[cayugabirds-l] Montezuma and Cayuga Lake Monday Nov 2nd, 2009
Took a trip to Montezuma today via the west side of Cayuga Lake on the way up and down the east side on my way back. Below are my notes from the trip... Treman Park (on the canal where the rowing teams practice)- 24 BRANT Lower Lake Road- not much, just several flocks of BLACK DUCKS, and RING-BILLED and HERRING GULLS. Montezuma NWR Visitor's Center- 10-12 DUNLIN, several LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS and 4 BONAPARTE'S GULLS (winter plumage) amid a flock of RING-BILLED GULLS. They were pretty close to the observing deck which afforded great close-up views through bins and scope. also present at the visitor's center were hoardes of CANADA GEESE, 10-12 GREEN-WINGED TEAL, several PINTAIL, 2 AMERICAN WIDGEON, and NORTHERN SHOVELER. There were the usual NORTHERN HARRIERS flying low over the nearby reeds and I just missed an adult BALD EAGLE according to some folks that had been there before I arrived. Montezuma Wildlife Drive- I estimate thousands of waterfowl with RING-BILLED DUCKS being the most numerous (besides the CANADA GEESE!) with PINTAIL second. I did not attempt to count them! There were also several to dozens of CANVASBACK, SCAUP(believe they were lessors), REDHEAD, RUDDY DUCK, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, AMERICAN WIDGEON, GADWALL, MALLARD, BLACK DUCK, PIED-BILLED GREBE, and AMERICAN COOT. At the bend of wildlife drive near the new mudflat area, there was ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK perched in a willow tree. Tschache Pool- dozens of AMERICAN WIDGEON (could not find EURASIAN), 10-20 GADWALL, 1 female BUFFLEHEAD, several RING-NECKED DUCK, several PIED BILLED GREBE, and only 1 DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT. Knox-Marcellus Marsh on East Road- 14 SANDHILL CRANES!! they were on the edge of the water on the side nearest to East road which afforded great views through the scope and even with 10X bins. Of course, I forgot my camera. So a wonderful digi-scoping opportunity was lost!! There were also several thousand SNOW and CANADA GEESE and other typical waterfowl mixed in(AMERICAN WIDGEON, MALLARD, BLACK DUCK etc). On the way home...stopped at Aurora and from the swimming platform across from Wells College saw 5 COMMON LOONS out over the middle of the lake. There were also scores of CANADA GEESE with MALLARD, and RING-NECKED DUCKS mixed in. At Long Point State Park- highlight of day for me was about 25 BLACK SCOTERS. They were pretty far out in the middle of the lake but scope-able. There were also several COMMON LOONS. Ran out of time as darkness comes early now, so didn't get to Stewart Park or Myer's. Maybe next time! Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES Archives: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Cooperative Short-Eared Owl
My wife and I got a great look at a short-eared owl from Route 31 near the potato building in the mucklands, Savannah, NY today (Sunday 1/10). The bird was perched on a guard rail and remained for quite some time! Got a nice photo... link is below. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4069/4264161150_03360d056d_b.jpg Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES Archives: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Cooperative Short-Eared Owl
It was a digiscoped image using my Swarovski ATM-65 HD spotting scope and just a simple Kodak digital camera. Not the best camera...but it works. I did use a camera mount on my scope which helped steady the image and I varied the lighting from 0.0 to 2.0 taking many shots. The one I posted was the best one. I was probably about 10-20 yards away from the bird. He was only moving his head looking at the traffic whizz by and also at me at times. He was very tame and easy to photo. The time of day was near noon. From: Eben McLane ebenmcl...@clarityconnect.com To: david nicosia daven1...@yahoo.com Sent: Sun, January 10, 2010 6:55:27 PM Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Cooperative Short-Eared Owl Dave, that's a wonderful image. I'm curious about what camera you used and what settings you used and how far away from the owl you were. What's great about the image, to me, is the clear focus on the owl's eyes, and I'd like to hear how you took the picture. Eben McLane On Jan 10, 2010, at 6:01 PM, david nicosia wrote: My wife and I got a great look at a short-eared owl from Route 31 near the potato building in the mucklands, Savannah, NY today (Sunday 1/10). The bird was perched on a guard rail and remained for quite some time! Got a nice photo... link is below. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4069/4264161150_03360d056d_b.jpg Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES Archives: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Around Cayuga Lake Today 3/11
Tremendous day around Cayuga Lake. Started at Stewart Park at 8 am. had the following: many bufflehead, few hooded merganser, several common merganser, wood duck, several american widgeon, two dozen or so green-winged teal, many canada geese, mallards, few black duck, many common goldeneye, ring-billed, herring and great black-backed gull. also had song sparrow, carolina wren, brown-headed cowbird, downy woodpecker among others. Myer's Point- not much. 2 american pipits on gravel bar. Long Point State Park - 3 common loons. several common goldeneye and bufflehead. Aurora Boathouse- 2 horned grebes, many snow geese and canadas. Factory Street Pond- no screech owl today. nice pair of gadwall close up. also bufflehead. Mud Lock and northeast end of Cayuga Lake- thousands upon thousands of snow and canada geese, along with dozens of tundra swans. also many redheads, lessor/greater scaup, ring-necked ducks, canvasbacks, bufflehead, common goldeneye,common mergansers, and mallard/black ducks. had a belted kingsfisher while watching pair of adult bald eagles at mud lock. From East Road at Knox-Marcellis Marsh, saw thousands and thousands of snow geese. the fields all around east road to the savannah muckllands were white with snows. also had many pintail, ring-necked ducks, american widgeon, along with canada geese from east road . At the Savannah Mucklands from the potato building had probably 100 to 200 hundred thousand snow geese. also heard horned lark singing. there were also waterfowl mixed in with the geese including many pintail, ring-necked ducks, mallards, and black duck. the snows took off and it was a spectacle. there was also a fair number of tundra swans in this area. On the way back along Lower Lake road west side of Cayuga Lake, there was another very very large raft of snow geese probably another 100,000 or more.In addition, there were hundreds of redheads, lesser/greater scaup, ring-necked ducks, canvasback, bufflehead, american widgeon, and gulls. The shear numbers were very impressive. definitively worth the trip!! Total species for day was 57. E-bird list for trip below. All the larger numbers below are very rough estimates Snow Goose - Chen caerulescens 25 Canada Goose - Branta canadensis 25000 Tundra Swan - Cygnus columbianus 150 Wood Duck - Aix sponsa 2 Gadwall - Anas strepera 2 American Wigeon - Anas americana 45 American Black Duck - Anas rubripes 25 Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos 100 Northern Pintail - Anas acuta 75 Green-winged Teal - Anas crecca 25 Canvasback - Aythya valisineria 150 Redhead - Aythya americana 3000 Ring-necked Duck - Aythya collaris 100 Greater Scaup - Aythya marila 1 Greater/Lessor Scaup - many Lesser Scaup - Aythya affinis 100 Bufflehead - Bucephala albeola 30 Common Goldeneye - Bucephala clangula 100 Hooded Merganser - Lophodytes cucullatus 4 Common Merganser - Mergus merganser 10 Common Loon - Gavia immer 3 Horned Grebe - Podiceps auritus 2 Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura 15 Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus 6 Sharp-shinned Hawk - Accipiter striatus 1 Cooper's Hawk - Accipiter cooperii 1 Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis 6 American Kestrel - Falco sparverius 1 Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus 12 Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis 200 Herring Gull - Larus argentatus 50 Great Black-backed Gull - Larus marinus 20 Rock Pigeon - Columba livia 50 Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura 20 Belted Kingfisher - Megaceryle alcyon 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus 1 Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens 2 Northern Flicker - Colaptes auratus 1 Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata 7 American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos 50 Horned Lark - Eremophila alpestris 5 Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus 6 Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor 3 White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis 2 Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus 2 Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis 1 American Robin - Turdus migratorius 25 European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris 500 American Pipit - Anthus rubescens 2 Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia 2 White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis 2 Dark-eyed Junco - Junco hyemalis 10 Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis 4 Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus 35 Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula 100 Brown-headed Cowbird - Molothrus ater 2 House Finch - Carpodacus mexicanus 4 House Sparrow - Passer domesticus 1 Dave Nicosia -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird:
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Western Grebe at Chimney Bluffs, 4PM Wends.
All, I am planning a trip up to Lake Ontario this Saturday with my wife. I will be stopping by Chimney Bluffs in the hopes of seeing the Western Grebe. I also heard that there are many other great spots up there for other birds. Does anyone have any suggestions on locations in that general area around lake ontario? Please email me at daven1...@yahoo.com if you have any suggestions. The weather is going to be awesome on Saturdayupper 60s and sun. Thanks so much Good birding to all! Dave Nicosia From: James G. Kohlenberg jg...@cornell.edu To: CAYUGABIRDS-L@cornell.edu CAYUGABIRDS-L@cornell.edu Sent: Wed, March 17, 2010 9:31:37 PM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Western Grebe at Chimney Bluffs, 4PM Wends. With beautiful calm, sunny weather I was able to find the Western Grebe this afternoon, Wednesday, at 4 PM. It was straight out from the parking area, swimming, snoozing and preening. Over about an hour it swam leisurely west until it was behind the bluff. I was able to pick it up again by scanning from the State Park shore. I noticed a couple things; it doesn't associate with the Red-necked Grebes at all. Once when crossing paths with another Grebe it dove and swam underneath to avoid a close encounter. Many times it looked like it had something trailing behind like a tail extension, but was only dragging a leg. I've seen other birds stretch their legs, but this guy seemed to do in constantly mostly the right leg. Sometimes he would windmill his leg around the side of his body. I don't think anything was wrong, maybe it just felt good. When past the bluff toward the State Park he resumed actively feeding, diving about every 30 seconds and staying down about 20 seconds each time. He came up with a fish on very many of those dives. This lasted about 1/2 hour. He then resumed swimming out to the northwest in a straight line, but not diving anymore. He must have been full. When I left at 6 PM he was still visible in the scope. Gary Kohlenberg -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Armitage Road Today 4/2 - Pectoral Sandpipers continue.
My wife and I took a trip up to Armitage road this afternoon. We saw 9 pectoral sandpipers and a lone dunlin that have been found by others. The shorebirds were found on the north side of the road very close to the dike, initially,where they were tough to see from Armitage. Eventually they came out some and were fairly close to the road and easy to see. The dunlin (non-breeding plumage) was the odd bird in this group with a different posture and droopy/longer bill. In addition, found what I believe was a bonaparte's gull in the middle of the same field close to the shorebirds. The head pattern looked like bonaparte's to me. However, this bird had what seemed to be red (not pink) legs. Ran into Stuart Krasnoff who took some pictures and video of this bird. Maybe it was the lighting that contributed to the redness of this bird's legs?? There were also several greater yellowlegs, tons of green-winged teals, several shovelers, killdeer, and mallards. Also got great views of the adult bald eagles by the nest. Made a quick stop at Tschache Pool as it was getting late with poor lightning. Saw loads of american widgeon and gadwall. Also had a pair of hooded merganser, several common merganser and a ring-necked duck. Wish we had more time and light as there were a lot of birds at Tschache. May's Point also seemed to have quite a bit of waterfowl as well. On the way back, we counted 3 osprey each on a nest on Route 20 with another bird soaring. Near Lansing, saw a short-eared owl flying near the Intersection of Route 34 (Ridge Road) and Algerine Road before sunset. The bird flew into the pine trees that are near the intersection. Dave Nicosia -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Birding Tompkins County Today
I had a couple hours to kill today in the Ithaca area so I got a little birding in. Highlights: CERULEAN WARBLER singing in Jetty Woods. Also present were several AMERICAN REDSTARTS, BALTIMORE ORIOLES, WARBLING VIREOS, and 1 YELLOW-THROATED VIREO. At Stewart Park, nothing out of the ordinary. There was 1 DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT perched on the red lighthouse. also had a pair of COMMON MERGANSERS. At Myer's point, no unusual gulls found. I did get 1 COMMON TERN migrating up the lake. There were 2 SPOTTER SANDPIPERS on the spit, and many many swallows migrating (mostly BARN with some TREE and a few ROUGH-WINGED). I also found 1 COMMON LOON in breeding plumage out in the middle of the lake. On the way up to Ithaca, I saw a flying GREEN HERON as I was driving on route 79 in Caroline. Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] ABA Website Devoted to the Oil Spill's effect on Birdlife
This is an almost daily blog that covers the impacts on bird life due to the massive oil spill in the Gulf. Caution: It can be really sad and depressing! http://birding.typepad.com/gulf/ Dave Nicosia -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Montezuma Shorebirds Monday 7/26/10
The shorebird concentration continues in Knox-Marcellus Marsh. Birds were seen best from Towpath Road with favorable lighting. Most of the shorebirds today were found in the first impoundment on Towpath. Got at least 6 STILT SANDPIPERS, and 6 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS. There were 3 DOWITCHERS that were larger than the others and more rufous underneath - prairie race or LONG-BILLED? The birds were not molting yet so probably prairie race of SHORT-BILLED? Tough call. Also SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER (many), LEAST SANDPIPER (many), LESSER YELLOWLEGS (many), GREATER YELLOWLEGS(few), 1 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER (among semi-s, noticeably bigger, primary projection past tail, the bird also flew and displayed white on the rump!!), SPOTTED SANDPIPERS (many), KILLDEER(many), and 1 SEMIPALMATED PLOVER. I counted at least 29 CASPIAN TERNS loafing on a gravel bar in the middle of the impoundment. (I took some distant digiscoped photos which came out fair. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/4831672353/ ) There were also 4 BLACK TERNS coursing over the marsh 1 adult breeding plumage, 1 molting adult, and 2 non-breeding or juvenile plumage. There were also probably 200+ GREAT BLUE HERONS, 2 GREAT EGRETS, and several COMMON MOORHEN. I also got great views and photos of a family of TRUMPETER SWANS http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/4832280706/ There were the usual BALD EAGLES cruising around and also on the ground, mostly 1st and 2nd year birds with 1 sub-adult 3rd or 4th year bird. Also had OSPREY, TV and RED-TAILED HAWK. Among the waterfowl that I observed, there were several GREEN-WINGED TEAL, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, GADWALL, MALLARD, WOOD DUCKS, and BLACK DUCK. There were many YELLOW WARBLERS, several COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, many GRAY CATBIRDS, 1 EASTERN PHEOBE and 1 WILLOW FLYCATCHER. Also heard BALTIMORE ORIOLE, VEERY, INDIGO BUNTING and ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. From East Road, I saw the resident SNOW GOOSE. At May's Point, there were several families of PIED BILLED GREBES, and 1 family of COMMON MOORHENS right by the viewing platform. Also had flyover CASPIAN TERNS. All in all, a great day. Temperatures were in the 70s, low humidity and enough of a breeze to keep the insects off. Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Montezuma Sat 8/7
Went to Knox-Marcellus Marsh with my friend Dan Watkins this morning. We birded Towpath Road from 9 to 11 am. The shorebird concentrations continue. Unfortunately most of the birds today were far away and not easy to see, especially with some heat shimmer. There was probably much more there that we just did not see. The LESSER YELLOWLEGS continue to be extremely plentiful as they were almost everywhere. The were a few GREATER YELLOWLEGS at times. LEAST SANDPIPER were also plentiful with a handfull of SEMIPALMATED and PECTORAL SANDPIPERS. SPOTTER SANDPIPERS were also plentiful. We saw the 4 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS that were seen last evening. All were still in breeding plumage. There was numerous SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS and KILLDEER. I saw a few small flocks of DOWITCHERS way out. I presume they were SHORT-BILLED. There continues to be a very large concentration of GREAT BLUE HERON. We also had one GREEN HERON. No egrets here this morning. We had 6-8 BALD EAGLES, 1 adult and 1 immature that were siting on branch near the road. See http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/4869209775/ for photos. CASPIAN TERNS were also very numerous with over 20 estimated loafing among many RING-BILLED GULLS. COMMON MOORHEN were also fairly common here and there. There was the same family group of TRUMPETER SWANS of a couple weeks ago as well as many DOUBLE-CREST CORMORANTS. We had several NORTHERN SHOVELER, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, MALLARD and WOOD DUCK. The lone SNOW GOOSE continues among the many CANADAs. Also had many many swallows...mostly TREE and BANK with some BARN and a few ROUGH-WINGED. We did not get any STILT SANDPIPERS or the WILSON's PHALAROPE but they certainly could be out there somewhere as again there were many many birds out of range. One thing I noticed was the water levels were down since a couple weeks ago. Deeper water is found much farther out now. We tried East Road for a little while but the lighting was very poor. Van Dyne Sporer Road was quiet except for a flock of RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS and several COMMON MOORHEN. Also ran into a flock of swallows on the wire. They were equally split between TREE and BANK SWALLOWS. At May's Point, we ran into a bunch of CEDAR WAXWINGs in the dead trees where they put on a nice show. Also had 2 GREAT EGRETs, PIED-BILLED GREBE and COMMON MOORHEN. At Tschache Pool we had the most unusual bird of the day. 1 lone HORNED GREBE was found a ways out. This grebe clearly had white on its face and was close in size to the PIED-BILLED. We also saw some PIED-BILLED GREBE to compare with. There was also BALD EAGLE, CASPIAN TERNS, DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTs, TRUMPETER SWANs. and DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT. Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Loggerhead Shrike Binghamton NY
I meant TUESDAY morning at 9 am. not Wednesday. sorry too much excitement here. From: david nicosia daven1...@yahoo.com To: Cayugabirds-L@cornell.edu Cc: Dan Watkins ezbird...@aol.com Sent: Mon, August 16, 2010 12:23:10 PM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Loggerhead Shrike Binghamton NY All, A LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE was found Friday August 13th on private property in the Binghamton area by Dan Watkins. The bird was refound on Saturday and also today so it has been around for a few days. The bird was actively feeding from the wires and very cooperative. I got some fair digiscoped pictures. See http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/4897681843/ Unfortunately, it is private property and they have only given Broome Naturalist Club members access to it. If anyone is interested, I am going back down there Wednesday morning at 9 am. I would be happy bring a group in to see if we can refind it. let me know via email and we can set a place to meet. After Wednesday I will be out of town for a week. Dan Watkins also is available to bring people into the area. His email is ezbird...@aol.com We also found an EASTERN WILLET in the mudflats by the Susquehanna river. This is a first record for Broome County! See http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/4897678159/ for photo. Dave Nicosia Johnson City NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Correction Probable WESTERN Willet Binghamton NY
Andy, The willet looked small compared to the many I have seen on the coast...but size is tough and looking at the range of the eastern mainly being coastal it probably is a western in retrospect. Thanks for the email and help. Nevertheless it is still a willetgreat bird for Broome County! I will post more pics of this bird to my flickr account soon. Dave Nicosia Johnson City NY From: Andy Guthrie guthr...@gmail.com To: david nicosia daven1...@yahoo.com Sent: Mon, August 16, 2010 3:08:15 PM Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Loggerhead Shrike Binghamton NY Hi Dave, thanks for passing on word of the Loggerhead Shrike - great bird, nice to know they still come through once in a while! Please consider submitting a report, or at least your nice photographs, to NYSARC (New York State Avian Records Committee) so the evidence will be part of the official record (http://www.nybirds.org/NYSARC/goodreport.htm). On your Willet - separation of the two subspecies can be difficult for many individuals, something I think tends to be obscured at times these days. That said, your bird strikes me as looking more like a juvenile Western Willet than an Eastern. It looks relatively pale overall, including an extensive pale gray-brown wash on the head, neck and upper breast, seems lanky with long legs and neck, and has a nicely tapered, two-toned bill. Of course individual photographs can sometimes be misleading, and intermediate looking birds may not always be separable... This website has a decent discussion of separating the two subspecies in juvenile plumage: http://shorebirder.blogspot.com/2008/08/western-willet-vs-eastern-willet.html Cheers, Andy Guthrie Hamlin, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] More Photos of the Willet in Broome County
I uploaded the rest of the photos I took of the Willet on Monday in Broome County for anyone interested. If there are a few key field marks for western vs eastern races that you can see in these photos, I would appreciate anyone's input. You can email me offline. The photos can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157624630596087/ Unfortunately the bird has not been refound yesterday or today as far as I know. And sorry for all these out of basin reports! Take care and good birding to all!! Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
Re: Re:[cayugabirds-l] Lawrence's Warbler, Ellis Hollow
I agree. these are nice photos of a hard-to-find bird. GREAT find. From: ConserveBirds conservebi...@gmail.com To: Jay McGowan jw...@cornell.edu; Cayugabirds-L Cayugabirds-L@cornell.edu Sent: Wed, September 1, 2010 9:25:58 PM Subject: Re: Re:[cayugabirds-l] Lawrence's Warbler, Ellis Hollow Lovely... thanks for posting pics of a bird that many of us will never see. Mona Bearor South Glens Falls - Original Message - From: Jay McGowan To: Cayugabirds-L Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2010 2:18 PM Subject: Re:[cayugabirds-l] Lawrence's Warbler, Ellis Hollow I have posted a few pictures of the Lawrence's Warbler from this morning. Light was pretty low so the aren't incredible, but I think they get the impression across. A distant one of the Olive-sided is also in that album. http://picasaweb.google.com/jmcgowan57/Summer2010#5512008940157249058 http://picasaweb.google.com/jmcgowan57/Summer2010#5512008950651162178 http://picasaweb.google.com/jmcgowan57/Summer2010#5512008952009585458 http://picasaweb.google.com/jmcgowan57/Summer2010#5512008957520002434 The warbler was still in the area when I left an hour later. It even flew across the path unprompted as I was heading back to the car, giving call notes and flight notes, and then giving a quiet song (sounded like a Blue-winged/Golden-winged alternate song, a series of stuttering notes with a buzz at the end). Jay McGowan Dryden, NY On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 7:27 AM, Jay McGowan jw...@cornell.edu wrote: I just found (and still have in view) possibly the most beautiful warbler I've ever seen, an adult male LAWRENCE'S WARBLER. It is at the Durland Preserve off Ellis Hollow Creek Road in the first hedgerow on the right after you take the first right at the big field after the entrance path. Brilliant yellow head and body, blue wings with white wingbars, and jet black mask and throat. I will post pictures some time soon. Jay McGowan Dryden, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Plegadis Ibis and Little Blue Heron May's Point Sat 9/18/10
Got some digiscoped photos of the GLOSSY/WHITE-FACED IBIS at May's today. Some of these photos capture the tail and back of the bird with one catching the side of the face. They are fair at best. The photo set is below. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157624984341182/ The LITTLE BLUE HERON immature also made an appearance at May's which was really neat... http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/5002690282/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/5002689162/ Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Cattle Egrets
A very unusual intense fall storm has been hitting the upper midwest the last couple days. This storm set an all-time record low atmospheric pressure reading for USA yesterday for a storm of non-tropical origin (i.e excluding hurricanes). The barometer dropped to a record low pressure reading of 28.20 inches or 955 mb in northern Minnesota. This is a giant storm spanning from Canada to the Gulf that gave us a few day period of pronounced south winds aloft. It does not surprise me that vagrants are appearing from the south...i.e CAVE SWALLOWS and now CATTLE EGRET. Who knows what else is out there? Anyway, I am uncertain about what kind of wind patterns it takes to bring Old World species over to North America. I would imagine it would be a prolonged east wind that extends from Europe to North America. This rarely happens...especially at higher altitudes. Interesting thought though... Dave Nicosia From: grosb...@clarityconnect.com grosb...@clarityconnect.com To: cayugabirds-L@cornell.edu; cny-naturalhist...@darkstar.cortland.edu; nysbird...@cornell.edu Sent: Wed, October 27, 2010 10:34:12 AM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Cattle Egrets Hello all, Given there are nearly 40+ CATTLE EGRETS (assuming the Ontario 14 are not the same Inds as the Ithaca 16) in the northeast right now, and given this is an Old World species that naturally colonized the States, I wonder if these are birds coming from the Old World and not birds moving in from southern States? Is there a weird weather pattern going on across the Pond or to our south? I guess the strong southern winds could explain it. cheers, Matt mail2web.com - Microsoft® Exchange solutions from a leading provider - http://link.mail2web.com/Business/Exchange -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 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 ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Threat to COOTS at Stewart Park?
