This morning Wes and I led the 5:30 group to Braddock Bay. A cold morning and light winds from the north foreshadowed a slow morning at the banding station. We were treated with a close encounter of a Peregrine in hot pursuit of an unidentified bird just over the car while cruising on the throughway and after the required stop at Tim Hortons, we reached the Banding Station. The morning was indeed slow though Ruby-crowned Kinglets were in abundance in the woods and the group also got to see a netted House Wren and Swamp Sparrow. A single large flock of Blue Jays was migrating very high above the station but in general migrants were sparse with only a handful of raptors. Several Sharp-shinned Hawks, a couple Cooper's Hawks, a single Broad-winged, several Turkey vultures and the highlight of the trip, at least for me, was a BLACK VULTURE seen from the hawkwatch at Braddock Bay State Park. I first saw the bird just after we stepped from the cars, low and heading east and several folks were able to get brief looks. A few minutes later, i spotted the same? bird higher and to the south, heading south-west. Keep an eye out tomorrow.
Other good sightings were a breeding plumage Horned Grebe, several Long-tailed Ducks and a number of Red-breasted Mergansers. All in all a good day considering the cold weather. Cheers, Jeff -- Jeff Gerbracht Lead Application Developer Neotropical Birds, Breeding Bird Atlas, eBird Cornell Lab of Ornithology 607-254-2117 -- 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/ --