RE: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

[Richard Guthrie]

Report on eBird?

 

I say sure.

 

It's all valid  very useful and informative data!

 

Perhaps a notation about the gathering technique ie "nocturnal flight call
monitoring" might be added .

 

Rich Guthrie

New Baltimore

New York

gael...@capital.net

 

 

 

 

 

  _  

From: bounce-6309185-10071...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-6309185-10071...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Chris
Tessaglia-Hymes
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 11:17 PM
To: 'Benjamin Van Doren'; 'David La Puma'
Cc: 'Bill Evans'; NFC-L@cornell.edu
Subject: RE: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

 

On the night of the 14th annual Montezuma Muckrace (10th-11th), our team
(The Gallinagos - consisting of Jeff Gerbracht, Kevin McGowan, Gerard
Phillips, and me) recorded the bulk of the night migration from a location
just Southwest of the Village of Savannah, New York, from about 10:45pm
until a little after sunrise. The recording was made using a Zoom H4n
Recorder and a single Sennheiser MKH 20 omnidirectional microphone. Gerard
and I skimmed the audio files already, but I intend to do a much more
in-depth tally when I have more time. We can add these data to the map for
comparison purposes.what an amazing night migration, indeed! When I have
final numbers, I'll post them to this List.

 

Question: should we be reporting these kinds of numbers into eBird?

 

Thanks and good birding!

 

Sincerely,
Chris T-H

 

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Chris Tessaglia-Hymes

Listowner, NFC-L

Ithaca, New York

c...@cornell.edu

http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME

http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES

 

 

From: bounce-6308753-9327...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-6308753-9327...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Benjamin Van
Doren
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 9:21 PM
To: David La Puma
Cc: Bill Evans; NFC-L@cornell.edu
Subject: Re: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

 

Bill & David -

 

Andrew Farnsworth and I have 6 ARUs deployed within the greater NY metro
area, so we too have recordings for that night. Can't wait to see what they
hold (though everything may not be extracted and classified for few months).
I was listening for about an hour on the night of the 10th and heard many
more flight calls than I've ever heard from my house, so the flight should
be interesting to quantify (and interesting to compare to the Cape May
mics).

 

Good listening, watching, and predicting, everyone!

 

Benjamin Van Doren

White Plains, NY

On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 8:17 PM, David La Puma 
wrote:

Awesome, Bill. 

Might I add that tonight should be an excellent flight for the same region;
the largest since the Sept 10-11 flight. If you find me tomorrow in the
early AM, I'll have a Rogue Northwestern Ale freshly chilled.

Cheers- and good listening!

David

ps. we have data from several mics around Cape May for that night- so we
should talk about comparing our analysis once we bring in the recordings.




David A. La Puma
Postdoctoral Associate
New Jersey Audubon Society
600 Route 47 North
Cape May Court House, NJ 08210
Office: 609.861.1608 x33
Fax:609.861.1651

Websites: 
http://www.woodcreeper.com
http://badbirdz2.wordpress.com

Photos: 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodcreeper








On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 4:05 PM, Bill Evans 
wrote:

Nfcers,

I begin by stating simply that if anyone ever substantiates a future
nocturnal vertebrate migration over interior northeastern US (in the first
two weeks of September) bigger than what occurred the night of Sep 10-11,
2010.I will buy fine ale for the whole nfc listserv membership at a pub
of consensual choice somewhere on the planet. So, for those who have an ear
to hear and an eye to see in this manner, take note of future fall
migrations over northeastern US in case of cashing in on my offer. I wager,
given the rarity of such large nocturnal migrations in the past 20 years,
and the crushing inertia of human civilisation, that a flight the density
and breadth of Sep 10-11 2010 will not happen again in our lives across
interior northeastern USA.  If so, I will be singing "kumbaya" in reverance.

As I recall, it was about a week in advance that I began preparations to
surf the then subtley-evident behemoth wave. Allocation of spousal attention
was reduced; the kids welfare rationalized circularly by my pending
documentary actions. We walk a thin line of sanity in this nocturnal
migration preoccupation, especially so during wartime and amidst other human
tragedies on our nerve within a keystroke. But we prevail in the bigger
picture, imprinting earth with our natural history activities, respectfully
& nonetheless.

The pulse of migration over central New York State on the night of Sep 10-11
rocked the relative historic framework. My initial calculations were off
(http://www.birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html#1283970775), but you
only lose in such events when you miss them. The flight happened two nights
later than I thought, and 

RE: [nfc-l] Dusk flight of White-winged Scoters and Brant over Boston, MA

[Richard Guthrie]

A flock of about 150 Brant flew north at dusk, low over the Hudson River in
New Baltimore, Greene County, NY.

