Thought I would share this eBird list from the other night (Monday night). These are estimates, or specific call counts, of night migrants heard or seen flying in the airspace around Schoellkopf Stadium at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. That night was nowhere near the epic night migration on 11 October 2005, as described in this Wilson Journal of Ornithology article: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20456044 (not sure everyone has access to view…). There were no birds visibly in distress. If anything, calling rates were simply higher around the ambient light reflecting off the low foggy cloud ceiling.
Good night listening! Sincerely, Chris T-H Cornell University--Schoellkopf Field, Tompkins, New York, US Oct 1, 2018 8:24 PM - 9:50 PM Protocol: Stationary Comments: Excellent night migration. Predicted, suspected. Low foggy cloud ceiling, bright ambient lights at Schoellkopf Stadium. No practice or game, so little other acoustic disturbances for listening. This was the second best night migration I have personally experienced at this locale. Numbers are not call counts, but best estimates of numbers of individuals. Extremely conservative. Actual call count could easily be quadrupled or more. Very few birds continued to circle around more than once, if rarely twice; most could be heard audibly transiting over this area, with calling rates increasing while over brightly lit area. Once lights were extinguished, all calls ceased immediately. 12 species (+3 other taxa) Gray-cheeked Thrush 48 NFC 48 | extremely conservative estimate of number of individuals. Swainson's Thrush 102 NFC 102 | extremely conservative estimated number of individuals. Wood Thrush 2 NFC 2 sparrow sp. 2 NFC 2 | one possibly was White-throated, but uncertain. Common Yellowthroat 4 NFC 4 | distinct individuals Cape May Warbler 5 NFC 5 Distinct night flight calls from this species heard directly overhead with several minutes between calls. Bay-breasted Warbler 1 NFC 1 | Loudly calling individual, later observed flying and foraging in enclosed portion of upper Crescent. Logan confirmed visual ID. Chestnut-sided Warbler 2 NFC 2 | audibly distinct calls from this species. Blackpoll Warbler 6 NFC 6 | observed birds flying low, visible in the lights as well as foraging in ambient lit treetops. Majority of warbler NFCs were likely Blackpoll zeeps. Black-throated Blue Warbler 12 NFC | 12 estimated number of distinct individuals warbler sp. (Parulidae sp.) 205 NFC 205 | this is an extremely conservative best estimate of individuals passing through the stadium area during this count period. Likely hundreds more in broader audible range. Scarlet Tanager 3 NFC 3 | distinct "pew-weet" or "pee-vee" calls from this species, audible during earlier time of listening period. Rose-breasted Grosbeak 5 NFC 5 | audible clear squeaky "eek" notes heard during earlier portion of count period. Indigo Bunting 2 NFC 2 | clearly musical sounding buzzes heard of a group of individuals occurring over a short time span passerine sp. 1 NFC 1 | particularly intriguing low frequency sounding ringing buzz, reminiscent of the overlap of Indigo Bunting and Blue Grosbeak flight call. Beefier sounding. Around 21:02. Recorded. View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48899858 This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org) -- Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes Field Applications Engineer Bioacoustics Research Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, New York 14850 W: 607-254-2418<tel:607-254-2418> M: 607-351-5740<tel:607-351-5740> F: 607-254-1132<tel:607-254-1132> http://www.birds.cornell.edu/brp -- 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/ --
