[cayugabirds-l] Montezuma, Chimney Bluffs; Towhee & other basin 2010 firsts
This morning I decided to go to the Lab of O seeking a RUSTY BLACKBIRD, but as I was about to pass Kip's Barn by the north end of Sapsucker Woods Road I saw 4 of them, all males, foraging on the lawn with some EUROPEAN STARLINGS. Although the birds (and the driver behind me) tolerated me pulling over and staring at them through binoculars, they did not stay while I tried to maneuver my car and equipment to photograph them. They flew north. With such luck so early I decided to check out the Tunison Aquatic Science Lab environs by Lime Hollow in Cortlandville in case the reported Winter Wrens were evident. I found a stream through lovely Hemlock Forest but no wrens. However, my first 2010 RUFFED GROUSE ran across Gracie Road as I left. By now the rain had started, so I knew gardening was off my schedule, so I decided to seek the BLUE-WINGED TEAL at the Montezuma Visitor's Center (1 male present) and the EURASIAN WIGEON at Tschache Pool (1 male present). Still feeling lucky I returned to Chimney Bluffs State Park in the Wayne County Town of Huron, and this time Lake Ontario was not quite so rough, and the precipitation relented a bit, and I got good looks at several RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS and RED-NECKED GREBES along with the WESTERN GREBE which was placidly swimming east just beyond the brownish water, somewhat closer than the Red-necked Grebes. The Western Grebe briefly held a foot out in the air behind it, and it did a short swan imitation with its neck while preening, and of course it regularly was hidden by waves, but compared to my previous visit (when during the better part of an hour only about half of the 8 or so people with scopes saw the bird) it was surprisingly easy to find as I scoped from the lawn by the end of the paved trail from the Garner Road entrance to the park. Montezuma has a fine variety of waterfowl, especially Anas and Aythya, on the various ponds. A family of TRUMPETER SWANS was beyond the end of Morgan Road and a pair of TUNDRA SWANS was near the southwest corner of the Main Pool. A flock of about 80 SNOW GEESE was north of the Potatoes building on NYS 31. Cayuga Lake was pretty empty - at least I didn't spend enough time to see much from Myers up the east side. My friend Stefhan Ohlström found what appears to be the basin's first 2010 EASTERN TOWHEE near EcoVillage on Ithaca's West Hill today. Yesterday I saw 5 TREE SWALLOWS over Cayuga Inlet from the Ithaca Farmer's Market and later a couple of them/others flying north over Cayuga Lake from Stewart Park. In Renwick Sanctuary an EASTERN PHOEBE gave a few call notes, but never sang. It mostly stayed in the canopy, not far from Fall Creek. Someone asked about first Tree Swallows. I've been trying to refrain from barraging the listserv about every first 2010 record, but here's what I have since January: 21 Feb TURKEY VULTURE by Chris Wood at Monkey Run south, Dryden 27 Feb SNOWY OWL by Sue March from I-90 east of Montezuma, (Town of Montezuma?) 6 Mar WILSON'S SNIPE by Tom Johnson, Shawn Billerman, Carolyn Sedgwick, and Chris Wiley at Tompkins County Airport, Lansing 6 Mar LONG-EARED OWL by Tom Johnson, Shawn Billerman, Carolyn Sedgwick, and Chris Wiley sw of Mohawk & Etna Rds, Lansing 7 Mar GOLDEN EAGLE by Tom Johnson, Shawn Billerman and Nathan Senner from Mount Pleasant, Dryden 7 Mar KILLDEER by Steve Fast on Valley Rd e/ Brooktondale, Caroline 7 Mar RED-WinGED BLACKBIRD by John & Sue Gregoire on Fitzgerald Rd, Hector 8 Mar WOOD DUCK by Anne Marie Johnson at Myers Point, Lansing 10 Mar AMERICAN WOODCOCK by Nancy Dickinson in Mecklenburg, Hector 10 Mar SANDHILL CRANE by Bob Davis flying east over Tschache tower, NYS 89, Montezuma NWR, Tyre 11 Mar TREE SWALLOW by Ryan Douglas at Beebe Lake, Cornell Univ, Ithaca 13 Mar EURASIAN WIGEON by Gary Chapin from Van Dyne Spoor Rd, Savannah 16 Mar CHIPPING SPARROW by Mary Winston at south feeders, Lab of O, Lansing 17 Mar DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT by Dave Nutter on red lighthouse breakwater, south end Cayuga Lake, Ithaca 17 Mar WINTER WREN by Jack Ruggirello behind Tunison Fish Lab, Gracie Rd, Cortlandville 19 Mar EASTERN PHOEBE by Bill Evans on Bald Hill Rd, Danby 20 Mar BLUE-WINGED TEAL by Liz Craig on the pond at the visitors’ center, Montezuma NWR, Tyre 20 Mar FOX SPARROW by Steve & Susie Fast on Mount Pleasant, Dryden 22 Mar EASTERN TOWHEE by Stefhan Ohlströmon EcoVillage lane west of West Haven Rd, Ithaca This info is also in checklist order at: http://cayugabirds.pbworks.com/Taxonomic-2010-First-Records and in chronological order at: http://cayugabirds.pbworks.com/Chronological-2010-Basin-First-Records Corrections, earlier records in the basin, and addition species are all welcome. --Dave Nutter -- 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/m
[cayugabirds-l] Purple Finches in Brooktondale
