[nysbirds-l] FW: [GeneseeBirds-L] Black-Bellied Whistling Duck - YES!

[Willie D'Anna and Betsy Potter]

Ack!  Looks like I missed it by 15 minutes!  See below.

 

Willie

 

From: geneseebirds-l-boun...@geneseo.edu
[mailto:geneseebirds-l-boun...@geneseo.edu] On Behalf Of tanager57
Sent: Saturday, August 21, 2010 7:48 PM
To: GenesseeBirds
Subject: [GeneseeBirds-L] Black-Bellied Whistling Duck - YES!

 

Jim Landau and I capped off a rather quiet day of birding with reasonably
good looks at the BBWD in it's usual location at TWMA.  It was our third and
final attempt of the day to see this bird.

 

The duck was finally spotted around 1:30 PM resting quietly on the back side
of a rather open area of marsh, just where the cattail reeds started to get
thick.  It wasn't an unobstructed view, but the duck was seen well enough to
note the key field marks.  Jim and I were standing about 20-30 yards west of
the first utility pole that is east of the concrete culvert (with the
guardrail), looking in a westerly direction. (I hope that's not too
confusing!)

 

The duck was resting on a small mound of debris, with the head erect.
Gradually, it began to close it's eyes and and start to bring it's head
down, but the noise of a passing vehicle would bring it to alert status
again.  At one point, the duck peered up at passing biplane overhead.
Eventually, the duck settled in for a nap and tucked it's head on it's side,
occasionally raising it's head from time to time.  In the hour or so we
watched the bird, it did not move except for it's head.  We we left the area
about 2:30, it was resting with it's head tucked on it's side.

 

Unfortunately, no other birders we around during this time.

 

Jim Wojewodzki
Holland, NY

 

Previously posted directions:

The BBWD was on NY 77, in a roadside marsh about 200 yards northwest of the
Cayuga Pool Overlook (Iroquois NWR). NY 77 is a north-south highway that
travels NW in the area of the refuge.  Thus, the reason for the sometimes
confusing directions.  In any case, if you are heading north on Rt 77,
Iroquois NWR and Cayuga Pool overlook are on your right and Tonawanda WMA is
on your left.  Note that there is an exit for Rt 77 from the NYS Thruway.
The duck was on the Tonawanda WMA side of the road and likes to stay hidden
in the cattails.

Good birding and stay safe out there.  The trucks really move through the
area.


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[nysbirds-l] Sullivan County - unexpected bird!

[vanhaas]

Today I birded several of our current hot spots in the county.   The 
Black-bellied Plover continues, now in it's fourth day.  The two Pectoral 
Sandpipers continue as well, all at Morningside Park.  Three Lesser Yellowlegs 
were a good find as well.  Most of the birds, which seemed to peak yesterday at 
about 140 shore birds had departed.  There were only about 60 birds today. The 
Bashakill had the usual Virginia Rail family, many Common Moorhens and the 
usual Pied-billed Grebes.  A few hawks included Red-shouldered, Red-tailed and 
Broad-winged. The bird of the day however was a most unexpected ORANGE-CROWNED 
WARBLER   This afternoon, as friends and I gathered at our lake front dock, 
I was on the phone with Arlene Borko when a mixed species flock descended upon 
the Elderberry Bushes only forty feet from the dock.  I hung up the phone an 
began to scan the flock when to my surprise, an Orange-crowned Warbler popped 
out on the end of a branch.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  The bird continued to 
pick  berries for at least ten minutes, and I was able to go right over to the 
bush and watch the bird within only feet.  I have no explanation as to why this 
bird would be here, now, but it was.  Of course my Friends, all non-birders 
could not understand my excitement, but this was indeed a great find.  John Haas

PS  I am very familiar with OCWA.  I see them every year, in many spots 
throughout the western US.  I last observed many on my Alaskan trip in July.

