[cayugabirds-l] Montezuma Area Today

[bob mcguire]

I had a rather interesting afternoon/evening at the north end of the lake 
today. Thinking I’d take advantage of the weather and see what was around to 
record, I headed for Montezuma after lunch. First of all, most of the OSPREY 
nests/platforms along the east side were still unoccupied. The two exceptions 
were the tower off Beacon Marine (Village of Cayuga) and one of the power line 
towers on Rts 5 & 20 just west of the refuge.

My first real stop was the Visitor’s Center pool. While scoping the edges for 
snipe (none), I noticed a pair of smallish shorebirds that flew in and circled 
the pool several time as though they intended to land. Twice they came quite 
close to the deck, and I was able to see the dark throat that was sharply 
delineated from the light belly. The form was Calidris-like (not Tringa). They 
never did land and flew off to the west. FOY (for me) PECTORAL SANDPIPERs!

My next stop was along East Road, overlooking Knox-Marsellus Marsh. There 
continued to be large numbers of Green-Winged Teal and Northern Pintails. 
Shortly after I arrived a group of nine SANDHILL CRANES flew in, calling, and 
settled into the marsh at the base of the hill.

At the far east end of the Mucklands, viewed from Rt 31, there was a pair of 
GREATER YELLOWLEGS feeding with the expected Ring-billed Gulls, Pintails, 
Mallards, Black Ducks, and Green-winged Teal.

>From there I checked a number of spots in the Savannah area: RR Road, Muckrace 
>Flats, Morgan Road, Carncross Rd, Marten’s Tract, and the MAC, hoping for new 
>arrivals like Swamp Sparrow or Virginia Rail. What I did find was a trio of 
>MARSH WRENS on Carncross Rd. Though hidden in the reeds, they continued to 
>sing for at least ten minutes.

 My final new year-bird was a WILSON’S SNIPE that flushed from the end of the 
path leading east from the parking lot at Marten’s Tract.



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[cayugabirds-l] Birdy Day

[Judy M. Thoroughman]

I'm having quite a birdy day.  On the way home from work I saw a Bald Eagle 
flying over Fall Creek in Etna.  Got out of the car at home heard something 
scratching around and found a Ruffed Grouse stalking around in the woods a few 
feet behind the bird feeder.


I was just outside and there are at least 2 and possibly 3 Woodcocks dancing in 
close proximity to the house.


Spring has definitely sprung.


Judy

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[cayugabirds-l] Towhee

[Tom Hoebbel]

We have our FOY Eastern Towhee in Brooktondale today.



...Time is the friend of the wonderful company, the enemy of the mediocre.
  ~Warren Buffett


 Thomas Hoebbel Photo~Video
 www.TH-Photo.com 
  607-539-6121


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[cayugabirds-l] Mt Pleasant Tree Swallow

[Marie P. Read]

Recovering from the flu, I tottered up Mt Pleasant Rd this afternoon around 
2:30. The south wind was intense and few birds were in evidence. But a familiar 
chittering call caught my ear from on high...Mt Pleasant's first Tree Swallow 
of the season!

Marie





Marie Read Wildlife Photography
452 Ringwood Road
Freeville NY  13068 USA

Phone  607-539-6608
e-mail   m...@cornell.edu

http://www.marieread.com

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[cayugabirds-l] Carolina Wren

[Bill Mcaneny]

Big day for Shirley.

A CAROLINA WREN appeared beneath the suet feeder, picking up a few scraps
dropped by the woodpeckers.  We will have to wait to see if it is one of the
wrens from previous years.  They have nested in the eaves of the garage.
Not only that, but they have endured the constant coming and going of human
types beneath their nest.

Bill McAneny

TBurg


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[cayugabirds-l] Avicaching—contribute to citizen science and potentially win free binoculars!

[Ian Davies]

Hi Cayugabirders,

I hope that you’ve been getting out and seeing some great spring birds over the 
past couple weeks. Today might not be the best weather, but looks like a good 
day for waterfowl ‘fallout’—I’ve heard that there were at least 18 species of 
waterfowl off of the East Shore Park area this morning. Check your local lake 
or pond, or head on over to Cayuga!

The main purpose of my email today is not to talk about birding near water, but 
rather the opposite. It is about Avicaching 
(ebird.org/content/ebird/avicaching/)!
 As many of you may recall, last year we piloted the first round of 
Avicaching—a local project that spanned Tompkins and Cortland Counties; helping 
to more evenly bird our local landscape to more fully understand and model 
local bird distribution. The novelty of Avicaching is that it is a good way to 
help cover some of the issues of sampling bias in citizen science data: where 
we all tend to go birding at Stewart Park or Myers Point, and don’t often head 
into the nearby hills. As a result, we don’t have as complete of a picture of 
local bird distribution as we can with your help!

The next version of Avicaching begins today, 24 March, and runs through the end 
of June: prime breeding season. Our goal this spring is to address a specific 
topic that has great potential to improve our scientific and conservation 
outputs at eBird and across citizen science: roadside bias. We all may know on 
some level that you’re more likely to find a Gray Catbird at the edge of the 
forest or in your neighborhood, but that it is far less likely to encounter a 
Scarlet Tanager there during the breeding season—they’re going to be somewhere 
in the woods nearby. By collecting data at these Avicache locations, we’ll be 
able to explore questions that relate to the inherent biases for detecting 
certain species. For example, if you’re trying to understand the true 
occurrence of Scarlet Tanagers in our area, how far away from a road should you 
be surveying? If you go in 200 feet is that enough, or does it have to be 500? 
More? With your assistance, we can learn the answers to these questions, and 
take a major step forward in improving our collective knowledge of birds in the 
Ithaca area and beyond.

All you have to do to take part is go birding at one or more of the Avicaching 
locations as shown on the Avicaching 
Map, locations which range across 
Tompkins, Cortland, and Schuyler Counties. Spent 5-60 minutes at the location, 
counting all birds that you see and hear, and then let us know what you found 
by submitting the sightings to eBird! You can learn more about this at the main 
Avicaching page: 
ebird.org/content/ebird/avicaching/.
 Every time that you go Avicaching you’ll also earn 'Avicaching Points’, which 
serve two purposes. First, you’ll get to see how you rank against other 
Avicachers—with potential to be #1 in the region! Second, each point that you 
earn gives you one chance to win a free pair of Zeiss binoculars! There are 
more details about this drawing on the eBird website.

I hope that you’ll take this chance to explore some nearby areas, see what 
birds you can find, and contribute to our understanding of the birds that we 
all care about. In the first few weeks of the Avicaching season we’ll be able 
to get a feeling for the resident birds in our area, and when migrants come 
back these Avicaches should be bursting with life.

Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions, and I look 
forward to seeing you in the field!

Best,
Ian

--
Ian Davies
eBird Project Coordinator
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/





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[cayugabirds-l] A first for my neighborhood?

[Robin Cisne]

I just saw eight very large birds flying in a line formation over the
fields just south of Route 79 + Landon Road in Brooktondale.  At first I
thought they were GBHs, but after studying pictures, etc., I'm inclined to
think they were Sandhill Cranes (they were silent).  Any confirmation or
correction would be welcome.

They were headed southeast, which seems odd.



*Always do right. This* *will gratify some people and astonish the rest*.



  — Mark Twain

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