Jay Powell and I birded the trail along the south side of Monkey Run today. The biggest highlight was a GRAY CATBIRD that was on the south side of the old railroad grade about 200 meters east of Monkey Run Road. There was also quite a nice assortment of other birds including the biggest flocks of waxwings I have seen in this area this year. Complete eBird report follows.
Location: Monkey Run - South Observation date: 2/20/2010 Notes: Bird activity has increased significantly in the past week and we had good numbers of birds. The most species seen this year on this walk by CLW. WEATHER: 33F. Overcast. Light WSW winds 0 - 5 mph. About 10 - 18 inches of snow on the ground. OBSERVERS: Chris Wood and Jay Powell. Number of species: 24 Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis 3 Herring Gull (American) - Larus argentatus smithsonianus 110 flyovers Great Black-backed Gull - Larus marinus 5 flyovers Rock Pigeon - Columba livia 1 flyover Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus 4 Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens 4 Hairy Woodpecker - Picoides villosus 10 exact count Pileated Woodpecker - Dryocopus pileatus 4 Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata 9 American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos 38 Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus 37 Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor 6 Red-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta canadensis 1 White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis 5 Golden-crowned Kinglet - Regulus satrapa 1 A single bird calling and seen well along the creek. Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis 2 American Robin - Turdus migratorius 1 Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis 1 **Rare for this season. Seen about 200 meters east of Monkey Run road on the south side of the railroad grade. It was loosely associating with a flock of White-throated Sparrow. The bird flew up at one point and we had wonderful views of it. I wonder if this is the same individual that had been around in late fall. Cedar Waxwing - Bombycilla cedrorum 64 Highest count of the year for CLW in Ithaca area. Included a flock of 47 along Monkey Run Road. White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis 4 **Partial albino showing several entirely white feathers on the head so that 3/5 of the head was entirely white. CLW had not seen this individual before. Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) - Junco hyemalis hyemalis/carolinensis 13 Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis 11 House Finch - Carpodacus mexicanus 2 American Goldfinch - Carduelis tristis 2 This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org) Chris Wood eBird 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 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/ --