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[nysbirds-l] Jones Beach West End - Buff-breasted Sandpiper

[Shawn Billerman]

Hi all,

This afternoon, Mary Beth Billerman and I took a trip down to West End to
see what shorebirds we could turn up.  It was approaching high tide, and
between the tide and the people on the island, there were no shorebirds
evident on the small island by the Coast Guard Station.  We then went to the
swale on the south side of West End 2 parking lot.  With the rising tide,
shorebirds continued to fly into the swale.  We eventually found the
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER that Doug had found earlier in the day.  It was
foraging actively the entire time we were there, mostly at the south end of
the swale, moving back and forth between the southeast corner and the
southwest corner of the swale.  Also present were about 160 Semipalmated
Plovers, mostly adults (but with some juveniles), 40 Semipalmated Sandpipers
(again, mostly adults, but with at least 3 juveniles), 10 Sanderlings
(adults) 1 Least Sandpiper, 1 Greater Yellowlegs (flyover), and 1
Black-bellied Plover (flyover).  Also foraging in the swale were 3 Horned
Larks.

The Buff-breasted Sandpiper was present during our entire stay of about 2
hours, but was at times out of view.

On our way home along Wantagh Parkway, a Merlin flew over our car moving
south.

Good birding,

Shawn Billerman

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[nysbirds-l] Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (Genesee County) - Not Seen Saturday

[Willie D'Anna and Betsy Potter]

I looked from 7:50 to 8:50 this morning and from 10:30 to 1:15 without any
sightings or hearings of the BBWD.  Three others also looked at times during
the same period and did not have it.  If it is there, this is one very
frustrating bird.  I have to wonder if the use of recordings may have
something to do with this bird's behavior.  I have not seen anyone play a
recording during my 11 hours at the site but I know that others have.  Is it
possible for a bird to be this intimidated by hearing (but not seeing)
another of its own kind that it stays out of sight most of the time?
Perhaps this is just speculation by a frustrated whistling-duck searcher.

Some things I did see at the location were a family of Common Moorhens,
Virginia Rail, Sora, American Bittern, Black-crowned Night-Herons, Bald
Eagle, several Osprey, Caspian Tern, and several Bobolinks and Purple
Martins overhead.
DIRECTIONS:
The BBWD was on NY 77, in a roadside marsh about 200 yards northwest of the
Cayuga Pool Overlook (Iroquois NWR). NY 77 is a north-south highway that
travels NW in the area of the refuge.  Thus, the reason for the sometimes
confusing directions.  In any case, if you are heading north on Rt 77,
Iroquois NWR and Cayuga Pool overlook are on your right and Tonawanda WMA is
on your left.  Note that there is an exit for Rt 77 from the NYS Thruway.
The duck was on the Tonawanda WMA side of the road and likes to stay hidden
in the cattails.
Good birding and stay safe out there.  The trucks really move through the
area.
Willie

Willie D'Anna
Betsy Potter
Wilson, NY
dannapotterATroadrunner.com
http://www.betsypottersart.com



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[nysbirds-l] Mississippi Kites - Montgomery County, NY

[Jesse Jaycox]

> I observed two Mississippi Kites soaring and hunting over Mapletown Road at 
> various times between 8:45 am and 11:00 am this morning. Shortly after 
> arriving, I observed one of the adults carrying food for young, flying fairly 
> low over the road and dropping out of site over the trees. One adult was 
> later observed actively hunting high up, catching and apparently dropping 
> butterflies while I watched. Later, an adult perched in a tree near where I 
> was standing and as I walked along the road to my vehicle, it flew from the 
> tree towards me and made two ground level passes at the road about 15 feet 
> from me. I couldn't believe how close it came. There was a small piece of 
> tree bark in the road that it was swooping at and I guess it mistook that for 
> an insect.
> 
> Jesse Jaycox
> Delmar, NY


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[nysbirds-l] 8/21- JBSP Buff-breasted Sandpiper, also recent JBWR observations

[fresha2411]

 This morning ~7:45 AM there was a juvenile Buff-breasted Sandpiper in the 
swale south of the Building at the West End 2 Parking Lot, in Jones Beach State 
Park, Nassau County.
I viewed it twice, although when I tried to re-locate it later with Ken and Sue 
Feustel we came up empty. Hopefully it returned after I left.