There was a short post on a Great Black-Backed Gull that has a history of killing coots at Cape May Point from the CMBO website View from Cape: Recent Sightings link... . http://cmboviewfromthecape.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-11-06T23%3A02%3A00-04%3A00 Scroll down to the October 23rd, 2010 entry. We know there are many GBBGs at Stewart. Could this be one possibilty??? Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY From: Dave Nutter nutter.d...@me.com To: cayugabirds-L@cornell.edu Sent: Sun, November 14, 2010 7:35:33 PM Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Threat to COOTS at Stewart Park? On Saturday afternoon between 2 2:30 I was at Stewart Park, some of the time with Ken Rosenberg. We saw 2 carcases in the water fairly far out. One I'm not sure of the ID. The second, definitely a Coot, I didn't notice until a Great Black-backed Gull was working on it and tipped it up to show the distinctive lobed toes. I saw no struggle and didn't notice the gull carry it in, so I'm not sure why I didn't notice the second carcase at first. Great Black-backed Gulls then took interest in the first carcase as well. I don't know what killed either of them, but certainly the Great Black-backed Gulls and the Bald Eagle are likely candidates, and the Red-tailed Hawk is another possibility. For that matter, people bring dogs into Stewart Park even though it is posted no dogs. There was a Boxer with some people by a bench on Saturday, and it was straining against its leash as if eager to grab whatever bird it could. I know people take dogs off leash in Stewart Park early in the morning, which is against the City's leash law as well as park rules. So maybe dogs and their scofflaw owners are the culprits. Coots look like ripe meals to be plucked: plump slow reluctant fliers. I don't know why nobody's seemed to go for them there before. Their only defense so far as I know comes from a story, a recipe actually: When you've shot a Coot, nail the Coot to a board for three days, then throw away the Coot and eat the board. Coots are not reputed to taste very good. I'm not sure this reputation is deserved or more deserved than certain other waterfowl. If anyone has real information about what's killing the coots, I am also interested. --Dave Nutter On Nov 14, 2010, at 02:48 PM, Jill Vaughan jil...@gmail.com wrote: Late this morning, at Stewart Park, three of us saw a dead Coot on the shore of the Swan Pen. It was intact. The post from Marie Reed makes us wonder if there is a threat to the Coot population, since the Coot we saw was clearly not the one Marie saw given the different times we were there. (We did remove a leaded fishline with hook and bobber from a bush by the pen.) -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Birds Today 12-11-10: King Eider, Glaucous Gull, Iceland Gull, Cackling Goose, Short-Eared Owl and hundreds of Robins.
What a great day. Started at Stewart Park around 11 am and found the KING EIDER immediately and exactly where many others had it the last couple days...between the Red and White Lighthouses next to the rocks. Thanks to all for the posts and almost daily updates. What a great bird. The bird was actively swimming and diving and occasionally resting with mallards and others. I got two fuzzy distant digi-scoped images. Not great photos by any means...but good enough to tell it is a king eider. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/5252643039/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/5252642885/ Then, I had the good fortune of running into Ken Rosenberg and Kevin McGowen at Stewart. Ken pointed out the GLAUCOUS GULL that was found earlier by Tim Lenz and Kevin found the ICELAND GULL- Two species I am unfamilar with. There were also many RING-BILLED, HERRING and GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULLS. Also present was 1 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL-- that makes 6 species of gulls at Stewart! Kevin then found a single CACKLING GOOSE among the many Canadas. There were also many REDHEADs, COMMON MERGANSERS, several COMMON GOLDENEYES, several HOODED MERGANSERS, many MALLARDS and BLACK DUCKS, and a single fly-by RING-NECKED DUCK. Later, went on the Short-Eared Owl trip led by Ann Mitchell to Rafferty Road with fellow Binghamton area birders, Nancy Morgan, Mary Ann and Courtney Moore. After some time, 1 SHORT EARED OWL was found in the distance flying around just after sunset. Prior to sunset, one of the highlights at Rafferty were hundreds of AMERICAN ROBINS flying by to the north. There were also several HORNED LARKS, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS, MOCKINGBIRDS, 1 fly-by NORTHERN FLICKER and at least 1 RED-TAILED HAWK. Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Around Cayuga Lake New Year's Day
Took a trip around Cayuga Lake today with Nancy Morgan and Courtney Moore. First stop was Sheldrake. It was windy with choppy waves and not much seen. A couple greater black backed gulls, 1 ring-billed gull and several mallards. The horned grebe that Nancy had here a few days ago was not seen. Next stop was Lower Lake Road near the edge of the lake ice. This was where most of the action was. There were literally clouds of snow geese over the middle of the lake. In addition, there were numerous redheads, several lesser scaup, gadwall, mallards, black ducks, common goldeneye, hooded mergansers, numerous ring-billed, herring and greater black backed gulls. There were probably 50-75 tundra swans. We also had a couple flyover horned larks here. On the other side of the lake, at Harris Park, there were at least 500 common goldeneyes among many gulls, canada and snow geese, and tundra swans. At the North Pond, Union Springs there was a nice raft of redheads with close views. also bufflehead, ring-necked duck, gadwall, mallards, black duck and 3 AMERICAN COOT. The Factory Street Pond did not yield the screech owl today. Also in Union Springs we got a great look at a MERLIN in the top of a tree. He just sat for 10 minutes as Nancy and Courtney clicked many photos of this handsome bird. From an overlook of the lake from route 90 between Union Springs and Aurora there were 3 large very dense rafts of waterfowl, probably 10,000 or so. At times, the birds were flying and it looked like a swarm of insects. The birds were too distant to see any field marks, but I suspect they were redheads and other Aythya species. In any event, the shear numbers were impressive. At the Aurora Wells College Boat House, we had 1 female canvasback with an injured wing and a female scaup sp. There were also common goldeneyes canadian geese and gulls there as well. No eared or horned grebe found today. On lake road, past Long Point St Park, we got great views of a northern harrier hovering over the extensive grasslands. We ended up seeing 2 more harrier between Lake Road and Ithaca. Back at Stewart Park, distant scoping was hampered by heat shimmer. Did not see the king eider today. Closer in, near the edge of ice, there were many gulls as usual. Among the usual herring, ring-billed and greater black backed, found 1 ICELAND GULL and 2 LESSER BLACK BACKED GULLS. All in all, a nice day with 47 species to start 2011. Happy New Year to all. Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
Re: [cayugabirds-l] BLACK VULTURE
Susan, I had a black vulture last week in Johnson City. There were also a few reported in spring/summer in the Ithaca area. This species apparently continues to spread northward. Neat. Dave From: Susan Danskin dans...@twcny.rr.com To: CAYUGABIRDS CAYUGABIRDS-L@cornell.edu Sent: Tue, January 25, 2011 7:16:17 PM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] BLACK VULTURE Sorry Sorry Sorry. I thought sent this info to the rare bird alert, but I must not know what am I doing. I had to rush to send off the text before my students came into the classroom and caught me with an illegal device. Who knows what I did wrong, but tonight when I finally had a chance to check my phone, I realized that the incoming text that I thought was the one I had sent actually was one telling me that BLACK is reserved. Someday I'll figure out what I did wrong. Anyway, on to the story of the bird... A couple of days ago I was driving up Rt 13 somewhere near Triphammer and noticed some birds soaring off to my left. At least one and possibly two had the jizz of a Black Vulture (shorter tail, shorter wings, less dihedral than Turkey Vulture). Given that the lighting was bad, I was late for work, and going at least 60 mph, I soon put it out of my mind as just a trick of my eyes. But then again today I was driving up Rt 13 between Triphammer and Warren and again noticed three birds circling off to my left. Again at least one of the birds definitely had the jizz of a Black Vulture. This time the lighting was better, I wasn't so late for work, and I had the sense to take my lead foot off of the accelerator AND the bird was kind enough to bank just at the right time to show me its white wing tips. I am usually the first to doubt myself when I see something rare, but I am confident of this ID. I grew up in the Hudson Valley and have made many trips south so I have some decent experience with this bird. Keep your eye aimed at the sky the next time you are flying up Rt 13 around 8:45 am. Susan Danskin -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 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 ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Around Cayuga Lake March 15th, 2011
Took my wife around Cayuga Lake today. Weather was nice: lots of sun, temperatures in the 40s with a moderate south wind. The lake was choppy in exposed areas with the coves a little more calm. There was some heat shimmer which hampered distant lake viewing. First stop was Stewart Park. Highlight was a LESSER BLACK BACKED GULL among the other usual gulls. There was also a decent sized raft of various Aythya species mixed in with a few other species. There were both LESSER and GREATER SCAUP which made for nice side-by-side comparisons. Also saw a pair of WOOD DUCKS mixed in with the scaup et al. There was pair of GREEN-WINGED TEAL a first of year for me. I also got several RUDDY DUCK at Stewart as well. BUFFLEHEAD, COMMON GOLDENEYE, COMMON MERGANSER and HOODED MERGANSERS were also present among others. Got 2 EASTERN BLUEBIRDS as well as many AMERICAN ROBINS. Next stop was Myer's Point. Not much but got some nice shots of a KILLDEER and a decent digi-scoped image of a very distant RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. There was also a bunch of AMERICAN COOTS. Next stop was Long Point State Park. The south wind was rocketing up the lake across the park. It was very chilly and the lake was very very choppy here. There were 4 GADWALL in the pond by the dock. There were also 2 HORNED GREBES as well as several BUFFLEHEAD. Next stop- Aurora Boathouse for my 4th attempt at finding the EARED GREBE. Again, no luck. The lake was choppy and there was shimmer in the distance. This did not help. I did get 4 HORNED GREBES and I tried hard but could not turn any of them into eared grebes :( We then stopped at Factory Street to see Screechie and he was there sunning himself from his box. I got a nice photo of him. There were no GADWALL in this pond surprisingly, but there were 3 NORTHERN SHOVELERS, 2 RUDDY DUCKS, 3 REDHEADS and several RING-NECKED DUCKS. Got some decent photos of a few of the above. From Harris Park there were very very large numbers of Aythya species and others seen on the other side of the lake adjacent to Lower Lake road. I loosely estimated 10,000 plus? Not sure but when part of the raft took off it was amazing. Being very distant you got a feel for how extensive the raft was. Next stop was Mud Lock and there was a BALD EAGLE sitting on the nest. Then onto the mucklands and besides the thousands upon thousands of SNOW GEESE, there were large numbers of TUNDRA SWANS and PINTAIL. It seemed that everywhere there were dozens of TUNDRA SWANS there were loads of PINTAIL. Given the large number of SNOW GEESE there probably were some ROSS's but I really did not have the patience to sift through them! I did find several blue form SNOWs here and there. From east road, there were only a few SNOWs but thousands of CANADIAN GEESE and again many many PINTAILs. Next stop was Lower Lake Road to get a better look at the thousands of Aythya sp. and others. There were large numbers of CANVASBACK, and REDHEAD. It seemed that there was a higher ratio of GREATER vs. LESSER SCAUP at this stop vs Stewart. Again great views of both side-by-side. There were AMERICAN WIDGEON, HOODED MERGANSER and a few other species too. It was a spectacle given the shear numbers. Sheldrake Point was quiet and very windy so not much other than many BUFFLEHEAD. All in all, a very nice day of waterfowl. I posted some select photos from this trip on my flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157626150897123/ Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] SFO Group 6 Sunday 3/27/11
SFO group 6 had a really nice day despite the cold. In fact, this likely was one of the coldest days in SFO history (along with Saturday!!). Highlights: Right out the front door of the lab we had one COMMON REDPOLL in the top of a bush. Next, on the Wilson Trail in one of the Willow Trees to the left of the Owens observation platform, we had a single RUSTY BLACKBIRD of which everyone got great views through the scope. There were also common grackles and red-winged blackbirds around for comparision...a great learning experience! Then we found a FOX SPARROW which was facing away from us in the top of a bush. We saw the two GREAT BLUE HERONS by their nests. We also had many others at SSW including BROWN CREEPER, and HOODED MERGANSERS. Then, after warming up in the lab for a few minutes, we headed to Stewart Park. There was a fierce north wind blowing down the lake and it was coldvery cold. There was a lot of waterfowl though, and we got great views of AMERICAN WIDGEON, RING-NECKED DUCK, REDHEAD, and LESSER SCAUP fairly close to shore. We cut our time short here, because we were all freezing. Then, we headed over by the boathouse out of the wind and walked by the canal toward Renwick Woods. We had many MALLARDs, and a nice group of WOOD DUCKs. In addition, there were two KILLDEER on the edge of the grass across the canal. Then we walked back into the woods to see the GREAT HORNED OWLS and they were VERY cooperative. Carl Steckler, one of the SFO students, got a nice photo of this pair in which he posted on the SFO class page: http://sfocornell.ning.com/photo/great-horned-owl-1?xg_source=activity If you look close near the bottom of the cavity, you can see the other owl tucked in. Thanks Carl! All in all, it was a nice start to SFO 2011 as we totaled 43 species for the day. Now let's hope we can get some spring weather for SPRING field ornithology in the coming weeks!!! Dave Nicosia -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Cayuga Lake and Montezuma: COMMON TEAL and EURASIAN WIGEON
Went to Montezuma Wetlands Complex today via the west side of Cayuga Lake. There were quite a few BUFFLEHEAD all the way up the lake visible from Rte. 89. Lower Lake Road continues to have decent numbers of Aythyla species but numbers seems to be down some from a couple weeks ago. Also I saw no CANVASBACKs today here which was unlike a couple weeks ago when this specie was very common. SCAUP (both lesser and greater) and REDHEAD were the most common with decent numbers of RING-NECKED DUCKS. I also picked out one HORNED GREBE and several AMERICAN WIGEON at this stop. I also saw a distant small group of ducks that looked like scoters but it was too far for me to be sure. Next stop was the Montezuma Visitor's Center and the highlight for me was the COMMON (EURASIAN) TEAL of which others have seen recently (see Jay's post below). This is the first time I have ever had this sub-species (or species??) and the bird was distinctively different than the numerous GREEN-WINGED TEALS. It lacked the vertical stripe on the sides and had a thin white horizontal line along its back. It also had a more distinct brown/orange stripe on its face. I got a couple digiscoped images of which you can see here http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/5583621842/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/5583034745/ Also at the visitor's center pond were numerous NORTHERN SHOVELERS, GADWALL, a few NORTHERN PINTAIL, and TRUMPETER SWAN. Along route 20 near the refuge I had 2 OSPREY flying around low above last year's nests. Next stop was East Road. I was there around 1 pm so I believe I preceded Jay's group. It is interesting that I had NO TREE SWALLOWS here which was surprising to me. I did eventually see some but along Route 90 near Aurora. I did have the same SNOW GEESE here, along with RING-NECKED DUCKS, CANVASBACK, REDHEAD, SCAUP sp (male and female) and a small raft of around 10 RUDDY DUCKS including a couple beautiful males. There were also BLACK DUCK, MALLARDS, and 2 DOUBLE CRESTED CORMORANTs. I had two flyover HORNED LARKS and one singing one. There was one GREAT BLUE HERON and numerous gull sp. in the distance. Next stop was the MAC and I did find the EURASIAN WIGEON that Jay, Gary and Dave Spier posted on below. This was a very beautiful bird and I was fortunate to get one decent image among the many that I took. See below. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/5583622488/ Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] SFO Saturday 4/9/11 Local Trip
Had the pleasure of leading the SFO local group this morning. All of us had no strict time constraints so we decided to head up the east side of Cayuga Lake so it really was not that local after all! We didn't plan on it but we made it all the way up to Montezuma since the birding was great. Light south winds bringing migrants north, and great viewing on Cayuga Lake made for such an action-packed day. I can't wait to see what the other SFO groups come up with! On the way up and back, we got great views of both OSPREY nests seen from Route 89 near Union Springs. We also saw a RING-NECKED PHEASANT on the way up as well. Our first stop was Mud Lock and the BALD EAGLE was sitting on the nest with nice views. We also had a nice, fairly close up view of a COMMON LOON in breeding plumage. There was a distant group of REDHEAD, SCAUP sp., 1 RING NECKED DUCK, BUFFLEHEADS, and RUDDY DUCKS. We heard an EASTERN PHEOBE, heard and briefly saw a RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER and a flyover BELTED KINGFISHER. A couple small flocks of DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS flew by as well. Great start. Since we were so close, we decided to stop at the Montezuma NWR visitor's center and we were not disappointed. There was a waterfowl bonanza there with close-up views of many species. Great for studying field marks. We had many NORTHERN SHOVELERS, NORTHERN PINTAIL, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, several AMERICAN WIGEON, and 1 GADWALL. There were 4 PURPLE MARTINS by the martin homes and several TREE SWALLOWS floating around. A SWAMP SPARROW was singing in the marsh. We had two OSPREY and TVs soaring overhead and a female NORTHERN HARRIER coursing low over the marsh. On the way back, we stopped at the Factory Street Pond but we did not see screechie today in his box. It was still cold and fairly cloudy so maybe he/she was hiding? Not much else at this pond. Next stop was the Aurora boathouse on Aurora Bay. We had a nice HORNED GREBE in breeding plumage, many BUFFLEHEAD, a distant COMMON LOON and distant LONG-TAILED DUCKS. There were also many RING-BILLED GULLS and a few HERRING. We also had a fly-by BARN SWALLOW at Aurora bay. Next stop was Lake Road near Long Point and we got great views of a singing EASTERN MEADOWLARK. What a treat. At the Ithaca Airport we had nice views of both a RED-TAILED HAWK and an AMERICAN KESTREL. Back at the Lab I am learning that the best place to go over your list is by the feeders. We added COMMON REDPOLL, AMERICAN TREE SPARROW (still many!), WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, and HOUSE FINCH while adding up our species totals. For just 4 1/2 hours of birding, we totaled 56 species. Not bad. More importantly we got great views of many of our beautiful watefowl and migrants. Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
Re: [cayugabirds-l] migration on radar?
