[cayugabirds-l] loads of cormorants

2019-09-15 Thread John Greenly
Today early afternoon about three miles north of Myers I came upon the largest 
flock of Cormorants I can remember on the lake, about 120 birds sitting on the 
water, all took off and flew north as I rowed by.

John Greenly
Ludlowville
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[cayugabirds-l] Myers Sanderlings

2018-08-21 Thread John Greenly
5 Sanderlings at Myers point, 7 pm,  (juvenile plumage).

John Greenly
Ludlowville

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[cayugabirds-l] Bonapartes flock Myers

2018-04-22 Thread John Greenly
At about 5:30pm I watched the arrival of a nice flock of Bonapartes Gulls to 
join the gulls on the one remaining above-water gravel bar off Salt Point at 
Myers.  

There were 23 in all, all but 2 in adult breeding plumage.  Unfortunately they 
only stayed less than 10 minutes, and all took off heading north.  Probably 
more on the way, though!

John Greenly
Ludlowville
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[cayugabirds-l] Salt point Osprey

2017-04-03 Thread John Greenly
Yesterday, Sunday, late afternoon at Myers- Salt Point,  an Osprey sat for a 
while on each of the two nest boxes.  The bird had a completely unmarked 
breast- male?  It took off heading north last I saw. 

Several Song Sparrows back on territory there, and a flock of at least 100 Tree 
Swallows came over and left heading north along the shore.

John Greenly
Ludlowville
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[cayugabirds-l] Black-Bellied Plover Myers

2016-08-08 Thread John Greenly
A Black-Bellied Plover at Myers point  8:30 tonight, in mostly breeding 
plumage.  Ate 4 nice fat worms in 10 minutes… 

could be too full to fly away tonight?

John Greenly
Ludlowville



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[cayugabirds-l] Salt point Flicker, etc

2016-01-24 Thread John Greenly
A quiet walk around Salt Point at Myers today found the resident flock of a 
dozen or so E BLUEBIRDS at the north end of the meadow, along with a N FLICKER. 
 Along with the usual gulls and Mallards there was a small flock of C GOLDENEYE 
off the north shore. 

John Greenly
Ludlowville 
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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Loon watch and foy here

2015-11-15 Thread John Greenly
This is interesting. Taking another look at the map,  I see that birds 
diverging from the west shore of Cayuga above Taughannock would pass by 
Connecticut Hill  on a straight course toward the Chesapeake, and would 
converge with the Susquehanna at Sayre, Pa,  at its confluence with the Chemung 
River coming east from Corning. Might be interesting to have observers on Conn. 
Hill the next time there is a big flight.

As they go by us above Cayuga the birds are undoubtedly following the wind more 
than the water, and with a N wind there is a strong updraft generated up the 
hills westward from the lower part of the lake.  Maybe that's what they are 
using, to gain altitude.

--John Greenly


On Nov 15, 2015, at 8:20 AM, John and Sue Gregoire wrote:

> John, Meena,
> I was joking about following Rte 15 southbound! The majority of birds 
> yesterday were
> indeed flying on a line that would have taken them to Watkins Glen. Did they 
> turn?
> Where? Why?
> 
> These birds were at sufficient althitude to bring the rivers in view quickly 
> and the
> Bay within a very short time. Our old banding station on the Patuxent River 
> was at
> the same longitude as our current station between the lakes here.
> 
> I agree with a direct flight. The rivers only provide a sense of confidence 
> that, in
> case of an in-flight emnergency, a suitable divert field is available 
> throughout the
> journey south.
> 
> A few years ago some folks from the Maryland Orn. Soc. conducted a watch at Pt
> Lookout ( Md shore at confluence of the Potomac,Patuxent and the Bay). The 
> timing of
> touch downs there would coincide nicely with the flight times with tail wind 
> that we
> were discussing yesterday -about 5 hours.  All in all, much faster than we 
> can drive
> or sometimes fly IFR.
> 
> John
> -- 
> John and Sue Gregoire
> Field Ornithologists
> Kestrel Haven Avian Migration Observatory
> 5373 Fitzgerald Road
> Burdett,NY 14818-9626
> N 42 26.611' W 76 45.492'
> Website: http://www.empacc.net/~kestrelhaven/
> "Conserve and Create Habitat"
> 
> On Sat, November 14, 2015 21:00, John Greenly wrote:
>> Hi Meena and John
>> 
>> Have to chime in here, as the lake and I are rather good friends, from a few
>> thousand hours of rowing and sailing!  From Taughannock State Park it's 8 
>> miles on
>> the water to Stewart Park at the bottom end of the lake, and the west shore 
>> down
>> there (Hog Hole) is only 1.8 miles east of a direct southerly line from the 
>> shore at
>> Taughannock.  I don't know how you figured those large numbers of miles;  
>> below
>> Taughannock, around about Myers, the lake actually bends more southerly, not 
>> to the
>> east. On the other hand, Watkins Glen at the south end of Seneca Lake is 
>> about 17
>> miles WSW from Taughannock, a direction that would be just right if the 
>> Loons were
>> migrating to Pittsburgh.
>> 
>> I do wonder where they go from here though.  The Susquehanna takes an 
>> extremely
>> twisty course with a large easterly excursion in Pennsylvania, it would be
>> interesting to know whether they follow it or just go straight, which would 
>> save
>> hours of flight.
>> 
>> Cheers,
>> John Greenly
>> 
>> 
>> On Nov 14, 2015, at 6:42 PM, John Confer wrote:
>> 
>>> Hi Meena,
>>> 
>>> Good to see you at Taughannoch.
>>> 
>>>  John and Sue Gregoire and I thought that some of the big, loose flocks of 
>>> loons
>>> that were well north of the point we stood on at Taughannoch was far more 
>>> likely
>>> to take them over the southern tip of Seneca Lake than to the southern tip 
>>> of
>>> Cayuga  Lake. As I look at Google Earth, that seems a much more likely 
>>> location
>>> that they fly over over than the southern tip of Cayuga. Measured in 
>>> Google, it
>>> looks to me that the southern tip of Cayuga Lake is more than 10 miles east 
>>> of
>>> due south from the tip of Taughannock.
>>> 
>>> Cheers,
>>> 
>>> John
>>> 
>>> 
>>> From: bounce-119895794-25065...@list.cornell.edu
>>> <bounce-119895794-25065...@list.cornell.edu> on behalf of Meena Madhav 
>>> Haribal
>>> <m...@cornell.edu>
>>> Sent: Saturday, November 14, 2015 4:00 PM
>>> To: k...@empacc.net
>>> Cc: CAYUGABIRDS-L
>>> Subject: Re:[cayugabirds-l] Loon watch and foy here
>>> 
>>> John,
>>> I am not sure if they are following Susquehanna or

Re: [cayugabirds-l] Loon watch and foy here

2015-11-14 Thread John Greenly
Hi Meena and John

Have to chime in here, as the lake and I are rather good friends, from a few 
thousand hours of rowing and sailing!  From Taughannock State Park it's 8 miles 
on the water to Stewart Park at the bottom end of the lake, and the west shore 
down there (Hog Hole) is only 1.8 miles east of a direct southerly line from 
the shore at Taughannock.  I don't know how you figured those large numbers of 
miles;  below Taughannock, around about Myers, the lake actually bends more 
southerly, not to the east. On the other hand, Watkins Glen at the south end of 
Seneca Lake is about 17 miles WSW from Taughannock, a direction that would be 
just right if the Loons were migrating to Pittsburgh.  