Other notables there included 27 Western Willets on the bar opposite the Coast 
Guard Station (also 3 juvenile Eastern Willets), a flyover Bobolink, and a 
Merlin coursing around the median terrorrizing the (very) few Passerines that 
were around. My aggregate count of Black-bellied Plovers for Jones was 70, and 
Semipalmated Plovers was ~335.


As a side-note on JBWR, and encouraged by Tom Fiore to post my recent sightings 
from there, I have had a slightly different experience there recently than he 
has. I've found that Long-billed Dowitchers have been very scant, and there has 
been another recent transition of the adult Short-billed Dowitchers: a large 
proportion of them are now of the Hendersoni subspecies which can look very 
similar to Long-billeds. Also Western Sandpipers have been almost non-existent 
for the last couple of weeks, with 1 or 2 individuals being the highest I've 
had, although I've come up with 0 a couple of times as well. The day of the 
shorebird festival there was only a single Western Sandpiper seen by only two 
people, despite over 100 observers being present on the East Pond. With all of 
the plumage variation within the adult Semipalmated Sandpipers (many of them 
having bill sizes that overlap with Western) now, as well as the aforementioned 
influx of Hendersoni SBDOs it is very difficult to pick out their rarer cousins 
without decent scope views. 

Also I observed no less than 35 White-rumped Sandpipers on 8/17, and the number 
had been similar to that since around the 13th or 14th, and seemed the same on 
8/18. Their calls have become ubiquitous on the East Pond.
The last time I saw a Wilson's Phalarope was on 8/17, and judging from the lack 
of reports of this usually obvious species I would venture to guess those 3 
long-staying individuals have moved out and any ones seen from here on out will 
be new.

Good Birding
-Doug Gochfeld. Brooklyn, NY.

 



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Re: [nysbirds-l] Mississippi Kites - Successful nesting confirmed

[Andrew Mason]

Rich--

Great job--it was so tantalizing yet frustrating to 'know' those 
birds were nesting, but not have proof!

Andy Mason

At 11:00 PM 8/20/2010, you wrote:
>Not surprising, and after much anticipation, I was able to confirm 
>the successful nesting of the Mississippi Kites in the Town of Root, 
>Montgomery County today. I was fortunate to get a video of the 
>parent bird bringing food to a begging fledgling. I'll post a few of 
>the photos on my blog in the Albany Times Union: 
>http://blog.timesunion.com/birding.
>
>Interestingly, there are three adult birds tending to the nest. 
>Apparently, this is a behavior known to the species where an 
>additional adult or sub-adult will join in the parenting role of the 
>mated pair. I have posted a photo of all three in a previous blog entry.
>
>The birds, when not in the air, are frequenting a woodlot on private 
>property. The landowner reiterates that he does not want anybody 
>entering the property. He expressed appreciation for those who 
>honored this request, but noted there were a few exceptions. In one 
>case, two over zealous visitors had to be escorted off nearby 
>private property.
>
>Rich Guthrie
>New Baltimore,
>The Greene County,
>New York
>gael...@capital.net
>
>

Andrew Mason
1039 Peck St.
Jefferson, NY  12093
(607) 652-2162
andyma...@earthling.net 
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Re: [nysbirds-l] Mississippi Kites - Successful nesting confirmed

[Angus Wilson]

Rich,

Congratulations and thank you for sharing the exciting news. As you point
out, this is the first time Mississippi Kite will have been documented
successfully nesting in New York State, and one of only a handful of
examples in the northeast. The presence of three adult/subadults is
particularly interesting. If I recall correctly, most if not all of the
sightings at the beginning of the season involved just one or two birds. I
find it hard to believe a wandering individual would have somehow found this
pair and joined in for the last stage of chick rearing and instead favor the
idea that one of the three would have been incubating on the nest and thus
hidden out of sight. Scrutiny of photos from various days to see if three
different birds can be distinguished might be able to address this
speculation directly. Also, is it known from the literature whether the
'helper' kites are most often related to the adults they help? If so, this
would suggest the senior pair produced a chick in a previous year.

Interesting food for thought and discussion. Keep the reports coming. We are
anxious to know how the fledgling fares and whether there are any more.

