[cayugabirds-l] Montezuma 7Sep2013
I wasn't on a Muckrace team this year, but I couldn't resist birding Montezuma yesterday anyway. I spent the whole morning along Towpath Road, and although I didn't find anything amazing, I saw some nice birds for that spot. I also managed 101 species between (and during) rain showers, so it was a fun morning. Highlights included continuing shorebirds such as AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER, WHIMBREL, STILT, BAIRD'S, and WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS, the continuing AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN, a high count of *89* BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS, Peregrine Falcon, and Merlin. I also spent more time than usual looking for passerines along the road, which yielded, among others, YELLOW-BELLIED, LEAST, and WILLOW FLYCATCHERS; WILSON'S, CAPE MAY, TENNESSEE, YELLOW, BLACKPOLL, Chestnut-sided, and Magnolia warblers, American Redstart, Yellow-throated Vireo, BROWN THRASHER (a good bird for this spot), and an early RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET. Full checklist (with a few photos) here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S15118176 Sounds like the Muckrace itself was successful as well. I hope someone who was there can give us a more detailed account, but what I have heard so far was that the Cornell undergraduate team won with 139 species! -- 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/ --
Re:[cayugabirds-l] Ulysses Bald Eagle nest gone
Today I went back again with more time and willingness to look from more angles. If you read carefully I qualified my previous post with the phrase "unless I am quite mistaken". Either the eagles are quick to rebuild or indeed I was quite mistaken. The nest has always been difficult to see from the road, but today with patience I was able to see it. I also talked to a neighbor who said he had heard eagles yesterday and seemed confident they would continue at this site. --Dave NutterOn Aug 28, 2013, at 10:15 PM, "Dave Nutter" nutter.d...@me.com wrote:Today I stopped by Maplewood Road off NYS-89 in Ulysses to confirm my impression on a recent drive-by: there were no Bald Eagles in the nest tree (which did not surprise me, since I thought the 2 young had likely fledged and moved on) but there was also NO NEST. It seems to have fallen down for some reason. The nest tree is stil there, but unless I am quite mistaken, the nest is not merely hidden but missing altogether. I wonder if the heavy rains a couple weeks ago did it in. At least the nest did not bring down the tree, as sometimes happens with Bald Eagles. I wonder if the pair will rebuild here based on 4 succesful seasons at this site.--Dave Nutter -- 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] Montezuma Muckrace report from Plucky Mucksters.
The Montezuma Muckrace, the fundraising bird-a-thon for the Friends of the Montezuma Wetlands Complex, was during the 24-hour period starting 7pm Friday 6 September. The Cayuga Bird Club sponsored our team, The Plucky Mucksters, which this year consisted of Gary Kohlenberg, Ann Mitchell, Susan Danskin, and myself, Dave Nutter. (Note: The name "Plucky Mucksters" was coined years ago by team founder and sometime leader, Bob McGuire, who did not participate this year. The rest of us think this name is goofy and are considering next year adopting a name with a less obscure bird reference, although perhaps equally goofy. Some names are great, such as the stationary team "Sittidae" and the biking team "The Un-Carbonated Wobblers". It'll take a lot of thought to come up with something that good, and we're not known for such effort, but 11 months of subconscious mulling plus a few minutes of actual fretting as the deadline arrives may result in improvement.)Once again we entered in the "Recreational" rather than the "Competitive" category. This is in recognition of the well-established fact that we do not constitute competition to several other teams, and that pretending otherwise would result in crushed egos when a team whose average age is a third of ours accumulates 40% more species of birds, as was the case with this year's winning team of Cornell students. We also acknowledge that we are somewhat handicapped by my dulled hearing, Susan's complete unfamiliarity with fall warblers, Ann's balkiness when the rest of us clamber atop piles of road construction debris for a better view into nearby weeds, and Gary's... actually Gary is steady, well-studied, and observant. How did he end up on our team? Our primary goal was to have fun, which of course means finding birds, but which experience tells us does not mean wandering through clouds of mosquitos all night wondering if the noises in the dark are simply other lost souls making owl-like noises. We have also tried only staying up half the night not finding owls, and we still ended