[cayugabirds-l] Whimbrel, Myers Point; Aurora birds
Mark Chao just called to say he and Tilden just had a WHIMBREL fly in to Myers Point they fly off again, headed north. I was there 10 minutes before and had two SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS and a DUNLIN on the spit, but no Whimbrel. They will call again if it reappears, but they thought it might have headed off. Livia and I checked Aurora, including Long Point, Lake Road bluffs, and the bluffs north of Aurora for gannets or other seabirds. We did not find much. A SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER and a family of Hooded Mergansers was at Long Point, and two female Red-breasted Mergansers and a few loons were all we had in Aurora Bay. Chris and Jeff made a quick trip to the wildlife drive at Montezuma and found saw some continuing shorebirds, including Short-billed Dowitchers, a White-rumped Sandpiper, and ~300 Dunlin, as well as a GLOSSY IBIS at the back of Benning Marsh. -Jay -- Jay McGowan Macaulay Library Cornell Lab of Ornithology jw...@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] Myers, Fri 5/24 (Whimbrel)
Thanks to Jay for relaying our message this morning. Here are some details. Having just finished enjoying long, close views of the two SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, the DUNLIN, and a clean-lookin' mean-lookin' red-mouthed breeding RING-BILLED GULL out on the windswept spit, Tilden and I decided to spend a few more minutes watching from the car. We saw the plovers wheel around and back once and watched the OSPREY kiting over the mouth of the creek, but got most of our entertainment from dozens of swallows foraging over the whitecaps. At about 10 AM, I saw two more shorebirds together in the air just off the tip of the spit. Their identities were immediately obvious - one was a Dunlin in breeding plumage (quite possibly the same one we had just seen), and the other was a WHIMBREL - about twice the size of the Dunlin (which itself surprised me with its apparent length and heft in flight), with plain brown plumage and an unmistakable, long decurved bill. (The bird lacked the warm tones and extreme bill length of a Long-billed Curlew.) For about 20 seconds, we saw the two birds turning and swooping together like fighter jets in tight formation, debating a joint landing. But then they headed north over the lake. While I phoned Jay, Tilden followed the rapidly retreating birds for about half a minute more, until he was distracted by the sight of a male and female BUFFLEHEAD flying across our view. (I am modestly hopeful that this latter species will give us double coveted eBird need details prompts, which I don't remember ever getting on a single previous outing.) We waited for about 10 minutes for the Whimbrel to return, to no avail. We did check the cove south of the private marina on our way out, where T spotted a COMMON LOON pretty far out. We saw many more swarming swallows over the water here too. Applying negligible effort, we didn't find any Yellow-throated Warbler or any other unusual songbirds today (even the Warbling Vireos were silent in the nasty cold wind). Mark Chao PS. The Finger Lakes Land Trust Spring Bird Quest starts tomorrow with a walk I'll lead at the McIlroy Bird Sanctuary in Summerhill at 8 AM. I welcome participation and pledges! -- 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] RFI - swallow sightings in cold weather
Hi birders, I am working on a research project with Dr. David Winkler on the foraging habits of tree swallows during cold snaps. Like us, many of you who bird around Ithaca have probably observed large foraging aggregations of swallows in places like the Cayuga Lake inlet, Myers Point/Salmon Creek, and Dryden Lake during cool, cloudy weather (like today). We're interested in getting samples of tree swallow food from places where swallows feed most intensively in this kind of weather to assess just how important these foraging habitats may be to the local population of breeding swallows throughout the breeding season. To better target our sampling of food sources, we'd really benefit from your help! If you are near a place in the southern part of the lake basin where you observe (or have observed) a large flock of swallows, we'd love to know about it (where were you? when was it? were swalllows feeding on the wing or resting in trees/wires?). We'll certainly be using eBird data, so we'd especially love to know about sightings that would not otherwise have ended up in the eBird database. Thanks for your time in reading this request and, in advance, for any help you can offer. Good birding! Chris Dalton Ithaca, NY christopher.m.dalton AT gmail.com -- 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] ADMIN: URGENT – Cayuga Lake Searchers and/or Supplies Needed - Missing Student
Good afternoon, As some of you may not be aware, a search is still underway for Chris Dennis, a Cornell University class of 2013 student, who went missing on Wednesday. Chris was last seen early Wednesday morning by fellow campers after he headed out onto Cayuga Lake by canoe. Later, his canoe was discovered capsized near the middle of Cayuga Lake. Chris Dennis is son of birder John V. Dennis, Jr., and grandson of John V. Dennis (one of the last persons to photograph an Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Cuba). After speaking with coordinators they still need volunteers to help walk remote sections of both the West and the East shores of Cayuga Lake. Please take a moment to review the dynamically-updated Google Doc at this URL: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16LPZHWOJHeX_v5wwDAwRdYJSW5jAagQV-LGiYm0cexo/edit?pli=1 If you are capable and willing to help out, please contact either the West side or the East side primary or secondary points-of-contact, here: East side: Primary: Anthony Santa Maria (617) 763-2955 Reed Steberger (973) 557-8916 West side: Primary: Anna-Lisa Castle (312) 330-7998 Alyssa Tsuchiya (808) 341-3770 Julie Fiore (845) 240-8288 At this point, they are looking for anything pertaining to what may have been in the canoe with Chris Dennis. The areas of focus are North of the AES Cayuga power plant (aka Milliken Station) on the East side of Cayuga Lake, and North of Sheldrake Point on the West side of Cayuga Lake. If you are unable to physically help out, but think you may be able to contribute supplies (such as rain gear, jackets, food, water, etc.), please contact the above points-of-contact as well. The above points-of-contact will provide guidance in what they need or want, as well as help assign areas to cover. Thank you and good luck to all with this search effort. Be safe. Sincerely, Chris T-H -- Chris Tessaglia-Hymes Listowner, Cayugabirds-L Ithaca, New York c...