Robin and I looked for the Danby Northern Shrike between 1:30 and 2 PM today without success. Possibly the stiff breeze and/or the time of day had caused the bird to seek cover. But we were delighted to have excellent views of a handsome male NORTHERN HARRIER as it flew low over the field with the hay bales, occasionally alighting briefly. In the vicinity of the intersection of E. Miller and Nelson, we also saw a distant corvid, which, based on its soaring, dipping flight behavior, large size, and a tail that at times looked longer and more wedge-shaped than a common crow’s, we tentatively identified as a COMMON RAVEN.
Lindsay Goodloe The Northern Shrike posted by Eric Banford is still around. I stopped at the intersection of E. Miller Rd and Nelson Rd just before 10 this morning to get some looks. As Eric posted, the bird is frequenting the tops of the round hay bales. I watched as it caught what appeared to be a caterpillar or worm-like larvae and flew to the top of a bale, where it flailed it's prey against the bale a few times before eating it. This bird is very cooperative, staying in one place for a few minutes at a time, so would be a good subject for photography. Previous sightings of shrikes for me have been only brief glimpses as the birds only popped into sight for moments before disappearing, so this was a great chance for me to note the field marks and observe its behavior. It seemed to prefer the second row of bales west of Nelson and north of E Miller (near second telephone pole S of the intersection), and also the few well aged bales on the south side of E Miller in line with those others. -- asher -Never play it the same way once. -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive <http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> 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 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/ --