I do wonder where they go from here though.  The Susquehanna takes an extremely 
twisty course with a large easterly excursion in Pennsylvania, it would be 
interesting to know whether they follow it or just go straight, which would 
save hours of flight.

Cheers,
John Greenly


On Nov 14, 2015, at 6:42 PM, John Confer wrote:

> Hi Meena,
> 
>  Good to see you at Taughannoch. 
> 
>   John and Sue Gregoire and I thought that some of the big, loose flocks of 
> loons that were well north of the point we stood on at Taughannoch was far 
> more likely to take them over the southern tip of Seneca Lake than to the 
> southern tip of Cayuga  Lake. As I look at Google Earth, that seems a much 
> more likely location that they fly over over than the southern tip of Cayuga. 
> Measured in Google, it looks to me that the southern tip of Cayuga Lake is 
> more than 10 miles east of due south from the tip of Taughannock.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> John
> 
> 
> From: bounce-119895794-25065...@list.cornell.edu 
> <bounce-119895794-25065...@list.cornell.edu> on behalf of Meena Madhav 
> Haribal <m...@cornell.edu>
> Sent: Saturday, November 14, 2015 4:00 PM
> To: k...@empacc.net
> Cc: CAYUGABIRDS-L
> Subject: Re:[cayugabirds-l] Loon watch and foy here
> 
> John,
> I am not sure if they are following Susquehanna or they are just taking a 
> direct route. If you look up on the map, it seems they can fly directly to 
> Chesapeake Bay in direct line, they don't need to follow Route 15 as we do.  
> Route 15 is at least 20 miles left to their target destination in our area. 
> Also, as I mentioned earlier the Cayuga Lake southern tip bends to east 
> substantially by about  4 or 5 miles to the east from Taughannock State park 
> if draw straight line south.  They know what they are doing!
> 
> Cheers
> Meena
> 
> Meena Haribal
> Ithaca NY 14850
> 42.429007,-76.47111
> http://www.haribal.org/
> http://meenaharibal.blogspot.com/
> Ithaca area moths: https://plus.google.com/118047473426099383469/posts
> Dragonfly book sample pages: http://www.haribal.org/dragonflies/samplebook.pdf
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> From: John and Sue Gregoire <k...@empacc.net>
> Sent: Saturday, November 14, 2015 3:03 PM
> To: Meena Madhav Haribal
> Cc: CAYUGABIRDS-L
> Subject: Re: Loon watch and foy here
> 
> Meena pls pass to Wes and Diane. Sue and I continued on to Seneca Lake where 
> we
> found no loons. In thinking about those high Southwestward flyers we believe 
> they
> had plenty of altitude to spot the Susquehanna and thus took a bit more 
> direct route
> down Rte 15! (runs alongside the river from Corning south).
> 
> At home we also had Fox Sparrow and our FOY American Tree Sparrow.
> 
> Terrific morning with good company!
> 
> John
> --
> John and Sue Gregoire
> Field Ornithologists
> Kestrel Haven Avian Migration Observatory
> 5373 Fitzgerald Road
> Burdett,NY 14818-9626
> N 42 26.611' W 76 45.492'
> Website: http://www.empacc.net/~kestrelhaven/
> "Conserve and Create Habitat"
> 
> On Sat, November 14, 2015 10:37, Meena Madhav Haribal wrote:
>> Hi all,
>> 
>> Today morning Loon Watch trip somebody seem to have lost the eye piece cap 
>> for Nikon
> 
> 
> 
> --
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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Screech owl and eclipse

2015-09-28 Thread John Greenly
Our local Screech Owls were calling continuously last night as the eclipse 
began, but they went silent as the moon dimmed into totality.  Coincidence??

John Greenly 
Ludlowville


On Sep 28, 2015, at 7:36 AM, M & K Mannella wrote:

> On both Saturday and Sunday morning we heard the whinny call of a screech owl 
> just before 6:am. Seems we are a stopping ground for screechies on the move 
> over the last three years-and just for a couple of days in the fall. 
> 
> While watching the eclipse from our driveway we had a super clear and 
> cloudless view. The Milky Way was bright and we saw two amazing shooting 
> stars. Gorgeous evening. 
> 
> Michele
> Interlaken
> --
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> www.bodyshopwellness.com
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[cayugabirds-l] heron near miss

2015-07-13 Thread John Greenly
I was out rowing on the lake last evening enjoying the quiet time after 
sunset, when the silence was shattered by a  GRRAAAWWWK followed 
instantly by two Great Blue Herons at eye level and so close that a set 
of primaries whooshed by within inches of my face. They had either 
failed to notice me crossing their flight path or miscalculated how fast 
I was going.


Wouldn't that be a spectacular way for a birder to go... skewered by a 
heron!  Much better than a falling coconut.


--John Greenly
Ludlowville



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[cayugabirds-l] Myers Black-crowned Night Heron

2015-07-07 Thread John Greenly
Yesterday evening at about 8:45 there was a juvenile Black-Crowned Night 
Heron  poking around on the Salt Point shore of the creek just about 
where the grassy gravel bar in the creek begins (as you come upstream 
from the lake).  I watched it until it flew up into a cottonwood on the 
Salt Point side- it may be roosting there.


John Greenly

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Re: [cayugabirds-l] New birds (for me anyway) at Salt Point.

2015-06-11 Thread John Greenly
yes, that Mockingbird is a virtuoso- when he's really geared up , so 
many songs go by so fast that it is bewildering.  And he doesn't only do 
the showy songsters, his Willow Flycatcher imitation is just about 
perfect!  But Marie knows him well, and his Wood Thrush isn't his best 
rendition.


--John

On 6/11/2015 11:40 AM, Gary Kohlenberg wrote:

I had to smile at you hesitance with the Wood Thrush because on May 9th I 
recorded a Northern Mockingbird at Salt Point singing the best series of 
imitations I've ever heard. I actually removed a couple birds from my eBird 
list when I watched the Mockingbird singing perfect renditions. He was doing 
better N. Cardinal songs than the nearby dueling Cardinal.
Gary



On Jun 11, 2015, at 9:47 AM, Marie P. Read m...@cornell.edu wrote:

Hi all,

I'm doing a photo project at Salt Point in Lansing, and have been there most 
mornings for several weeks. It's been interesting to see and hear the changes 
in avifauna and behavior as the breeding season progresses.

Especially interesting this morning were several new (to me) species:

Scarlet Tanager singing male. Finally a good view of a species I thought I saw 
here a couple of weeks ago.
Indigo Bunting singing male.
Biggest surprise was hearing a Wood Thrush singing from near the Osprey tower. 
Didn't see the bird, and only heard once...but unless there's a very good mimic 
in there somewhere, or someone else was doing playbacks, I'm going to count 
it...it's a pretty distinctive song...

