Re:[cayugabirds-l] Goldfinches molting in mid-January?
On a recommendation I looked at Macaulay’s winter photos and saw plenty of variety but no sense of whether the sample is biased for or against molting birds. Then I recalled I own a reference, a bander’s ID guide. For American Goldfinch it says: “Continuous, limited molting occurs throughout the winter.” Wild. Learn something new... Still, is this generally known among feeder watchers? So much to learn. It’s fun being able to recognize individual birds. Spock was back today. - - Dave Nutter > On Jan 15, 2021, at 2:21 PM, Dave Nutter wrote: > > For the last 10 months I have sharply curtailed my travel, both on account of > the pandemic and to eliminate my birding carbon footprint. Meanwhile I have > been paying closer attention to feeder birds than ever before. Maybe other > folks who have longer experience carefully noting who comes to their feeders > can answer me this: > > Is it unusual to have male American Goldfinches already beginning to molt > into breeding plumage in the middle of January? Yesterday I noticed at least > 2 with black speckles appearing on their foreheads, and one of those even has > a single bright yellow arched eyebrow, like a tiny quizzical Mr. Spock. I > noticed these birds at a time when I also had a new maximum number of > American Goldfinches, so I guess it’s possible that it’s these individual > birds’ presence rather than their plumage that has changed. So, my > alternative question is: Have other feeder watchers seen male American > Goldfinches retaining black speckles on the forehead or asymmetrical bright > yellow patches beyond the typical autumn molt time and into the winter? > > Thanks. > > - - Dave Nutter -- 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/ --
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Goldfinches molting in mid-January?
Some of mine are similar but my impression without photo documentation is that some never fully lost yellow patches or black flecks. Sent from my iPhone > On Jan 15, 2021, at 5:18 PM, Dave Nutter wrote: > > On a recommendation I looked at Macaulay’s winter photos and saw plenty of > variety but no sense of whether the sample is biased for or against molting > birds. Then I recalled I own a reference, a bander’s ID guide. For American > Goldfinch it says: “Continuous, limited molting occurs throughout the > winter.” Wild. Learn something new... Still, is this generally known among > feeder watchers? So much to learn. > > It’s fun being able to recognize individual birds. Spock was back today. > > - - Dave Nutter > >> On Jan 15, 2021, at 2:21 PM, Dave Nutter wrote: >> >> For the last 10 months I have sharply curtailed my travel, both on account >> of the pandemic and to eliminate my birding carbon footprint. Meanwhile I >> have been paying closer attention to feeder birds than ever before. Maybe >> other folks who have longer experience carefully noting who comes to their >> feeders can answer me this: >> >> Is it unusual to have male American Goldfinches already beginning to molt >> into breeding plumage in the middle of January? Yesterday I noticed at least >> 2 with black speckles appearing on their foreheads, and one of those even >> has a single bright yellow arched eyebrow, like a tiny quizzical Mr. Spock. >> I noticed these birds at a time when I also had a new maximum number of >> American Goldfinches, so I guess it’s possible that it’s these individual >> birds’ presence rather than their plumage that has changed. So, my >> alternative question is: Have other feeder watchers seen male American >> Goldfinches retaining black speckles on the forehead or asymmetrical bright >> yellow patches beyond the typical autumn molt time and into the winter? >> >> Thanks. >> >> - - Dave Nutter > > -- > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics > Rules and Information > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > Archives: > The Mail Archive > Surfbirds > BirdingOnThe.Net > Please submit your observations to 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/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Multitude of snow geese at Fenner Rd
Hi everyone, After seeing eBird reports yesterday, I went to check out a flock of snow geese at Fenner Rd, which is near Milligan Station but on the east side of Rt 34B. There are literally thousands of snow geese in the fields north of Fenner Rd, mostly white morph but a few blue morphs mixed in. I didn't see any Ross' geese but I couldn't reliably scan such a huge flock. If anyone wants to try their luck or wants to tally large numbers of birds at once, it is quite a neat sight to see. I guessed 5,000 geese but will gladly revise this number if there are folks who can judge better from the photos on my eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S79275460 Cheers, Kevin Kevin C Packard 364 Ives Hall East Department of Social Statistics, ILR School Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 607-255-5381 -- 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/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Goldfinches molting in mid-January?
For the last 10 months I have sharply curtailed my travel, both on account of the pandemic and to eliminate my birding carbon footprint. Meanwhile I have been paying closer attention to feeder birds than ever before. Maybe other folks who have longer experience carefully noting who comes to their feeders can answer me this: Is it unusual to have male American Goldfinches already beginning to molt into breeding plumage in the middle of January? Yesterday I noticed at least 2 with black speckles appearing on their foreheads, and one of those even has a single bright yellow arched eyebrow, like a tiny quizzical Mr. Spock. I noticed these birds at a time when I also had a new maximum number of American Goldfinches, so I guess it’s possible that it’s these individual birds’ presence rather than their plumage that has changed. So, my alternative question is: Have other feeder watchers seen male American Goldfinches retaining black speckles on the forehead or asymmetrical bright yellow patches beyond the typical autumn molt time and into the winter? Thanks. - - Dave Nutter -- 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/ --