-- 
Angus Wilson
New York City & The Springs, NY, USA
http://birdingtotheend.blogspot.com/

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Re: [nysbirds-l] Mississippi Kites - Successful nesting confirmed

[Angus Wilson]

Rich,

Congratulations and thank you for sharing the exciting news. As you point
out, this is the first time Mississippi Kite will have been documented
successfully nesting in New York State, and one of only a handful of
examples in the northeast. The presence of three adult/subadults is
particularly interesting. If I recall correctly, most if not all of the
sightings at the beginning of the season involved just one or two birds. I
find it hard to believe a wandering individual would have somehow found this
pair and joined in for the last stage of chick rearing and instead favor the
idea that one of the three would have been incubating on the nest and thus
hidden out of sight. Scrutiny of photos from various days to see if three
different birds can be distinguished might be able to address this
speculation directly. Also, is it known from the literature whether the
'helper' kites are most often related to the adults they help? If so, this
would suggest the senior pair produced a chick in a previous year.

Interesting food for thought and discussion. Keep the reports coming. We are
anxious to know how the fledgling fares and whether there are any more.

-- 
Angus Wilson
New York City  The Springs, NY, USA
http://birdingtotheend.blogspot.com/

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Re: [nysbirds-l] Mississippi Kites - Successful nesting confirmed

[Andrew Mason]

Rich--

Great job--it was so tantalizing yet frustrating to 'know' those 
birds were nesting, but not have proof!

Andy Mason

At 11:00 PM 8/20/2010, you wrote:
Not surprising, and after much anticipation, I was able to confirm 
the successful nesting of the Mississippi Kites in the Town of Root, 
Montgomery County today. I was fortunate to get a video of the 
parent bird bringing food to a begging fledgling. I'll post a few of 
the photos on my blog in the Albany Times Union: 
http://blog.timesunion.com/birdinghttp://blog.timesunion.com/birding.

Interestingly, there are three adult birds tending to the nest. 
Apparently, this is a behavior known to the species where an 
additional adult or sub-adult will join in the parenting role of the 
mated pair. I have posted a photo of all three in a previous blog entry.

The birds, when not in the air, are frequenting a woodlot on private 
property. The landowner reiterates that he does not want anybody 
entering the property. He expressed appreciation for those who 
honored this request, but noted there were a few exceptions. In one 
case, two over zealous visitors had to be escorted off nearby 
private property.

Rich Guthrie
New Baltimore,
The Greene County,
New York
mailto:gael...@capital.netgael...@capital.net



Andrew Mason
1039 Peck St.
Jefferson, NY  12093
(607) 652-2162
andyma...@earthling.net 
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[nysbirds-l] 8/21- JBSP Buff-breasted Sandpiper, also recent JBWR observations

[fresha2411]

 This morning ~7:45 AM there was a juvenile Buff-breasted Sandpiper in the 
swale south of the Building at the West End 2 Parking Lot, in Jones Beach State 
Park, Nassau County.
I viewed it twice, although when I tried to re-locate it later with Ken and Sue 
Feustel we came up empty. Hopefully it returned after I left.

Other notables there included 27 Western Willets on the bar opposite the Coast 
Guard Station (also 3 juvenile Eastern Willets), a flyover Bobolink, and a 
Merlin coursing around the median terrorrizing the (very) few Passerines that 
were around. My aggregate count of Black-bellied Plovers for Jones was 70, and 
Semipalmated Plovers was ~335.


As a side-note on JBWR, and encouraged by Tom Fiore to post my recent sightings 
from there, I have had a slightly different experience there recently than he 
has. I've found that Long-billed Dowitchers have been very scant, and there has 
been another recent transition of the adult Short-billed Dowitchers: a large 
proportion of them are now of the Hendersoni subspecies which can look very 
similar to Long-billeds. Also Western Sandpipers have been almost non-existent 
for the last couple of weeks, with 1 or 2 individuals being the highest I've 
had, although I've come up with 0 a couple of times as well. The day of the 
shorebird festival there was only a single Western Sandpiper seen by only two 
people, despite over 100 observers being present on the East Pond. With all of 
the plumage variation within the adult Semipalmated Sandpipers (many of them 
having bill sizes that overlap with Western) now, as well as the aforementioned 
influx of Hendersoni SBDOs it is very difficult to pick out their rarer cousins 
without decent scope views. 