Other delights:

Fledgling Baltimore Oriole
Cedar Waxwing pair building a nest.
A whole bevy of orioles, grackles, kingbirds mobbing a crow that (presumably) 
was threatening one of their nests in a cottonwood...
Osprey pair both on the nest, one feeding the other, presumably also feeding 
young—Candace Cornell confirmed yesterday morning that all three (yes?) eggs 
have now hatched. Let the Great Airlift of Fish begin!

On the downside:

The Common Merganser brood, that by Tuesday morning had shrunk from 15-16 to 8, 
was nowhere to be seen.
There was a lot of nasty, unphotogenic debris on the lake.
The high water in Salmon Creek has washed away one of the best log/waterfowl 
perches...PFFFAHHH!!!(Bird photographers have a different agenda...!)

Marie


Marie Read Wildlife Photography
452 Ringwood Road
Freeville NY  13068 USA

Phone  607-539-6608
e-mail   m...@cornell.edu

http://www.marieread.com

Author of Sierra Wings: Birds of the Mono Lake BasinAvailable here:

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[cayugabirds-l] Many Myers Loons, grebes

2015-04-11 Thread John Greenly
At 6:30 pm, at least 20 C. LOONS on the water off Myers, waiting out the N 
breeze.  Hard to count, diving actively.  Also at least a half-dozen Grebes, 
probably Horned-  didn't have a scope with me and they were far off.

Had 10 Loons in binoc view at once, bobbing on the waves, nice sight!

John Greenly
Ludlowville
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[cayugabirds-l] Gr Yellowlegs Myers

2015-04-07 Thread John Greenly
There was a single Greater Yellowlegs foraging at the mouth of Salmon Creek at 
Myers, on the Salt Point side, this morning at about 10 am.

--John Greenly
Ludlowville
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[cayugabirds-l] GB Heron Myers

2015-01-24 Thread John Greenly
I was surprised to see a Great Blue Heron at the edge of open water in the 
private marina at Myers this afternoon.  Unfortunately I surprised it, too-  it 
flew off eastward toward Ladoga as I was driving in the marina road.  

John Greenly
Ludlowville
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[cayugabirds-l] snow buntings Myers

2014-11-02 Thread John Greenly
Two SNOW BUNTINGS blowing around in the ferocious wind on the point at Myers, 
2pm.  

--John Greenly
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Re: [cayugabirds-l] dark red-tailed hawk

2014-06-16 Thread John Greenly
I have watched Zone-tailed in the SW, and they really do fly like Turkey 
Vultures.  Everything I can see in the third picture does look very consistent 
with Zone-tailed (except for one thing), but if you didn't notice the flight 
style, it probably isn't one.  The one thing is the shape of the wing trailing 
edge- it's a little bit bulged in the secondaries and somewhat pinched in at 
the body, whereas Zone-tailed usually looks very straight- see for instance the 
photo on the Wikipedia page of a Zone-tailed from almost the same perspective 
as your third picture.  Was the bird flapping when you took the second picture- 
I would expect more dihedral for soaring Zone-tailed. I absolutely agree about 
the first picture- the apparent color is false, due to out-of-focus chromatic 
aberration.

 If it's a B-wing, it's doing an amazing job of disguising itself: shape and 
proportions don't look right at all.  The tail banding pattern is very clearly 
visible, and not right for Red-shouldered. The sound of Zone-tailed call is 
more pure whistle- less screechy or scratchy- than Red-Tailed, but not so 
terribly different if you're not paying close attention.  But, would a 
solitary, lost Zone-tailed be likely to be calling at all?  

Interesting! But I'm definitely no expert.

--John Greenly


On Jun 16, 2014, at 10:22 AM, Gary Kohlenberg wrote:

 Ray,
 I think arguments could be made for a couple species / morphs based on the 
 backlit photos, and I have my opinion, but as you heard the bird call my bet 
 would be whatever the vocalization indicates. I don’t know if you are solid 
 on the calls, but to my ear the Broad-winged “p-s” and juvenile Red-tail 
 squeals can sound similar. Red-shouldered Hawks sound completely different 
 and the unlikely Zone-tailed even more so.
  
 Gary
  
  
 From: bounce-116290980-3493...@list.cornell.edu 
 [mailto:bounce-116290980-3493...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Dave Nutter
 Sent: Monday, June 16, 2014 4:32 AM
 To: CAYUGABIRDS-L
 Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] dark red-tailed hawk
  
 Good point about the primary barring showing at the molt. If the slaty color 
 of the wing linings and underside of the body  head is true, not just 
 reddish which appears so dark because it's dull, backlit, and distant (as our 
 usual Broad-wingeds appear gray instead of pink on the breast when high 
 overhead), then I must admit that Zone-tailed seems possible. I think 
 Red-shouldered, although darker than Broad-winged, shouldn't be so 
 extensively dark, either. I'm just not familiar enough with Zone-tailed to be 
 confident. 
 --Dave Nutter
 
 On Jun 15, 2014, at 11:28 PM, Rbakelaar rbakel...@aol.com wrote:
 
 The photos seem to demonstrate barring on the primaries, more so than I would 
 expect on even a dark phase Broad-wing.  The molted out feather allows this 
 characteristic to be seen somewhat well.  This bird's proportions seem to 
 weigh against B-wing too.  The wings seem long and narrow, with only a slight 
 bulge of the secondaries.  Tail seems long as we'll.  The photos also seem to 
 show a black body.
  
 Any of our resident experts care to weigh in?
  
 Ryan.
 
 Sent from my iPhone
 
 On Jun 15, 2014, at 10:57 PM, Dave Nutter nutter.d...@me.com wrote:
 
 I couldn't reconcile the red tail of photo 1 with the black and white stripes 
 of photo 3, even though I have seen various effects of looking through 
 backlit feathers. The reason I didn't say Red-shouldered Hawk is that the 
 white tail-band appeared too wide to me (but this may be a focus issue, or 
 may judgement may be wrong), and the white mark in the otherwise even-colored 
 primaries appears to me due to a molted missing feather on each side, not a 
 window across the primaries. The reason I said the only species of Buteo 
 around here is that Zone-tailed Hawk is way out of range, and also is less 
 familiar to me. My guess was that Zone-tailed would not look so pale on the 
 flight feathers of the wings. I am open to correction on all points.
 --Dave Nutter
 
 On Jun 15, 2014, at 08:28 PM, Sandy Podulka s...@cornell.edu wrote:
 
 As you know, I'm really just a beginner at hawks.. but...  What about a 
 Red-shouldered Hawk?  It's got the white windows and the banded tail. The 
 reddish appearance of the tail could just be sunlight shining through 
 brownish feathers, which can really play tricks on the eye. It seems like the 
 distribution of light and dark on the underside of the wings matches that of 
 Red-shouldered Hawk.
 
 Sandy
 
 At 08:09 PM 6/15/2014, Ann Mitchell wrote:
 
 I agree with Dave regarding a Broad-winged Hawk. Ann Mitchell
 
 Sent from my iPhone
 
 On Jun 15, 2014, at 5:28 PM, Dave Nutter nutter.d...@me.com wrote:
 
 
 I am NOT an authority on raptors, but that has never stopped me from 
 commenting before, so here's my guess: 
 
 I think the first blurry photo looks like a dark type of Red-tailed Hawk more 
 typically found out west. 
 
 I think the second and third photos

Re: [cayugabirds-l] dark red-tailed hawk (zone-tailed hawk?)