The circular radar echo pattern you see develop on clear nights after sunset is indeed bird migration. It is the nocturnal migrants taking off for the night. see below for more info on radar ornithology. http://virtual.clemson.edu/groups/birdrad/ From: Scott Brim s...@employees.org To: Alicia Plotkin t...@zoom-dsl.com Cc: CAYUGA_BIRDS CAYUGABIRDS-L@cornell.edu Sent: Mon, April 11, 2011 9:40:26 AM Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] migration on radar? On Sun, Apr 10, 2011 at 22:40, Alicia Plotkin t...@zoom-dsl.com wrote: Hi, I just checked the weather forecast for tomorrow, and noticed the radar had roughly concentric circles of increasing density centered on the radar site in Binghamton. (Radar is here, but it automatically updates so you may not see what I did at 10:30 PM.) Is that migrating birds? Ground clutter is common within 20 miles of a radar source. Wikipedia says: Clutter (also termed ground clutter) is a form of radar signal contamination. It occurs when fixed objects close to the transmitter—such as buildings, trees, or terrain (hills, ocean swells and waves)—obstruct a radar beam and produce echoes. The echoes resulting from ground clutter may be large in both areal size and intensity. The effects of ground clutter fall off as range increases usually due to the curvature of the earth and the tilt of the antenna above the horizon. Without special processing techniques, targets can be lost in returns from terrain on land or waves at sea. -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Spring Field Ornithology Saturday Group 2 Derby Hill (and Montezuma)
Led SFO group 2 to Derby Hill in the cold, wind and driving rain. There was even some snow mixed in at times!! We continued the SFO tradition of stopping by theSNIPE spot at the intersection of Route 3 and 104B and found at least 8 WILSON'S SNIPE (there were probably many more). Given the poor conditions, there was no noticeable hawk movement today. We did have one male NORTHERN HARRIER fly by very low. That was it for raptors seen by our group at Derby. Since the winds were from the south, Lake Ontario was not very choppy at all on its south shores so despite cold, wind and rain, we did get some great views of the various birdlife over the big lake. We saw many RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS. Some were very close showing off their beauty. We also saw many LONG-TAILED DUCKS, one PIED-BILLED GREBE, a couple COMMON LOONS, and one HORNED GREBE. There were a couple CASPIAN TERNS flying by fairly low with great looks. We also saw many many TREE SWALLOWS with a few BARN SWALLOWS over the big lake feeding and flying around. On the grass near the north lookout there were a bunch of NORTHERN FLICKERS feeding which was neat. After we were almost completely frozen, part of our group decided to head down to Montezuma as there were a few breaks in the rain on radar to the south. At the visitor's center, we enjoyed many GREEN-WINGED, and BLUE-WINGED TEAL, NORTHERN SHOVELERS, and a few AMERICAN WIGEON. There were many TREE SWALLOWS with a few BARNS at times. The PURPLE MARTINS were on the martin houses with a few flying around as well. On wildlife drive, we saw more of the same waterfowl with an exceptional view of a PIED BILLED GREBE very close to the road. We watched this bird dive repeatly in the very shallow water near the edge of the main pool and you could see him chasing his prey. It was really cool. We also picked up REDHEAD, RING-NECKED DUCKS, among the other waterfowl species that we had already seen. Numbers were fairly low. We also saw both male and female NORTHERN HARRIERS coarsing low over the extensive marshes. I believe we had at least 4 or 5 of these guys. We also saw 3 BALD EAGLES and 1 SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. More raptors here than at Derby! At the new shorebird area on wildlife drive near the first big turn, we counted 14 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS. All were fairly close so we got excellent views of this long distant migrant. We also had a couple KILLDEER here with no other shorebird species seen by our group at Montezuma. At Benning marsh there were more of the same waterfowl species that we had seen earlier. We tried to stop at May's Point but the wind almost literally blew us out of there. We did pick up some BUFFLEHEAD here along with an AMERICAN COOT and more REDHEADs, and RING-NECKED DUCKS. We decided against climbing the tower at Tschache Pool so we viewed several gulls from the car seeing the usual RING-BILLED and HERRING GULLs with one GREATER BLACK BACKED GULL. There was also one CASPIAN TERN here. On the way back we stopped at the North Mill Pond in Union Springs and ran into Dave Nutter's group. We saw much of the same as his group including a beautiful GREEN HERON that he mentioned in his post. All in all, despite the weather, we had an excellent day with many great views of various species. Thanks to everyone for a fun and enjoyable day. Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Montezuma and Myer's Today 5/4/11
Wasn't planning on a trip today but when radar showed that it was raining from Binghamton and points east, decided to head west. Getting tired of birding in the rain!! First stop was Myer's and I had 2 ORCHARD ORIOLES, 1 singing near the entrance and the other across the Salmon Creek. Even though, it wasn't raining, the wind and cold were brutal at the point where there were 2 COMMON LOONS, 1 very close to shore. There were also many RING-BILLED GULLS, KILLDEER and 1 GREAT BLUE HERON. The best birds for me at Myer's were 4 COMMON TERNS migrating up the lake. They were first visible, near the opposite shore and I had a tough time id'ing them as they appeared to have lighter wing tips. But, they then shifted course and came across the lake and flew low over the point. I had great looks of the gray wings with touches of black at the tips confirming for me common terns. I also had a few AMERICAN PIPITS at the point. There were also many many swallows migrating up the lake and at Montezuma. Most of the swallows were BARN, with lesser numbers of TREE and BANK and just a few NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED. At the Montezuma visitor's center, the water was very high so there were still a few groups of waterfowl similar to the last few weeks: GREEN WINGED, and BLUE WINGED TEAL, NORTHERN SHOVELER, and GADWALL. There were about 10 PURPLE MARTINS flying around. I also heard a SORA calling from the marsh. Along Wildlife Drive, I saw a small group of BONAPARTE'S GULLS flying with several RING-BILLED GULLS over the main pool. I found a couple small groups of REDHEADS. There was 1 immature BALD EAGLE and 1 OSPREY kiting over the large numbers of carp. The osprey dove once but came up empty. I wondered how this could be because there were so many carp visible at the surface! At the new shorebird area, there were several LEAST SANDPIPERS, 1 AMERICAN PIPIT, and a few SAVANNAH SPARROWS. May's Point had a nice variety of birds. There were PALM, YELLOW and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS with 1 AMERICAN REDSTART. There were many AMERICAN COOTS, several COMMON MOORHEN, PIED BILLED GREBE, BALD EAGLE, RUDDY DUCKS, including some handsome males in breeding plumage, REDHEAD(few), BUFFLEHEAD(1), RING-NECKED DUCKS(few), GREEN-WINGED TEAL, GADWALL and NORTHERN SHOVELERS. At Carncross Road, had 3 more BONAPARTE'S GULLS all still in winter plumage among RING-BILLED GULLS. The water levels are very high that the water was almost level to the road!! If it comes up another 3-6 inches most of this road will be flooded. Only shorebirds present were 2 LESSER YELLOWLEGS. There were still several varieties of waterfowl including NORTHERN PINTAIL, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, NORTHERN SHOVELER, and BUFFLEHEAD. There was one SANDHILL CRANE vocalizing which was pretty neat. I snapped a few photos along the way which can be found here... http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157626524864881/ Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Montezuma Today 5/6/11
Took a trip to Montezuma with my birding pal Dan Watkins. We stopped at Myer's to get the Orchard Orioles for Dan with success. At first, we did not hear or see them at all. So, we walked to the point which was flooded and found a couple GREATER YELLOWLEGS, SPOTTED SANDPIPER, COMMON LOONS, BUFFLEHEAD and various swallows. On the way back to the car at the entrance there were 2 ORCHARD ORIOLES singing near the entrance. I located both birds which were 1st year males with black bibs. As they chased each other around, another one was singing from across the railroad tracks near the entrance. This was an adult male in the maroon/chestnut plumage. So there are 3 there as pointed out by John Greenley. The MNWR visitor's center has the same waterfowl seen a couple days ago. I stopped in the center and spoke with Jane Graves who had CERULEAN WARBLERS at Howland Island, and also near the restrooms where they were last year. She also indicated that there were 3 BLACK TERNS at May's. We struck out on the Cerulean warblers near the restrooms and there were none singing at May's. We did not get to Howland Island either. Maybe next time. But, we did have 4 BLACK TERNS flying around at May's. May's again had a very nice variety of waterfowl, coots, moorhen and pied-billed grebe. The woods also had some warblers. We decided to give Towpath Road a try and given that the water is so high it was not bad at all. I have seen it much worse. We had many many YELLOW WARBLERS. We also heard BLACK AND WHITE. The best birds from Towpath were 4 CASPIAN TERNS loafing which were close enough to get great looks throughs bins and especially with our scopes. Not much else there other than what we had already seen. Next stop was Carncross Road and we picked out a beautiful BLACK BELLIED PLOVER in breeding plumage. This guy was a little distant but we were able to make out the white undertail. The bill was also thicker and the bird was pudgier so I am certain it was a BLACK BELLIED vs. AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER. There were also many other species of waterfowl there all of what we had already seen. No cranes today and the bonaparte's gulls of the past couple days did not show either. Went to Morgan road next and found a VESPER SPARROW on the wire across the road from the house that is up a little above the fields. Railroad Rd was flooded so we were not able to get out too far but we did hear the AMERICAN BITTERN. I was unable to get the SORA or VIRGINIA RAIL( no speakers on my blackberry to call them out from this distance.) Overall, given that we missed many of our common forest birds, we totaled 106 species. Not a bad day. Plus the weather was nice. Finally! Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Montezuma and around Cayuga Lake 5/10/11
Took another trip to Montezuma Today with Dan Watkins. Once again we made a quick stop at Myer's before heading up and we only had 1 ORCHARD ORIOLE by the entrance today...an adult male. We got great looks of this guy as he was singing erratically. We also had a singing NORTHERN PARULA near the entrance as well. There were many gulls loafing on the point of which water levels are now falling. We had all the usual gulls with one winter plumage BONAPARTE'S GULL. I was able to snap a couple photos of this guy. There were also 3 GREATER YELLOWLEGS. We also stopped at Lake Road on the way and got most of the typical field birds including BOBOLINKS, EASTERN MEADOWLARKS, and SAVANNAH SPARROWS. I also thought I had a GRASSHOPPER SPARROW but was not sure. I only heard it twice...PITUK...ZEE. It was fairly distant and it did not sing again. I know others have had this bird near here but I did not list it for my records at this point. If others go up there, I would check it out. The bird was on the lower field before the road gets into the woodlands. Up the road from Long Point SP there was a flowering apple tree which had another singing ORCHARD ORIOLE ...a 1st year male...yellowish bird with a black bib. There was also a YELLOW WARBLER and NASHVILLE WARBLER in this tree. Next stop was the Marina in Union Springs and we had 7 COMMON TERNS loafing with a bunch of gulls. I got a couple photos. At the Montezuma Visitors centers there continued to be some waterfowl plus some peeps, all LEAST SANDPIPERS. We also had 2 singing CERULEAN WARBLERS near the restrooms and nice look at a PALM WARBLER near the ground. Wildlife drive was quiet. The shorebird area had a flock of shorebirds which flew out shortly after we got there. We identified just LEAST SANDPIPERS. There could have been others that we did not get on before they flew off. At Tschache Pool, the water is falling as it is being drained. There is more shorebird habitat there as a result. We found basically just GREATER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS, LEAST SANDPIPERS and 2 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS. There could have been more as they is a lot of area to cover that we ran out of time for. We also had 6 BALD EAGLES there. May's Point had less than previous trips but still a decent variety of birds. We had COMMON MOORHEN, AMERICAN COOT, PIED-BILLED GREBE and BLACK TERNS. There was less waterfowl. We still had REDHEAD and BUFFLEHEAD. We tried in vain to find Chris Wood's Prothonary Warbler. Towpath road was also quiet. The BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERONS continue to evade us. We typically arrive there early afternoon since we come up from Binghamton. I wonder if this is too late? Of course, no AM. WHITE PELICANS anywhere today as well. We looked all over and I don't think we would have missed them. They either evaded us or are long on their way out west. The best bird from East Road was a LESSER SCAUP. We got nice looks at this bird. Isn't it getting late for this guy? From Marten's Tract we had AMERICAN BITTERN, SORA, and VIRGINIA RAIL. Carncross road had many many yellowlegs, both greater and lesser. I got a great shot of a lesser and greater next to each other for nice comparision. There were also many waterfowl, loafing CASPIAN TERNS and a small flock of BONAPARTE'S GULLS that flew in. Our last stop of the day in the basin was the Seneca Co Ag. Fairgrounds(after receiving permission). We got killer views of an UPLAND SANDPIPER taking a bath in a puddle. The bird was close enough to see without bins and with bins it was awesome. The bird flew off and we followed it as it landed to a distance where I got decent digiscope images. After we tallied the day up our total was 124 species. We also enjoyed the beautiful weather and the fine scenery of the finger lakes and montezuma area. What a great day. A few select photos of the trip can be found here http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157626569755755/ Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Migrants Today Broome Co. 5/16/11
Radar images early this morning suggested fallout conditions in the southern tier of NY. There were fairly heavy radar bird echoes across PA with much less returns in NY...especially north of Binghamton. A cold front dropped south last night and migrants eventually encountered northerly winds in NY which apparently halted their northward progress. So, in anticipation of good birding today, I went to Upper Lisle County Park in northern Broome Co where I know there are a lot of blooming hawthorns on the edge of a woodland. This habitat is similar to the famed Hawthorn Orchard in Ithaca and, this morning, this area produced a nice wave of migrants. At times it was overwhelming for just one set of eyes. Most of the action was confined to about 2 acres of hawthorns mixed with aspen and an occasional norway spruce. The most common warbler was the TENNESSEE (~15). There were also MAGNOLIA (3),BLACKBURNIAN (1), BAY-BREASTED (1), CANADA(1), WILSON'S (2), MOURNING (heard not seen), CHESNUT-SIDED(3), YELLOW (many) BLACK-THROATED GREEN(3), BLACK-THROATED BLUE (female), AMERICAN REDSTARTS (many), OVENBIRDS, and NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH (3). In this general area(maybe 10-15 acres), there were also many RED-EYED VIREOS, 1 YELLOW-THROATED VIREO, 1 BLUE-HEADED VIREO, at least 8 BALTIMORE ORIOLES, 4 SCARLET TANAGERS (1 male,3 female), several ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAKS, and 1 LEAST FLYCATCHER. This is what I could identify in about 1 hour. There were many that I missed since there were, at times, 5 or 6 birds flitting around at once in the tops of the trees and bushes. I could not get my bins on all the birds at once! The northern end of Whitney Point Lake was loaded with migrant swallows too. Most were BANK and BARN with some TREES. I was surprised to see so many CLIFF SWALLOWS as well. I counted at least 5. I also found a SOLITARY SANDPIPER perched on a fence! He was very cooperative and I got some great photos. See http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/5727959160/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/5727958386/ As the rain started getting heavier I decided it was time to head home. But, as I got closer to home, the rain let up some and I was soaked anyway, so I stopped at Murphy's Pits in Broome County to check out the mudflats along the Susquehanna River. The river has receded markedly in the past week creating great shorebird habitat. As I drove in, I saw a huge bird that turned out to be a GREAT BLACK BACKED GULL, which is rare in Broome County. I don't think I have ever had one near the Susquehanna River. This bird was missing an eye but seemed fine. I got a couple shots http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/5727405335 http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/5727400327/ The mudlflats along the Susquehanna were loaded with LEAST SANDPIPERS(40-50). There were also many SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, SOLITARY SANDPIPERS and SPOTTED SANDPIPERS. I also had 4 LESSER YELLOWLEGS. So the saying...bad weather = good birding definitively held today! Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] OOB- Cattle Egret near Johnson City, NY Broome County
If anyone is interested, there is a CATTLE EGRET in the field north of the intersection of Watson Blvd and Country Club Rd between Johnson City and Endwell NY. I got a few photos...check out the map feature of flickr.com to see exactly where we had the bird. Bird was found by Dan Watkins and has been seen all morning and was still present at 1230 pm when I left. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157626743155438/ Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] S-b Dowitcher, Black-bellied Plovers - MNWR Sunday
It is very interesting that shorebirds are already showing up again and it is late June. Failed breeders? or did they just halt their northward migration for some reason (lack of fat reserves?) and will stage before continuing south again? Could they be very late spring migrants (younger birds that won't breed)? It seems hard to believe these birds would have made it to the arctic, failed at breeding and had enough energy to make it all the way back down here by the end of June. Since I am not an ornithologist these are mere speculations on my part. Anyone have a more definitive idea on this? or know of research studies on this? just really curious. thanks. Dave Nicosia From: tigge...@aol.com tigge...@aol.com To: cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu Sent: Mon, June 27, 2011 9:34:00 PM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] S-b Dowitcher, Black-bellied Plovers - MNWR Sunday Sunday highlights from Knox-Marsellus marsh included a Short-billed Dowitcher and influx of Lesser Yellowlegs, plus the continuing Dunlin. Two Black-bellied Plover were at Puddler's marsh. No peeps on either Saturday or Sunday. Saturday night on Van Dyne Spoor Rd found 5 American Bittern calling, 4 Black-crowned Night Heron, and 2 Great Egret in the distance. I continue to miss Least Bittern. Dave W. Oswego County Montezuma NWR--Knox-Marcellus Marsh, Seneca, US-NY Jun 26, 2011 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM Protocol: Stationary Comments: With Lisa Mark. Didn't look all that carefully at the ducks. 29 species Canada Goose X Wood Duck 7 Gadwall 3 American Wigeon X American Black Duck 2 Mallard X Blue-winged Teal 3 Green-winged Teal X Redhead 3 Great Blue Heron 15 Great Egret 1 Green Heron 1 Osprey 2 Bald Eagle 2 Killdeer 2 Greater Yellowlegs 1 Lesser Yellowlegs 15 Dunlin 1 breeding-plumaged or nearly so Short-billed Dowitcher 1 Very red; distant, presume Short-billed of the Prairie race Ring-billed Gull 10 Black Tern 6 Eastern Kingbird 1 American Crow X Tree Swallow X Barn Swallow X Savannah Sparrow X Song Sparrow X Red-winged Blackbird X Common Grackle X Montezuma NWR--Puddler Marsh, Seneca, US-NY Jun 26, 2011 3:30 PM - 4:15 PM Protocol: Stationary Comments: With Lisa Mark 3 species Black-bellied Plover 2 Killdeer 2 Spotted Sandpiper 2 -- 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] Birding again...Red-Headed Woodpecker, Prothonotary Warbler and Others 6/29/11
As some of you may know, my dear wife was in a serious car accident a few weeks ago. I am happy to say she is recovering and things are looking up. I really needed a day to get out and go birding with all that has been going on in my life. Birding is VERY theraputic to the mind as many of you are already aware. Today was no exception. So, a friend of mine from the Binghamton area, Ruth Giovannitti, and I decided to head up to find the RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, and PROTHONOTARY WARBLER with success. We also had other neat birds that the Montezuma area has to offer. Our first stop was the intersection of Rte 90 and Popular Ridge Road where many have seen the RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, and, before I could get my scope and bins out of the car, Ruth spotted the bird low on a tree on the lake side of Rte 90 near the road. The bird was foraging and moving quite a bit so it was hard to get decent digiscope images but I finally managed a couple: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/5885434041/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/5885433069/ He gave a tremendous views that did not even need binoculars at times. It worries me that he is so close to the road with cars and trucks whizzing by so fast. Let's hope nothing happens to this special bird. Next stop was Armitage Road and, at first, no sign of the prothontary warbler. But we heard a CERULEAN WARBLER fairly close and Ruth spotted it high up in the canopy affording a nice view of this warbler. Then after a few minutes we heard the distinct zweet, zweet, zweet, zweet, zweet song of the PROTHONOTARY WARBLER. BUT he was deep in the woods so we were unfortunately not able to track him down to see. But the bird still remains but is not singing as much as others have experienced. We did not hear the other one that was reported. From East Road, we saw a decent amount of waterfowl species including BLUE-WINGED TEAL, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, AMERICAN WIDGEON, MALLARD and BLACK DUCK. There was also a CASPIAN TERN among two RING-BILLED GULLS. In addition we had 1 BLACK TERN coarsing low over the marshes. We also saw several YELLOWLEGS (probably GREATER, but they were very distant). No other shorebirds were found at this distance except for KILLDEER. From May's Point, there were many GREAT BLUE HERONS, 3 GREAT EGRETS and 1 COMMON MOORHEN. We also had 1 PIED-BILLED GREBE. From Tschache Pool, we saw an AMERICAN BITTERN fly by toward May's Point. What a great day. It is good to be back birding again!!! Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Clay-colored Sparrow
Bird was present late morning and singing almost constantly. Easy to find as he was often perched near the top of the blue spruces mentioned below. These trees are fairly close to the road and made for a decent digi-scope photo. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/5919655744/ Thanks Jeff and Chris for posting this as I was going to Montezuma today and plugged the address into my GPS and...bingo...there was the bird. Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY From: Chris Wood pinic...@gmail.com To: Cayuga Birds CAYUGABIRDS-L@cornell.edu Sent: Sat, July 9, 2011 6:25:33 AM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Clay-colored Sparrow Singing from 2340 King Rd north of Seneca Falls. Singing from line of blue spruces and big deciduous tree in front yard. Still singing now. Jeff Gerbracht and Chris Wood Ithaca, New York http://ebird.org -- 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 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] Prothonotary Warbler fledglings
Great photos!! Glad to see they are raising young there. On another note, why is it that we can't walk out on the trail that goes from Towpath road to east road between both marshes. This is obviously a GREAT fall staging area for shorebirds and we birders have to struggle to get views. Those of us with expensive high-end scopes can do it to some extent but what about all the others? Why does Montezuma NWR not allow people to walk out on this trail that connects East road to Towpath? I understand the idea of refuges for wildlife and disturbances but I have been to other places(Forsythe, Heislerville, NJ as examples) where the shorebirds literally walk around your feet totally unafraid. Also I would think that the more people that become interested in shorebirds and birds in general the more conservation dollars that are contributed. Right now, the way it is, you have to high end scopes to enjoy this shorebird spectacle. Those of us who do, I presume, already contribute a lot to conservation. I know I do. Anyway, this place should be a 5 and not a 4.5 only if they would allow birders access to that trail. Sorry for the rant. Dave Nicosia From: Christopher Wood chris.w...@cornell.edu To: Upstate NY Birding CAYUGABIRDS-L@cornell.edu Sent: Sun, July 10, 2011 5:24:36 PM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Prothonotary Warbler fledglings As Jay already reported, Jeff Gerbracht and I found FOUR very recently fledged baby Prothonotary Warblers on the north side of Armitage Road yesterday morning. They were very cute. So cute, in fact, that I had to upload some photos of them as well as some other highlights from yesterday. See link below. http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinicola/ I think Jay posted most of our highlights already, but we also saw a single male Greater Scaup on the west side of Cayuga Lake just north of the Lakeshore Winery. As others have mentioned, the shorebird habitat at East Road / Towpath is excellent. If I were to adopt Matt Young's crossbill cone crop ratings to shorebird habitat, I would give it a 4.5. It looses half a point, because birds are very distant and best viewed early in the morning before the heat shimmer begins. There were over 500 peeps including a very early Baird's Sandpiper, as well as Wilson's Phalarope and Stilt Sandpiper. Cheers, Chris Wood eBird Neotropical Birds Project Leader Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York http://ebird.org http://neotropical.birds.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/ -- -- 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] Fw: [bluewing-group] Fw: Wind Turbines Coming to RGV Waters
more potentially bad news on additional wind farm development...see below. - Forwarded Message - From: bluew...@stny.rr.com bluew...@stny.rr.com To: Bluewing-group bluewing-gr...@googlegroups.com Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2011 8:21 PM Subject: [bluewing-group] Fw: Wind Turbines Coming to RGV Waters I just received this message announcing the development of a wind turbine farm off South Padre Island. If you have birded south Texas and have strong feelings about the development of the the wind turbine farm in a area where 1000’s of migratory birds pass, you need to voice your opinion by Wednesday August 17th. See video below. - Bob Grosek From: RGV Nature Coalition Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2011 12:12 PM To: bluew...@stny.rr.com Subject: Wind Turbines Coming to RGV Waters Wind Turbines Coming to South Texas Waters PLEASE watch this short video! Deadline is August 17 to comment! http://richardmoorenature.com/Article/1010361 This email was sent to bluew...@stny.rr.com by nancysmil...@gmail.com | Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. RGV Nature Coalition| 000| McAllen| TX| 78501 -- 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] Montezuma Shorebirds etc. Saturday 9/3/11
Took a trip up to the Montezuma wetland complex today. First stop was at the visitor's center for a restroom break and a quick check...saw many yellowlegs, mostly lesser but a few greater also. Killdeer also present. Didn't spend much time here. Next stop was May's point. Lighting is horrible midday and I know this, but it was the only time that worked for me. Even so, there are still loads of peeps all over. I saw and heard both least and semipalamated sandpipers. There are also many yellowlegs, few killdeer and several semipalmated plovers. Best birds I had were 4 pectoral sandpipers. I also had a candidate for a BAIRD's but the distance and lighting just was not in my favor, at least at my skill level. So I won't call this one. There were also many great egrets...I counted 37 but it is probably many more. Next stop was Muckrace flats on Savannah Spring Lake road. This area had a nice variety of shorebirds and the distance was not that bad although midday lighting was still not good. I had the following: 14 lesser yellowlegs, 2 greater yellowlegs, many least and semipalamated sandpipers, 1 semipalmated plover, 2 pectoral sandpipers, several dowitchers (short-billed I assume?) and 1 stilt sandpiper. Got some nice views of this bird in and around the dowitchers. Last stop was railroad road to see if I could get lucky enough to see the ibis. I walked around one of the impoundments but the heat and humidity really got to me so I did not get to the others. No ibis for me. But there were a few peeps on the algae mats, a family group of trumpeter swans, the young are tagged. I also had a nice view of a northern harrier sitting in a tree just above the marsh. there were also many pied-billed grebes, 1 common moorhen, and lots of great-blue herons. I also checked some of the other roads(Morgan, Carncross and Van Dyne Sporer) up there for the ibis as it could be anywhere...with no luck. It could also easily be hiding in the reeds and the purple loosestrife in any of these places! Too hot and tired to check out Knox-Marcellis marsh todaynext time! I imagine this evening could be quite nice up there...with better lighting and a little cooler temperatures. Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Montezuma Shorebirds etc. Saturday 9/3/11
I forgot to mention...at Muckrace Flats there was a semipalmated sandpiper? with a very long bill. Lighting was too poor for me to make out any rufous etc to turn it into a western... but it is worth looking out for. I have seen westerns on the coast so I am familar with this species. This bird really did have a long sort of droopy bill. Again, lighting was poor and I could not get any decent digiscope images (all blurry!!!). So another bird I won't call for my records. From: david nicosia daven1...@yahoo.com To: Cayuga Birds posting Cayugabirds-L@cornell.edu Sent: Saturday, September 3, 2011 5:33 PM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Montezuma Shorebirds etc. Saturday 9/3/11 Took a trip up to the Montezuma wetland complex today. First stop was at the visitor's center for a restroom break and a quick check...saw many yellowlegs, mostly lesser but a few greater also. Killdeer also present. Didn't spend much time here. Next stop was May's point. Lighting is horrible midday and I know this, but it was the only time that worked for me. Even so, there are still loads of peeps all over. I saw and heard both least and semipalamated sandpipers. There are also many yellowlegs, few killdeer and several semipalmated plovers. Best birds I had were 4 pectoral sandpipers. I also had a candidate for a BAIRD's but the distance and lighting just was not in my favor, at least at my skill level. So I won't call this one. There were also many great egrets...I counted 37 but it is probably many more. Next stop was Muckrace flats on Savannah Spring Lake road. This area had a nice variety of shorebirds and the distance was not that bad although midday lighting was still not good. I had the following: 14 lesser yellowlegs, 2 greater yellowlegs, many least and semipalamated sandpipers, 1 semipalmated plover, 2 pectoral sandpipers, several dowitchers (short-billed I assume?) and 1 stilt sandpiper. Got some nice views of this bird in and around the dowitchers. Last stop was railroad road to see if I could get lucky enough to see the ibis. I walked around one of the impoundments but the heat and humidity really got to me so I did not get to the others. No ibis for me. But there were a few peeps on the algae mats, a family group of trumpeter swans, the young are tagged. I also had a nice view of a northern harrier sitting in a tree just above the marsh. there were also many pied-billed grebes, 1 common moorhen, and lots of great-blue herons. I also checked some of the other roads(Morgan, Carncross and Van Dyne Sporer) up there for the ibis as it could be anywhere...with no luck. It could also easily be hiding in the reeds and the purple loosestrife in any of these places! Too hot and tired to check out Knox-Marcellis marsh todaynext time! I imagine this evening could be quite nice up there...with better lighting and a little cooler temperatures. Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Night calls 9/24/2011
Listened for one hour this evening 1040 pm to 1140 pm...the flight appears high as skies are clear, winds light southwesterly. Not ideal. Many calls very high up and inaudible. But have had some nice fairly low GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH and SWAINSONS THRUSH calls. Numbers are as follows: SWAINSON'S THRUSH 48 GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH 10 WOOD THRUSH 12 HERMIT THRUSH 8 THRUSH sp. 21 Also had one INDIGO BUNTING and what I think was a PALM WARBLER. -- 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] Night Flight Calls Johnson City, NY 9/26/11
Got up early this morning and listened for 1 hour between 430 am and 530 am. There was very little wind and light fog. There was little traffic and other noise. Great listening conditions. There was a fairly heavy flight, especially of SWAINSON'S THRUSH. Below are my counts: SWAINSON'S THRUSH: 225 GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH: 27 HERMIT THRUSH: 7 WOOD THRUSH: 1 BOBOLINK: 1 PALM WARBLER: 2 ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK: 4 Unidentified calls- ~ 300 (mostly short chips) Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Singing birds
I heard a Blue-headed vireo singing the other day too...in the hemlocks where they breed at my dad's home. Was it a migrant? or the bird that bred there singing before he leaves for the south? hard to say... From: Lisa Wood lisa.w...@stewarthowe.com To: cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu Sent: Friday, October 14, 2011 10:32 AM Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Singing birds Yes, and the annual occurrence of autumnal recrudescence: The Autumnal Recrudescence of the Amatory Urge When the birds are cacaphonic in the trees and on the verge Of the fields in mid-October when the cold is like a scourge. It is not delight in winter that makes feathered voices surge, But autumnal recrudescence of the amatory urge. When the frost is on the punkin' and when leaf and branch diverge, Birds with hormones reawakened sing a paean, not a dirge. What's the reason for their warbling? Why on earth this late-year splurge? The autumnal recrudescence of the amatory urge. - Written by Susan Stiles, copyright December 1973 A posting about this usually occurs annually as well. :) Lisa On Oct 14, 2011, at 10:24 AM, Meena Haribal wrote: I heard Chipping sparrow singing on the campus! It is perfect nice spring weather outside with south wind. Meena Meena Haribal Boyce Thompson Institute Ithaca NY 14850 Phone 607-254-1258 http://meenaharibal.blogspot.com/ http://haribal.org/ http://haribal.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/wildwest+trip+August+2007+.pdf -Original Message- From: bounce-38153194-3493...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-38153194-3493...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Laura Stenzler Sent: Friday, October 14, 2011 10:20 AM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Singing birds This morning I came across a flock of migrants along Hunt Hill Rd. which included song, white-throated and chipping sparrows, towhee, many juncos, many ruby-crowned kinglets which were singing, one hermit thrush, several robins and one singing blue-headed vireo. All of these birds were in one small shrubby area. I was very surprised to hear the singing! Laura Laura Stenzler l...@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/ -- -- 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 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] Cayuga Lake and Montezuma Sat Nov 26 2011
Took a trip up the east side of Cayuga Lake, stopped at Montezuma and then went down the west side. It was a long day but the nice weather and of course all the great birds made it very enjoyable. First stop was in Broome County on Edward's Hill Rd in Lisle, NY where my birding pals Dan Watkins and Bob Grosek found a NORTHERN SHRIKE. Their description of where to find it was perfect and upon arrival the bird was sitting on the top of a dead tree right next to the road. Got some nice photos. It was an immature as you can see in the photo. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/6408946309/in/photostream Next stop was Myer's Point. Not much there. Plenty of RING-BILLED GULLS and also many many COMMON LOONS. All these birds were fairly distant but got a decent photo of a COMMON LOON. I also saw three gulls on the far shore that were smaller and were flying differently, tern-like. Did not get great views but I suspect they were BONAPARTE'S GULLS. Next stop was Long Point State Park...about a dozen COMMON GOLDENEYE'S flushed as there were some hunters. Fortunately, none were shot. I also saw a distant group of scoters. I positively was able to id a WHITE-WINGED SCOTER and a SURF SCOTER. There were other scoters either female or immature and were very difficult given the distance. I am pretty sure I had a BLACK SCOTER female but again distance, and shimmer were not helpful. There were also 2 LONG-TAILED DUCKS with these scoters. Next stop was Aurora Bay...had 3 HORNED GREBES and 1 DOUBLE CRESTED CORMORANT. There were also many many gulls, including RING-BILLED, HERRING and GREAT-BLACK BACKED. At Harris Park, did not see too much different from what I had already had. There was an adult BALD EAGLE in a dead tree behind the nest at Mud Lock. At the Montezuma Visitor's Center, there were many NORTHERN SHOVELERS,several GREEN-WINGED TEAL and still about 7 or 8 DUNLIN. From East Road, there were loads of CANADA GEESE, NORTHERN PINTAILS, GREEN-WINGED TEALS. Also heard SANDHILL CRANES but could not find them!! There were also a smaller groups (probably 100s) of SNOW GEESE. On the way back, Lower Lake Road had a nice group of AMERICAN COOTS, and AMERICAN WIDGEON. There were also many distant gulls. Dean's Cove had 2 PIED BILLED GREBES and Sheldrake had 2 LONG-TAILED DUCKS which were fairly close for some decent photos. All in all, totalled 47 species. I spent no time in the woods or watching feeders so I have no sparrows (except juncos) and no cardinals!!! I uploaded some select photos to my flickr account which can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157628168038703/ Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Snowy Owl at Greater Binghamton Airport...not seen since December 23rd.