Also I observed no less than 35 White-rumped Sandpipers on 8/17, and the number 
had been similar to that since around the 13th or 14th, and seemed the same on 
8/18. Their calls have become ubiquitous on the East Pond.
The last time I saw a Wilson's Phalarope was on 8/17, and judging from the lack 
of reports of this usually obvious species I would venture to guess those 3 
long-staying individuals have moved out and any ones seen from here on out will 
be new.

Good Birding
-Doug Gochfeld. Brooklyn, NY.

 



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[nysbirds-l] Mississippi Kites - Montgomery County, NY

[Jesse Jaycox]

 I observed two Mississippi Kites soaring and hunting over Mapletown Road at 
 various times between 8:45 am and 11:00 am this morning. Shortly after 
 arriving, I observed one of the adults carrying food for young, flying fairly 
 low over the road and dropping out of site over the trees. One adult was 
 later observed actively hunting high up, catching and apparently dropping 
 butterflies while I watched. Later, an adult perched in a tree near where I 
 was standing and as I walked along the road to my vehicle, it flew from the 
 tree towards me and made two ground level passes at the road about 15 feet 
 from me. I couldn't believe how close it came. There was a small piece of 
 tree bark in the road that it was swooping at and I guess it mistook that for 
 an insect.
 
 Jesse Jaycox
 Delmar, NY


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[nysbirds-l] Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (Genesee County) - Not Seen Saturday

[Willie D'Anna and Betsy Potter]

I looked from 7:50 to 8:50 this morning and from 10:30 to 1:15 without any
sightings or hearings of the BBWD.  Three others also looked at times during
the same period and did not have it.  If it is there, this is one very
frustrating bird.  I have to wonder if the use of recordings may have
something to do with this bird's behavior.  I have not seen anyone play a
recording during my 11 hours at the site but I know that others have.  Is it
possible for a bird to be this intimidated by hearing (but not seeing)
another of its own kind that it stays out of sight most of the time?
Perhaps this is just speculation by a frustrated whistling-duck searcher.

Some things I did see at the location were a family of Common Moorhens,
Virginia Rail, Sora, American Bittern, Black-crowned Night-Herons, Bald
Eagle, several Osprey, Caspian Tern, and several Bobolinks and Purple
Martins overhead.
DIRECTIONS:
The BBWD was on NY 77, in a roadside marsh about 200 yards northwest of the
Cayuga Pool Overlook (Iroquois NWR). NY 77 is a north-south highway that
travels NW in the area of the refuge.  Thus, the reason for the sometimes
confusing directions.  In any case, if you are heading north on Rt 77,
Iroquois NWR and Cayuga Pool overlook are on your right and Tonawanda WMA is
on your left.  Note that there is an exit for Rt 77 from the NYS Thruway.
The duck was on the Tonawanda WMA side of the road and likes to stay hidden
in the cattails.
Good birding and stay safe out there.  The trucks really move through the
area.
Willie

Willie D'Anna
Betsy Potter
Wilson, NY
dannapotterATroadrunner.com
http://www.betsypottersart.com



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[nysbirds-l] Jones Beach West End - Buff-breasted Sandpiper

[Shawn Billerman]

Hi all,

This afternoon, Mary Beth Billerman and I took a trip down to West End to
see what shorebirds we could turn up.  It was approaching high tide, and
between the tide and the people on the island, there were no shorebirds
evident on the small island by the Coast Guard Station.  We then went to the
swale on the south side of West End 2 parking lot.  With the rising tide,
shorebirds continued to fly into the swale.  We eventually found the
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER that Doug had found earlier in the day.  It was
foraging actively the entire time we were there, mostly at the south end of
the swale, moving back and forth between the southeast corner and the
southwest corner of the swale.  Also present were about 160 Semipalmated
Plovers, mostly adults (but with some juveniles), 40 Semipalmated Sandpipers
(again, mostly adults, but with at least 3 juveniles), 10 Sanderlings
(adults) 1 Least Sandpiper, 1 Greater Yellowlegs (flyover), and 1
Black-bellied Plover (flyover).  Also foraging in the swale were 3 Horned
Larks.