Three Purple Finches (two males and a female) just showed up on my feeders--the first of the year. Anne Marie Johnson Caroline -- 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] Syracuse RBA
RBA * New York * Syracuse * March 22, 2010 * NYSY 2203.10 Hotline: Syracuse Rare bird Alert Dates(s): March 15, 2009 - March 22, 2010 to report by e-mail: brinjoseph AT yahoo.com covering upstate NY counties: Cayuga, Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge and Montezuma Wetlands Complex (MWC) (just outside Cayuga County), Onondaga, Oswego, Lewis, Jefferson, Oneida, Herkimer, Madison & Cortland compiled:March 22 AT 1:00 p.m. (EST) compiler: Joseph Brin Onondaga Audubon Homepage: www.onondagaaudubon.org #197 -Monday March 22, 2010 Greetings! This is the Syracuse Area Rare Bird Alert for the week of March15 , 2009 Highlights: --- RED-NECKED GREBE WESTERN GREBE (Extralimital) EURASIAN WIGEON SANDHILL CRANE SHORT-EARED OWL NORTHER SHRIKE Migrants this week: -- PIED-BILLED GREBE - 3/22 RED-NECKED GREBE - 3/21 HORNED GREBE - 3/21 AMERICAN PIPPIT - 3/18 EASTERN MEADOWLARK - 3/20 Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR) and Montezuma Wetlands Complex (MWC) 3/19: 8 SHORT-EARED OWLS and 1 SANDHILL CRANE were seen in the open area at the end of VanDyne Spoor Road. 3/20: 2 SANDHILL CRANES were seen at the mucklands along Rt.31 and another pair were seen at VanDyne Spoor Road. An EURASIAN WIGEON was seen in Tschache Pool. 3/21: At VanDyne Spoor Road a NORTHERN SHRIKE, a SANDHILL CRANE and 2 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS were found. Derby Hill This was a much better week at Derby Hill with 807 raptors recorded. 3/18 was the best day with 228 birds counted. On 3/16 the season’s first PEREGRINE FALCON was seen. Oswego County 3/20: A male EURASIAN WIGEON was found at Phillips Point on Oneida Lake. It was relocated the next day. Cayuga County 3/21: 106 RED-NECKED GREBES and 2 HORNED GREBES were seen along Lake Ontario at points east of Fairhaven. The locales were McIntyre Bluffs, Sterling Nature Center, and Moon Beach. Extralimital The WESTERN GREBE found at Chimney Bluffs State Park on Lake Ontario in Wayne County on 3/11 was seen all week and as recently as yesterday (3/21). --end transcript -- Joseph Brin Region 5 Baldwinsville, N.Y. 13027 U.S.A. -- 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-capped chickadee
Yes. Check out http://picasaweb.google.com/KevinJ.McGowan/BasinSpecies2009#5286788581196008386. Kevin From: bounce-5462191-3493...@list.cornell.edu [bounce-5462191-3493...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of David Werier [nak...@lightlink.com] Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 8:13 AM To: Cayuga Birds listserve Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Black-capped chickadee Hi everyone, Yesterday, I saw a black-capped chickadee (Brooktondale area) with some white flecks in its black cap. At first I noticed the bird because it looked like it had something on its cap. When I looked with my binoculars I saw that the something was a small fleck or patch of white. I then noticed that there was a bunch of white in the black cap. Has anyone seen this before with black-capped chickadees? Thanks, David -- 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] Black-capped chickadee
David, I saw a b.-c. chickadee along the Dryden Lake Trail last fall with an all-white head. The body color looked normal. I refound it this past February, and noted further that it had very light colored legs and feet. Steve Fast Brooktondale -Original Message- From: bounce-5462191-9286...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-5462191-9286...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of David Werier Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 7:14 AM To: Cayuga Birds listserve Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Black-capped chickadee Hi everyone, Yesterday, I saw a black-capped chickadee (Brooktondale area) with some white flecks in its black cap. At first I noticed the bird because it looked like it had something on its cap. When I looked with my binoculars I saw that the something was a small fleck or patch of white. I then noticed that there was a bunch of white in the black cap. Has anyone seen this before with black-capped chickadees? Thanks, David -- 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] Black-capped chickadee
Hi everyone, Yesterday, I saw a black-capped chickadee (Brooktondale area) with some white flecks in its black cap. At first I noticed the bird because it looked like it had something on its cap. When I looked with my binoculars I saw that the something was a small fleck or patch of white. I then noticed that there was a bunch of white in the black cap. Has anyone seen this before with black-capped chickadees? Thanks, David -- 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/ --