2014-06-16 Thread John Greenly
Ray, one question:  when you were observing through binocs, did you by any 
chance notice yellow feet, or see the feet clearly as showing up light-colored 
against the black undertail coverts?  A quite noticeable feature of Zone-tailed 
as I remember.  

--John


On Jun 16, 2014, at 1:10 PM, Ray Zimmerman wrote:

 Thanks everyone for the helpful discussion and sorry for my silence (busy 
 with life). Here’s a bit more information. First of all, I’ve added a few 
 more photos, of even worse quality :-/  Here’s an updated link …
 
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/nm25xfhyarydgxg/AAAvRHHfszKtNmiLRVoy-LYWa
 
 To recap, with a bit more detail. I first heard the bird vocalize, and to me 
 it sounded like a completely classical red-tail sound. I quickly located the 
 bird with my naked eye (90% sure it was the same bird). I did not see any 
 other raptors or TVs in the area. I stepped inside the garage to grab 
 binoculars from the car (15 secs or so), quickly relocated the bird and began 
 observing, still assuming “red-tail”. What I noticed first was the dark 
 underside. I observed through the binoculars for a few minutes before asking 
 my wife to go grab my son’s camera. As I continued watching, it vocalized 
 again. Up until this point, I was still certain it was an unusually dark 
 red-tail. I thought that I saw red on the upper side of the tail a few times, 
 but I’d put about 50% confidence on that statement.
 
 When my wife brought the camera, before I began taking pictures, my view of 
 the bird was blocked momentarily by some trees. When it emerged from behind 
 the trees I began snapping pictures. I’d say I’m at least 90% sure that the 
 bird I was observing through the binoculars, that I heard vocalizing, and the 
 one I got pictures of are the same bird. I’m 99% sure there was only 1 bird 
 in the area while I was snapping pictures. I.e. they are all of the same 
 bird, including the one that looks like the tail is reddish.
 
 I’ve seen broad-winged hawks (though not dark morph), and I’m nearly certain 
 it was not a broad-wing. The wings and tail seemed too long to me and the 
 shape and flight style just didn’t seem right either. The vocalization 
 sounded nothing like the recordings I’ve heard of broad-wings. I’ve never 
 seen a zone-tailed hawk, but that does seem to be the one that matches best 
 with what I saw. I don’t recall that I ever saw it flap, but I do remember 
 thinking that it held it’s wings in a slight V and that there was something 
 else about the way it flew that seemed “different” (helpful, right? I know). 
 The vocalization, however, sounded more classical red-tail than the 
 recordings I’ve heard of the zone-tailed hawk.
 
 Afterward, I was very sorry I didn’t have a better camera and that the 
 autofocus had done such a poor job on so many of my shots. I thought I’d 
 taken plenty that I’d have multiple good ones to help with the ID.
 
 Based on the comments and my own looking at photos, listening to sounds, etc. 
 I’m leaning pretty strongly toward zone-tailed hawk, but would love to hear 
 any further comments.
 
 Ray
 
 
 On Jun 16, 2014, at 11:32 AM, John Greenly j...@cornell.edu wrote:
 
 I have watched Zone-tailed in the SW, and they really do fly like Turkey 
 Vultures.  Everything I can see in the third picture does look very 
 consistent with Zone-tailed (except for one thing), but if you didn't notice 
 the flight style, it probably isn't one.  The one thing is the shape of the 
 wing trailing edge- it's a little bit bulged in the secondaries and somewhat 
 pinched in at the body, whereas Zone-tailed usually looks very straight- see 
 for instance the photo on the Wikipedia page of a Zone-tailed from almost 
 the same perspective as your third picture.  Was the bird flapping when you 
 took the second picture- I would expect more dihedral for soaring 
 Zone-tailed. I absolutely agree about the first picture- the apparent color 
 is false, due to out-of-focus chromatic aberration.
 
  If it's a B-wing, it's doing an amazing job of disguising itself: shape and 
 proportions don't look right at all.  The tail banding pattern is very 
 clearly visible, and not right for Red-shouldered. The sound of Zone-tailed 
 call is more pure whistle- less screechy or scratchy- than Red-Tailed, but 
 not so terribly different if you're not paying close attention.  But, would 
 a solitary, lost Zone-tailed be likely to be calling at all?  
 
 Interesting! But I'm definitely no expert.
 
 --John Greenly
 
 
 On Jun 16, 2014, at 10:22 AM, Gary Kohlenberg wrote:
 
 Ray,
 I think arguments could be made for a couple species / morphs based on the 
 backlit photos, and I have my opinion, but as you heard the bird call my 
 bet would be whatever the vocalization indicates. I don’t know if you are 
 solid on the calls, but to my ear the Broad-winged “p-s” and juvenile 
 Red-tail squeals can sound similar. Red-shouldered Hawks sound completely 
 different and the unlikely Zone

Re: [cayugabirds-l] dark red-tailed hawk (zone-tailed hawk?)

2014-06-16 Thread John Greenly

Nice Zone-tail photo, thanks!

this comparison nicely shows what I was trying to say about the straight 
trailing edge of Zone-tailed, no secondary bulge.  Also shows the 
Zone-tailed's light feet showing clearly against the dark undertail 
coverts.


Okay, I'll stick my neck out and say that even though the wing 
proportions look extreme, Ray's bird is a Broad-wing-- based on the 
second black band on the tail.  Now that Chris Dalton has enlarged the 
photo, I'm seeing that the second black band in from the tip is as wide 
as the first, while in Zone-tailed the second is in all pictures I have 
found, and in my memory, much narrower than the first.


...but why did it call like a Red-tail...?

cheers,
John Greenly

On 6/16/2014 3:02 PM, Christopher Dalton wrote:

Hi Cayuga birders,

I have been following the discussion with interest and enjoying the back
and forth. I have to admit, that my initial impressions were the same as
Dave Nutter's - I thought the first photo was a red-tail and the others
were of a backlit Broad-winged Hawk. I just thought the second bird
looked too pale to be a zone-tailed. Anyway, I quickly did a comparison
of this bird with the Zone-tailed Hawk photographed in similarly bad
light in MA last month, And one Broad-winged Hawk that I selected from
the internet to try, as much as possible, to match this bird. I've
posted this quick comparison here:
http://www.eeb.cornell.edu/dalton/HawkComparison.html

Of course, looking at just a photo or two is not nearly as good as the
observations of the birder in the field - which seem to be inconsistent
with at least a light morph of BW Hawk. But, based on the photos alone,
a few thoughts:

I don't get out birding much anymore, and I've only seen Zone-tailed
Hawk once before (and that was years ago), but I thought the wing shape
was OK for a BW Hawk, especially one that is clearly molting. Also, the
last time I was out birding locally (two weeks ago), I saw a BW Hawk
that looked a lot like this bird in terms of wing molt. Plus, in my read
on the photo, the bird appears to be getting lighter towards the vent,
which would be consistent with an adult BW Hawk. Finally, I thought the
light on the flight feathers on the wing was light coming through, not
the different pigmentation that occurs on ZT Hawks (is it pigmentation?
coloration? or is it more reflective? anyway...) .  In reviewing photos
of soaring raptors online, this translucent phenomenon seems to occur
much more with BW Hawk than ZT Hawk. That plus the less-translucent,
dark border to the wings would seem to be consistent with field marks
for BW Hawk.