up cranky, so our tradition is to start at daybreak on Saturday morning. Our first stop was Mud Lock, chosen because it's close to where we enter the Muckrace boundaries as we drive north from Ithaca, allowing us spend maximum time in our own beds. It's also inspiring to have BALD EAGLE and OSPREY among the first birds of the day, even though, as expected we encountered them other places throughout the day. Here we saw and heard our first GREEN HERON of at least 4 for the day, which also felt good because several people who record night flight calls reported a major migration of them on Thursday night. Perhaps they were arriving as well as leaving. Other Mud Lock dawn phenomena include a flight of swallows toward the lake, presumably from roosting sites in the Montezuma marshes, and a less substantial flight of gulls from the lake toward Montezuma for more obscure reasons. Both these groups are a challenge to ID high against a gray sky. Our biggest surprise at Mud Lock was to see two flying COMMON LOONS (long necks in front of a humped back; feet extended like a tail; long, narrow, pointed, rubbery wings constantly flapping) high over the bay to our south. We were hoping to see a Red-headed Woodpecker, which we saw there twice on scouting trips, but it did not cooperate (nor did the Mays Point family, despite two visits there). The second major stop for us was Howland's Island. We could have driven onto the island from the west on Carncross Road and even driven past the gate whose lock combination was given to Muckrace teams, but we approached from the traditional southeast side. There's good birding along the narrow, 2-mile road from NYS-38 north of Port Byron, and it's satisfying to leave the car at the end of the road in the floodplain forest and walk over the iron bridge onto the quiet island. Shortly after our arrival we met a mixed foraging flock of small birds. They were numerous, active, high in the tall trees, backlit, and smaller than the leaves. Many birds were too poorly seen for us to identify, but perhaps if we'd memorized all the fall warbler traits we'd have done better. Another issue was that, despite being a "Recreational" team, we decided to follow "Competitive" rules - 95% of species we listed had to be observed by the whole team - because it's more fun if we all can share a bird. It was challenging simply to point out these fast-moving birds, let alone ID them, so several of our "dirty birds" for the day were from this encounter. Shortly after the flock moved deeper into the woods, as we were deciding which way to go - we were still at the first major trail intersection - a car drove up, four guys in camo got out, slammed their doors, and began making loud bird calls. Suddenly it was less fun there, and we moved off toward Coot Pond, site of the Ruff this spring, and Wood Ducks, Gallinules and Solitary Sandpipers on our scouting trip, but rather empty at the moment.
[cayugabirds-l] Muckrace Report Team Terradroma
Hi all, Luke Seitz, Benjamin Van Doren, Hope Batcheller, Andy Johnson, and I participated in this year's Muckrace as Team Terradroma. We came away with 139 species for the day. We started on East Road where we had the White Pelican, several American Golden-Plovers, Whimbrel, White-rumped, Baird's, and Buff-breasted Sandpiper among others (three female Common Mergansers were unexpected). Our night birding consisted of multiple stops for Eastern Screech, Barred, and Great Horned. Otherwise, the night was rather slow with only a few migrants: Swainson's Thrush, Ovenbird, and Canada Warbler. We hit Towpath at first light and had several mixed flocks with orioles, tanagers scattered among a few warblers: Black-throated Green, Blackpoll, Blackburnian, Magnolia, Black-and-white, and Wilson's. Least Bittern and Virginia Rail vocalized for us at Tschache Pool. There was a single adult Red-headed Woodpecker at May's Point when we stopped for a couple minutes. Our next big stop was at Howland Island, which was awesome. Warblers were everywhere. We had 16 species in total there (19 on the day), walking a few miles listening for mixed-species flocks. We were pleasantly surprised to find several Chipping Sparrows and Eastern Bluebirds. Additionally, there were a few Philadelphia Vireos mixed in along with Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and Olive-sided Flycatcher. At Van Dyne Spoor Road in the marsh there were also 2 Ring-necked Ducks. We ended the day with surprise Red-necked Phalaropes from the dike at KM Marsh. They could have been seen directly out from the East Road pullout. Watching from East Rd in the waning minutes of the 6 o'clock hour, a lone Common Nighthawk over Towpath Rd was a nice end to the day. All in all a really fun day to be out birding. It was extremely fun and friendly competition! Good Birding, Ben Barkley -- 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] Montezuma 7Sep2013