I spoke with Steven Robinson the person who found the Snowy Owl at the Greater Binghamton Airport on December 23rd. He took a photo of it with his cell phone and it is legit. See attached. Unfortunately, he is out there often and has not seen the bird since. I asked the airport operations folks to give me a call if they spot it again. They are out there often and looking for it. They drive the runways and likely would find it if it is still there. I will keep you posted. Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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/ --attachment: owl.jpg
Re: ADMIN: [cayugabirds-l] Snowy Owl??? (Cayuga Lake Basin defined)
I definitively will continue to share any unusual birds we see down here in the southern tier with this list... like the Loggerhead Shrike that a few of you got to see in 2010. Snowy Owl still has not be re-found at the Binghamton airport by the way. Good luck to you all. Take care. From: Dave Nutter nutter.d...@me.com To: Chris Tessaglia-Hymes c...@cornell.edu Cc: cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2011 9:03 PM Subject: Re: ADMIN: [cayugabirds-l] Snowy Owl??? (Cayuga Lake Basin defined) I agree with Chris T-H in welcoming reports from beyond the Cayuga Lake Basin, especially big, rare, easy-to-ID-from-a-respectful-distance birds like Snowy Owls, but also anything wild-bird-related which is unusual or interesting to you the writer/observer. I just want to set the record straight about the Cayuga Lake Basin: It is not just the land which drains into Cayuga Lake. It also includes some land immediately to the north of the Cayuga Lake drainage which drains north into the Seneca River instead of draining east into Owasco Lake or west into Seneca Lake. It also expands at the Seneca River, somewhat arbitrarily, east to just north of Weedsport and west beyond Waterloo and barely into Ontario County. It then extends north, in a more principled fashion, to include all the land which drains south into the Seneca River or Clyde River instead of draining directly north into Lake Ontario. As Bob McGuire noted, this is all on a map by Wiegand and Eames, botanists who published it in a textbook in 1926. The area they delineated encompasses the entire Montezuma Wetlands Complex as well as some interesting ponds especially to the west and a good chunk of the world-class drumlin field to the north. Those drumlins do screwy things to the drainage, though, and make the north border look pretty ragged. Wiegand and Eames were interested in plants, but ecology being what it is, a whole lot of cool birds show up in the basin as well. I wish I had a link to the actual map to provide here. By the way the Cayuga Lake Basin does not include the drainage of Seneca Lake, even though it is the source of the Seneca River, which flows into Cayuga Lake, nor, of course, the drainage of Keuka Lake, which flows into Seneca Lake. --Dave Nutter On Dec 28, 2011, at 10:21 AM, Chris Tessaglia-Hymes c...@cornell.edu wrote: Good morning, Regardless of whether a Snowy Owl is in or out of the drainage system for the Cayuga Lake Basin, or elsewhere in the immediately surrounding Finger Lakes Region, there are many subscribers on Cayugabirds-L, as well as readers online who are not active subscribers of this eList, who would appreciate sightings being reported on Cayugabirds-L. Please *do* post sightings of interest, even if birds are Out of Basin (OOB) to those who participate in the yearly David Cup birding competition (limited to the drainage system for the Cayuga Lake Basin). Cayugabirds-L is not limited to sightings in the Cayuga Lake Basin; instead, it simply has a focus on Cayuga Lake as well as the surrounding areas. Thanks and good birding! Sincerely, Chris T-H Chris Tessaglia-Hymes Listowner, Cayugabirds-L Ithaca, NY On Wed, Dec 28, 2011 at 8:58 AM, bob mcguire bmcgu...@clarityconnect.com wrote: Once again (Wednesday AM), several of us would appreciate any timely reports of Snowy Owl in the CL Basin. The year is about to end and we are (shamelessly) trying to fill out our Basin lists! Any of you shoppers out there, is the young bird still present at the Outlet Mall? Bob McGuire -- 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-archivecom/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 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: 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] Take a look at this news link: Feds propose allowing wind-farm developer to kill golden eagles
see link below. http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/04/9952873-feds-propose-allowing-wind-farm-developer-to-kill-golden-eagles -- 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] 2 or 3 Grebes??
It is apparently inconclusive if there has been 2 or 3 Western-type Grebes on Cayuga Lake. Tom Johnson's question of Western X Clark's Grebe is intriguing since one of the two birds he and Jay had looks similar to the one at the southern end of the Lake that I photographed on Saturday. When I saw Chris Wood's photos, his bird struck me as being darker like the other bird Jay and Tom had. Anyway... Chris Wood's are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinicola/6673386795/in/photostream/ Tom's are here: http://www.flickr.com/bonxie88 Mine are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/6818823433/in/set-72157629174516367/ Are they the same birds? or impossible to tell? In any event, 2 western grebe's or 1 western and 1 western x clark's is amazing3 of these birds is unfathomable! Dave Nicosia -- 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] Group proposes gas drilling test site at Camp Pharsalia...This is an IBA!!!
On a different topic...I just received this email This is very unsettling http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20120207/NEWS01/202070375 -- 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] East Side of Cayuga Lake Saturday 18 Feb 2012
Took a trip with my birding pals, Dan Watkins, Jon Weeks and Rich Youket to the east side of Cayuga Lake. First stop was Stewart park for the WESTERN GREBE and we found it pretty quicklydistant...but seen well in a scope. Also seen well from East Park. We also had 2 RED-THROATED LOONS with a distant COMMON LOON. Stewart also had many AMERICAN COOTS, 1 RUDDY DUCK, the 3 typical gull sp. The DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT that has been present for the winter was there. There were also many COMMON GOLDENEYES. Also present were AMERICAN WIGEON, GADWALL, MALLARD, BLACK DUCK, COMMON and HOODED MERGANSERS. I probably forgot a few. But nothing additional that was unusual. Next stop beside East Park, where we basically got different views of the WESTERN GREBE, was Myer's Point. Not much unusual there. All 3 sp. of Gulls, many COMMON GOLDENEYEs, MALLARDS and BLACK DUCK. There was a small flock of AMERICAN PIPITs on the gravel bars that were flying back and forth between Myer's and Salt Point. At Salt Point got a nice view of a WHITE-WINGED SCOTER that Jon Weeks found initially. The bird was fairly close to shore and easy to see even with binoculars. Next stop was Long Point State Park. Not much there except loads of COMMON GOLDENEYES. Best birds at this location was a nice pair of RED-BREASTED MERGANSERs. From Aurora Bay, we had only 1 HORNED GREBE, many COMMON GOLDENEYES and One NORTHERN PINTAIL. We counted 298 AMERICAN COOTS!!! There were also a few distant COMMON LOONS. Next stop was north of the Twin Orchard Campground where there was an enormous aythya raft that we estimated around 20,000. I shot a video of the raft and uploaded it to my flickr site. I also shot many pictures. We estimate around 60% REDHEAD, 25% CANVASBACK and the rest around 15% SCAUP sp. and others. There was also a several RING-NECKED DUCKS. Some photos and a video of this spectacle can be found here... | http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629378999019/ A few select photos from the trip here... http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629378989695/ We had an awesome time and totaled 57 species!! Not bad for February. Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Around Cayuga Lake and Montezuma Today 04 March 2012
Took a trip up and around Cayuga Lake today with my father-in-law and brother-in-law. We also went to the Mucklands. The main goal was to see large numbers of snow geese and the bald eagle nest at Mud Lock. In between snow squalls, we succeeded. Great views of the Bald Eagle pair. One on nest and the other posing in the dead tree to the right of the nest. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629513869791/with/6807715836/ Also found two large rafts of snow geese on the west side of the lake in between more snow squalls from lower lake road. Photos and short video of the closest raft can be found here http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629149230304/ In addition, huge aythya raft continues near the Twin Orchards Campground. From east road there were many northern pintails, also got my FOY NORTHERN SHOVELER. There was a smaller flock of snow geese at the mucklands...many hunters around. This group was probably around 10,000 or so. I also had a couple horned grebes at the Aurora boathouse and one grebe that was too far at the time to tell if it was a horned or eared grebe in my opinion. I have yet to get the eared grebe at this location and have never seen one yet. So I am not familiar with these species. The wind was blowing hard, the waves were choppy, eyes tearing in the wind and it was very cold so I did not spend much time on it. So I snapped a bunch of digi-scoped images...most came out blurry ...but I did manage this one... Is this an eared grebe? http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/6808014060/in/photostream Thanks! Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Around Cayuga Lake and Montezuma Today 04 March 2012
The more I look at my grebe photo...the head shape seems to make it a horned grebe to me, it is not peaked toward the front of the head...also the white is fairly prominent... not enough duskiness thoughts??? From: david nicosia daven1...@yahoo.com To: Cayugabirds- L Cayugabirds-L@cornell.edu; Bluewing bluewing-gr...@googlegroups.com Sent: Sunday, March 4, 2012 7:59 PM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Around Cayuga Lake and Montezuma Today 04 March 2012 Took a trip up and around Cayuga Lake today with my father-in-law and brother-in-law. We also went to the Mucklands. The main goal was to see large numbers of snow geese and the bald eagle nest at Mud Lock. In between snow squalls, we succeeded. Great views of the Bald Eagle pair. One on nest and the other posing in the dead tree to the right of the nest. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629513869791/with/6807715836/ Also found two large rafts of snow geese on the west side of the lake in between more snow squalls from lower lake road. Photos and short video of the closest raft can be found here http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629149230304/ In addition, huge aythya raft continues near the Twin Orchards Campground. From east road there were many northern pintails, also got my FOY NORTHERN SHOVELER. There was a smaller flock of snow geese at the mucklands...many hunters around. This group was probably around 10,000 or so. I also had a couple horned grebes at the Aurora boathouse and one grebe that was too far at the time to tell if it was a horned or eared grebe in my opinion. I have yet to get the eared grebe at this location and have never seen one yet. So I am not familiar with these species. The wind was blowing hard, the waves were choppy, eyes tearing in the wind and it was very cold so I did not spend much time on it. So I snapped a bunch of digi-scoped images...most came out blurry ...but I did manage this one... Is this an eared grebe? http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/6808014060/in/photostream Thanks! Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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/ --
Re: [cayugabirds-l] OOB Gray-crowned Rosy Finch
You guys made the news up there. http://www.wwnytv.com/news/local/Feedback-Bird-Watchers-141632383.html From: Dave Nutter nutter.d...@me.com To: cayugabirds-L@cornell.edu Sent: Tuesday, March 6, 2012 7:57 PM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] OOB Gray-crowned Rosy Finch Today Ann Mitchell I took the almost 3-hour trip to see the GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCH, which was very cooperative on this 3rd day since its arrival. This was a life bird for both of us, and being only the second confirmed state record, it's a rare opportunity to see this species without trekking high into the western mountains. Besides, it has wonderfully subtle and unusual colors well worth seeing. So I hope the bird sticks around and more people get to see it. The location is in Lewis County, on NYS-12D, several miles north of Boonville and a short distance south of Locust Grove Road (lower left corner of p85 in DeLorme). Nancy Loomis, who discovered the bird on Sunday while doing a Feederwatch count, is graciously permitting visitors to park and scope from the area in front of their large separate garage/shop. The phone number to call in advance is 315-723-2527. The bird has been feeding on the deck, on a bird bath which is seasonally filled with seed, and on the ground. It also spends a lot of time in the nearby large deciduous trees where it often perches close to the trunks and can be a challenge to find, being rather bark-colored. It doesn't particularly associate with the numerous other birds at this busy feeding station - mainly HOUSE SPARROWS, AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES, PURPLE FINCHES and BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES. Although it first showed up at 6:26 this morning, it was there when we arrived around 11:15 and still there when we left at 12:40. Form a car-pool, and good luck! On our way back we stopped at the mucklands on NYS-31 west of the Village of Montezuma. It was barren except a very few scattered AMERICAN CROWS, although an adult BALD EAGLE was perched near its nest at northwest edge. There was also an adult Bald Eagle perched near the Armitage Road nest. From East Road we saw some CANADA GEESE, NORTHERN PINTAILS, AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS, AMERICAN WIGEON, and MALLARDS but only a handful of SNOW GEESE. Along Lower Lake Rd we found more waterfowl, including several TUNDRA SWANS (many in the distance), quite a few GADWALL, some distant COMMON MERGANSERS and COMMON GOLDENEYE, a small flock CANVASBACKS, a flock of REDHEADS with a few GREATER and LESSER SCAUP and RING-NECKED DUCKS mixed in, and at the south end near the intersection with NYS-89 by the Fayette/Seneca Falls town line, a dwindling raft of a couple thousand SNOW GEESE. As we scanned them unsuccessfully for a Ross's Goose, skeins kept taking off and flying northwest (Do they feed at night to avoid hunters?). There were also a few GREEN-WINGED TEAL nearby on the mud. --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] Around Cayuga Lake and Montezuma Area Wed 07 March 2012
Spent the day birding around Cayuga Lake and Montezuma. First stop though was Edwards Hill Road in Broome co. where I finally got the NORTHERN SHRIKE for 2012. I had this guy way back in November. From my photos in November vs. today's, it could be the same bird, a first year bird See http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629172472684/ (Today) vs. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/6408944587/in/photostream/ (Nov 26, 2011) Highlights for rest of trip- East Shore Park: 1 RED-THROATED LOON Stewart Park:1 CANVASBACK, 1 PIED-BILLED GREBE, 3 HOODED MERGANSER, 2 AMERICAN WIGEON Myer's Point- counted 160 RING-BILLED GULLS, 60 HERRING GULLS, 3 GREATER BLACK BACKED GULLS, BELTED KINGFISHER, 1 NORTHERN FLICKER, 1 RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER Long Point St. Park overlook from Lake Road- 31 COMMON GOLDENEYES Aurora Boathouse- no grebes, but counted 183 AMERICAN COOTS Twin Oaks Campground to north of Railroad Tracks crossing Rte 90- Huge aythya raft...maybe 20-25 thousand...all common species present. Both scaup, redhead, canvasback, ring-necked duck also american wigeon, black duck, mallards, ring-billed gulls, herring gulls, loads of canada geese and TUNDRA SWANS. Harris Park- another aythya raft...also 100-200 TUNDRA SWANS. Tschache Pool- CACKLING GOOSE among many Canadas. also lots of NORTHERN PINTAILS, and AMERICAN WIGEON. East Road Knox-Marcellus Marsh- about 20,000 SNOW GEESE. The whole flock took off into a swirling mass as an immature BALD EAGLE flew over. It was a spectacle. I got a poor quality video with my camera and several photos of the shear numbers. awesome. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629172481404/ Lower Lake Road- another aythya raft, many more scaup sp in this one but REDHEADS and CANVASBACK still most common. also TUNDRA SWANS, AMERICAN WIGEON, and another decent size raft of SNOW GEESE. I probably forgot a few. But totaled 54 species for the day which is not bad for early March. A few more select photos... http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629172527778/ Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Montezuma Today, Sunday March 18, 2012
Took a trip to Montezuma today with birding friend Stephen Hill. It was an awesome March day...totaled 63 species which is pretty good, but not unexpected given the exceptional warmth. Some select photos from the trip can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629249736776/ Details below... Most of Cayuga Lake is now void of significant concentrations of waterfowl. They likely are well to the north now. So our first stop was Montezuma Visitor's Center... We counted 230 GREEN-WINGED TEAL. They were everywhere!! I looked and looked but did not find a Eurasian variety, although I would not be surprised if one shows up there again like last year. In addition, there were at least 4 BLUE-WINGED TEAL. In addition, there were several NORTHERN SHOVELERS, GADWALL, AMERICAN WIGEON, and NORTHERN PINTAIL among the typical mallards, black ducks and canada geese. There were no shorebirds except for KILLDEER. Several TREE SWALLOWS were swirling around above us. Next Stop was Tschache Pool. There are many waterfowl there. I counted 166 NORTHERN SHOVELERS! There were at least 200 AMERICAN WIGEON. I did not relocate Dave Nutter's EURASIAN WIGEON but I could have missed it as there were so many wigeon with many very distant. There were also many GREEN-WINGED TEAL, 1 BLUE-WINGED TEAL, several NORTHERN PINTAIL, at least 15 GADWALL, 6 REDHEADS, at least 200 RING-NECKED DUCKS, 10 BUFFLEHEAD, 2 PIED-BILLED GREBE and 4 KILLDEER (at least). There were other common birds as well. Next stop was May's Point... We were treated to 2 RUDDY DUCKS still in winter plumage but very close to the deck. There was also a small group of scaup with 1 clearly being GREATER and the others LESSER (nice having them next to each other!). AMERICAN WIGEON, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, BUFFLEHEAD and PIED-BILLED GREBE rounded out the water birds. There was also a nice EASTERN PHEOBE singing close by. Knox-Marcellus Marsh from East Road- Gone are the thousands of snow geese. In fact, we saw NO snow geese today! We did get nice views of 3 TRUMPETER SWANS, one was on a big mass of twigs...I didn't think they nest in this spot, it could have been using it as a look out I guess. There were 2 adults and 1 immature here. Great looks at bill and forehead pattern. Did not get any TUNDRA SWANS today either! Also seen here was a sizeable group of aythya species, numbering in the hundreds...way down from a couple weeks ago. But still had many CANVASVACKS, REDHEAD, SCAUP sp. and RING-NECKED DUCKS. There were 8 more RUDDY DUCKS as well with their tails in the air! We also found AMERICAN WIGEONs, SHOVELERS, PINTAIL, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, BUFFLEHEAD, COMMON MERGANSER and 1 GREAT BLUE HERON. Not many herons today. While we were watching the water birds, there were a few fly-over AMERICAN PIPITS and I heard one SAVANNAH SPARROW singing from the field below. Next stop was Van Dyne Sporer Road, by the edge of the woods, we found a couple YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, heard GOLDEN-CROWN KINGLETS, RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS, and another EASTERN PHOEBE. There was also a couple HORNED LARKS in the field before you get to the woods that dead-ends. Much of the same waterfowl were found here two. We did find a hybrid MALLARD X BLACK DUCK here. In addition, there were 5 AMERICAN COOTS. We did not see or hear any COMMON MOORHENs (or GALLINULE now). We counted 135 RING-BILLED GULLS no other gull species present in this field seen from the end of the road. We also stopped at Morgan Road but did not get anything different but did get nice views of the AMERICAN KESTREL that are nesting in the box on the pole. There were also some RING-NECKED DUCKS on the pond there. So we headed out and stopped on the way home at GEORGE ROAD POND. There were NORTHERN SHOVELERS, RING-NECKED DUCKS, several KILLDEER, BUFFLEHEAD, GREEN-WINGED TEAL. I could not find Jay's WILSON'S SNIPE, but it easily could have been hidden somewhere in there. We wanted to see the EASTERN MEADOWLARK. But I only heard it sing twice and we could not find it. Cheers, Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Some Photos from Today 3/25/12
Got an email request for my bonaparte's gulls photos. Chris Wood, Jeff Gerbracht and I also had a nice look at the blue-winged teal found near Renwick Woods after I finished my SFO. So I set up a photo group...nothing earth-shatteringjust average quality digi-scoped images. I also added a nice HORNED GREBE in breeding plumage seen on the Susquehanna when I got home from Ithaca. There are far better, real photographers than I. anyway see below... http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629303241944/ Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Bald Eagles at my house- WOW
I was doing a little yard work and I heard a VERY loud whsh. I looked and I saw an adult bald eagle chasing another adult across my yard into my neighbor's yard BELOW tree top level They must have been barely 20 feet off the ground. I was afraid they would crash into something. Then I look up and there were 4 more bald eagles rising into a thermal...eventually the two low flying eagles joined this kettle...so I had 6 bald eagles in a kettle for several minutes over my house. Eventually I lost them off to the northeast so they were migratory. There were 4 adults and 2 immatures. amazingwow! Dave Nicosia -- 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] Freese Rd, Myers Pt, Montezuma
Thanks so much Ann and Dave. This is tremendously helpful for SFO leaders. I am leading the day trip tomorrow and will definitively be referencing this stuff. The weather is going to be sunny for the weekend. Mornings will be cold with afternoon temperatures in the 50s. But... it will be windy, especially Saturday. Winds will be from the northwest.So places on the east side of Cayuga Lake and the exposed areas around Montezuma will be especially windy. We are looking at sustained winds 15 to 20 mphprobably closer to 20-25 mph on Saturday off the lakes and in open areas with higher gusts...30-35 mph. Winds willbe a lweaker on Sunday10-20 mph. So I would recommend dressing warmlydespite all the sunshine which will make it look warmer than it will beonce you are in the wind! Good luck to all. From: Dave Nutter nutter.d...@me.com To: cayugabirds-L@cornell.edu Sent: Friday, April 6, 2012 5:19 AM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Freese Rd, Myers Pt, Montezuma Yesterday (5 April) Ann Mitchell I scouted several locations prior to this weekend's SFO trips around the lake and to the Montezuma Wetlands Complex. But first we stopped locally along Freese Rd, which would be good for the local SFO option. Here's highlights: Freese Rd, Dryden: After considerable wandering on the west side of the road we discovered that the lone tree Jay McGowan mentioned was probably not the single lone tree far west of the Liddell Lab parking lot, but instead one of 2 lone trees across the road from the exclosure fence between Dyce Lab and the now-plowed Community Gardens. The Community Gardens on the east side of the road are a good place to park. Anyway, in the farm lane past those two separate trees we re-found the 5 VESPER SPARROWS, plus at least 2 SAVANNAH SPARROWS, while the plowed field to the north hosted a KILLDEER, a flock of about 20 AMERICAN PIPITS, and a flock of about 50 AMERICAN ROBINS, and the grassy field to the south hosted an invisibly singing EASTERN MEADOWLARK. Farther south, close to the pond we also found a FIELD SPARROW. An AMERICAN KESTREL was on the wires nearby. We also saw a beautiful COYOTE near the woodlot to the west. Ladoga, Lansing: This bay is calm during north winds. There were over 200 AMERICAN COOTS, 1 each PIED-BILLED and HORNED GREBE, 2 COMMON LOONS, and plenty of RING-NECKED DUCKS and BUFFLEHEADS. Myers Point Park, Lansing: Low over Salmon Creek near the mouth were over 60 TREE SWALLOWS. The upstream end of this flock included at least 4 NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS and a BARN SWALLOW. At least 1 KILLDEER was on a gravel bar in the creek, while the gravel bars at the mouth of the creek hosted the usual 3 species of gulls. Although we did not see any, watch for Caspian Terns and Bonaparte's Gulls either among the resting gulls, feeding on the lake, or traveling north. We saw 1 COMMON LOON flying north. We also saw an OSPREY overhead. Take a look at Osprey nests as you head north. We saw that many were occupied. Mill Pond, Union Springs, Springport Lots of TREE SWALLOWS and at least 2 BARN SWALLOWS; a few BUFFLEHEAD. Village of Cayuga, Aurelius: We would have stopped at Harris Park, but as we headed north on Lake St, the shallow left turn from NYS-90 as one approaches the Village of Cayuga from the south, we found a propitious overlook just north of Wheat Street. From here we were able to scope all 5 typical Aythya duck species for our region, plus BUFFLEHEADS, RUDDY DUCKS, AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS, DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS, a HORNED GREBE, and the most exciting for us, the 2 WESTERN GREBES, swimming together and mimicking each other's head movements in obvious courtship, including a pose with the neck arched over and the bill pointed forward to nearly touch the water. The larger and darker of the two birds was often somewhat behind, and I figure that's the male. I hope somebody gets to see their crazy water-walking dance. I don't think that's been reported from here yet. Perhaps all of this would also have been visible from Harris Park as well. Mud Lock: 2 small fuzzy eaglet heads were visible in the nest. An adult BALD EAGLE perched nearby. Keep an eye on the bay to the south for terns, although we saw none today. BALD EAGLES immatures were seen over most locations in the Montezuma Wetlands Complex. Montezuma NWR Visitor Center: Excellent viewing of GADWALL, AMERICAN WIGEON, NORTHERN SHOVELER, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, MALLARD, CANADA GOOSE. The Wildlife Drive was only open to the spillway (carp orgy spot), but may be open entirely this weekend I'm very curious about the shorebird area and Bennings. The Main Pool seemed barren, but we did see a PIED-BILLED GREBE and a pair of TRUMPETER SWANS. Larue's Lagoon had many of the Anas ducks above, plus NORTHERN PINTAILS. We looked for Wilson's Snipe here but found none. Staring from the tower may have produced American Bittern or Sandhill