Anyway, those are my two cents (which is worth considerably less,
especially compared to the many excellent birders on this list). But I
thought the comparison with the photo with another recent vagrant record
of this hawk would be useful for some or interesting if nothing else.
Looking forward to seeing if the group can resolve on an ID!

Cheers,
Chris Dalton
Ithaca, NY






On Mon, Jun 16, 2014 at 1:45 PM, Ray Zimmerman r...@cornell.edu
mailto:r...@cornell.edu wrote:

It is not something that I noticed, but I didn’t look for it
specifically either.

 Ray

On Jun 16, 2014, at 1:40 PM, John Greenly j...@cornell.edu
mailto:j...@cornell.edu wrote:


Ray, one question:  when you were observing through binocs, did
you by any chance notice yellow feet, or see the feet clearly as
showing up light-colored against the black undertail coverts?  A
quite noticeable feature of Zone-tailed as I remember.

--John


On Jun 16, 2014, at 1:10 PM, Ray Zimmerman wrote:


Thanks everyone for the helpful discussion and sorry for my
silence (busy with life). Here’s a bit more information. First of
all, I’ve added a few more photos, of even worse quality :-/
 Here’s an updated link …

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/nm25xfhyarydgxg/AAAvRHHfszKtNmiLRVoy-LYWa

To recap, with a bit more detail. I first heard the bird
vocalize, and to me it sounded like a completely classical
red-tail sound. I quickly located the bird with my naked eye (90%
sure it was the same bird). I did not see any other raptors or
TVs in the area. I stepped inside the garage to grab binoculars
from the car (15 secs or so), quickly relocated the bird and
began observing, still assuming “red-tail”. What I noticed first
was the dark underside. I observed through the binoculars for a
few minutes before asking my wife to go grab my son’s camera. As
I continued watching, it vocalized again. Up until this point, I
was still certain it was an unusually dark red-tail. I thought
that I saw red on the upper side of the tail a few times, but I’d
put about 50% confidence on that statement.

When my wife brought the camera, before I began taking pictures,
my view of the bird was blocked momentarily by some trees. When
it emerged from behind the trees I began snapping pictures. I’d

[cayugabirds-l] Black-billed Cuckoos

2014-06-04 Thread John Greenly
Following up on Geo's YB Cuckoo post,  I watched a pair of Black-Billed Cuckoos 
in the Salmon Creek sanctuary on Salmon Creek Rd.  The best encounter with 
Cuckoos I've probably ever had, lots of cavorting and vocalizing right overhead 
along the road, maybe two hundred yards past Brooks Hill Rd.  Nice to get such 
good looks at such handsome birds!

--John Greenly
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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Black-billed Cuckoos

2014-06-04 Thread John Greenly
Yes, Yellow-billed is what I usually hear there at Salmon Creek. I don't 
think I've had Black-Billed there before. I forgot to say- I saw the 
Black-Billed on Sunday morning. Geo's post reminded me I hadn't reported 
this.


--John


On 6/4/2014 10:22 AM, Jay McGowan wrote:

Interesting...just this morning, Livia and I had a calling
(kow...kow...) then nicely seen YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO in the Salmon Creek
Sanctuary right about where John described. Last evening around 5:00, a
Yellow-billed Cuckoo was giving a k'k'k'k'k,kowp song on the Wilson
Trail just north of the building here at Sapsucker Woods, and then Matt
Medler and I had two Yellow-billed Cuckoos foraging over the feeders
along the pond edge a few minutes later. Apart from these, I have heard
no other cuckoos in the daytime so far this spring. I did have an
excellent night flight last week though, with 39 Black-billed and 13
Yellow-billed Cuckoos vocalizing overhead over the course of a couple of
hours.




On Wed, Jun 4, 2014 at 10:12 AM, John Greenly j...@cornell.edu
mailto:j...@cornell.edu wrote:

Following up on Geo's YB Cuckoo post,  I watched a pair of
Black-Billed Cuckoos in the Salmon Creek sanctuary on Salmon Creek
Rd.  The best encounter with Cuckoos I've probably ever had, lots of
cavorting and vocalizing right overhead along the road, maybe two
hundred yards past Brooks Hill Rd.  Nice to get such good looks at
such handsome birds!

--John Greenly
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--
Jay McGowan
Macaulay Library
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
jw...@cornell.edu mailto:jw...@cornell.edu


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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Salmon Creek Bird Santuary

2014-06-04 Thread John Greenly
Yes, this is great news!! there have been none there for a number of 
years.  I've heard none up to now. Can you say exactly where your found 
them?


--John Greenly

On 6/4/2014 3:41 PM, Gary Kohlenberg wrote:

Cerulean Warblers are very good ! It seems they have been absent for a
while.
Gary

On Jun 4, 2014, at 2:52 PM, Carl Steckler nyleatherneck3...@gmail.com
mailto:nyleatherneck3...@gmail.com wrote:

Salmon creek bird sanctuary
Lpts of Baltimore Orioles a few Cerulear Warblers, no Cuckoos
Carl
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[cayugabirds-l] Robin ferocity- Salt Point

2014-05-26 Thread John Greenly
I was at Salt Point taking bad photos when I saw a chipmunk crossing the dirt 
road near its dead end at the concrete blocks on the North side.  The chippy 
was heading toward the base of the big scrubby juniper on the east side of the 
road, and suddenly out of the tree a Robin came streaking down, hit the chippy 
so hard it tumbled head over heels.  The bird chased it back into the brush 
across the road, with continuing scuffling sounds.  The Robin came back to the 
tree; the scene was repeated twice more in the next 5 min or so.  Finally the 
Robin began marching back and forth on the road like an armed guard in front of 
a palace, and thereafter no more sign of the chipmunk.  The attacks happened so 
fast that I failed to get a decent photo.  I think of chipmunks as pretty quick 
on their feet, but this one was no match for the Robin, it got nailed every 
time.  Needless to say, the Robin does have nestlings in that tree.  

Other birds to mention-

at least two singing Willow Flycatchers;  E. Kingbird seems to have moved in- I 
see one regularly; Mourning Warbler heard as Jay reported in the ravine across 
the tracks from the north end;  Green Heron on the creek;  at least two singing 
Yellow-throated Vireos-  one seen near the RR bridge; fly-over Wood Duck, 
heading for the creek upstream of the RR bridge.

--John Greenly
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[cayugabirds-l] Myers Gr. Yellowlegs

2014-05-07 Thread John Greenly
6 Greater Yellowlegs at 7 pm today at Myers, foraging around the gravel bar in 
Salmon Creek 50 yd or so up from the lake. 

--John Greenly
Ludlowville
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[cayugabirds-l] Carolina wrens

2014-03-01 Thread John Greenly
I always have a Carolina Wren singing all winter, and he makes part of his 
living by cleaning up the bits of suet on the ground under the feeder that the 
woodpeckers waste.  But for the last week I have had two Carolina Wrens coming 
together on suet cleanup duty.  My impression was that the males defend 
territories in the winter- hence all the singing-  but these two are not at all 
aggressive, often foraging within a foot of each other.  There are other males 
singing elsewhere in Ludlowville- is this just a truce at the feeding spot?  Or 
is it possible that the second bird is a female?   Do they stay around in the 
winter too?  I've never seen two together in the winter before.