@cornell.edumailto:c...@cornell.edu Cayugabirds-L – Archiveshttp://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html Cayugabirds-L – Welcome and Basicshttp://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME Cayugabirds-L – Rules and Informationhttp://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES Cayugabirds-L – Subscribe, Configuration and Leavehttp://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm -- 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] Myers, Fri 5/24 PM
Wanting to ride our wave of recent luck a little longer, Tilden and I returned to Myers Park in Lansing on Friday afternoon at about 4:30 PM. We don't think we saw anything particularly rare, but the birding was fun and challenging. Immediately upon arrival, Tilden exclaimed with surprise and had his optics up in a split-second. Then he paused, relaxed, and pointed out a CASPIAN TERN, a species we haven't seen at rest so far this year. I shared a little of his shock to see that big red bill after scanning gull after gull these past couple days on that beach! Again we saw two SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, and by this time the DUNLIN contingent had swelled to at least four birds. I could swear that I also saw a yellowlegs fly to the tip of the spit (big, slim gray shorebird with a white tail) but I couldn't find it there a few seconds later. Even more puzzling were 15 little shorebirds that I think were SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS. They all had black legs. Their bills all were completely straight but also quite sharply pointed. Upperparts were much more brown than gray (though not brightly rufous), with a lot of dark-centered feathers. All had very fine streaks on the breast. My instincts were nagging me the whole time that they were Least Sandpipers that somehow all showed dark legs (I wondered whether the extreme cold had anything to do with it). In the end, though, I concluded that analytic ID should trump impressions in this case, largely because I haven't closely studied Semipalmated Sandpipers in breeding plumage, nor gotten a very good sense of variation in bill shape with this species. The field marks do seem to add up, on the whole. (I feel certain that these birds weren't larger Calidris species, nor rare stints. They did not have white rumps.) Mark Chao -- 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] Myers, Fri 5/24 PM
Thanks to a tip from Jeff Gerbracht, Livia and I stopped at the compost off Stevenson Road in Dryden just now to see 4 DUNLIN, 3 LEAST SANDPIPERS, and a surprising 25 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS in the second little pond along the side of the piles. On Fri, May 24, 2013 at 6:58 PM, Mark Chao markc...@imt.org wrote: Wanting to ride our wave of recent luck a little longer, Tilden and I returned to Myers Park in Lansing on Friday afternoon at about 4:30 PM. We don’t think we saw anything particularly rare, but the birding was fun and challenging. ** ** Immediately upon arrival, Tilden exclaimed with surprise and had his optics up in a split-second. Then he paused, relaxed, and pointed out a CASPIAN TERN, a species we haven’t seen at rest so far this year. I shared a little of his shock to see that big red bill after scanning gull after gull these past couple days on that beach! ** ** Again we saw two SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, and by this time the DUNLIN contingent had swelled to at least four birds. I could swear that I also saw a yellowlegs fly to the tip of the spit (big, slim gray shorebird with a white tail) but I couldn’t find it there a few seconds later. ** ** Even more puzzling were 15 little shorebirds that I think were SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS. They all had black legs. Their bills all were completely straight but also quite sharply pointed. Upperparts were much more brown than gray (though not brightly rufous), with a lot of dark-centered feathers. All had very fine streaks on the breast. My instincts were nagging me the whole time that they were Least Sandpipers that somehow all showed dark legs (I wondered whether the extreme cold had anything to do with it). In the end, though, I concluded that analytic ID should trump impressions in this case, largely because I haven’t closely studied Semipalmated Sandpipers in breeding plumage, nor gotten a very good sense of variation in bill shape with this species. The field marks do seem to add up, on the whole. (I feel certain that these birds weren’t larger Calidris species, nor rare stints. They did not have white rumps.) ** ** Mark Chao -- *Cayugabirds-L List Info:* Welcome and Basics http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME Rules and Information http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES Subscribe, Configuration and Leavehttp://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm *Archives:* The Mail Archivehttp://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html Surfbirds http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds BirdingOnThe.Net http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html *Please submit your observations to eBirdhttp://ebird.org/content/ebird/ !* -- -- Jay McGowan Macaulay Library Cornell Lab of Ornithology jw...@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] Montezuma shorebirds Glossy Ibis
