Hello NY birders, today I birded the BASHakill wildlife management area in Mamakating, NY. Nov. 7, 2011. mostly sunny, approximately 52f, almost no wind. Upon stopping approx 100 feet from the bridge on Haven road at 3pm I saw and heard next to nothing, I waited, listened and watched.
At 3:45 pm, an adult NORTHERN SHRIKE landed in a leafless red maple tree approx. 50 feet from me/the bridge! I keyed in on every field mark, I even referenced Sibley's small field guide ISBN, 0-679-45120-X, page 272, narrow dark mask with white marking around its eye ! A Toyota driven by a young gal, tried to ''catch air'' under her (probably moms) car, while blasting over the bridge :(, scaring the Shrike... to a shrub low left of the road beyond the bridge. I lost sight of it after that. I drove beyond the bridge, stopped and got out to look for the Shrike. Approximately 90 Red winged blackbirds flew along the marsh edge from the left (east) low overhead across the marsh (south) up and over the trees and continued (south) an adult female YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD was flying with this batch of blackbirds! I saw it very well, I am familiar with this species. And referenced small Sibley's immediately after seeing it at 4:05pm Approx 300 blackbirds flew by after this first group. 1 Common Raven, croaked overhead also. Dan Furbish Truckin' thru 5 northern states in a big rig. -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
