While driving back to Lansing from Canada/Rochester yesterday/Friday, I saw a graceful male NORTHERN HARRIER on Rt. 90, south of Cayuga, opposite the Gorwydd housing development on lake.
Then on Long Pt. Rd., near south curve near lakefront, I saw at least 5 E. BLUEBIRDS. Saw 4 males at one time, plus 1 female. May have been more females but didn't see all at once. They were feeding down in long grass/weeds and flying back up into nearby trees. Got some lousy photos. Also JUNCOS at roadside eating grit/salt. Driving East up the hill towards the Long Point winery, I spotted at least 3 NORTHERN HARRIERS, 2 females, 1 male. The male and the nearby female seemed to be interacting with each other. This was about 12:30 PM. Then back on Rt. 90 heading south, in field across from Aurora Shoe Co., I spotted a largish brown bird on ground, so turned around and parked in shoe co. driveway. It was a female NORTHERN HARRIER eating a dark rodent! Got some lousy photos of her, including her taking flight and flying north. Since this area is close to Long Pt. Rd. and the winery fields, I suppose this one could have been one of the females I saw there, but not sure. Things were quiet, snowy, and VERY COLD ( - 18 dgrs F ) in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, this past week, but sister Lynn and I did see charming GRAY JAYS and at least one BOREAL CHICKADEE (at Spruce Bog feeders), as well as 6-8 COMMON REDPOLLS, 1 HOARY REDPOLL, and several RAVENS, along with BC CHICKADEES, BLUE JAYS, HAIRY & DOWNY WOODPECKERS and WHITE- & RED- BREASTED NUTHATCHES. Also a RUFFED GROUSE by the Visitor Center feeders. Up there we do NOT see Tufted Titmouse or No. Cardinal. Driving to and from Canada thru a couple veritable blizzards was challenging. 2/3 of the trip is spent driving around Lake Ontario, hence a lot of lake effect snow and white outs! Algonquin Prov. Park is straight north from Rochester (Fairport), where Lynn lives. We always regret we can't "fly" the car across the Great Lake there and save a lot of time! Donna Donna L. Scott Lansing Station Road Lansing, NY 14882 d...@cornell.edu <mailto:d...@cornell.edu> -- 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/ --
