[cayugabirds-l] Around the lake 2/15
I decided to take advantage of the mild weather yesterday and do some birding at the northern end of the lake. The highlight was a huge numbers of Aythya ducks and swans at the north end of the lake from Harris Park north, with lots of Common Mergansers mixed in. The flock also contained a few Red-breasted Mergansers, American Wigeon, Gadwall, Black Ducks, Mallards, geese, gulls, and probably more things I have forgotten. Viewing was best from Towpath Road and the marina north of there. Other highlights included an adult Bald Eagle at eye level along the bluffs in Aurora, a huge flock of Snow Geese in the air over the middle of the lake near Long Point, and a Lesser Black-backed Gull at Dean's Cove. Other observations: There were a few Goldeneye off Long Point and one Red-breasted Merganser. The water was too rough to find grebes in Aurora, but there was another group of Goldeneye there. There was a nice collection of ducks near the town offices in Union Springs--Redhead, Greater and Lesser scaup, Ringed-neck, Gadwall, Bufflehead, and Wigeon. Factory Pond had a Carolina Wren, and there were mostly Redhead on the Mill Pond. No owls in the boxes. Mostly geese in Sheldrake but also one Common Loon, a couple of Red-breasted Mergansers, and some Bufflehead and Ring-necked Ducks. -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net Please submit your observations to eBird! --
[cayugabirds-l] Mt. Pleasant = snow buntings, R.-l. hawks
I had a couple interesting sightings during my morning walk along Mt. Pleasant Rd. today. First was 2 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS (1 light, 1 dark) that appeared flying low from the south. They seemed to be together, showed no inclination to hang around, and disappeared over the trees to the north. Apparently migrating. Inspired by this, I tried a mini-hawkwatch from the Observatory, hoping for more. After about 10 minutes, I was awakened by buzzing sounds from above, and looked up to see a flock of SNOW BUNTINGS descending. They milled about the building and adjacent fields for a minute, alighting once briefly. Then they were gone. My feeling is that they were migrants looking for a place to stop and eat, but found nothing. I estimated 150 birds. Steve Fast Brooktondale -- 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/ --
RE: [cayugabirds-l] Crows mobbing Great Horned Owl on nest
Don’t know if owls and crows really think like this, but it would be a shame if they didn’t!! Dave, you should write a book. Jody Enck From: nutter.d...@me.com Sent: February 16, 2013 12:21 PM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Crows mobbing Great Horned Owl on nest I think this is the sort of crap that Great Horned Owls have to put up with, and they get used to it. I suspect that what you saw is probably the pattern. Every day some crow discovers the owl, still in the same place on its nest, and raises the alarm, just as it would for an owl roosting in a new spot every day. All the other crows join in for awhile, so the whole crow community is aware of its presence, and the younger crows learn, We don't like these guys. When they're satisfied and bored with lack of reaction from the owl on the nest, they move on. The owl sighs, reminds itself to eat some of those bastards come nightfall, and continues incubating, brooding, or guarding its young. --Dave Nutter On Feb 15, 2013, at 06:29 PM, Mona Bearor conservebi...@gmail.com wrote: Yesterday morning I observed about 50 crows mobbing a Great Horned Owl on a nest. It made me wonder if the crows could make the owl abandon the nest with repeated harassment, or if they would just give up after a while. I had an appointment so I couldn't stick around too long, but did watch this behavior for over 20 minutes non-stop. The owl was still on the nest today. Any thoughts on this? Mona Bearor So. Glens Falls, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basicshttp://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME Rules and Informationhttp://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES Subscribe, Configuration and Leavehttp://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm Archives: The Mail Archivehttp://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l%40cornell.edu/maillist.html Surfbirdshttp://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds BirdingOnThe.Nethttp://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBirdhttp://ebird.org/content/ebird/! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basicshttp://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME Rules and Informationhttp://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES Subscribe, Configuration and Leavehttp://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm Archives: The Mail Archivehttp://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l%40cornell.edu/maillist.html Surfbirdshttp://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds BirdingOnThe.Nethttp://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBirdhttp://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/ --
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Crows mobbing Great Horned Owl on nest
Right--and come mid-April, some person might just pick up a partly eaten, headless, tagged female crow under her nest and think...it was her first nest--what a short life, only 5 years, her nestlings gone, too! She could have had 6 more years at least, or more. Boredom probably doesn't describe why the crows leave off (have seen them harrying owls for at least 6 hours)...nor a lack of memory for why they start over the next day. The crows aren't moving on...they are trying to move a dangerous thing out of their neighborhood, where their own kids need a chance at life. Yup--I took the bait. The story is all in your perspective, but I always find US interesting in siding with the one who has the kids at the time! Holding no grudges against owl-lovers, Anne On Feb 16, 2013, at 2:05 PM, Mona Bearor wrote: I'll be thinking of your explaination when I visit the nest again, and I'll be watching for that owl to sigh and plan its nightly menu! Mona Bearor So. Glens Falls, NY On 2/16/2013 12:21 PM, nutter.d...@me.com wrote: I think this is the sort of crap that Great Horned Owls have to put up with, and they get used to it. I suspect that what you saw is probably the pattern. Every day some crow discovers the owl, still in the same place on its nest, and raises the alarm, just as it would for an owl roosting in a new spot every day. All the other crows join in for awhile, so the whole crow community is aware of its presence, and the younger crows learn, We don't like these guys. When they're satisfied and bored with lack of reaction from the owl on the nest, they move on. The owl sighs, reminds itself to eat some of those bastards come nightfall, and continues incubating, brooding, or guarding its young. --Dave Nutter On Feb 15, 2013, at 06:29 PM, Mona Bearor conservebi...@gmail.com wrote: Yesterday morning I observed about 50 crows mobbing a Great Horned Owl on a nest. It made me wonder if the crows could make the owl abandon the nest with repeated harassment, or if they would just give up after a while. I had an appointment so I couldn't stick around too long, but did watch this behavior for over 20 minutes non-stop. The owl was still on the nest today. Any thoughts on this? Mona Bearor So. Glens Falls, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net Please submit your observations to eBird! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net Please submit your observations to eBird! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net Please submit your observations to 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/ --
