[cayugabirds-l] Aythya hybrid
Tim Lenz, Hope Batcheller, and I are on our way up the lake, but thought I'd mention that in addition to a transitional HORNED GREBE, an odd female-type RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, and a Bald Eagle, we found a presumed HYBRID RING-NECKED DUCK x SCAUP sp. at Stewart Park just now. This is an awesome bird, with pale gray sides and only the ghost of the Ring-necked white shoulder mark, dark gray (not quite black) back, peaked head, and ringed bill. It's hanging out with three Greater Scaup. I'll post poor photos later, but worth a look if you can and enjoy that kind of thing. Jay McGowan -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] New yard bird
Went out with the dog and took the binocs looking for snow geese (didn't see them yet) or what else might be arriving. Instead spotted several large lumps in the 70' basswood in the neighbors yard which at first I thought were the crows that roost there often (I shot photos of 17 at sunset a few days ago), but it turned out to be 4 immature TVs. Mom or Pop came soaring in a few minutes later and all took flight. I had counted 9 a few days ago as they briefly all flew in straight lines instead of swirling around and around as they usually do. Anyway, while all that was going on, another raptor came soaring into the scene and I immediately ID'd my first yard Osprey. Whoo-hoo! It soared around the house and grounds at about 300' in a big lazy 0 with nary a wing flap, giving me a great rotating view in the glasses, then flew off toward the lake (which is at least 1-2 mi as the osprey flies from my yard). So not sure what attracted him; maybe all the other big bird activity... ChrisP __ Chris Pelkie Research Analyst Bioacoustics Research Program Cornell Lab of Ornithology 159 Sapsucker Woods Road Ithaca, NY 14850 -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Cayuga Bird Club trip
While the Cayuga Bird Club trip this morning was small in participant numbers, just Bob McGuire and myself, we did find a very nice variety of birds. This was a half day trip, and we went up the east side of the lake to Mud Lock, at which time we split up, Bob heading farther north and I back towards Ithaca. I'll mention just highlights here. Our first stop was Stewart Park. By far the most interesting birds were the Ring-necked Duck/Scaup hybrid and the Red-breasted Merganser that Jay McGowen mentioned earlier. We walked briefly into the Renwick woods hoping for a E. Phoebe, but came up empty. On the way to Myers Point we found 5 Turkey Vulture's on Drake Rd. Myers was very quiet, but we did find a Horned Grebe off Ladoga. We made a brief stop on Lake Rd (going down to Long Point SP) to listen for E. Meadowlarks, but the best we came up with was a very convincing Starling imitating a Meadowlark. We had a very good stop at the boat house in Aurora finding 10 Horned Grebes, the EARRED GREBE and a RED-NECKED GREBE. The Red -necked Grebe was not too far out from the dock, and the Earred Grebe was quite a bit farther out with 3 Horned Grebes, which made a nice comparison. The ponds in Union Springs were very quiet, though we did find the Screech Owl in the box at the Factory St. pond. From there we went to Cayuga, where we stopped at the machine shop on Water St (?) N of the town offices. There were perhaps 500 mixed Aythya to the north with a few others ducks mixed in, several Am Widgeon and a single N. Shovelor being the birds of note. While there we had a number of flocks of Snow Geese fly over going south. In these we noted 2 significantly smaller birds, ROSS' GEESE. Our last stop together was at Mud Lock, where we found 2 Ruddy Ducks. We did not see any eagles at or near the nest there. From here I headed home and Bob headed up towards the Carncross/ Morgan Rd area. Bill Baker - This message was sent using Endymion MailMan. http://www.endymion.com/products/mailman/ -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Sat. PM yard migrants
I didn't get outside today until late afternoon (4 PM) but did an hour of skywatching from my back deck -- and caught the tail end of today's migration. Best bird was a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL among scattered HERRING and many RING-BILLED GULLS -- not sure if these were migrants or late afternoon commuters from the Stevenson Rd. area. A loose flock of 8-10 smallish passerines flying north over the neighborhood turned out to be HORNED LARKS. Several large flocks of RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS with a few GRACKLES, and in a separate flock of GRACKLES I picked out 2 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS. 1 large flock of SNOW GEESE -- no small or dark individuals. No raptors. KEN Ken Rosenberg Director of Conservation Science Cornell Lab of Ornithology 607-254-2412 607-342-4594 (cell) k...@cornell.edu -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
RE:[cayugabirds-l] Sat. PM yard migrants