That is an impressive list for the morning and just along Towpath Road! Meena Meena Haribal Ithaca NY 14850 http://haribal.org/ http://meenaharibal.blogspot.com/ From: bounce-107916036-3493...@list.cornell.edu [bounce-107916036-3493...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of Jay McGowan [jw...@cornell.edu] Sent: Sunday, September 08, 2013 11:09 AM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Montezuma 7Sep2013 I wasn't on a Muckrace team this year, but I couldn't resist birding Montezuma yesterday anyway. I spent the whole morning along Towpath Road, and although I didn't find anything amazing, I saw some nice birds for that spot. I also managed 101 species between (and during) rain showers, so it was a fun morning. Highlights included continuing shorebirds such as AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER, WHIMBREL, STILT, BAIRD'S, and WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS, the continuing AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN, a high count of *89* BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS, Peregrine Falcon, and Merlin. I also spent more time than usual looking for passerines along the road, which yielded, among others, YELLOW-BELLIED, LEAST, and WILLOW FLYCATCHERS; WILSON'S, CAPE MAY, TENNESSEE, YELLOW, BLACKPOLL, Chestnut-sided, and Magnolia warblers, American Redstart, Yellow-throated Vireo, BROWN THRASHER (a good bird for this spot), and an early RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET. Full checklist (with a few photos) here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S15118176 Sounds like the Muckrace itself was successful as well. I hope someone who was there can give us a more detailed account, but what I have heard so far was that the Cornell undergraduate team won with 139 species! -- Jay McGowan Macaulay Library Cornell Lab of Ornithology jw...@cornell.edumailto:jw...@cornell.edu -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basicshttp://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME Rules and Informationhttp://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 Surfbirdshttp://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds BirdingOnThe.Nethttp://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBirdhttp://ebird.org/content/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/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Mt. Pleasant hawkwatch
I started my Fall season today atop Mt. Pleasant, from 1120 til 1420, hoping for very early broadwing kettles. The earliest I have noted kettles there is Sept. 11, and I saw none today. I did watch 2 interesting behavioral encounters, however. First was a pair of RAVENS who appeared in view off and on for 2 hours, always flying in tandem, sometimes wingtip to wingtip, sometimes as much as 20' apart. Observed 1 barrelroll. But at one point, as they flew side-by-side, each turned to face the other, extended their legs and appeared to briefly touch toes before righting and continuing. I've not seen this before. Second; when I arrived at the towers side, a bunch of AMER. CROWS were using very discourteous language toward something in the trees with them. This went on for 10 minutes, when a single RAVEN flew out, followed by a raucous mass of at least 50 CROWS. I was watching the mass, trying to get a count for Kevin, and noted a large brown bird flying along within the group, acting like a crow wannabe. This was a COOPERS HAWK, which the crows apparently ignored. After 50 yards, the hawk obtained presence of mind, and did a right angle turn back into the trees. The crows continued in pursuit of the raven, who soon outdistanced them. A list of other birds observed follows: Kestrel 2 Turkey vulture5 Canada geese flocks of 7, 11, 6 Tree swallow around 25 Barn swallow 2 Osprey1 Pigeon75 Red-tailed hawk1 Sharp-shinned hawk1 Bald eagle 2 (1 adult; 1 juv.) Steve Fast Brooktondale On a very disappointing note-I saw no Monarch butterflies today. I often count 2,3,4 dozen going over. What happened? -- 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] Night Migration - 9/8 to 9/9
I just put headphones on to listen in on my night recording. There are several Bobolinks, Savannah Sparrows and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks calling right now. Also picked up on Chestnut-sided Warbler, Ovenbird and Swainson's Thrush. Given the cold overnight temperatures, I'm guessing there will be a good thrush descent tomorrow morning, probably in the 5:50-6:00AM time-frame. Good night-listening! Sincerely, Chris T-H -- Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes Field Applications Engineer Bioacoustics Research Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, New York 14850 W: 607-254-2418 M: 607-351-5740 F: 607-254-1132 http://www.birds.cornell.edu/brp -- 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/ --