 

This mid-May mass movement of Brant is an annual event witnessed by many
Stripe Bass fishermen out on the Hudson while the herring are running, and
the stripers are hitting.

 

I've noticed NEXRAD patterns during daylight hours of what may have been
raptor or large waterfowl (geese/swans?) movements along the Lake Ontario
south shore in the spring. I tried to corroborate this with the hawk watches
with no conclusive results.

 

Maybe next spring.

 

Rich Guthrie

New Baltimore,

The Greene County,

New York

gael...@capital.net

 

 

  _  

From: bounce-5852472-10071...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-5852472-10071...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of wrevans
Sent: Friday, May 21, 2010 10:33 PM
To: nfc-L@cornell.edu
Subject: re: [nfc-l] Dusk flight of White-winged Scoters and Brant over
Boston, MA

 

Marshall,

Before the substantial songbird takeoff on the Binghamton NEXRAD tonight
(somewhere perhaps between 8PM-8:30PM) I noted a large arch shaped fast
moving blob in the northeast quadrant moving differently than the weather
signatures -- at the time I thought it had to be a huge flock of waterfowl
or shorebirds but I was perplexed by the direction of flight, which was WNW.
I'll see if I can find it on NCAR in the morning -- the other eastern NEXRAD
may show similar targets.

Bill E

 

  _  

From: "Marshall Iliff" 
Sent: Friday, May 21, 2010 9:21 PM
To: bostonbi...@googlegroups.com, "Massbird" ,
nfc-l@cornell.edu
Subject: [nfc-l] Dusk flight of White-winged Scoters and Brant over Boston,
MA

All,

This evening I visited my local patch on the south side of Boston and was
surprised and pleased to notice one flock, then another, and then another
etc. of White-winged Scoters passing high overhead. This site is about 10
miles inland and so this clearly represented a departure from coastal
staging areas and the beginnings of an overland nocturnal migration. They
passed over in a tight window from 19:50-20:10 and a flock of 80 Brant was
soon to follow. Despite much scanning from 8:10-8:30 (at which point it was
effectively dark), I was unable to spot any other signs of movement.

In any event, I thought it would be worth getting the word out that tonight
seems to be a night for movement of coastal waterbirds. Perhaps Whimbrel or
other shorebirds will join as the night wears on. A full eBird list from my
dusk watch is below.

Best,

Marshall Iliff
West Roxbury, MA
--
Marshall J. Iliff
miliff AT aol.com
West Roxbury, MA
--
eBird/AKN Project Leader 
www.ebird.org
www.avianknowledge.net
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Ithaca, NY
--

Location: Millennium Park
Observation date: 5/21/10
Notes: An amazing visit, I started with a visit with the Garveys (Matt
had seen the clay-colored earlier--it was not singing while I was there).
Then as I began my walk at about 7:50, I spotted a very distant flock well
to the south. Since cormorants should not be flying at dusk, I was
immediately intrigued and sprinted back to the car for my scope. I was able
to confirm that they were White-winged Scoters, and had a total of 6-7
flights (often involving flocks fragmented into 4-5 pieces) of birds all
passing high overhead and off to the northwest. With light southeasterlies
tonight, it is a perfect night for migration. I settled in for some serious
scanning, but all waterfowl were clustered in 20 minutes from 7:50-8:10. I
was hoping for Brant and had to wait only 13 minutes before spotting a
flock. After that my hopes turned to Whimbrel, Dunlin, Black-bellied Plover
and other marine shorebirds, but it was not to be. Still, a great visit,
especially since new Millennium Park birds are so hard to come by these
days! WEATHER: Clear, light SE or E winds, 50 F.
Number of species: 21

Brant (Atlantic) 80 **rare; low flock flying just above eye level
and identifiable to subspecies as it headed straight westward towards me and
then veered off to fly north along VFW Parkway as though avoiding the
landfill. My first for Millennium!
Canada Goose 10
Wood Duck 5 flocks of 1 and 4 in dusk flight heading W
Mallard 4
White-winged Scoter 630 **rare; amazing dusk flight of birds flying
very high. I first spotted several flocks totalling ca. 200 birds off to the
south, and they were all the same size and consistent in shape with
White-winged Scoter. When they passed against dark clouds I could see faint
white secondaries. Later, one flock of 40 flew right overhead (but very
high) allowing easy ID in scope, and another flock was far out to east
(total of 340 now), while two more large flocks (totalling 290 more but
identifiable as scoter sp. only) had already passed me or were specks off to
the SW. Amazing flight, and my first White-winged Scoters for Millennium
(although a small group of high-flying ducks in October one year were likely
this species).