The Buff-breasted Sandpiper was present during our entire stay of about 2
hours, but was at times out of view.

On our way home along Wantagh Parkway, a Merlin flew over our car moving
south.

Good birding,

Shawn Billerman

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[nysbirds-l] Sullivan County - unexpected bird!

[vanhaas]

Today I birded several of our current hot spots in the county.   The 
Black-bellied Plover continues, now in it's fourth day.  The two Pectoral 
Sandpipers continue as well, all at Morningside Park.  Three Lesser Yellowlegs 
were a good find as well.  Most of the birds, which seemed to peak yesterday at 
about 140 shore birds had departed.  There were only about 60 birds today. The 
Bashakill had the usual Virginia Rail family, many Common Moorhens and the 
usual Pied-billed Grebes.  A few hawks included Red-shouldered, Red-tailed and 
Broad-winged. The bird of the day however was a most unexpected ORANGE-CROWNED 
WARBLER   This afternoon, as friends and I gathered at our lake front dock, 
I was on the phone with Arlene Borko when a mixed species flock descended upon 
the Elderberry Bushes only forty feet from the dock.  I hung up the phone an 
began to scan the flock when to my surprise, an Orange-crowned Warbler popped 
out on the end of a branch.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  The bird continued to 
pick  berries for at least ten minutes, and I was able to go right over to the 
bush and watch the bird within only feet.  I have no explanation as to why this 
bird would be here, now, but it was.  Of course my Friends, all non-birders 
could not understand my excitement, but this was indeed a great find.  John Haas

PS  I am very familiar with OCWA.  I see them every year, in many spots 
throughout the western US.  I last observed many on my Alaskan trip in July.

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[nysbirds-l] FW: [GeneseeBirds-L] Black-Bellied Whistling Duck - YES!

[Willie D'Anna and Betsy Potter]

Ack!  Looks like I missed it by 15 minutes!  See below.

 

Willie

 

From: geneseebirds-l-boun...@geneseo.edu
[mailto:geneseebirds-l-boun...@geneseo.edu] On Behalf Of tanager57
Sent: Saturday, August 21, 2010 7:48 PM
To: GenesseeBirds
Subject: [GeneseeBirds-L] Black-Bellied Whistling Duck - YES!

 

Jim Landau and I capped off a rather quiet day of birding with reasonably
good looks at the BBWD in it's usual location at TWMA.  It was our third and
final attempt of the day to see this bird.

 

The duck was finally spotted around 1:30 PM resting quietly on the back side
of a rather open area of marsh, just where the cattail reeds started to get
thick.  It wasn't an unobstructed view, but the duck was seen well enough to
note the key field marks.  Jim and I were standing about 20-30 yards west of
the first utility pole that is east of the concrete culvert (with the
guardrail), looking in a westerly direction. (I hope that's not too
confusing!)

 

The duck was resting on a small mound of debris, with the head erect.
Gradually, it began to close it's eyes and and start to bring it's head
down, but the noise of a passing vehicle would bring it to alert status
again.  At one point, the duck peered up at passing biplane overhead.
Eventually, the duck settled in for a nap and tucked it's head on it's side,
occasionally raising it's head from time to time.  In the hour or so we
watched the bird, it did not move except for it's head.  We we left the area
about 2:30, it was resting with it's head tucked on it's side.

 

Unfortunately, no other birders we around during this time.

 

Jim Wojewodzki
Holland, NY

 

Previously posted directions:

The BBWD was on NY 77, in a roadside marsh about 200 yards northwest of the
Cayuga Pool Overlook (Iroquois NWR). NY 77 is a north-south highway that
travels NW in the area of the refuge.  Thus, the reason for the sometimes
confusing directions.  In any case, if you are heading north on Rt 77,
Iroquois NWR and Cayuga Pool overlook are on your right and Tonawanda WMA is
on your left.  Note that there is an exit for Rt 77 from the NYS Thruway.
The duck was on the Tonawanda WMA side of the road and likes to stay hidden
in the cattails.

Good birding and stay safe out there.  The trucks really move through the
area.


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