--John Greenly
Ludlowville
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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Carolina wrens

2014-03-01 Thread John Greenly
Ah, I should have looked at the Lab's page on Carolina Wrens first:  says there 
they don't migrate at all and stay paired all year.  Funny I haven't noticed in 
the winter the countersinging they do all the time in the spring.  Alicia 
Plotkin tells me that hers do that in the winter too.  Anyway, my two must be a 
pair.  

--John


On Mar 1, 2014, at 12:58 PM, John Greenly wrote:

 I always have a Carolina Wren singing all winter, and he makes part of his 
 living by cleaning up the bits of suet on the ground under the feeder that 
 the woodpeckers waste.  But for the last week I have had two Carolina Wrens 
 coming together on suet cleanup duty.  My impression was that the males 
 defend territories in the winter- hence all the singing-  but these two are 
 not at all aggressive, often foraging within a foot of each other.  There are 
 other males singing elsewhere in Ludlowville- is this just a truce at the 
 feeding spot?  Or is it possible that the second bird is a female?   Do they 
 stay around in the winter too?  I've never seen two together in the winter 
 before.
 
 --John Greenly
 Ludlowville
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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Baltimore Oriole

2013-05-08 Thread John Greenly
I woke this morning to the sound of our Oriole back in the yard.  This is two 
days later than last year, and for the last ten years one has arrived between 
May 4 and 7.  

--John Greenly 
Ludlowville


On May 8, 2013, at 9:17 AM, Tom Vawter wrote:

 Our annual Baltimore oriole is once again foraging and singing in the tops of 
 our backyard ashes.
 
 Tom Vawter
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[cayugabirds-l] Osprey's stick tricks

2013-04-24 Thread John Greenly
I watched the Salt Point Ospreys for an hour this evening.  During heavy rain 
one landed repeatedly in the lake, apparently combining a shower from above 
with a bath.  The female perched on the box for long periods and the male 
approached several times, apparently with mating in mind, but the female always 
took off just as he got to hovering a foot or two above her.  For the last half 
hour the female stayed perched while the male brought sticks to the box.  This 
was rather spectacular: his collection method was to fly past a tree, grab the 
end of a branch in his talons as he went by, and try to break it off in flight. 
 He succeeded five or six times, and deposited the broken-off pieces, a foot or 
two long, in the nest.  He failed more times than he succeeded, including once 
when he got flipped upside down and backwards by a hefty branch that didn't 
break and snapped back before he could let go.  Interesting flying, to say the 
least.  The female sat and watched the whole show, not noticeably impressed.   
I assume this is must be the standard method of getting nice clean fresh 
sticks, but I didn't know about it and was amazed.

--John Greenly
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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Myers Point - Spotted Sandpiper

2012-11-09 Thread John Greenly

To all Cayugabirders,

Regarding Jay's post about the cutting on Salt Point (north side of the 
creek across from Myers park):


Our newly elected Lansing town board member Katrina Binkewicz has found 
out that the town highway dept has been directed to do extensive cutting 
on Salt Point.  We are moving fast to try to stop this and preserve the 
habitat, and we might need help from others who bird there, especially 
Lansing residents.  If we need to convince the town that this is 
valuable for wildlife, and for the people who go there to see birds, we 
might need you to come to a town board meeting.  If you would be willing 
to do this and help make the case for keeping good habitat there, please 
respond to me, NOT TO THE LIST, and I will contact you if there's an 
opportunity.  For now, it would not be productive to contact the town 
directly- we don't want to create a confrontational situation unless we 
really need to.


Many thanks,
John Greenly
Ludlowville

On 11/9/2012 10:14 AM, Jay McGowan wrote:

Myers was pretty cold and dull this morning, with very few waterfowl
migrating. Lots of gulls were on the spit but nothing out of the
ordinary (although on Tuesday I had a surprising *4* 1st-cycle Lesser
Black-backed Gulls with the other gulls on the spit!) The highlight
today was a very late juvenile SPOTTED SANDPIPER on one of the sandbar
islands in the creek mouth, along with a Killdeer (which I haven't seen
there in a while either.) Salt Point was unproductive, perhaps in part
because a great deal of the brushy habitat that often harbors lingering
warblers has recently been cut.

--
Jay McGowan
Macaulay Library
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
jw...@cornell.edu mailto:jw...@cornell.edu


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[cayugabirds-l] Orchard Orioles Salt Point

2012-05-12 Thread John Greenly
I watched a pair of ORCHARD ORIOLES foraging this evening at Salt Point.  Saw 
no clue as to nest site.  I watched the female vocalize once- she gave the 
typical whistled note that usually accompanies the chuck calls, and then two 
upslurred notes, something like: se shooee shooee.  The Male was not nearby 
at the time.  

John Greenly
Ludlowville
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[cayugabirds-l] Grouse psychology?

2012-04-13 Thread John Greenly
As I was driving along Ludlowville Rd along Salmon Creek just now,   I came 
upon a handsome Ruffed Grouse walking along the line in the middle of the road. 
 It stopped and watched me as I pulled up beside it.  Fearing for its safety I 
opened my door-  I could have reached out and grabbed it-  and suggested that 
it should fly away.  No result.  When I waved my arms at it and yelled, it 
finally flew off into the woods.  It looked nicely groomed and undamaged, and 
I'm thinking that it was just doing its Grouse thing of being invisible.  I've 
had experiences like this with Sharp-tailed Grouse on hiking trails out west, 
and several times with Spruce Grouse that walked calmly along trails in the 
White Mountains in NH;  once I literally stepped over one that was meandering 
slowly along, without spooking it.  Do they really think they are invisible, or 
what?  Never had this happen with a Ruffed Grouse before.  

--John Greenly
Ludlowville
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[cayugabirds-l] best gull toy

2012-03-02 Thread John Greenly
This morning at Myers a Herring Gull had found a rubber ball, and spent at 
least a half hour playing with it.The gull spent most of the time poking or 
pushing the ball with its bill, so the ball would roll away and then the gull 
would run after it and catch it. The gull also carried it up in the air a few 
times (it was just small enough to pick up), dropped it and tried to catch it 
as it bounced crazily on the stones of the bar at the mouth of the creek.  The 
best catch was a spectacular (lucky) one on the first bounce, about five feet 
in the air. The bird also dropped the ball once on a bunch of Ring-Billed Gulls 
in the water, scattering them-  they did not try to take it themselves, I think 
it may have been too big for them to pick up (it floated), but the Herring Gull 
was too tough to contend with anyway.  The bird's chief pleasure, though, 
seemed to be just poking at the ball and making it bounce and roll,  clearly 
something fascinating that is not within the repertoire of the sticks and 
stones that normally serve as gull toys.  

--John Greenly
Ludlowville
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[cayugabirds-l] TV flock

2012-01-18 Thread John Greenly
Around 2 pm as I was driving along Triphammer Rd in Cayuga Heights, a 
gang of TURKEY VULTURES rose suddenly out of the stand of pines along 
the W side of the road just a few hundred yards north of Community 
Corners.  There were about 30 birds-  hard to count through my 
windshield as they wheeled upward in a tight bunch. It looked as if they 
had been roosting and were flushed out by something. They headed off in 
a southwesterly direction.


