Hi all, I am writing to ask if you would be interested in counting birds for the Jan 1 Ithaca area Audubon Christmas Bird Count, which is coordinated by the Cayuga Bird Club. Specifically, there is a challenging route that John Fitzpatrick has covered for the past 20 years, which he cannot cover this year. He has been asking around and has written up the following detailed description of the route, which is in Area IV in the town of Dryden. It follows Cascadilla Creek as it parallels Thomas Road, between Rte 79 and Ellis Hollow Creek Road.
Here is Fitz's description: "For a couple decades I’ve been doing a really fun, productive, largely walking route on the Ithaca CBC every January 1. Now that I’ve joined the migratory flocks, I’ll be doing a CBC in Florida on that same day instead, for the second year in a row. Last year Eliot Miller did the route, but he’s tied up this year on New Year’s Day and can’t participate. I’m worried that this route will go begging. Warning, it’s pretty “physical.” Basically, it’s a walk from Caroline School area up the headwater riffles of 6-mile Creek, through those marshes and beaver ponds near the divide (below the Thomas Rd. B&B) and continuing down the first several miles of Cascadilla Creek. I typically get all the way down to Genung Road, then break off and do a couple other things (see below) before dark. Not coincidentally, my house is about a mile upstream from Genung Rd., and I get there right around noon for lunch and working the bird feeders, scanning for hawks over the valley, etc. This route provides the Ithaca CBC most (occasionally all) of its Song Sparrows (I aim for >30) and often its only Swamp Sparrows (I aim for 5). It has also provided its share of “bonus” birds, including Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Gray Catbird, Hermit Thrush, Field Sparrow (one year I had 3), Snow Bunting (fields by Caroline School), plus “rare but regular” spp. such as E Bluebird, Ruffed Grouse, Winter Wren, N Flicker, etc. All three owls are on the route, and one year I had an unexpected Long-eared Owl calling its low hoot above Thomas Road just before dawn while trolling for Screech Owls." IF you think you might be up for this, or know anyone else who might be, please let me know! This falls in "area IV" of the count circle, and I am the coordinator for this area. Also, I am sure Fitz would be more than happy to answer any questions. Here is a link to the Cayuga Bird Club's webpage describing the count. https://www.cayugabirdclub.org/resources/christmas-bird-count And here is a link to an interactive map of the count circle. You can zoom in to Thomas Road and see the path of Cascadilla Creek. https://audubon.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=d4c508bc191d4bed9a8d736fd43bc528&extent=-76.8983,42.2769,-75.9603,42.6291 Let me know if you have any questions, or any suggestions for others who may be able to do this if you cannot. Thanks, Laura Laura Stenzler l...@cornell.edu -- 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/ --
