of these will be utilized this year. Keep your eyes to the sky and please keep reporting any ospreys you see nesting! Many thanks, Candace On Sat, Mar 31, 2018 at 8:49 PM, Dave Nutter <nutter.d...@mac.com<mailto:nutter.d...@mac.com>> wrote: This morning (31 March) I went to Mount Pleasant, joined by Ann Mitchell and later Gary Kohlenberg. We were all hoping the south wind would bring migrating raptors. Local birds included singles and pairs of Red-tailed Hawks near & far, an occasional Common Raven (including one who was accompanied/chased for awhile by a Red-tail who mimicked its every move), Turkey Vultures, Killdeer, an Eastern Meadowlark that visited the single tree near the observatory, an American Kestrel hovering over the valley between Mt Pleasant’s twin “peaks”, a possible distant Red-shouldered Hawk, a large Accipiter in deep-flapping display flight far to the south, and American Crows busy flying back and forth and tormenting any Raven they found. Migrants included a flock of 14 Great Blue Herons, a few small flocks of Canada Geese (<100 birds in 3 hours), lots of small flocks of Common Grackles and a few flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds (in addition to a near-constant background of scattered northbound Icterids), American Robins singly or in small flocks, small flocks of roaming Horned Larks with 3 probable American Pipits near or among them. Migrant raptors were few: a couple Turkey Vultures, a couple Red-tailed Hawks, at least one Cooper’s Hawk, and a Northern Harrier. Among the best was a northbound OSPREY (year bird for me!) passing to the west of us. Perhaps it was bound for some nest in the basin, but evidently not down in Ithaca. When I got home, I decided to heed Candace’s call to keep track of Osprey nests. I took a quick bike ride around Cass Park combined with a walk around Treman Marina. In short order I saw one Osprey flying south past the Children’s Garden hunting over Cayuga Inlet, even though the water was muddy and a racing crew meet was underway. I continued north on the Cayuga Waterfront Trail. No Ospreys were perched at or near the Union Field nest, nor the Hog’s Hole nest platform, nor the Newman Golf Course nest platform. But the Treman Marina nest (#59 on the Osprey Trail) had one Osprey on the nest and a second Osprey on one of the attached perches. They stayed there during the time I walked the path around the field. I also saw 3 Tree Swallows over the field, two of which perched atop nest boxes for awhile. The south end of the lake is muddy from yesterday’s rain, so waterbirds were few. A Double-crested Cormorant on the snag in the lake east of the White Lighthouse appeared to be too dark and too high out of the water to be the injured immature who overwintered. When I got back to the Parks office by the mouth of the marina, I heard an Osprey call: it was hunting over the marina. I looked back at the Treman Marina platform, and it was empty. A little later I saw an Osprey apparently over Fall Creek near Renwick Wildwood. As I passed Union Fields, I saw an Osprey overhead near the Inlet, but not associated with that nest. So, I saw at least 2 Ospreys, and they acted liked they owned a nest. As for all the single-bird-in-flight sightings, I don’t know whether they mean there were 4 Ospreys, or whether all my observations simply demonstrate that I cannot keep track of one large easy-to-ID bird. Regardless, I am confident that Ithaca again has Ospreys. - - Dave Nutter -- 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/ -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- 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/ --