--John Greenly

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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Petraglyph bird quiz: Are there any Finger lakes Native art preserved somewhere that I can visit?

2012-01-13 Thread John Greenly
Hi Meena,
Those people simply had other ideas than realistic depictions.  They were 
absolute masters of design, and they created some stunningly great art- have 
you ever seen the animals, birds, and fishes on Mimbres pottery? --some of the 
most wonderful creatures ever drawn anywhere.  Their images and designs had 
symbolic and religious meaning, they were not intended to be likenesses.  The 
hominid drawings were of spirits, not people.  You can still see some related 
forms today in Hopi, Zuni and Pueblo kachina masks.  Thanks very much for 
sharing these with us.

--John Greenly



On Jan 13, 2012, at 8:09 PM, Meena Haribal wrote:

 Hi All,
  
 I visited Three River Petraglyphs in New Mexico near Tularosa. I was 
 impressed by number of birds and animals they have drawn. I took lots of 
 pictures, but have uploaded a few on to my Picasa website. i invite you to 
 try identify the birds by their GISS. I have tried my luck and would love to 
 know what others think. You can comment on the Picasa page itself so others 
 can see. Great way to sharpen your skills and think of what could have been 
 found between 900 to 1400 AD.
  
 But I also thought this, during the same period, people in Eurasia had 
 mastered the art and had drawn and sculpted real life like likeness of 
 drawings. Some of the miniature painting from Rajasthan in Western India drew 
 minute birds with such details that with upside down binoculars when I looked 
 at them I could identify many of them to species level. So my question is why 
 these people had difficulty in drawing pictures of real likeness. Why was 
 their evolution so slow compared to people of the other parts of the world.
  
 But nevertheless, they were interested in their surroundings and nature.
  
 https://picasaweb.google.com/mharibal/ThreeRiverPetraglyphsOfNewMexico#
  
 Are there any Finger lakes art preserved somewhere that I can visit?
  
 Some of the hominid pictures in Three Rivers looked like that they were 
 drawing aliens! Very few drawings look like real human beings.
  
 Cheers
  Meena
  
 PS;For more information on Three Rivers here is site 
 http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/recreation/las_cruces/three_rivers.html
  
  
  
  
  
 Meena Haribal
 Ithaca NY 14850
 http://haribal.org/
 http://meenaharibal.blogspot.com/
  
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[cayugabirds-l] Myers Horned Grebes

2011-10-04 Thread John Greenly
A pair of very handsome winter-plumage HORNED GREBES off the point at Myers at 
7:45 am.  Otherwise, the usual suspects.

--John Greenly
Ludlowville
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[cayugabirds-l] SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER

2011-09-08 Thread John Greenly
The dregs of this tropical storm appear to have brought us more than 
rain-  I was just shown a very clear cell-phone photo of a 
SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER perched on a horizontal wire, said to have 
been taken just a few minutes ago on the grounds at Sterling House of 
Ithaca, which is on Bundy Rd just off 96, on the left on the way up to 
the hospital.  It is a retirement community, I don't know anything about 
the situation for public access.


--John Greenly

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Re: [cayugabirds-l] SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER

2011-09-08 Thread John Greenly
Ahah, a wydah??  cool indeed, but I think we can therefore safely rule out a 
scissor-tailed there too!!

Hmmm, so, the provenance of the photo I was shown  My friend said his wife 
took it and emailed it to him, but I bet she saw the bird,  tried to identify 
it and came up with the scissor-tailed photo on some website and sent it to 
him, and he misunderstood where it came from.  I'll see him again tomorrow and 
we'll find out for sure.

--John

 


On Sep 8, 2011, at 5:42 PM, Tim Lenz wrote:

 Didn't find a scissor tailed here but there is a wydah coming to the feeders, 
 I think a pin-tailed wydah.  Cool bird.
 
 On Thursday, September 8, 2011, John Greenly j...@cornell.edu wrote:
  The dregs of this tropical storm appear to have brought us more than rain-  
  I was just shown a very clear cell-phone photo of a SCISSOR-TAILED 
  FLYCATCHER perched on a horizontal wire, said to have been taken just a few 
  minutes ago on the grounds at Sterling House of Ithaca, which is on Bundy 
  Rd just off 96, on the left on the way up to the hospital.  It is a 
  retirement community, I don't know anything about the situation for public 
  access.
 
  --John Greenly
 
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 Cornell Lab of Ornithology


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[cayugabirds-l] Salmon Creek

2011-05-23 Thread John Greenly
A short listen to the chorus at the Salmon Creek FLLT preserve this 
morning revealed the usual breeding species, and no migrants- and no 
Ceruleans, as has sadly been the case for several years now. I did not 
hear Acadian Flycatcher, but did not go up the side ravines.


Scarlet Tanager
E wood-Pewee
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Veery (lots)
Wood Thrush (not enough)
Catbird (too many)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
all the usual woodpeckers
Yellow Warbler
Common Yellowthroat (tons)
MOURNING WARBLER- heard in the dense shrubbery on the right before 
Brooks Hill Rd- have had them there in other years)

Am Redstart (distant, down by the creek)
Cedar Waxwing (a gang)
B. Oriole (many)
C. Raven (breeding??? they are around regularly)

and probably others I have forgotten- I was just there for the overall 
musical effect- you want precision, ask somebody else... it was a 
beautiful, soft, singing morning.  Even with all those Catbirds.


--John Greenly
Ludlowville




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[cayugabirds-l] 3 Orchard Orioles Myers

2011-05-05 Thread John Greenly
Three ORCHARD ORIOLES singing in the sun today 7:30 am at Myers, two in same 
places as reported by David Nicosia yesterday: one in trees by the first house 
on left at the RR crossing to the park, and one on Salt Point (north side of 
the creek)  straight along the road after the RR.  The third was at the extreme 
north on Salt Point,  I could hear the two singing at once.  Could the other 
one from the park entrance have come over there-  don't know, but it was in the 
same place both before and after I saw/heard the two on Salt Point,  so I doubt 
it. 

John Greenly
Ludlowville
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[cayugabirds-l] SFO local trip

2011-04-17 Thread John Greenly
Some highlights from a fine morning with the SFO local trip.  From Monkey run 
south, where we found no new migrants but listened to songs of residents and 
watched the sun come out, we proceeded to Mount Pleasant, where we found cold 
WSW wind and no raptor movement at ~ 8:30 am.  The only passing traveler was a 
single DC CORMORANT flying high; there was a group of N FLICKERS that may have 
been migrants foraging for the morning, and we heard and saw a presumably local 
C RAVEN.  We stopped off at the game farm where a patch of sunshine beautifully 
lit a great demonstration of multiple RED-TAILED HAWKs' aerobatics in the 
strong wind.  A single distant BROAD-WINGED hawk went by heading north, but was 
seen only by the leader and not counted on our list. We next went down to 
Stewart Park where there were some SCAUP (L)  on the water along with 
BUFFLEHEADS, and (probably more than one, though not seen/heard simultaneously) 
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS around the swan pen.  Also great looks at many 
ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWs, flying and perched, along with the TREE and BARN SWs  
for comparison.   Also had great looks at a presumably newly-arrived migrant 
BROWN THRASHER foraging on the ground in front of the boathouse, along with 
HOODED MERGANSERS in the channel.  An OSPREY did a very dramatic low-altitude 
flyover, ending in a spectacular folded-wing acceleration down and out of view 
behind the boathouse.  We later watched it deconstruct a fish while perched in 
a tree across the channel.  Next stop was Burdick Hill Rd, where we heard but 
did not see an E MEADOWLARK, also E BLUEBIRD, KESTREL and a single (!) TURKEY.  
Finally we stopped at Comstock knoll and heard a couple of songs from a PINE 
WARBLER and RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES.  Back at the lab we picked up a FIELD 
SPARROW and FOX SPARROW, and a PIED-BILLED GREBE.  A 57 sp. morning,  thanks to 
all good observers!