[cayugabirds-l] SFO Saturday All Day Group
Below are total species for our SFO Saturday All Day Trip. Leaders were Ann Mitchell and I. | Ann's notes are below. We had a total of 18 students. It was such a great day. We had so much fun that, before we knew it, the day was over!! Thanks to all for such a great birding trip!! Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY Apr 7, 2012 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM Comments: Dave Nicosia and I led the day trip around the lake. Since Dave's and my agenda were about the same, we decided to combine our trip. These are the highlights of the trip: Ladoga Park - 3 Common Loons, 2 Red-necked Grebes, a couple Coots, Ring-necked Ducks, Common Merganser. Myers Point - We saw a raft of waterfowl south of the point, so we walked to the lighthouse. The raft consisted of 2 White-winged Scoters, many Long-tailed Ducks, some Horned Grebes in breeding plumage, Ring-necked Ducks, and Wood Ducks. Harris Park area on Lake Street - All Aythya species (except for Ring-necked Ducks), Ruddy Ducks, 2 Western Grebes, Horned Grebe in breeding plumage. Visitors Center - Blue and Green-winged Teal, Northern Shovelers, Gadwall, American Wigeon, 2 Greater Yellowlegs. Martens Tract - Pied-billed Grebe, Sora, Virginia Rail, possible American Bittern. Dave saw a Eurasian Wigeon, but no one else got on it. East Road - Add ons were Double-crested Cormorants, 2 Snow Geese. We ran out of time, so we headed home. While there, we did see numerous Osprey nests and Osprey with fish, the Mudlock Eaglets, 2 male Northern Harriers in different locations, Red-tailed Hawks, and Turkey Vultures. Best, Ann P.S. If anyone remembers any other important sightings, please respond. Total 76 species- this is what at least 2 students saw/heard or 1 student + 1 leader saw/heard. Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens) X Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) X Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) X Gadwall (Anas strepera) X American Wigeon (Anas americana) X American Black Duck (Anas rubripes) X Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) X Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors) X Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata) X Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) X Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) X Canvasback (Aythya valisineria) X Redhead (Aythya americana) X Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) X Greater Scaup (Aythya marila) X Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) X White-winged Scoter (Melanitta fusca) X Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) X Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) X Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) X Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) X Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) X Common Loon (Gavia immer) X Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) X Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus) X Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena) X Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis) X Seen for many weeks in this vicinity. Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) X Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) X Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) X Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) X Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) X Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) X Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) X American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) X Virginia Rail (Rallus limicola) X Sora (Porzana carolina) X American Coot (Fulica americana) X Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) X Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) X Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) X Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) X Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) X Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) X Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) X Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) X Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) X Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) X Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus) X Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) X Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) X Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) X Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) X American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) X Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris) X Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) X Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) X Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) X Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) X White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) X Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) X Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) X American Robin (Turdus migratorius) X Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) X European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) X Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) X Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) X Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) X Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) X Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) X Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) X Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) X Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) X House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) X American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) X House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) X This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org) -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm
[cayugabirds-l] SFO Montezuma Sunday April 8, 2012
Had another spectacular SFO field trip. Was planning on just a short day, 7-11 am, but no one showed up for just the 1/2 day trip. So, I more than willingly, volunteered to lead a group for the whole day! I had a small group, just 4 of us, including me so we had one car. What a day! 1 student got 6 life birds and the other got 3! We hit pretty much all of the target birds that the group wanted, many with excellent looks at field marks, behavior etc. The weather cooperated very nicely. Chilly in the morning but excellent for scoping on Cayuga Lake. Afternoon was breezy but not as windy as Saturday. Still good viewing. We totaled an amazing 82 species!! Some photos... http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629406612342/ Began at Ladoga Park and got 3 COMMON LOONS, 8 RING-NECKED DUCKS and a few BUFFLEHEAD. Next was Myer's point...picked up 5 LONG-TAILED DUCKS, KILLDEER, NORTHERN FLICKER, and many RING-BILLED GULLS and 2 fly-by HERRING GULLS. Then we headed up toward Union Springs/Harris Park to get the western grebe and others. But, on the way up, we hit the jackpot on field birds. First we saw a few AMERICAN PIPITS right next to the road, some were in the ditch on Lake Road in King Ferry. We stopped and got great looks and estimated about 30. We also saw a HORNED LARK and a NORTHERN HARRIER who perched on the ground for us. Then a SAVANNAH SPARROW was singing from the top of a post on the other side of the road. Got great views and the students took some great photos. Very cooperative! Then before Lake Road merges with Rte 90 in King Ferry, we saw flock after flock of AMERICAN PIPITs fly by. There were all over...we estimated 75-100! awesome views of these cool birds. Also some good photos were taken (not by me!). Near Union Springs there was a COMMON RAVEN being mobbed by AMERICAN CROWS not far from the lake. Then we stopped to see an OSPREY sitting on one of the nests along Route 90 near Union Springs before Harris Park turn off. Of course got great views and then an EASTERN MEADOWLARK visited us pretty close singing and offering great looks. The bird was doing its classic hover and glide flight. He also landed close by for killer looks. But I don't think he was still enough for anyone to get photos. Then we hit the WESTERN GREBE spot on Lake Street right by where Wheat Street meets it, south of Harris Park. Like yesterday, all of our usual aythya species were present with RUDDY DUCK, BUFFLEHEAD, COMMON MERGANSER. Had 4 RED BREASTED MERGANSERS fly-by as well here. Then after some searching both WESTERN GREBES showed up within an aythya raft. We also had PIED-BILLED and HORNED GREBES here too. The rafts by the way are thinning down. Next stop was the Mud Lock BALD EAGLE nest. 2 chicks visible, 1 adult perched in the tree and the other soaring overhead...perfect lighting. Then we hit the Montezuma vistor's center...teal species continue dominate. Many many GREEN-WINGED TEAL, several BLUE-WINGED TEAL, a few NORTHERN SHOVELERS and several GADWALL. Also TREE SWALLOWS. Did not get PURPLE MARTINS. Wildlife drive yielded more ducks that we had already seen giving the group a chance to practice id. Also got an excellent view of a SWAMP SPARROW singing from the top of a reed by the road. We then stopped at Benning Marsh and the shorebirds that were seen yesterday were very cooperative. Got 6 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS, 3 DUNLIN, several LESSER and GREATER YELLOWLEGS and several WILSON'S SNIPE. The PECTORAL SANDPIPERS were close so we got some excellent photos. Awesome birds. Next stop was Marten's Tract. Highlight was a SANDHILL CRANE that was flying but then landed out of sight. We walked on the trails but did not relocate. But we had more waterfowl. We also got AMERICAN COOT and COMMON GALLINULE (formerly MOORHEN). There was not too much on Morgan Road so next stop was East Road over Knox-Marcellus Marsh. Many many birds there. We were kind of tired and probably could have spent a very long time there. But birds were distant and we got only fair scope views of most species. Highlights were 1 CASPIAN TERN which was distant but the large size (much bigger than the ring-billed gulls with it), very light wings that were pointed and tern-like flight were very diagnostic. Also go some black on the head. Was hard to see the bill due to the heat shimmer and shear distance...60x on scope. The bird eventually landed and was loafing with a bunch of gulls too far to see good enough from east road. Unfortunately only one of the students was able to see this bird in my group before it landed. Also had WOOD DUCK, a couple left-over SNOW GEESE, small rafts of aythya species, RUDDY DUCK, NORTHERN PINTAIL, AMERICAN WIGEON, DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS and a few others. We drove back to the lab and decided to head to Freese Road and see if we could find the VESPER SPARROWS that have been seen last few days. And bingo, 2 appeared for us in the lone tree between fields across from the
Re: [cayugabirds-l] SFO Montezuma Sunday April 8, 2012
Our Common Gallinule may have been an American Coot. It is still a bit early for gallinule (formerly moorhen) and we only heard it. There has been a report of american coot(s) in Marten's Tract that sound very much like a gallinule. We did see a few coots up there, so it probably was just that. From: david nicosia daven1...@yahoo.com To: Cayugabirds- L Cayugabirds-L@cornell.edu; Bluewing bluewing-gr...@googlegroups.com Sent: Sunday, April 8, 2012 7:35 PM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] SFO Montezuma Sunday April 8, 2012 Had another spectacular SFO field trip. Was planning on just a short day, 7-11 am, but no one showed up for just the 1/2 day trip. So, I more than willingly, volunteered to lead a group for the whole day! I had a small group, just 4 of us, including me so we had one car. What a day! 1 student got 6 life birds and the other got 3! We hit pretty much all of the target birds that the group wanted, many with excellent looks at field marks, behavior etc. The weather cooperated very nicely. Chilly in the morning but excellent for scoping on Cayuga Lake. Afternoon was breezy but not as windy as Saturday. Still good viewing. We totaled an amazing 82 species!! Some photos... http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629406612342/ Began at Ladoga Park and got 3 COMMON LOONS, 8 RING-NECKED DUCKS and a few BUFFLEHEAD. Next was Myer's point...picked up 5 LONG-TAILED DUCKS, KILLDEER, NORTHERN FLICKER, and many RING-BILLED GULLS and 2 fly-by HERRING GULLS. Then we headed up toward Union Springs/Harris Park to get the western grebe and others. But, on the way up, we hit the jackpot on field birds. First we saw a few AMERICAN PIPITS right next to the road, some were in the ditch on Lake Road in King Ferry. We stopped and got great looks and estimated about 30. We also saw a HORNED LARK and a NORTHERN HARRIER who perched on the ground for us. Then a SAVANNAH SPARROW was singing from the top of a post on the other side of the road. Got great views and the students took some great photos. Very cooperative! Then before Lake Road merges with Rte 90 in King Ferry, we saw flock after flock of AMERICAN PIPITs fly by. There were all over...we estimated 75-100! awesome views of these cool birds. Also some good photos were taken (not by me!). Near Union Springs there was a COMMON RAVEN being mobbed by AMERICAN CROWS not far from the lake. Then we stopped to see an OSPREY sitting on one of the nests along Route 90 near Union Springs before Harris Park turn off. Of course got great views and then an EASTERN MEADOWLARK visited us pretty close singing and offering great looks. The bird was doing its classic hover and glide flight. He also landed close by for killer looks. But I don't think he was still enough for anyone to get photos. Then we hit the WESTERN GREBE spot on Lake Street right by where Wheat Street meets it, south of Harris Park. Like yesterday, all of our usual aythya species were present with RUDDY DUCK, BUFFLEHEAD, COMMON MERGANSER. Had 4 RED BREASTED MERGANSERS fly-by as well here. Then after some searching both WESTERN GREBES showed up within an aythya raft. We also had PIED-BILLED and HORNED GREBES here too. The rafts by the way are thinning down. Next stop was the Mud Lock BALD EAGLE nest. 2 chicks visible, 1 adult perched in the tree and the other soaring overhead...perfect lighting. Then we hit the Montezuma vistor's center...teal species continue dominate. Many many GREEN-WINGED TEAL, several BLUE-WINGED TEAL, a few NORTHERN SHOVELERS and several GADWALL. Also TREE SWALLOWS. Did not get PURPLE MARTINS. Wildlife drive yielded more ducks that we had already seen giving the group a chance to practice id. Also got an excellent view of a SWAMP SPARROW singing from the top of a reed by the road. We then stopped at Benning Marsh and the shorebirds that were seen yesterday were very cooperative. Got 6 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS, 3 DUNLIN, several LESSER and GREATER YELLOWLEGS and several WILSON'S SNIPE. The PECTORAL SANDPIPERS were close so we got some excellent photos. Awesome birds. Next stop was Marten's Tract. Highlight was a SANDHILL CRANE that was flying but then landed out of sight. We walked on the trails but did not relocate. But we had more waterfowl. We also got AMERICAN COOT and COMMON GALLINULE (formerly MOORHEN). There was not too much on Morgan Road so next stop was East Road over Knox-Marcellus Marsh. Many many birds there. We were kind of tired and probably could have spent a very long time there. But birds were distant and we got only fair scope views of most species. Highlights were 1 CASPIAN TERN which was distant but the large size (much bigger than the ring-billed gulls with it), very light wings that were pointed and tern-like flight were very diagnostic. Also go some black on the head. Was hard to see the bill due to the heat shimmer and shear distance...60x on scope. The bird eventually landed
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Tape playing versus habitat loss
I think it is because it is an easy fix on the play back issue. We can all easily stop doing this if someone proved that it is harmful. This could be done quickly. That is why it is easy for people to comment and debate. But the issue of this wetland is much more complex and is tied to the landowner, local municipality and who knows what else. Much more complicated issue. I do agree with your sentiments and this is a great spring board for discussion on this much more important issue. What can be done? Maybe this is a project for the Cayuga Bird Club? I would think it would take collective action on the part of several people, especially Dryden residents, who are birders and anyone who knows more about the WHY this had to be done. How do we find out about the WHY this is being done? Once we find out, then there could be a solution. Finding out from the landowner is key. Anyone know who owns this land and is willing to contact him/her? It could be done collectively as a group of birders...again cayuga bird club or some other local conservation group. Or just an individual... That is the first step and it may already be known... Dave Nicosia From: Christopher Wood pinic...@gmail.com To: Upstate NY Birding CAYUGABIRDS-L@cornell.edu Sent: Monday, April 9, 2012 7:16 PM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Tape playing versus habitat loss I find the discusion on tape playing interesting in part because of the number of responses it has gathered. At the same time, a post from Kevin McGowan about the draining of one of the best wetlands in Tompkins County (George Road Pond) didn't draw a single comment. I was a bit surprised that no discussion ensued about what types of permits are required to drain wetlands. Did the Town of Dryden or George Junior or whoever decided to / approved draining obtain the appropriate permits? What permits are required? Was the wetland large enough to have federal protection? How are wetlands defined? What can we do to try to bring this local gem back or at the very least try to create something similar? I guess we were too focused on the dangers of tape playing and pishing. Or maybe it's just easier to question and nit-pick each other over the nuances of the 1% of things we don't already agree on. I think it ties into one of the more fundamental conservation challenges. It is easy to have a quick and passionate dislike of something like hunting or playing tape because we think we can see what happens. It happens to a single individual and it is very easy for us to empathize with that individual. But the benefits of hunting and tape playing are indirect (and often do not accrue to that individual). When leaders on SFO show people birds they wouldn't otherwise be able to appreciate without occasional and judicious use of tape, the benefits are not immediate. Instead, they are one of many building blocks that we hope will inspire more people to care about birds and engage others to care. I welcome the challenge of having every kid in New York so interested in seeing a Virginia Rail, that they wanted to go to a marsh and play their iPhone in hopes of seeing one. When I went to George Road yesterday, there weren't tens of thousands of birds of 150 different species lying dead on the ground. The Ring-necked Ducks that would have used it for courtship just weren't there. The migrant shorebirds that may have been knocked down in the rain, just weren't there. Not much of anything was there. But I couldn't see the damage. It didn't cause a gut reaction. So I went home. I made dinner. And then I read my email about the perils of tape playing. If only habitat loss could inspire the same passions as pishing. Chris Wood Ithaca, New York -- 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 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] Sunday April 15, 2012 Ithaca, Montezuma and Vicinity
What a day. 89 species and some exciting surprises. Led SFO group 7 and our first stop was Sweedler-Lick Brook and the fields around. Not much at the brook... no Louisiana Waterthrushes yet and did not hear blue-headed vireos yet. We had most of the common birds including black-capped chickadees, tufted titmice, dark-eyed juncos etc. Did get great looks at 3-4 FIELD SPARROWS nearby and 2 EASTERN BLUEBIRDS. At Sandbank Road, got great views of 2 EASTERN MEADOWLARKS and heard a few SAVANNAH SPARROWS. By the far, the best and most surprising spot was Freese Road. We walked up the road and did not get the vesper sparrows initially, instead there were at least 100 american robins in the fields. We did have a fly-over AMERICAN PIPIT. Then, all of the sudden, there was a low-flying SHORT-EARED OWL! The bird flushed from the grasses below and flew around in several circles over our SFO group. Lighting was good and everyone got breath-taking views of this beautiful bird. The bird eventually met up with a NORTHERN HARRIER and then landed for a short time before an AMERICAN CROW started to harass it. The bird then took off and gradually worked its way northward out of sight! I have never got such a great look at a flying SHORT-EARED OWL as it was mid day and the lighting was excellent. Then after all this, we had a small kettle of BROAD-WINGED HAWKS overhead. Then toward the end we got on 2 VESPER SPARROWS. Our SFO group ended with 50 species. Then I birded with fellow Broome County birders Nancy Morgan and Melissa Penta. We drove up to Montezuma and met up with Chris Wood and Andy Guthrie and birded the Montezuma Visitor's center and wildlife drive. There were NORTHERN SHOVELORS, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, GADWALL, among others. At Benning marsh, the shorebirds continue. Chris and Andy counted, I believe, 46 WILSON'S SNIPE. There were around a dozen PECTORAL SANDPIPERS, 4 DUNLIN and both GREATER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS. And we had at least 1 KILLDEER. Andy left and then the rest of the trip was Chris, Nancy, Melissa and I. We stopped at May's point and had bufflehead, a double crested cormorant, green-winged teal, hooded merganser, pied-billed grebes, ring-billed gull, osprey, bald eagle, northern harrier and a flyover SANDHILL CRANE! There was also a PEREGRINE FALCON that buzzed through May's point. We also heard a RUSTY BLACKBIRD across the road by the pond. Next stop was Towpath Road, and yes, the road is graded and very nice. We had a lot of birds on towpath road, I probably will miss some but the most unusual was a GLAUCOUS GULL which Chris spotted flying over Knox-Marcellus Marsh toward east road. We also heard and got an unsatisfying look at a CASPIAN TERN flying way up high. Other birds at Towpath- FOX SPARROW, GREAT EGRET, loads of GREAT BLUE HERONs, many species of waterfowl, including one left-over SNOW GOOSE. There were many GREEN WINGED TEAL, and some BLUE-WINGED TEAL. We also had a nice group of RUDDY DUCKS, some in breeding plumage. Also RING-NECKED DUCKS. Next stop was Seneca County Fairgrounds and right away we had 2 UPLAND SANDPIPERS which gave us great views. Then they started flying around, some went very high and eventually we counted 4 uppies. Great birds! Chris heard a GRASSHOPPER SPARROW which took me a few attempts but I eventually got on it. He was not singing much and we did not see it. There were also HORNED LARKS, EASTERN MEADOWLARKS and SAVANNAH SPARROWS. Like I said in the beginning, what a day! Thanks to my SFO group, Nancy Morgan, Melissa Penta, Andy Guthrie and of course Chris Wood who all made this such an awesome day of birds!! Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Glossy Ibis Photos.