RE: [nfc-l] Call ID help. 2hrs before dawn sounds like American Goldfinch or Black Rail ?!?

[Richard Guthrie]

Was I missing something?

 

 I could barely hear any call at all, nevermind being able to identify it !

 

Sorry for my tine ear folks.

 

Rich Guthrie

New Baltimore,

The Greene County

New York

gael...@capital.net

 

 

  _  

From: bounce-4296486-10071...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-4296486-10071...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Tom Johnson
Sent: Monday, September 14, 2009 9:18 PM
To: Andrew Albright
Cc: nfc-l@cornell.edu
Subject: Re: [nfc-l] Call ID help. 2hrs before dawn sounds like American
Goldfinch or Black Rail ?!?

 

Andrew,

It sounds like a normal Greater Yellowlegs to me (and a great deal more
probable than a flight calling Black Rail in DE).  They frequently call on
nocturnal migration with similar calls to those given in the daytime.


Tom

 

On Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 8:52 PM, Andrew Albright 
wrote:

 Recorded Sunday am at 4:30am about 3-4 miles from Delaware Seashore.
2 miles from definite Clapper Rail habitat, Black Rail possible but
very very rare in southern Delaware.

 I have a very basic setup (no amplification) with a parabola pointed
straight up in the air.

 It really sounds exactly like a cross between an American Goldfinch
and a Black Rail to me, which is obviously an awfully odd combination.
I listened to all the shorebirds and yellowlegs also seems remotely
possible.  I have no idea if any of those species mentioned give
nocturnal night calls.

 Any help would be appreciated and apologies, it isn't really a great
recording.

 Sincerely,
 Andrew Albright

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-- 
Thomas Brodie Johnson
Ithaca, NY
t...@cornell.edu
mobile:  717.991.5727


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RE: [nfc-l] Night flight calls - listening inside out

[Richard Guthrie]

That was my thoughts also - a tern sp.

 

BTW:

 

Some years ago, I came up with the idea to place a baby room monitor outside
with the "mommy" part inside.

 

With that setup you can hear lots of stuff going on outside with the windows
closed (good for winter days & nights).

 

I've even put three around the house  so now I get "surround sound". I can
pretty well tell which way the hawk is coming from.

 

Good fun and interesting to hear snow geese going over after dark for
example.

 

Rich Guthrie

New Baltimore*,

The Greene County,

New York

(~1/3 NYC<--*--->Montreal)

gael...@capital.net

http://blog.timesunion.com/birding

 

 

  _  

From: bounce-4265624-10071...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-4265624-10071...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Meena Haribal
Sent: Tuesday, September 08, 2009 6:40 AM
To: nfc-l@cornell.edu; cayugabirds-l-cornell.edu
Subject: [nfc-l] Night flight call (unknown)

 

Hi all, 
Today morning I heard a  call at 5.55 am, it was something like "Kyawan
Kyawan Kyarrr" three note call repeated three times with gaps of a second or
more.  The first two notes were very insistent as if trying to make some
statements. The bird seemed fairly low, could hear from bed room window. If
any body has any idea as to what it could be could be I would love to hear.
I feel it was some kind of heron family bird, but may be wrong. 

Yesterday morning I had my recorder in pause mode, ready to record if I
heard anything interesting but heard very few distant calls of Swainson's
thrushes (spring peepers) and a few zips (between 4.45 am to 5.30 am). Today
I think may it was a bit early  time for birds to come down. 

But today the calls were louder and between 5.30 to 6.-00 am, I heard many
calls, including the above mentioned call. Some of them were Swainson's
Thrushes and some may have been Rose -breasted Grosbeaks and many unfamiliar
call notes.  Unfortunately, my recorder was not next to me at my window. So
I just listened today.

I am glad my bedroom window is open and can hear birds without even getting
out!

Cheers
Meena





Meena Haribal
Ithaca NY 14850
webpage:

  
http://meenaharibal.blogspot.com/
   
 

http://www.geocities.com/asiootusloe/http://www.geocities.com/asiootusloe/mo
thsofithaca.html

http://haribal.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/wildwest+trip+August+2007+.pdf

Current Loc: 42o 25' 44.48" N, 76o 28' 16.90" W Elev 816 ft or 248.7 m
Formerly: 19o 0' 41,65" N, 72o 51' 13.02" E Elev 33 ft or 10m


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