--John Greenly
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[cayugabirds-l] Myers Osprey

2011-04-04 Thread John Greenly
As I drove up to the point at Myers at 7:40 this morning, an OSPREY was 
just rising from the water off the mouth of Salmon Creek with a nice 
fish in its talons.  A couple of Ring-billed Gulls (wishful thinking) 
made brief attempts at larceny.  A Black-backed might have had a chance. 
  The Osprey, with its wriggling prey, flew off to the south.  I'm sure 
the Osprey knows that the rainbow trout are massing at the mouths of the 
creeks right now, waiting for higher flow to make their spawning runs.


John Greenly
Ludlowville

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[cayugabirds-l] more Pipits-Myers

2011-03-23 Thread John Greenly
lots of Pipits blowing around down on the shore at Myers, and along the roads 
nearby too.

--John Greenly

Ludlowville
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[cayugabirds-l] strange duck adventure??

2011-01-26 Thread John Greenly
Today at lunchtime I took advantage of the balmy weather and went for a row on 
the lake.  A couple of miles north of Myers and about 100 feet from shore, I 
came upon a duck thrashing about rather feebly on the water.   It turned out to 
be a male Mallard and when I first rowed by, its neck appeared to be very 
awkwardly twisted backward over its shoulder and it was flailing around with 
one foot out of the water.  I wondered if it was tangled in fishing line or 
something and decided to approach and see if I could help.  I rowed right up to 
it, and by this time it had stopped moving.  It was floating with body upright, 
but its head and neck were laid out backwards and to one side, so that its head 
was upside down in the water, crown down and throat up.   No sign of 
entanglement.  I reached down and lifted its head, and its neck was totally 
limp and floppy.  As I lifted its head out of the water I saw that its eye was 
open, and as I raised its head up so its beak pointed upward it opened its 
mouth a bit but no sound came out.  Its neck was so floppy that I had a hard 
time getting it back into a normal position,  upright and facing forward.  But 
I did, and just then suddenly I felt its neck muscles come to life, I slowly 
let go- and it held its head straight!  It began to swim, slowly but in a nice 
straight line toward the shore.  I watched it, and it watched me with that 
suspicious sidelong duck look, as it swam away and finally climbed out of the 
water onto the shore, changing course slightly to walk up behind a rock where I 
could no longer see it.  I rowed away, not wanting to approach and stress it 
any more.  

What had happened??  I could see no sign of injury, the bird was well-preened, 
floated high and dry, and looked normally plump and thoroughly duck-shaped.  

What had happened?   I can still feel the strange sensation of holding up that 
absolutely limp neck, and then suddenly felt it come to life.  

John Greenly

Ludlowville




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[cayugabirds-l] LITTLE GULL

2010-10-14 Thread John Greenly
A first winter LITTLE GULL flew past Myers ( I think would have stopped there 
but a dog flushed the gulls off the spit just as it approached) at about 8 am 
this morning, heading south.  Might be worth a look at the south end of the 
lake.

--John Greenly
Ludlowville
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[cayugabirds-l] OOB Sandhill Crane

2010-05-31 Thread John Greenly
OOB- Seneca lake basin:  This morning Lisa, Sandy and Bill Podulka and I heard 
and then saw a single SANDHILL CRANE flying north over the Catherine creek 
marsh S. of Watkins Glen.

John Greenly
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[cayugabirds-l] Osprey 1, fishermen 0

2010-05-18 Thread John Greenly
Last Sunday evening I was at Myers  for about half an hour and observed two 
fishermen in kayaks flailing away fruitlessly at the water with their lures.  
They had just given up and were heading in to shore when an Osprey came gliding 
in behind them, made the standard spectacular dive, plucked out a fat fish, and 
flew away.  The fishermen didn't even see it. 

By the way, the Osprey made a big circle over Myers park and headed off in a 
southward direction with its catch.  I wonder where it was going.

--John Greenly
Ludlowville
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[cayugabirds-l] calling Loon

2010-04-30 Thread John Greenly
Early this morning I was rowing quietly along the east side of the lake 
a couple of miles N of Myers. All of a sudden I heard Loon calls close 
behind me, I stopped rowing and a COMMON LOON paddled by about 20 ft 
away, and called repeatedly for about 2 minutes while I sat still 
nearby. Wonderful sound- I could hear echoes coming back from the far 
side of the lake. Does anybody know whether such vocalizations have any 
significance as to migratory versus potential breeding? - I don't 
remember hearing anything like this continuous outpouring on the lake 
before.  I was very surprised that this bird paid no attention to me 
(unless the vocalization was a reaction to my approach?)  In many 
encounters with Loons on lakes in NH, VT and Maine, my experience has 
always been that they dive well before you come as close as I was this 
morning.  This bird just sat there, and finally I rowed away.


--John Greenly
Ludlowville

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[cayugabirds-l] raven's the bad guy

2010-04-21 Thread John Greenly
At noon today there was a nice thermal over my house in Ludlowville that 
a TURKEY VULTURE was circling in.  I heard a croak and looked up to see 
a RAVEN join the TV spiraling upward.  Shortly, one of our local 
RED-TAILED HAWKs joined in too.  Seconds later, a CROW appeared, and 
began ferociously dive-bombing the RAVEN, and ignoring the other two 
potential predators.  Soon three more CROWS joined the mob, and they all 
went after the RAVEN, one CROW doing some absolutely spectacular 
stoops, long nearly vertical dives with folded wings like a 
mini-peregrine.  The RAVEN turned upside-down several times to fend them 
off, but soon gave up and flew away fast.  The crows chased after, 
continuing to ignore the RED-TAIL and TV, who were still circling.


I am getting more suspicious that we have nesting RAVENS somewhere in 
the Salmon Creek valley.


John Greenly
Ludlowville

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[cayugabirds-l] RC Kinglet

2010-04-16 Thread John Greenly
I found a RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET dead on the ground outside the glassed stairway 
of Rhodes Hall on campus yesterday evening.  A sad end to migration for this 
one.  Look out for live ones!

John Greenly
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[cayugabirds-l] Montezuma tree swallow

2010-03-21 Thread John Greenly
Seems like someone must have reported one by now but I can't remember, so:

one TREE SWALLOW yesterday, over the pond on East Rd past May's point.


--John Greenly

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