Just for the record, there were NO gulls at the compost piles on Stevenson today, at least between 10:30 and 1:30. Not sure where they were, or where Ken's flyover came from. Wish I knew. Only other birds of note that I can offer for the day are a HORNED GREBE and calling EASTERN TOWHEE at Stewart Park. The transitional grebe has a brown face and fluffy white butt that made me identify it as Pied-billed at first. But a second look, paying attention to the bill especially, made me change that ID. Towhee was calling (tu-WEE) from Jetty Woods. I thought it was probably a starling the first few times I heard it while watching Common Goldeneye and Hooded Mergansers displaying in Fall Creek by the boathouse. But it finally called loud enough to convince me. Lots of redpolls on Yellow Barn (ca. 50), including 2 very pale, hoaryish ones (1 male, 1 female). Kevin -Original Message- From: bounce-9181336-3493...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-9181336-3493...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Kenneth Victor Rosenberg Sent: Saturday, March 12, 2011 6:21 PM To: cb Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Sat. PM yard migrants I didn't get outside today until late afternoon (4 PM) but did an hour of skywatching from my back deck -- and caught the tail end of today's migration. Best bird was a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL among scattered HERRING and many RING-BILLED GULLS -- not sure if these were migrants or late afternoon commuters from the Stevenson Rd. area. A loose flock of 8-10 smallish passerines flying north over the neighborhood turned out to be HORNED LARKS. Several large flocks of RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS with a few GRACKLES, and in a separate flock of GRACKLES I picked out 2 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS. 1 large flock of SNOW GEESE -- no small or dark individuals. No raptors. KEN Ken Rosenberg Director of Conservation Science Cornell Lab of Ornithology 607-254-2412 607-342-4594 (cell) k...@cornell.edu -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 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 ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Snow Geese and others
Hi all, I went to north side of the lake, specially in search of Snow Geese. I was not disappointed. Along the Drake Road, I found some tom Turkeys under usual feeders. Center Road was quiet except for couple of Horned Larks. But as I was passing the road, I encountered my first flock of Snow Geese passing over me heading somewhere along 34 B. By the time I got the camera out, the birds were gone. But I considered that as a good omen for things to come ahead next. After a short detour on 90, I took my favorite Dixon road from Rafferty. Nothing special but many robins along the road, a flock of about 100 grackles with a few Red-winged mixed in and a Kestrel. At the end of the road I headed down to the lake, which comes out at Aurora Fire Station. Along the lake north, I stopped at Factory Pond. As Bill noted it was devoid of any ducks, but sleeping Screechie. At the same spot there was a very entertaining Starling doing all kinds of mimicry including Meadow Lark. So I spent some time with him trying my camera. Next, I stopped at Cayuga Village road just off of 90. Here I encountered huge flocks of Snow Geese flying overhead, which I found were heading to other side of the lake as the lake was mostly frozen around this area. There were many ducks but I did not spend time watching them as I was on an assignment, so shot some B rolls. I went to the water's edge at Cayuga park where I encountered Jay et al. Along Lake Road, I got a nice Common Goldeneye. Then headed to visitor Center for a short stop. Then I headed to Mucklands via East Road. From East Road, I could see huge flocks of Snow Geese in the muck. So I headed directly there. From both sides of the road there were thousands of Snow Geese and were just abut 300 mt from the road. I parked at the Potato building and hid behind the building and watched and took shots (not with guns but with a camera). I spent an hour or so when my battery died. When the whole group on the east side of the road rose, it made such a swishing noise, it was soothing and hypnotic and amazing. Some took off and other landed far side of the Muckland. As my battery had died, I wanted to recharge it, so decided to drive to Carncrass road. While my batter was charging on my car battery, I watched and took videos of Tundra Swans and their behaviors. I just watched the shots on my TV and so many amazing behaviors they seem to have. While I was there several thousands of Snow Geese went north of Carncrass road, to feed I think. But watching them overhead, made me feel dizzy as they made several kinds of patterns, V, U, M, N and Xs. I watched one X it had amazing movements, one group went west and other group east, but maintained that X for quite some time. I shot some part of it and watched it home, it was mind boggling as to how could they do that. As always when I watch these movements, I keep thinking who were the members of each groups, where they random or were they belonging to a specific clan? If they are clans, how do they keep in touch with each other? What is the cue to decide to take off? So many things I would like to learn, but I guess we may need a few more years if not decades to find answers to these questions with the modern technology. By the time I headed back, there were no Snow Geese in the Mucklands. Mucklands seems to be a location with very dynamic activities. Near Tschache channel, there were a few male Hooded Mergansers displaying to a couple of females. I stopped a little ahead and wanted to walk back without alarming them. But some how they sensed my intention, so they scooted. On the way back I took again back roads. Near Warrick and another town (forget name) Townline, I ran into another flock of Snow Geese feeding in the cornfield. I also ran across Greg and Susan at this point. From here I headed straight to lab to take care of something. As I was entering BTI parking lot, again I ran into a Snow Geese flock consisting about 400 birds. As I ran up, my colleague, told me that she has been watching Geese pass by most of the day. Happy birding everyone! Cheers Meena Meena Haribal Ithaca NY 14850 http://haribal.org/ http://meenaharibal.blogspot.com/ -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