See http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629469701740/ I posted the exact location of the bird on e-bird. The bird was in the mud flat on the marsh on the right when you drive in from Route 12. Not sure how long he/she will stay. I suspect is was an overshoot from the crazy south winds we have been having the last couple days (especially last night). So who knows how long it will stay there. Thanks to Glenn Wilson for the prompt email when he found the bird. Cheers...great bird for Broome county. Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Willet at Fair Haven, Sunday, July 3rd
You also have to remember that spring migration begins in the heart of winter...February... for what it is worth. From: Dave Nutter nutter.d...@me.com To: CAYUGABIRDS-L cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu Sent: Tue, July 5, 2011 12:30:28 PM Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Willet at Fair Haven, Sunday, July 3rd It may be disheartening to think we are barely past the solstice, yet people are already talking about fall migration, but it's true. Shorebirds are already starting south, or at least dispersing after breeding. Other birds are as well, but the shorebirds are more obvious. I think it was generous of Ken to include the word early to try to make you feel more comfortable. --Dave Nutter On Jul 05, 2011, at 05:15 AM, Stephanie Greenwood stgreenw...@ev.ithaca.ny.us wrote: part of the same early fall movement. PuLLEASE! -- Stephanie Greenwood Ecovillage at Ithaca 221 Rachel Carson Way Ithaca, NY 14850 607 273 1179 607 280 1050 cell -- 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: 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/ --
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Question on the Western Grebe ID
Here is the link to the photos I took of the Western Grebe...they are all digi-scoped images. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629174516367/ Dave Nicosia From: Meena Haribal m...@cornell.edu To: david nicosia daven1...@yahoo.com Sent: Sunday, February 5, 2012 7:21 AM Subject: RE: [cayugabirds-l] Question on the Western Grebe ID Dave, After seeing your pics, you seem to have been much closer than I am, the bill looks yellowish and pointed. Plus average more grayish white flanks on the back too. I would also tend to call it Clark's Grebe. And I think you are the only one who got such detailed pictures. Here is Chris's link. Where you dont see much detail at all. http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinicola/6673387385/in/photostream/ So it would be interesting see what people would call it after your pics. You dont seem to have given link to your pics. Meena Meena Haribal Ithaca NY 14850 http://haribal.org/ http://meenaharibal.blogspot.com/ From: bounce-39530942-3493...@list.cornell.edu [bounce-39530942-3493...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of david nicosia [daven1...@yahoo.com] Sent: Saturday, February 04, 2012 9:08 PM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Question on the Western Grebe ID I got a comment on my flickr account saying that the western grebe photos I posted look more like a clark's grebe. This forced me to do a little research on this as I have never been out west to have to learn to distinguish between these two similar species. The white lore would suggest a clark's grebe in non-breeding plumage but I have read in several field guides and on-line that western grebes in non-breeding can show this too. The bill on the bird I saw today was definitively olive-yellow and I had good lighting. Is this the main field mark that is making this a Western Grebe to everyone? Has anyone considered this could be a clark's grebe? Just curious to what other's thought process was on this. Thanks. Dave Nicosia -- 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/ --
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Dryden Lake Longtail Ducks
This is the day of the Long-tailed Ducks. We have had them reported in 3 separate locations in Broome County of which there are pretty rare. We also saw a couple from Myer's Point as well in addition to the one's Meena and others have had at Dryden lake. In addition, we have 3 red-necked grebes down here in Broome County today. We also have 3 Broome County locations where Bonaparte's gulls are being reported. Another bird that is not seen as often down here as Cayuga Lake and vicinity. The phrase bad weather = good birds holds true today. Dave Nicosia From: Meena Haribal m...@cornell.edu To: CAYUGABIRDS-L cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu Sent: Sunday, April 1, 2012 5:47 PM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Dryden Lake Longtail Ducks Hi all, Dave Nicosia has already reported about these Long-tailed ducks. But I wanted to emphasize their behavior. There were males of both breeding and non-breeding plumaged males and they were going in straight line and lifting their tail and head to display to females. I would have loved to watch them longer but as I was with a class group, I did not get much of chance to view them well. But whatever I saw was quite fascinating. While we were watching them another 6 birds landed from the sky. Not a single swallow was on the lake. It was worth a trip to the lake! Meena Meena Haribal Ithaca NY 14850 http://haribal.org/ http://meenaharibal.blogspot.com/ -- 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/ --
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Has birding ethics changed?
I was with Ann, as an SFO co-leader, and I fully agree with her on this one. I agree that this should not be done during breeding season even though some researchers have done it with little issue apparently. But the number of researchers out there has not exploded like the number of people with portable audio equipment. That being said, I think the benefits when doing education, like SFO, far outweigh the very very small chance of over-stressing a bird to its demise. Of course we used the playback in a limited way. We only got one sora to call with the virginia rail tape. Later the virginia rail called out on his own without any recording. No bittern responded to the playback. So we did not cause much of an issue. A sora called for a couple minutes that was it. The birds apparently are still there and life is good. More people interested in birds generally means more money for conservation. So I think limited use for playback for educational purposes is fine. I can also see professional photographers doing this too...their beautiful pictures can inspire others to get into birding. More birders usually means more interest in conservation. Just my 2 cents. thanks. From: Ann Mitchell annmitchel...@gmail.com To: John Confer con...@ithaca.edu Cc: geoklop...@gmail.com; Upstate NY Birding cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu Sent: Monday, April 9, 2012 3:10 PM Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Has birding ethics changed? I led an SFO trip up the lake on Saturday. I did not call birds until we reached Martin's Tract. I used a tape to call in a Virginia Rail. A Sora responded. A couple days before a Virginia Rail responded. There is also an American Bittern calling from there and probably Marsh Wrens. (Both Gary Kohlenberg and Tim Lenz heard the wren). I think using a tape is an okay thing to do. I totally agree about NOT playing tapes when birds are breeding. That is taboo. Also pishing is okay until breeding season. If you try to pish for sparrows, Song Sparrows might be the only one you hear. After breeding season for warblers and sparrows. I think it is a mixed bag. Good Birding, Ann Up for disputes On Mon, Apr 9, 2012 at 2:31 PM, John Confer con...@ithaca.edu wrote: For my two cents: I have done some really extensive audio playback as part of my golden-wing nest surveys and studies of nesting success, which involved luring birds into nets for color-banding and for blood samples to determine hybridization. I never felt that my playbacks reduced nesting success or caused mortality by predators, although that could rarely happen. I do know that in 20 years there were 3-4 instances when I caused nest failure by visiting nests, but not due to playbacks themselves. I always justified the extremely regretful nest failures and any small stress to the birds due to playback because of the gai knowledge about the conservation and ecology of the species. I certainly agree that multiple playbacks by many visitors should be prohibited, but I don't think a few, say ~4 or 5 in a day or 10 over a week, does any harm. That would be qualified by the weather condition and somewhat by the stage of courtship and nest building. In terrible weather, turn the audible off, and also if it is apparent that the pair is just forming a pair bond. Cheers, John Confer On 4/9/2012 2:13 PM, geoklop...@gmail.com wrote: Hi Nari, As John said, it used to be strictly limited to scientific research, but I think over the last 50 years we've shifted from black-and-white to grayscale on this question. The advent of Citizen Science has played a role, by creating research projects that depend on the participation of birders, hence offering them an inside view of the scientific justifications for various kinds and degrees of disturbance. For example, pishing, imitation and playback are all accepted field techniques in various projects that aim to survey breeding birds. I expect that birding ethics (and citizen science) will continue to evolve, and eventually we may see them in something like true color! Geo -- 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 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)
[cayugabirds-l] Fw: [bluewing-group] yellow-throated warbler- no
The Yellow-Throated Warbler that visited a feeder in southern Broome County last Sunday was never relocated. The bird was there for one day giving a few birders great looks and photos. The report was entered into e-bird and Courtney had definitive photos. - Forwarded Message - From: phoeni...@verizon.net phoeni...@verizon.net To: bluewing-gr...@googlegroups.com Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2012 7:10 PM Subject: [bluewing-group] yellow-throated warbler- no Hi I just wanted to let everyone know that I haven't seen the y-t warbler since sunday afternoon around 1:30PM. I'm still hopeful that he is around somewhere. Courtney -- 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] Fw: [bluewing-group] Yellow-headed Blackbird 4/26/12
To get to the marsh, you drive down route 26, the google earth address is 1329 union center maine highway, endicott, ny. You basically drive down route 26 and turn right before you get to the Ann G. McGuinness Intermediate School. There is a road which leads up to the soccer fields for the chool. The Marsh is on the corner of route 26/union center main highway and the road that leads to the soccer fields. I put the location on e-bird as a proposed hotspot. You can park by the marsh. The road overlooks it from above so you can get good views. I did not see the bird either as I was travelling and could not make it back before dark. I will likely be down there first thing tomorrow morning since it is rainy and poor weather now and the bird was seen at 730 pm. It likely could be there at first light. If anyone sees it tomorrow, please post to either bluewing or cayuga birds. I will make sure it gets to both listserves. Also some photos would be awesome. Dave Nicosia From: daven1...@yahoo.com daven1...@yahoo.com To: Mona Bearor conservebi...@gmail.com; Cayuga birds cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2012 8:37 PM Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Fw: [bluewing-group] Yellow-headed Blackbird 4/26/12 I will put it on ebird on my alternate account so you can find it. That's the best I can do for now. I will also find exact lat long for this area. Stay tuned. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry -Original Message- From: Mona Bearor conservebi...@gmail.com Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2012 20:26:02 To: daven1...@yahoo.com; 'Cayuga birds'cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu Subject: RE: [cayugabirds-l] Fw: [bluewing-group] Yellow-headed Blackbird 4/26/12 Directions to West Corners Swamp? Google didn't help any, so any info appreciated. Thanks, Mona Bearor So Glens Falls -Original Message- From: bounce-51833034-9150...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-51833034-9150...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of daven1...@yahoo.com Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2012 8:04 PM To: Cayuga birds Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Fw: [bluewing-group] Yellow-headed Blackbird 4/26/12 Another rare one for Broome. Of course I am on the road! Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry -Original Message- From: sara kinch ksar...@stny.rr.com Sender: bluewing-gr...@googlegroups.com Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:58:28 To: bluewing-gr...@googlegroups.com Reply-To: ksar...@stny.rr.com Subject: [bluewing-group] Yellow-headed Blackbird 4/26/12 Hello fellow birders, Lucky and I stopped by West Corners Swamp tonight at 7:30 PM. Lots of beautiful RW Blackbirds, male and female, Canadas, Wood Ducks, Tree Swallows, Mallards and at the northwest corner of the swamp was a brilliantly-colored Yellow-headed Blackbird (male). Several male RW Blackbirds harassed the Yellow-head but the Yellow-head would return to a stick at the same place in the swamp. Sara -- 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 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 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] Yellow-Headed Blackbird Endicott, NY Photos
Melissa Penta and I got great views mainly with the scope of the YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD almost immediately when we arrived at West Corners Marsh around 7 am. I briefly heard the buzz saw sounding call while she was the first to sight it. The white on the wings in flight is very distinctive! What a great bird for Broome County and many thanks to Sara Kinch for posting this last night!!! Bob Grosek stopped by while we were there and he could not recall if we have ever had one in Broome County before. Anyone know? Anyway I got some fair digi-scoped images which are distant. I put theexact location of where we had the bird on the mapping feature of flickr for those interested in finding the bird. The bird is best seen if you pull onto the road that the school is on. This road is above the marsh and gives you the best views. see http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629546647154/ Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Montezuma and Vicinity, East Side of Cayuga Lake and Myer's May 1 2012
Had a meeting between Syracuse and Utica this morning and then had to teach a weather class in Ithaca at 7 pm...so to kill time I spent from 130 to 630 pm today birding from Montezuma to Myer's. For just 5 hours of birding, I totaled 95 species!! I did no birding in any forested areas so my forest birds are way down. I missed easy woodpecker species, tufted titmouse etc. But like everyone else has reported, today there was a huge influx of migrants to upstate NY! Highlights: Montezuma Visitors Center: WARBLING VIREO, BALTIMORE ORIOLE, many YELLOW WARBLERS, HOUSE WREN, GRAY CATBIRD all FOY for me, except HOUSE WREN. Swarms of swallows. I had all swallow species including PURPLE MARTIN except today I just could not get a CLIFF SWALLOW. In Broome County last Saturday, I had all except PURPLE MARTIN. Vistor's center was short on shorebirds...just GREATER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS. Larue's as I sent before had the best shorebird diversity. eventually I ended up with 5 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS, 3 DUNLIN, 2 LEAST SANDPIPER, SPOTTED and SOLITARY SANDPIPERS, KILLDEER and 1 WILSON'S SNIPE. There was also one AMERICAN PIPIT and SORA and VIRGINIA RAIL calling sporadically from the Marsh across the road. New shorebird area empty, water too high. Benning Marsh all DUNLIN 50+. Flyover CASPIAN TERN and 1 AMERICAN PIPIT. Also saw a huge flock of gulls, terns (I think) migrating overhead, fairly high up. Reminded me of an unorganized mass of geese or brant. But they were mainly gulls, noticed a couple BONAPARTE'S from the black heads, believe there were also a few CASPIAN TERNS but not sure. Birds very high up, estimated around 300-400. Tschache Pool was crazy. Too many birds, just one birder with 2 eyes. Very distant, there were many many gulls. Saw several BONAPARTE'S GULLS among the normal common ones. I also had 2 BLACK TERNS coarsing around back there. This is the earliest I have ever had them. There were also swarms of swallows again, many perched in the reeds, many in the air. Had BARN, TREE, BANK, ROUGH-WINGED and few PURPLE MARTIN. There were so many swallows I bet there were probably a few CLIFFs but I did not get on any. Also had 2 CASPIAN TERNS flyby. There were also still some lingering divers...RINGED NECKED DUCKS and REDHEADS. Many many GREEN-WINGED TEAL, GADWALL, AMERICAN WIGEON and also heard another SORA, again no playback. East road I added NORTHERN PINTAIL and RUDDY DUCKS. There was also a large flock of DOUBLED CRESTED CORMORANTS flying by and I counted 7 CASPIAN TERNS loafing with a few other RING-BILLED and HERRING GULLS. From Lake Road, had several EASTERN MEADOWLARKS, SAVANNAH SPARROW and my FOY BOBOLINK. Myer's- LEAST SANDPIPER, GREATER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS, SPOTTED SANDPIPERS (many) and of course KILLDEER. Had 2 COMMON LOONS migrating up the lake and 2 COMMON MERGANSERS fly by low. Select photos can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629945695133/ Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Great fall-out conditions for tonight/Thursday morning
All, We have a warm/stationary front stalled across NY state right now running roughly Syracuse to Elmira. A warm humid summery air mass is flowing northeast through the Ohio Valley and encountering this colder air mass east of the front in NY. At work, before I left, I was still detecting migration with our new Dual Polar radar products and the migration stopped like a wall just east of this frontnear Ithaca! Tonight the front might creep farther east but it is expected to remain stationary through 2 am at leastpossibly later. There will be continued southwesterly winds of warm/humid air coming up the Ohio Valley tonight. I believe there will be a huge influx of more migrants that will be raining down again as we saw this morning as they encounter low cloud ceilings, and chillier air east of this front. So tomorrow likely will be another huge day east of this front where there are low clouds around. So keep an eye on the radars and satellite before going out tomorrow. you want lots of low clouds and even light drizzle that is where it will be raining birds! I experienced a mini fallout early this morning. I saw at least 20 warbler sp. flying by low and fast into the woods just like fall at higbee beach and could not ID any of them as they were moving too fast. I had 9 species of warblers in my yard that I was able to id in 20 minutes before work that stopped in my yard. Of course I have to work again tomorrow...so those who canget out an enjoy... and post! Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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/ --
Fw: [cayugabirds-l] Yellow-headed Blackbird
Day 7 of the YELLOW HEADED BLACKBIRD in Broome County Endicott West Corner's Marsh - Forwarded Message - From: Janet Akin ja...@rochester.rr.com To: Cayuga Birds List CAYUGABIRDS-L@cornell.edu Sent: Wednesday, May 2, 2012 5:30 PM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Yellow-headed Blackbird I made the trip to Broome County from Seneca Castle this morning. Spotted the bird before I got out of the car. Stayed in view across the marsh for the 1/2 hour I stayed. He was really aggressive to any bird that came his way RWBB, Grackles even a Yellow Warbler which it chased around the marsh. Beautiful bird!!! Thanks Dave for posting the great directions. Also saw my FOY Gray Catbird while I was watching the blackbird. Janet Akin, Seneca Castle -- 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] 106 Species in 6 hours Broome County May 4, 2012, 17 species of Warblers.
