Hi, my name is Suan and I'm addicted to atlasing. :-) It started last Sunday when I drove up to Genoa and biked around the CE atlas block. I found a YB Sapsucker nest with young, a BC Chickadee nest cavity frequented by parents, a Baltimore Oriole nest, and recent fledglings - often being fed - of Chipping Sparrow, Downy Woodpecker, House Finch, Tufted Titmouse, and Yellow Warbler (whose fledgling is interestingly not yellow). Also had some food carriers (Common Grackle, European Starling) for a pretty good haul of breeding confirmations, I thought, the most I've had of any outing. Also heard Bobolink, Hooded Warbler, and Willow Flycatcher.
After a couple days with morning obligations, on Wednesday I drove down to Newark Valley where I found a Red-bellied Woodpecker nest with young and another YB Sapsucker nest with young. This was at Alexander Pond, a neat little park I didn't know existed! Broad-winged Hawks were present and vociferous, behaving like there might be a nest nearby, though I wasn't able to elicit any more evidence than "Suitable Habitat". On Thursday I drove west to FLNF's Gorge Trail where I found yet another YB Sapsucker nest with young (third one this week!), flushed fledglings of DE Junco (and BH Cowbird), Ovenbird, and Veery, and saw a female Hooded Warbler with some white silky stuff in her bill - is it some silk-encased baby food, or is she nest-building rather late? Also had singing Louisiana Waterthrush and Winter Wrens in the gorge. This morning I drove up to the north end of Summerhill where I saw feeding of young by Black-throated Blue Warbler, RB Grosbeak, and either Chipping or Field Sparrow - an adult of both species were seen in a bush where feeding action was taking place, but alas I could never tell which was doing the feeding. I found a fledgling Ovenbird while parents chipped agitatedly, and right by the trail was a very young fledgling of what I think is a BH Cowbird sitting silently hoping I wouldn't do it harm while a RE Vireo called from above. Other notable observations were multiple Mourning Warblers, Hermit and Wood Thrushes in an apparent song battle, and likely breeding Golden-crowned Kinglets singing up high in the impossible-to-see canopy. All four outings above were to atlas blocks with relatively low effort hours and confirmed species counts, and I wasn't expecting to be able to find so many confirmations including of some elusive species. It seems like now is the peak of atlasing season in our area - it's no coincidence that tomorrow is Atlas big day - and I encourage everyone to take part in this activity that's both fun and helps collect data to understand the state of breeding birds in our state. Don't know how to get started, you can join Stephanie and I tomorrow for a Cayuga Bird Club atlasing field trip from 7am-noon, meeting at Ithaca's children's garden (near the big turtle). Suan _____________________ Composed by thumb and autocorrect. -- 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/ --