Friday afternoon was dark and rainy but lots of Dunlin, Semipalmated Plovers, and other peeps around. The Glossy Ibis was in easy viewing at Benning Marsh (directly across from the pull-out). It took off as an adult Eagle flew over, but circled around and landed in the same area. Sent from Windows Mail -- 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] Myers, Fri 5/24 PM
After work. I stopped by the compost piles. 4 Dunlin. A few Least Sandpiper= s and 24 Semi Sands. Biggest count of Semi Sandpipers I've seen in Tompkin= s County. They seem to have appeared en mass today Jeff On Friday, May 24, 2013, Mark Chao wrote: Wanting to ride our wave of recent luck a little longer, Tilden and I returned to Myers Park in Lansing on Friday afternoon at about 4:30 PM. We don’t think we saw anything particularly rare, but the birding was fun and challenging. ** ** Immediately upon arrival, Tilden exclaimed with surprise and had his optics up in a split-second. Then he paused, relaxed, and pointed out a CASPIAN TERN, a species we haven’t seen at rest so far this year. I shared a little of his shock to see that big red bill after scanning gull after gull these past couple days on that beach! ** ** Again we saw two SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, and by this time the DUNLIN contingent had swelled to at least four birds. I could swear that I also saw a yellowlegs fly to the tip of the spit (big, slim gray shorebird with a white tail) but I couldn’t find it there a few seconds later. ** ** Even more puzzling were 15 little shorebirds that I think were SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS. They all had black legs. Their bills all were completely straight but also quite sharply pointed. Upperparts were much more brown than gray (though not brightly rufous), with a lot of dark-centered feathers. All had very fine streaks on the breast. My instincts were nagging me the whole time that they were Least Sandpipers that somehow all showed dark legs (I wondered whether the extreme cold had anything to do with it). In the end, though, I concluded that analytic ID should trump impressions in this case, largely because I haven’t closely studied Semipalmated Sandpipers in breeding plumage, nor gotten a very good sense of variation in bill shape with this species. The field marks do seem to add up, on the whole. (I feel certain that these birds weren’t larger Calidris species, nor rare stints. They did not have white rumps.) ** ** Mark Chao -- *Cayugabirds-L List Info:* Welcome and Basics http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME Rules and Information http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES Subscribe, Configuration and Leavehttp://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm *Archives:* The Mail Archivehttp://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html Surfbirds http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds BirdingOnThe.Net http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html *Please submit your observations to eBirdhttp://ebird.org/content/ebird/ !* -- -- Jeff Gerbracht Lead Application Developer Neotropical Birds, Breeding Bird Atlas, eBird Cornell Lab of Ornithology 607-254-2117 -- 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] Myers, Fri 5/24 PM
FYI--to confirm a trajectory: Broome Co folks, on Bluewing list, reported more than 8 Semi-palmated Sandpipers (and more with time) as well as 6 Dunlin and 4 Semi-palmated Plovers at the Tri-Cities airport this morning. anne On May 24, 2013, at 7:18 PM, Jeff Gerbracht wrote: After work. I stopped by the compost piles. 4 Dunlin. A few Least Sandpiper= s and 24 Semi Sands. Biggest count of Semi Sandpipers I've seen in Tompkin= s County. They seem to have appeared en mass today Jeff On Friday, May 24, 2013, Mark Chao wrote: Wanting to ride our wave of recent luck a little longer, Tilden and I returned to Myers Park in Lansing on Friday afternoon at about 4:30 PM. We don’t think we saw anything particularly rare, but the birding was fun and challenging. Immediately upon arrival, Tilden exclaimed with surprise and had his optics up in a split-second. Then he paused, relaxed, and pointed out a CASPIAN TERN, a species we haven’t seen at rest so far this year. I shared a little of his shock to see that big red bill after scanning gull after gull these past couple days on that beach! Again we saw two SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, and by this time the DUNLIN contingent had swelled to at least four birds. I could swear that I also saw a yellowlegs fly to the tip of the spit (big, slim gray shorebird with a white tail) but I couldn’t find it there a few seconds later. Even more puzzling were 15 little shorebirds that I think were SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS. They all had black legs. Their bills all were completely straight but also quite sharply pointed. Upperparts were much more brown than gray (though not brightly rufous), with a lot of dark-centered feathers. All had very fine streaks on the breast. My instincts were nagging me the whole time that they were Least Sandpipers that somehow all showed dark legs (I wondered whether the extreme cold had anything to do with it). In the end, though, I concluded that analytic ID should trump impressions in this case, largely because I haven’t closely studied Semipalmated Sandpipers in breeding plumage, nor gotten a very good sense of variation in bill shape with this species. The field marks do seem to add up, on the whole. (I feel certain that these birds weren’t larger Calidris species, nor rare stints. They did not have white rumps.) Mark Chao -- 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! -- -- Jeff Gerbracht Lead Application Developer Neotropical Birds, Breeding Bird Atlas, eBird Cornell Lab of Ornithology 607-254-2117 -- 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/ --