Saw the radar last night after sunset and it was lit up with very heavy bird echoesthen a large swath of thunderstorms pushed through central NY. I watched and right after the storms passed by, the bird echoes were gonemega fallout! Dan Watkins and I planned a big Broome County Day today but I only had until 1 pm so we set a goal for 100 species as we prepare for World Series of Birding next week and we surpassed this very surprisingly. The birding was simply awesome. Highlights- Upper lisle- trees loaded with warblers. This was in the aspens and scattered trees by the main road on the trail that goes up overlooking the Tiougnoiga River. Not in our Hawthorne area. We didn't need to trek up there. Highlights- all common vireos, blue-headed, red-eyed, warbling and yellow-throated. Several MAGNOLIA, NASHVILLE, BLACK-THROATED BLUE, AMERICAN REDSTART, YELLOW-RUMPED, BLUE-WINGED, YELLOWS, | BLACK AND WHITE, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT and BLACK THROATED GREEN at least. We were there for maybe an hour and more seemed to be coming in. Tree tops were occasionally moving with several birds at a time. I am sure there was more there. We also got many BALTIMORE ORIOLES,1 LEAST FLYCATCHER, ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK, SCARLET TANAGER and scores and scores of WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS. We also got an EASTERN KINGBIRD that was in an open area near the lake right next to a YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER on the same branch in an aspen. Odd combination, but that is what these fall-outs do. I am sure I missed some species we had. Dorchester Park- highlights 3 LEAST SANDPIPERS (FOY for Broome). and 3 RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS. Next stop was King Street. It was quiet at first but then when the sun came out...the birds were appearing everywhere. We got FOY CANADA which is early for Broome and also a FOY HOODED again a little early for Broome. There were also many many Black Throated Greens and Blues, several MAGNOLIAS, AMERICAN REDSTARTS, and OVENBIRDS. We also got a very early VEERY for Broome. There was also a GREAT-CRESTED FLYCATCHER that was heard. Of course YELLOW-RUMPS were everywhere all places, like YELLOWS. Near the top of King Street by Knapp Road we got on at least 2-4 BLACKBURNIANS, also added PRAIRIE and PINE WARBLER. Then on Knapp Road we got many many more BLACK-THROATED GREENS, MAGNOLIA, BLACK AND WHITE, NASHVILLE, 1 BLACKBURNIAN and BLACK THROATED BLUE WARBLERS in scattered trees and small wood lots, even real close to people's homes. There were warblers singing and calling almost everywhere there were large trees, small woodloots or even just some cover. We also got a close encounter with a CHESTNUT SIDED WARBLER who was in a small tree by the road on Knapp Rd near a yards that came within 5-10 feet of us. No binoculars needed to enjoy this gorgeous bird! Amazing. Also added some field birds too...BOBOLINK, SAVANNAH SPARROW and EASTERN MEADOWLARK. Parson's Road got us more BLACKBURNIAN, BLACK THROATED GREEN, BLACK AND WHITE, NASHVILLE, OVENBIRD and MAGNOLIA. But nothing really knew except for a GREEN-WINGED TEAL. Boland Pond was dead. No swallows, barely a MALLARD. We did get the GREAT EGRET again and also GREEN HERON. We ended at MURPHY's and added a few more species that we needed... GREATER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS, HOUSE FINCH!! DOUBLE CRESTED CORMORANT and a few others. Big misses- NO TVs!!! No BROWN CREEPERS, no AMERICAN KESTREL. SOLITARY SANDPIPERS where have been seeing them regularly. Missed PALM WARBLER, and had no WATERTHRUSHES or HERMIT THRUSH. But all in all, it was my highest daily total to date for Broome County and we only did 6 hours...7 am to 1 pm. That is all I had time for...we could have easily, I think, exceeded 110 species...and given the early date of May 4ththis was quite a surprise to us. We had a great time and good looks too, so we were in and out of world series birding mode. Sometimes we just had to stop and spend time to get good looks at all these great birds. Wish us luck for Saturday May 12th!! Happy Spring to everyone!!! See ebird report below. Broome County, NY, US, Broome, US-NY May 4, 2012 7:00 AM - 1:00 PM Protocol: Traveling 50.0 mile(s) 106 species Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) X Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) X Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) X Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) X Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) X Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) X Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) X Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) X Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) X Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) X Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) X Great Egret (Ardea alba) X Green Heron (Butorides virescens) X Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) X Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) X Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus) X Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) X Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus) X Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) X Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) X Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) X
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Clay Colored Sparrow and Prothonotary Warblers easy finds
whoops...he's right. it is King Road! sorry. From: Dave Nutter nutter.d...@me.com To: cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu Sent: Monday, May 21, 2012 6:36 PM Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Clay Colored Sparrow and Prothonotary Warblers easy finds The Clay-colored Sparrow location should be 2286 King Rd, Seneca Falls. King Rd is a 1-block east-west road a block south of NYS-318 between Gravel Rd and, near the entrance to the Seneca Meadows Wetland Restoration area, Black Brook Rd. --Dave Nutter On May 21, 2012, at 11:58 AM, daven1...@yahoo.com wrote: Clay colored still present 2286 East Rd Seneca Falls. Prothonotory singing away Armitage Rd. Also Cerulean singing. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html'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 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] Highlights around Cayuga Basin Today 5/29/12
Got some birding in with Dan Watkins and Capt. Mike Ackeley before storms. Myer's Point- 2 singing ORCHARD ORIOLES. 1 female RED-BREASTED MERGANSER hanging around with a male and female common merganser. Lake Road- 2 singing GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS as others have had. Montezuma Wildlife Drive- 1 SNOW GOOSE sitting on a nest mound with a CANADA GOOSE!! There was also another CANADA GOOSE nearby did this snow goose breed with the canada? The bird was opposite to Larue's/Lesser Yellowlegs unit on a mound fairly close to road. New Shorebird Flats- 2 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS at least. also other more common ones. Benning Marsh- star of the day: HUDSONIAN GODWIT putting on a show for 3 carloads of birders foraging fairly close to road. wow. also 2-3 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS among common ones. Towpath Road- had all 4 WILSON'S PHALAROPES again. 2 male and 2 female. Also 3 SANDERLINGS. many other common ones that others have seen...dunlin, semipalmated sandpipers/plovers. black-bellied plovers etc. No HUGO here today. I also had a bird that I thought was a candidate for a BAIRD'S. The bird was a little bigger and light brown vs the more grayish WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS of which there were a couple there. This guy was not a pectoral did not have breast pattern of a pec. I wasn't sure...and it was fairly distant (60x in scope). So I did not list it on e-bird. But others should watch for this guy. Someone reported one here last week. Armitage Road- 2 PROTHONTARY WARBLERS singing. One seen very close. wow. King road- same CLAY-COLORED SPARROW singing from top of the farthest spruce tree from the road. Totaled 106 species which was Capt. Mike's first 100+ day. Plus got great looks at a lot of awesome birds. Then the storms hit Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Highlights around Cayuga Basin Today 5/29/12
Here is small sample of photos from today. Now back to some foraging... http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629959515410/ From: david nicosia daven1...@yahoo.com To: Cayugabirds- L Cayugabirds-L@cornell.edu; Bluewing bluewing-gr...@googlegroups.com Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2012 4:52 PM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Highlights around Cayuga Basin Today 5/29/12 Got some birding in with Dan Watkins and Capt. Mike Ackeley before storms. Myer's Point- 2 singing ORCHARD ORIOLES. 1 female RED-BREASTED MERGANSER hanging around with a male and female common merganser. Lake Road- 2 singing GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS as others have had. Montezuma Wildlife Drive- 1 SNOW GOOSE sitting on a nest mound with a CANADA GOOSE!! There was also another CANADA GOOSE nearby did this snow goose breed with the canada? The bird was opposite to Larue's/Lesser Yellowlegs unit on a mound fairly close to road. New Shorebird Flats- 2 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS at least. also other more common ones. Benning Marsh- star of the day: HUDSONIAN GODWIT putting on a show for 3 carloads of birders foraging fairly close to road. wow. also 2-3 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS among common ones. Towpath Road- had all 4 WILSON'S PHALAROPES again. 2 male and 2 female. Also 3 SANDERLINGS. many other common ones that others have seen...dunlin, semipalmated sandpipers/plovers. black-bellied plovers etc. No HUGO here today. I also had a bird that I thought was a candidate for a BAIRD'S. The bird was a little bigger and light brown vs the more grayish WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS of which there were a couple there. This guy was not a pectoral did not have breast pattern of a pec. I wasn't sure...and it was fairly distant (60x in scope). So I did not list it on e-bird. But others should watch for this guy. Someone reported one here last week. Armitage Road- 2 PROTHONTARY WARBLERS singing. One seen very close. wow. King road- same CLAY-COLORED SPARROW singing from top of the farthest spruce tree from the road. Totaled 106 species which was Capt. Mike's first 100+ day. Plus got great looks at a lot of awesome birds. Then the storms hit Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] New Michigan State Forest- Pharsalia, NY 6/7/12
I did my almost annual census of New Michigan State Forest today. I drove 7 miles, including 2.2 miles on North Road, 2.5 miles on CCC Truck Lane, 1 mile on Coy Street, and 1.3 miles on Fred Stewart Road from 845 am to 1230 pm. Unfortunately, a swath of mostly spruce forest was leveled by an F2 tornado last spring. This is in addition to the F3 that struck this forest in 1998. Fortunately there still is a lot of spruce woods left and the warbler numbers were very good compared to previous years. One highlight was a singing: RED CROSSBILL. The bird was singing or calling exactly like the type 3 flight song from the audio section of BNA online. But he was buried in the deep spruces and I could not see him. Some notable counts were 13 singing MOURNING WARBLERS!! This is the most I have ever had in this forest. Also I counted 21 WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS many in this newly leveled tornado damaged forest area. Additionally, I counted an amazing 52 singing BLACKBURNIAN WARBLERS, and 44 singing MAGNOLIA WARBLERS. I also had 76 singing OVENBIRDS and 43 singing RED-EYED VIREOS. I also got some great looks at most of the above species. I have noticed some changes in the thrush specie numbers... SWAINSON'S THRUSH made a poor showing with only 3 singing males and 1 seen. That is the lowest I have had.One year I had 11 singing males. HERMIT THRUSHES were fairly common at 14 singing males. The biggest surprise to me was 14 singing WOOD THRUSHES. This is the most I have ever had here. There was one year I had none, and last time only a couple. VEERIES also were more plentiful. Interesting about this more high elevation place was no tufted titmice at all! My ebird list is below. All numbers are exact counts to the best of my ability New Michigan State Forest, Chenango, US-NY Jun 7, 2012 8:45 AM - 12:30 PM Protocol: Traveling 7.0 mile(s) Comments: 2.2 miles on North Road, 2.5 miles on CCC Truck Lane, 1 mile on Coy Street, 1.3 miles on Fred Stewart road. 57 species Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) 1 Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus) 2 Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 2 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) 10 Downy Woodpecker (Eastern) (Picoides pubescens pubescens/medianus) 1 Hairy Woodpecker (Eastern) (Picoides villosus [villosus Group]) 4 Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) (Colaptes auratus [auratus Group]) 1 Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens) 5 Alder Flycatcher (Empidonax alnorum) 1 Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) 2 Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus) 2 Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) 1 Blue-headed Vireo (Vireo solitarius) 12 Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus) 43 Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 11 American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 15 Common Raven (Corvus corax) 8 Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) 1 Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) 22 Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) 6 White-breasted Nuthatch (Eastern) (Sitta carolinensis carolinensis) 2 Brown Creeper (Certhia americana) 13 House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) 2 Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis) 3 Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa) 27 Veery (Catharus fuscescens) 9 Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus) 4 Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) 14 Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) 14 American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 13 Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) 2 Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) 10 Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla) 76 Mourning Warbler (Geothlypis philadelphia) 13 Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) 17 American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) 1 Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia) 44 Blackburnian Warbler (Setophaga fusca) 52 Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia) 6 Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica) 27 Black-throated Blue Warbler (Setophaga caerulescens) 7 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) (Setophaga coronata coronata) 8 Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens) 7 Canada Warbler (Cardellina canadensis) 6 Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) 8 Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) 3 Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 4 White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) 21 Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) (Junco hyemalis hyemalis/carolinensis) 35 Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) 1 Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus) 3 Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) 1 Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) 3 Purple Finch (Eastern) (Carpodacus purpureus purpureus) 4 Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) 1 heard singing. it sounded just like the type 3 flight call. American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) 3 This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org) Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1)
[cayugabirds-l] Common Loons Whitney Point Reservoir June 19th.
A friend of mine found two COMMON LOONS Tuesday June 19th on Whitney Point Reservoir in Broome County while fishing. He said the birds were yodeling and were black-colored. So apparently they were in breeding plumage. He often fishes in the Adirondacks and knows these birds well. He also had a very distant cell phone image that indeed looked like a loon. I will be heading up there tomorrow so maybe I can get a look. This could be a first summer record for Broome County. So far, no one can recall a summer record down here. Does anyone know the status of this species outside the Adirondacks in NY? I would imagine there has been some summer reports in the Finger Lakes in the past. Thanks. Dave Nicosia -- 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] Fw: [bluewing-group] Common Loon
One Common Loon was re-found yesterday by Bob Grosek. After checking NY state breeding bird atlas 1980-85 and 2000-05 there were no reports of summering birds in Broome Co. However, a few other local birders have stated that occasionally a loon or two remains at Whitney Point Lake but apparently no chicks have been seen as others have reported on the Finger Lakes. Still it is nice the bird(s) are with us into the summer! - Forwarded Message - From: bluew...@stny.rr.com bluew...@stny.rr.com To: Bluewing-group bluewing-gr...@googlegroups.com Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2012 4:05 PM Subject: [bluewing-group] Common Loon This afternoon around 1:45 PM, I spotted the Common Loon that Dave Nicosia reported on yesterday. The bird could be seen from the east side of the Whitney Point Reservoir from Route 26 on the high hill between the entrances to Dorchester Park and Upper Lisle Park. The loon was just “above” the trees on the near shoreline. The attached photo was taken at 140 X digital zoon. Although this is a terrible photo, the silhouette of the loon is recognizable. - Bob Grosek Binghamton, New York After all is said and done, more is said than done. - Uncertain origin -- 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/ --attachment: Common Loon.jpg
[cayugabirds-l] Common Loon in Non-Breeding Plumage Whitney Point Dam, NY
All, I also re-found the COMMON LOON today at Whitney Point Dam and I had a good enough view to confirm it was in non-breeding plumage. I could not find any other loons as my friend indicated that he saw 2. The bird was seen well from Keibal Road. I took some backlight digiscoped images. They are not that good but document that it is in non-breeding plumage. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157630236878108/ Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Ruff at Montezuma
Any more reports of the RUFF this evening would be appreciated. Thinking of making the 2 hour drive up to find it tomorrow morning. Thanks, Dave Nicosia From: Mickey Scilingo mickey.scili...@gte.net To: OneidaBirds oneidabi...@yahoogroups.com; CayugaBirds Cayugabirds-L@cornell.edu; GeneseeBirds geneseebird...@geneseo.edu Sent: Monday, June 25, 2012 12:57 PM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Ruff at Montezuma David Wheeler reports that the RUFF reported yesterday from Montezuma NWR is still present today around noon. It is a molting adult male and is being seen at Puddler's Marsh from Towpath Rd. If I am correct, Puddler's Marsh is the name for the impoundment beyond the dike which is located roughly 0.8 miles down Towpath Rd. Mickey Scilingo Constantia Oswego County, NY mickey.scili...@gte.net 315-679-6299 -- 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] Seneca Falls Dickcissels and Puddler's Marsh Shorebirds
Finally got a chance to get up to Seneca Wetlands Preserve to see the DICKCISSELS that have been discovered. I ran into Wes Hochachka who had just had all three. They were an easy find. I could hear them singing well before I actually found them. I actually saw a female first who was flitting around in the weeds near the big oak tree. Both males were in full song at this time. Then one of the males who was closer to the female sprang right up in front of me on a weed stalk so I got some decent digi-scoped images. Lighting was decent too. The other singing male was across the path and a bit more distant and singing more sporadically. Here are some of my photos... http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157630423796014/ Certainly not magazine quality but good enough for me! Other birds of note here were loads of SAVANNAH SPARROWS and I did hear one GRASSHOPPER SPARROW fairly close but I just could not get on him. This bird was singing in the field below where the main trail intersects the trail from the parking lot. There were also tons of swallows. I saw no hybrids but I really wasn't looking that closely. Mostly BARN, TREE and quite a few BANK as well. Next stop was Puddler's Marsh from Towpath Rd and the shorebird numbers are increasing. Hard to believe fall migration has begun! Most of the shorebirds were LESSER YELLOWLEGS but I did find a few GREATER YELLOWLEGS. Wes Hochachka caught up to me this time and we spent maybe 20-30 minutes checking out the scene. There were many peeps spread around here and there and most were LEAST SANDPIPER. We were not sure on one or two of the peeps... as the heat shimmer and distant began to takes it toll on visibility. There was also one SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER but we could not relocate the stilt sandpipers that Dave Wheeler reported. Again, viewing conditions were getting hard at midday. We did see many young KILLDEER and few SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS with several SPOTTER SANDPIPERS bobbing around. I counted 20 CASPIAN TERNS loafing with a bunch of RING-BILLED GULLS and couple HERRING. There were also 2 non-breeding plumage BONAPARTE'S GULLS which surprised me. I got a distant photo for documentation but ebird didn't even flag me so apparently they aren't considered that rare this time of year up there! http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/7503148944/in/photostream Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] American avocet on red lighthouse jetty
Bird still present as of 1245 pm. Great views from hog hole. Took many digi scope images. Lighting good. Hope they come out. Was just finishing birding Towpath road when I finally saw Tim#39;s email. Thanks Tim. I would have driven right home and missed this great bird. Towpath road continues to harbor shorebirds, gulls and terns. Finally got good looks and photos of the STILT SANDPIPERs. I had 5! There were also 6 Short-billed Dowithchers and many many lesser yellowlegs. Also 68 caspian terns, 1 common tern and still 2 bonaparte#39;s gulls. I counted 208 ring billed gulls. Well gotta get home now and return my wife#39;s iPad to her! Hehehe. I will have more later... Thanks again Tim! Dave Nicosia -- 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] American Avocet Photos from Hog Hole, Ithaca, NY area, south end of Cayuga Lake.
Great views from Hog Hole between 1145 and 1245 pm today. I don't have a super telephoto lens camera so I digi-scoped these images. Lighting was good. Pictures are just OK but I bet someone with a super telephoto could get great images with good lighting from this spot. I hope the bird sticks around. There were several motor boats that came within several feet of all the birds including the avocet and it did not seem to bother any of them. They did not flush despite all the boat traffic. Hopefully, this gorgeous bird will give others the thrill it gave me today. I love these birds as I have seen many in North Carolina on the coast. But this is my first American Avocet in NY state!! Photos below... http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157630561654198/ Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Puddler's Marsh Shorebirds Friday July 13th, 2012
I had very good luck today even though it is Friday the 13th. I wanted to get to Towpath Road in Montezuma early so I could avoid as much heat shimmer as possible. So I arrived around 845 am...a little later than I wanted...but early enough. My target bird was the STILT SANDPIPER. I dipped on this species at least 4 times at Heislerville, NJ in May among the thousands of dowitchers, dunlin, yellowlegs, plovers, peeps etc. There were apparently one or two and I just could not get on thee birds... needle in a haystack for me. Last summer, I failed to find these guys at Puddler's until Ken Rosenberg pointed them out to me. So my goal today was to see if I could succeed on my own. I began and there were 3 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS to start among scads of LESSER YELLOWLEGS. There were also loads of CASPIAN TERNS, as I stated earlier, I counted 68 of them. There could be more. I also think I re-found one of the Common Terns that Jay had a couple weeks ago. There were also 2 non-breeding BONAPARTE'S GULLS probably the same ones I found two weeks ago. I also decided to count the ring-billed gulls...208! There actually were less peeps today and I found no semipalmated plovers and KILLDEER numbers seemed down versus two weeks ago. There were still many SPOTTED SANDPIPERS. I got great looks at many many LESSER YELLOWLEGS, a bird that could potentially be confused with STILT SANDPIPERS especially at a distance with shimmer. Some of them don't behave exactly as they are supposed to, occasionally. One thing I noted was that the yellowlegs seem to feed by swaying their bills from side to side in the water and they are of course more active. Occasionally I would see one that was not as active but eventually it would turn into an active yellowlegs. These birds also lack the prominent white supercilium and faint rufous stripe/patch seen in the face of the stilt. They also generally don't have much streaking or mottling on their breasts. So when one of the lesser yellowlegs started chasing a bird around, I realized that indeed it was a STILT SANDPIPER. Side by side it was obvious! The bird's bill was longer and slightly curved down at the end. The white supercilium was apparent, there was a little rufous on its face and the mottling was clearly seen on the breast. This bird was a bit smaller, shorter legs and has a different shape than the yellowlegs. What a great learning experience! Then this STILT SANDPIPER was joined by 4 others. There were also 3 more SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS that joined the group. These guys have thicker bills and are fatter and were in their more light rufous/orangish plumage still. So I had lesser yellowlegs, short-billed dowitchers and stilt sandpipers all that can be confused with each other. The short-billed dowitcher in its grayish non-breeding plumage can be confused with stilt sandpipers too, especially skinnier ones. So I had all three to look at and it was obvious. I enjoyed studying the plumages and their behaviors. The stilt sandpipers tend to hold their bills more vertical when they probe versus the yellowlegs. Of course the short-billed dowitchers still were in breeding plumage or just beginning to molt so there were no problems in identifying them today vs the stilt. Here are some photos from Puddler's Marsh today http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157630562369194/ I spent around 2 hours here. The heat shimmer was rapidly increasing and I was hot...tired and ready to go home...then...I see an email from Tim Lenz about an avocet!!! Great luck today as this bird was still there when I arrived about 2 hours after his initial sighting. Who says summer birding is boring?!! Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Birds Today Montezuma and Vicinity, Seneca Meadows.