RE: [cayugabirds-l] Snow Geese and others
Our Chemung Valley Audubon group was at Knox-Marcellus when all the Snow Geese took off from the mucklands. When we arrived at the Potato building, there was only one Snow Goose to be seen, the one that four young hunters carried back to their rendezvous point at the Potato Building. It looked like they were probably done for the day. I asked them what the bag limit was, and they said 25 per person per day, so they were short of their combined limit by 99 birds. It's going to take a long time to reduce the population by hunting if every time one gets shot, the other quarter million fly away. We saw Jay, Tim, and Hope at Sheldrake. I did forget to tell Jay one other unusual bird we saw was a Red-shouldered Hawk perched in one of the bushy trees far across the marsh due west of the visitors' center at the Refuge. -- Bill Ostrander _ From: bounce-9181465-3518...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-9181465-3518...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Meena Haribal Sent: Saturday, March 12, 2011 8:28 PM To: cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Snow Geese and others Hi all, I went to north side of the lake, specially in search of Snow Geese. I was not disappointed. Along the Drake Road, I found some tom Turkeys under usual feeders. Center Road was quiet except for couple of Horned Larks. But as I was passing the road, I encountered my first flock of Snow Geese passing over me heading somewhere along 34 B. By the time I got the camera out, the birds were gone. But I considered that as a good omen for things to come ahead next. After a short detour on 90, I took my favorite Dixon road from Rafferty. Nothing special but many robins along the road, a flock of about 100 grackles with a few Red-winged mixed in and a Kestrel. At the end of the road I headed down to the lake, which comes out at Aurora Fire Station. Along the lake north, I stopped at Factory Pond. As Bill noted it was devoid of any ducks, but sleeping Screechie. At the same spot there was a very entertaining Starling doing all kinds of mimicry including Meadow Lark. So I spent some time with him trying my camera. Next, I stopped at Cayuga Village road just off of 90. Here I encountered huge flocks of Snow Geese flying overhead, which I found were heading to other side of the lake as the lake was mostly frozen around this area. There were many ducks but I did not spend time watching them as I was on an assignment, so shot some B rolls. I went to the water's edge at Cayuga park where I encountered Jay et al. Along Lake Road, I got a nice Common Goldeneye. Then headed to visitor Center for a short stop. Then I headed to Mucklands via East Road. From East Road, I could see huge flocks of Snow Geese in the muck. So I headed directly there. From both sides of the road there were thousands of Snow Geese and were just abut 300 mt from the road. I parked at the Potato building and hid behind the building and watched and took shots (not with guns but with a camera). I spent an hour or so when my battery died. When the whole group on the east side of the road rose, it made such a swishing noise, it was soothing and hypnotic and amazing. Some took off and other landed far side of the Muckland. As my battery had died, I wanted to recharge it, so decided to drive to Carncrass road. While my batter was charging on my car battery, I watched and took videos of Tundra Swans and their behaviors. I just watched the shots on my TV and so many amazing behaviors they seem to have. While I was there several thousands of Snow Geese went north of Carncrass road, to feed I think. But watching them overhead, made me feel dizzy as they made several kinds of patterns, V, U, M, N and Xs. I watched one X it had amazing movements, one group went west and other group east, but maintained that X for quite some time. I shot some part of it and watched it home, it was mind boggling as to how could they do that. As always when I watch these movements, I keep thinking who were the members of each groups, where they random or were they belonging to a specific clan? If they are clans, how do they keep in touch with each other? What is the cue to decide to take off? So many things I would like to learn, but I guess we may need a few more years if not decades to find answers to these questions with the modern technology. By the time I headed back, there were no Snow Geese in the Mucklands. Mucklands seems to be a location with very dynamic activities. Near Tschache channel, there were a few male Hooded Mergansers displaying to a couple of females. I stopped a little ahead and wanted to walk back without alarming them. But some how they sensed my intention, so they scooted. On the way back I took again back roads. Near Warrick and another town (forget name) Townline, I ran into another flock of Snow Geese feeding in the cornfield. I also ran across Greg and Susan at this point. From here I headed straight to lab to take care of something. As I was