Took a trip today with Renee DePrato and Melissa Penta to Montezuma and vicinity. Our first stop was Towpath Road and the highlight was a GREAT HORNED OWL that first was literally sitting on the road. From a distance we thought it was a really big cat. The bird unfortunately had one bad eye and you can see this in these photos from Melissa's flickr account... http://www.flickr.com/photos/mydigitalmind/7617481278/in/photostream/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/mydigitalmind/7617481956/in/photostream/ The bird stuck around in a tree the whole time we were there after flying up from the road. Knox-Marcellus Marsh appears to have been drawn down so that is where most of the shorebirds were today as the water levels are way down from a week ago. The water levels on Puddler's Marsh are now higher so there were very few shorebirds. Unfortunately, the views to Knox-Marcellus are more distant than from Puddler's. So although there were a lot of shorebirds out there in K-M marsh, they were really hard to see unless you were on 60x with your scope. The vast majority of the shorebirds were LESSER YELLOWLEGS. There were at least 2 GREATER YELLOWLEGS. In addition, we had 3 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS, 1 SOLITARY SANDPIPER, 2 KILLDEER, 1 SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, at least 1 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, and at least 15 LEAST SANDPIPERS. I also had what I thought could be a BAIRD'S, but again, the distance was too much for me to be sure. There were also 2 GREAT EGRETS and many many GREAT BLUE HERONS. I also saw one distant BLUE-WINGED TEAL and there were many many GREEN-WINGED TEAL. From Puddler's marsh, we had a nice look at a PECTORAL SANDPIPER close, also there was a SPOTTED SANDPIPER with 2 fly-over SOLITARY SANDPIPERS that were calling. Puddler's continues to have plenty of gulls and caspian terns. I counted 202 RING-BILLED GULLS and 41 CASPIAN TERNS. I could not relocate the common tern or bonaparte's gulls that I had a week ago here. We also saw 2 GREEN HERONS. Next stop was Seneca Meadows to look for the DICKCISSELS for Melissa and Renee. Unfortunately, there were NO signs of any of these guys. There was another birder who had been there since 8 am with no luck. I heard no songs or buzzy calls. They may have left or were busy feeding young??? We did see many many BOBOLINKS in various plumages and a couple male INDIGO BUNTINGS that put on a show from a weedy area with an amazing variety of wildflowers. Then we went to Van Dyne Sporer Road and from the very end of the road we saw quite a bit. There was a mass of mainly RING-BILLED GULLS and some CASPIAN TERNS flying around fairly distant but easily identifiable with binoculars and especially a scope. I also was lucky to get on a flying LEAST BITTERN and also a BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON in my scope. Unfortunately, these guys landed down in the reeds distant so the others did not get to see them. We did have a nice view of a fly-by AMERICAN BITTERN. There also were AMERICAN COOTS, COMMON GALLINULE and PIED-BILLED GREBE with young. Next stop was Lott Farm, Seneca Agricultural Fairgrounds and we saw at least 4 fully fledged UPLAND SANDPIPERS. A very nice day to say the least. Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Montezuma Today Aug 2 2012
Went to Towpath Road this morning with my friend Dan Watkins and 10 year old son Thomas. Knox-Marcellus Marsh continues to have a nice concentration of shorebirds. We found nothing unusual but nevertheless definitively worth the trip. There were many peeps fairly close to the road which was a nice surprise since often the shorebirds are so distant in Knox-Marcellus Marsh. We saw just the usual peeps...but we got some very nice looks. Most peeps were LEAST but we did have several SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS, and PECTORAL SANDPIPERS pretty close. I am pretty sure I heard a WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER but we could not find it. When the whole flock close in took off...none displayed a prominent white-rump so I can't be sure. Additionally, we had a few SOLITARY SANDPIPERS, SPOTTED SANDPIPERS and SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS close and KILLDEER. Most of the shorebirds are much farther out in the middle of marsh. Yellowlegs are by far the most common. I would say the ratio of greater to lesser yellowlegs has increased since I was last at this marsh a couple weeks ago. LESSER YELLOWLEGS still are more plentiful. We had 2 STILT SANDPIPERS and 9 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS. I couldn't make any of the dowitchers into long-billed... but I tried. Other birds...CASPIAN TERNS, RING-BILLED GULLS, GREEN HERON, BALD EAGLES, OSPREY, many GREAT BLUE HERONs and many GREAT EGRETS now. We tried very hard to find that imm. LITTLE BLUE HERON with no luck. Also dipped on the imm. YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON but they could be hiding in the extensive reeds anywhere. We had BLUE-WINGED and GREEN-WINGED TEALS but we did not focus on the waterfowl much. Heat shimmer was increasing later in the morning so we tried from East Road but late morning lighting is horrible. We did get one BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER among the yellowlegs, and peeps. We also had 2 BLACK TERNS from East Road. I am sure we missed a lot due to the distance, poor lightning and increasing heat shimmer. The best birds of the day for me was the 6 SANDHILL CRANES that we had in the field close to Armitage road right before it meets route 89. I was able to snap a few photos. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157630876064310/with/7701042032/ We also did wildlife drive...Larue's had a few SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, KILLDEER and yellowlegs. The new shorebird area only had several more yellowlegs. Benning Marsh, like this past spring, had a nice variety with easy viewing. Nothing unusual but again nice looks close... PECTORAL SANDPIPER (several), LEAST SANDPIPER(several), SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER(few), SOLITARY SANDPIPER (many) and SPOTTED SANDPIPER (many). Again, by far, the most numerous shorebirds were yellowlegs... both greater and lesser. Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] American White Pelican and American Avocet Montezuma Aug 2 2012 - unconfirmed ebird reports
Just received an ebird alert of both species at Montezuma today. No details of where or when except that it was today, August 2nd. We certainly did not have these two species today but it is a huge area. Wish the report would have had details on when and where in the wetlands complex. Well, something for others to search for next couple dayshope these reports are indeed confirmed. See belowwho is Montezuma eTT??? Thank you for subscribing to the daily Rare Bird Alert for Seneca. The report below shows observations of rare birds in Seneca. View this alert on the web at http://ebird.org/ebird/alert/summary?sid=SN35526 NOTE: all sightings are UNCONFIRMED unless indicated American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) (1) - Reported Aug 02, 2012 00:00 by Montezuma eTT - Montezuma NWR, Seneca, New York - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8t=pz=13q=42.9833651,-76.7562389ll=42.9833651,-76.7562389 - Checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S11255471 American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana) (1) - Reported Aug 02, 2012 00:00 by Montezuma eTT - Montezuma NWR, Seneca, New York - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8t=pz=13q=42.9833651,-76.7562389ll=42.9833651,-76.7562389 - Checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S11255471 -- 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] American White Pelican and American Avocet Montezuma Aug 2 2012 - unconfirmed ebird reports
Well that explains what an eTT report is! Thanks. I did find it very odd that there were only 5 species listed with no details, times, or anything to support such rare bird claims. Anyway, agreed that these two species could be showing up anywhere...there is an AWPE at Brigantine/Forthysthe now and AMAVs have been popping up hear and there...there was a report, I believe, the day after the one we had at the Red Light House Jetty at Jamaica Bay. Good luck to all who are out there today and Saturday. From: Jay McGowan jw...@cornell.edu To: nutter.d...@me.com Cc: Cayugabirds- L Cayugabirds-L@cornell.edu Sent: Friday, August 3, 2012 9:39 AM Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] American White Pelican and American Avocet Montezuma Aug 2 2012 - unconfirmed ebird reports Sorry, my first message got cut off No, not the official counters. They only count on Tuesday and Friday. I should be getting their report shortly, and I will advise if it contains anything noteworthy. Montezuma eTT is the eBird Trail Tracker situated at the Audubon Center in Savannah (I think this is the only location, could be wrong about that.) Similar to one here at the Lab, it is a device that allows anyone to submit eBird sightings from that location. It was a good idea, but I see erroneous sightings submitted that way much more than valid interesting sightings, and they often seem to follow the convenience of the alphebtical list, probably contributing to reports of double-digit Acadian Flycatchers at Sapsucker Woods in mid-winter and things like that. In fact, if you look at the list containing the pelican and avocet you will notice that it includes three American species and two starting with B, so I think it's probably safe to conclude this is not a valid list. That said, anything is possible, so definitely keep an eye out if you're in the area. -Jay On Fri, Aug 3, 2012 at 9:36 AM, Jay McGowan jw...@cornell.edu wrote: No, not the official counters. They only count on Tuesday and Friday. I should be getting their report shortly, and I will advise if it contains anything noteworthy. Montezuma eTT is the eBird Trail Tracker situated at the Audubon Center in Savannah (I think this is the only location, could be wrong about that.) Similar to one here at the Lab, it is a device that allows anyone to submit eBird sightings from that location. It was a On Thu, Aug 2, 2012 at 11:56 PM, nutter.d...@me.com wrote: Bob McGuire I went to Montezuma NWR this afternoon and evening, also ignorant of these reports. We saw Tim Lenz Dave Wheeler on East Rd at sunset and neither mentioned these rarities. Bob I drove the Wildlife Drive (Larue's was being plowed when we went past), looked out from the Tschache tower, spent a long time on East Road and on Towpath Road, and also went to Railroad Road and Van Dyne Spoor Road. Our finds were much like Dave Nicosia's, plus similar shorebirds in the east impoundment on RR Rd, and lots of Red-winged Blackbirds gathering in the evening south of VDS Rd. I suspect the report is from the official Montezuma NWR survey, driving the dikes. With vegetation so tall, these birds could have hidden in the back of Tschache Pool, or the farther reaches of May's Point Pool (which we did not check), or even some part of the Main Pool seen only from the tower which we did not climb. Please, whoever has actual details to confirm or deny my speculation, share them!--Dave Nutter On Aug 02, 2012, at 10:09 PM, david nicosia daven1...@yahoo.com wrote: Just received an ebird alert of both species at Montezuma today. No details of where or when except that it was today, August 2nd. We certainly did not have these two species today but it is a huge area. Wish the report would have had details on when and where in the wetlands complex. Well, something for others to search for next couple dayshope these reports are indeed confirmed. See belowwho is Montezuma eTT??? Thank you for subscribing to the daily Rare Bird Alert for Seneca. The report below shows observations of rare birds in Seneca. View this alert on the web at http://ebird.org/ebird/alert/summary?sid=SN35526 NOTE: all sightings are UNCONFIRMED unless indicated American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) (1) - Reported Aug 02, 2012 00:00 by Montezuma eTT - Montezuma NWR, Seneca, New York - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8t=pz=13q=42.9833651,-76.7562389ll=42.9833651,-76.7562389 - Checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S11255471 American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana) (1) - Reported Aug 02, 2012 00:00 by Montezuma eTT - Montezuma NWR, Seneca, New York - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8t=pz=13q=42.9833651,-76.7562389ll=42.9833651,-76.7562389 - Checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S11255471 -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail
[cayugabirds-l] Montezuma and Vicinity Broome Naturalist's Club Trip Aug 18, 2012
I had the privilege today of leading our local bird club to Montezuma wetlands complex. The focus for this trip was shorebirds. My goal was to get good looks at many different species for the group, and point out key field marks and behaviors. We had 10 people and saw 12 different species of shorebirds and other great birds that Montezuma has to offer. Our first stop was the visitor's center and right off the bat we got great looks at both GREATER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS close together and the difference in size, and bill length was obvious. We also got a decent look at a PECTORAL SANDPIPER again with nice contrast on the breast very evident. Then we came upon 4 DOWITCHERS. 3 were SHORT-BILLED but there was one that is a candidate for a LONG-BILLED. The bird was more cinnamon and had the white half eye ring under the eye. But I am not sure on this one. It could be the prairie race of the SBDO. A couple CASPIAN TERNS and a gorgeous adult BALD EAGLE flying fairly low really got us off to a great start. We then did wildlife drive and came upon around 30 or so KILLDEER, many young ones, at LaRue's and on the main pond we had a bunch of AMERICAN COOTS. The new shorebird area again was disappointing as we only found a few yellowlegs and 1 or 2 killdeer. Benning marsh was excellent. Close views, many species. Great for studying plumages and learning field marks. We had a SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER and LEAST SANDPIPERS and there was no doubt. You could easily see the semi was much grayer and a bit larger than the more brownish/almost rufous LEASTs. We also had several SOLITARY SANDPIPERS, SPOTTED SANDPIPERS, both yellowlegs again, and a very well camouflaged WILSON'S SNIPE. There were many PECTORAL SANDPIPERS here too with great views. We had both KILLDEER and SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS another good comparison. In addition, there was a female BLUE-WINGED TEAL which was a good challenge for everyone. Then we went to Towpath Road and the shorebird spectacle continues at Knox-Marcellus marsh... unfortunately it is a distant spectacle. But there were enough birds close enough and the heat shimmer was not that bad that we saw many of the same birds that we had at Benning Marsh but they were a little more distant. Best birds here were 4 AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVERS. They were in varying stages of molt with one that was still hanging on to quite a bit of black on the belly. The lighting was awesome here and you could easily make out the white stripe above the eye on all birds. At first, we found 3, but then we were joined by Ann Mitchell, Dave Nutter and Bob McGuire. Bob found 1 more so there were 4. There were also 3-4 SANDHILL CRANES that flew in way over by east road. I also had a false alarm on the yellow crowned night heron. While watching the plovers, one of my very observant birders found this brownish heron with a lot of streaks. I got a quick glimpse and it had a red eye and I immediately thought YELLOW CROWNED NIGHT HERON but it flew away. So with Dave, Ann and Bob and 10 other birders, the bird showed up again...well BLACK CROWNED NIGHT HERONS also have red eyes!! That was my bad. For some reason I though only imm. YCNH had red eyes. This bird had a lighter bill and was more streaker and was lighter overall. So it was an imm. BCNH. It was good to see for my group that we all make mistakes and it is OK and a great way to learn. But if you find a bird that is rare either have a photo or take good field notes because you will have to defend your report. In the distance on high power with your scope, you could see there were a lot more shorebirds at K-M marsh. A lot. There were probably several more species that we missed. I saw that Ann, Dave and Bob got a BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER later in the day from East Road which is awesome. We did not find any of the phalaropes that had been seen recently. Our last stop was Van Dyne Sporer Road and we saw a lot of AMERICAN COOT, COMMON GALLINUE, PIED BILLED GREBES, RING BILLED GULLS and several CASPIAN TERNS. An AMERICAN BITTERN flew in and landed in the reeds but only a few in the group got to see this bird. There was also a beautiful NORTHERN HARRIER coursing low over the marsh. Another bird of note were thousands and thousands of RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS. I tried and failed to find that needle in a haystack yellow headed blackbird. Well the one last spring in Endicott is enough to tie me over for now!! But I bet someone finds one or two of these birds in this huge flock in the coming weeks. There is no doubt that fall migration is really picking up. Good birding to all!! Dave Nicosia -- 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)
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Snow Bunting?
Bobolink??? From: Paul pschm...@stny.rr.com To: Cayugabirds-L@cornell.edu Sent: Monday, August 27, 2012 3:43 PM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Snow Bunting? I was on van Dyne Spoor Road today about 1 pm when I saw a mostly white bird perched among about 1/2 dozen Redwing Blackbirds. It was on a dead snag to the south of the sixth telephone pole after the woods. Put my binoculars on it from and could see it was only slightly smaller than the RWBB, had black on the back leading down along the wing. Otherwise, the bird was a slightly dull white. Could not get a read on the beak. I suspect that it was a Snow Bunting, but I am wary of that because of the date. Seems early. Does anyone have access to records to address whether Snow Bunting could be down here this early? Any other ideas on what it might be? I was setting up my tripod and camera for photo when one of the Montezuma NWR vehicles rolled past, spooking the birds. Remained for 1/2 hour looking for the bird again, but did not see it. Sure would like someone else to confirm this. Paul Schmitt -- 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] Montezuma Today Sept 3, 2012
Went with Melissa Penta to Montezuma and Vicinity Today. Started at Knox-Marcellus this morning from Towpath Road. Overcast skies, light breeze and pleasant temperatures made for great viewing. Very little heat shimmer. Spent from 930 am to 1230 pm...where does all the time go when birding? We did not see anything spectacular or different from what others have had. Some things I have noticed since I have been there last...which was August 18th is that there are far more SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS vs LEASTS. I also noticed more STILT SANDPIPERS and less YELLOWLEGS than before...very few GREATER seem left with mainly LESSER around. There are loads of PECTORAL SANDPIPERS, more than last time. CASPIAN TERNS numbers are down too. The congregation of GREAT BLUE HERONS continues. I did not count them...but there were a lot! Also still many GREAT EGRETS around. We also saw 4 SANDHILL CRANES fly by Puddler's marsh. Is this year is a good year for AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVERS or I have overlooked them past years?? There are more than I have ever seen at this refuge. We had at least 6...at least... at K-M marsh. There was only 1 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. Additionally there were many SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS and KILLDEER. We also found at least 4 BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS amid mainly SEMIPALAMATED and PECTORAL SANDPIPERS. We had only 1 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER and also had one LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER here today. I dipped on the RED-NECKED PHALAROPES, but did get 1 WILSON'S PHALAROPE. We also missed the BUFFED BREASTED SANDPIPERs!! We ran into Steve Kelling here with his son. Nice to see him. Hope he found more after we left! Among the gull sp were the typical RING-BILLED(200+), and HERRING(10-20) with 1 GREATER BLACK BACKED GULL. Waterfowl is increasing...many GREEN-WINGED TEAL and saw my first of fall season NORTHERN SHOVELERS. I was not particularly looking too much at waterfowl today. Could be other species as well. Wildlife drive had more AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVERS at least 3 more. I was able to get more photos of these guys than any other outing. LaRue's had 2 and Benning had another 1. There were also DOWITCHERS sp.(probably LONG-BILLED) at LaRue's. Benning marsh was again loaded. Many PECTORAL SANDPIPERS, many more SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS vs LEASTS. Also scores of yellowlegs. Snapped a few photos which can be found here... http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157631392207834/ Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Montezuma Sunday 9/16/12
Went to Montezuma Today with Melissa Penta and her husband, Diego. Some birds we wanted to see were the RED-NECKED PHALAROPE, BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER, AMERICAN AVOCET, HUDSONIAN GODWITS and CATTLE EGRET. We arrived at Towpath Road and saw Ken Rosenberg. Of course, he was on the phalarope, godwits and avocet already in Knox-Marcellus Marsh. The lighting was OK especially when the sun was behind the clouds. Three down. Thanks Ken! Then another gentlemen pointed out the CATTLE EGRET in a bush on the other side of the levee in Puddler's Marsh. 4 down. Then Ken got on a distant BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER too. All 5. It really helps to be among some great birders!!! We also had SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, BLACK BELLIED PLOVER, AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVERS. many yellowlegs. a lone LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER flew in and had a few DUNLIN with it. There were also 3 SANDHILL CRANES that flew in and landed and likely another 3 that flew by. I probably forgot some birds. The RED-NECKED PHALAROPE and HUDSONIAN GODWITS were very distant. Then we went to the visitor's center and wildlife drive. The visitor's center had a couple PINTAIL among other typical waterfowl and shorebirds. There were a few LEAST SANDPIPERS at LARUE'S with a bunch of KILLDEER. Then at the new shorebird area...there was another RED-NECKED PHALAROPE close to the road. Melissa Penta go some great pictures of this bird which she graciously shared with me(I left my camera's memory card in my computer. g.). See http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157631552306254/ This time we got tremendous views of this bird. The bird was not far from the bend close to some stubble with a couple yellowlegs. wow. We also got the CATTLE EGRET at Benning marsh (same bird probably flew over from Puddler's) Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Update on Night Flight
The radar bird echoes are not as expansive as last night from NWS Binghamton's radar. It is noteworthy that radar sites tothe south where cloud ceilings are non-existent or much much higher have expansive bird echoes. Cloud ceilings are running between 500 and 1000 feet in much of central NY at this time. Fog was covering the highest hills. There was drizzle and light rain but mostly in northern NY. This begs the question if the birds are flying too low and mostly under the radar beam...or not migrating en-mass like last night due to the light rains and drizzle. From: david nicosia daven1...@yahoo.com To: david nicosia daven1...@yahoo.com; Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes c...@cornell.edu; CAYUGABIRDS-L cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu; NFC- L nf...@cornell.edu; Bluewing bluewing-gr...@googlegroups.com Sent: Friday, September 28, 2012 7:33 PM Subject: [bluewing-group] Re: [cayugabirds-l] FOG - Night Flight Bird echoes rapidly expanding on radar after sunset! From: david nicosia daven1...@yahoo.com To: Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes c...@cornell.edu; CAYUGABIRDS-L cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu; NFC- L nf...@cornell.edu Sent: Friday, September 28, 2012 4:41 PM Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] FOG - Night Flight As it stands now, I think there is a good chance for low ceilings lasting well into the night. Probably less than 1000 feet all night...there will be fog too... especially over the hills. Winds are expected to be NW around 5-15 knots up through about 5-6 thousand feet through the night. Not sure how many birds will be taking off in the foggy/drizzly air mass in NY...but north into Ontario (which is north of the low cloud shield) there is a chilly mass in place and northerly winds which will increase through the night with a colder air mass pouring south. I would imagine this will get birds going south from Ontario into NY. It will be interesting to see if birds fly above the lower cloud shield or go below it ...or both. There also will be a cloud layer between 2000 and 4000 feet above ground level. This could be a great night...or a bust. Depends on what the birds do. Forecasting weather is hard enough, forecasting what birds will do is beyond my expertise. Maybe someone else can help here with the birds?? If the flight is low enough it may fall below the radar beam and not show up as well. If we see radar echo blossoming after sunset then we know there is a flight at 2000-5000 feet above ground level which still could mean many birds below the clouds and in the fog. Since there is also drizzle and light rain showers, the radar is picking up precipitation echoes. I have access to dual polar radar data which will be able to determine between the precipitation and the bird echoes. This will be interesting to see also. In any event, I hope, in some ways, the flight is not too low because the risk of tower and wind turbine kills will go way up. If people go out listening tonight, please share on this listserver. If you live near a tower and it is foggy you may want to check for kills. Let's hope this does not happen. Good luck everyone! Dave Nicosia From: Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes c...@cornell.edu To: CAYUGABIRDS-L cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu Sent: Friday, September 28, 2012 3:49 PM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] FOG - Night Flight Good afternoon, birders! Tonight the forecast for the Ithaca, NY area (at least) is looking very interesting. The local forecast is calling for a light NW wind (3-5 mph). Currently, we've got foggy conditions (very low cloud ceiling). If the weather pattern holds true, we may see a slowly increasing cloud ceiling height over the course of the night (thanks Dave Nicosia for this info!). If this condition persists into the night, we may see an excellent night flight of low-flying night migrants (thrushes, warblers, sparrows, etc.). This means that migrants will be easily heard, but it also means that they may temporarily circle around or even temporarily settle down near well lighted areas (lighted athletic fields, mall parking lots, etc.). On the potentially detrimental side of things, this means that birds may be more prone to striking human-made objects that are in unexpectedly in the way of these night-flying birds (for example: radio towers, wind turbines, tall lighted buildings, etc.). The negative side-effects from this type of weather event may include higher than normal numbers of tower-killed and wind turbine-killed birds and an increased incidence of nighttime window-strikes at tall lighted buildings. Local areas to go to listen for migrants and check for birds (healthy or otherwise) include: lighted athletic fields (Schoellkopf Field Stadium or other practice fields around Cornell University and Ithaca College), lighted parking lots (especially those at higher elevations
[cayugabirds-l] Fw: [bluewing-group] Nelson’s Sparrow at Tri-Cities Airport
Nelson's Sparrow reported in Broome County by Bob Grosek. Must be a pretty big flight of these guys! Dave Nicosia - Forwarded Message - From: bluew...@stny.rr.com bluew...@stny.rr.com To: Bluewing-group bluewing-gr...@googlegroups.com Sent: Tuesday, October 2, 2012 3:53 PM Subject: [bluewing-group] Nelson’s Sparrow at Tri-Cities Airport At the Tri-Cities Airport this afternoon there was at least one Nelson’s Sparrow. The bird was located in brush along the road across from the tarmac “ponds”. The Nelson’s Sparrow had prominent orange supercillium and malar stripes. The throat and upper breast were orange and striped, and this orange area ended abruptly, like the breast of a Pectoral Sandpiper does. The head appeared to be “flat-ish”, but that may be just how he perched, with his head thrust forward. A second bird was present that had an orange malar stripe but the supercillium was less orange – I never saw it’s chest. There were other birds around, including Chipping Sparrows that kept to themselves and Song Sparrows This is a new bird for Broome County for me. Nelson’s Sparrows prefer wetter habitats and this one(s) may be just passing through. However, I notice that the Nelson’s Sparrows in Ithaca may linger in one area for a few days or longer. - Bob Grosek Binghamton, New York Every species you meet is a gold medal finalist in the evolutionary race of life -- 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] OOB Nelson's Sparrow and Common Nighthawk Tri-Cities Airport Endicott, NY
The Nelson's Sparrow is still around at Tri-Cities Airport in Endicott, NY as of today. It was relocated this morning by Mike Ackeley and I heard two short whisper like songs this afternoon, sounds very much like a salt-marsh sparrow! Anyway, while staking out to get a glimpse of this bird (which we didn't as he seemed to be calling from the dense field down from the runway). We had 4 COMMON NIGHTHAWKS fly around the airport for about 10 minutes or so. It looked like these birds were slowly migrating down the Susquehanna River. As far as my records go, this is very late in the fall for these guys. Just a quick report from the southern tier...good birding to all. Dave Nicosia -- 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] Pine Siskin madness!!!
I came home from work today to find one tube feeder of sunflower chips empty (I have the guard on it so no squirrels get in) and a bigger diameter tube 1/4 empty. They were full this morning when I left for work!! I filled both tubes up again and in about 15 minutes I counted 53 PINE SISKINS!!! They were battling for position on the tubes and from the cage guards. There were also a bunch feeding on thr ground. There were even more calling from the spruce trees around my home so the number is likely higher than 53!! They were also joined by 24 AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES and 2 PURPLE FINCHES. This is going to get expensive! Sunflower chips are not cheap!! This rivals what I had in mid winter a couple years back already and it is only the first week of October. Anyone else have large numbers of siskins this early? Dave Nicosia -- 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] Franklins Gull and American Avocet.
Franklins gull in K M marsh. American avocet puddlers. Dave Nicosia. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android -- 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] Rufous Hummingbird and Montezuma Today Sept 22, 2012
First of all I would like to thank Marty Schlabach for his hospitality today! Thanks Renee DePrato and I stopped at Marty's on the way to Montezuma and we did as Marty suggested...go in the backyard and wait by the picnic table. So we arrived and before I was able to set up my scope and camera the RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD showed up! I got some decent photos. What a great bird. Another lifer for me and also Renee. This has been the year of western vagrants! My 4 best photos are here... http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157631832436766/ Then we went to Towpath Road and among the thousands of canada geese we finally found 3 GREATER WHITE FRONTED GEESE in Knox-Marcellus Marsh way in the back. We had only 1 SNOW GOOSE. There were also 11 SANDHILL CRANES. Some were vocalizing which was cool. There were no unusual gulls that we found. We did have many fly over AMERICAN PIPITS. Over at Puddler's marsh there were more CANADA GEESE and in addition we had 17 DUNLIN, 1 SEMIPALMATED PLOVER and 2 AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVERS. These guys had very thin bills and a clear white line over their eyes and much more white on their foreheads and face. Their heads were also smaller. Next stop after lunch was the Montezuma Visitor's center. We had one PECTORAL SANDPIPER and again there were many CANADA GEESE. I believe I found one CACKLING GOOSE. I posted this picture...I have trouble with these guys so let me know if I am wrong on this... http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/8114081385/in/set-72157631832439392 Then along wildlife drive the highlight was a raft of Aythya ducks of all normal species that we see most of the birds were GREATER/LESSER SCAUP, next most common were REDHEADS, then there were just a few CANVASBACK and a few RING-NECKED DUCKS. I estimated about 350 ducks. The Lesser Yellowlegs Unit had KILLDEER, 3 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS, BLUE-WINGED and GREEN-WINGED TEALs, NORTHERN SHOVELERS and NORTHERN PINTAILS. There were many many CANADA GEESE at the new shorebird area but we were running short on time and we did not see any different shorebirds. At Benning Marsh...we had more of the same birds we had seen plus a WILSON'S SNIPE. Select photos of the trip can be found here... http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157631832439392/with/8114081385/ Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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] Invasion of Western Hummingbirds
Interesting article from Connecticut TV station http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/connecticut/invasion-of-western-hummingbirds?hpt=us_bn7#.UIZ-rWeupU2 -- 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/ --
