[cayugabirds-l] Common Nighthawk in Collegetown?

[Tom Hoebbel]

Holly and I are pretty sure we heard a common nighthawk on Oak St, above
the gorge in Collegetown about 10 PM. Are they likely to be heard here at
this time of year? Is there something else it may have been that's call is
similar?




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


--

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] Sapsucker Woods and Newman Municipal Golf Course, Tues 5/1

[Yvonne Fogarty]

Sent from my iPad

> On May 1, 2018, at 11:00 AM, Mark Chao  wrote:
> 
> I had a lot of gratifying bird encounters around Ithaca on Tuesday morning.  
> Here are some highlights.
>  
> * The GREAT HORNED OWL mother and her two chicks still at their nest in the 
> center of the Newman Municipal Golf Course (5:50 AM).  The chicks are now 
> about 4/5 the size of the mother, but are still covered with down.  As far as 
> I can tell, one owlet has essentially fully mature flight feathers, while the 
> other’s secondaries are still encased in their long sheaths, at least on one 
> wing.   
>  
> Even aside from their outward physical development, it’s clear that the 
> owlets are very close to leaving the nest.  Maybe especially in the early 
> morning, they stand at the lip of the nest like little kids at the edge of a 
> pool, half-petrified and half-eager to take the plunge.  They stretch and 
> flap their new wings.  They bob their heads restlessly, side to side and back 
> to front to back, like Pernell Whitaker slipping punches.  They gaze around, 
> often straight up to the sky, evidently absorbing and mentally mapping all 
> the new sights and sounds around them.  It doesn’t take a lot of imagination 
> to see child-like wonder in their eyes at these times.
>  
> On Sunday evening, I saw the mother for the first time this spring away from 
> the nest, about 30 meters away in a separate patch of trees.  I don’t know if 
> she was encouraging the babies to branch out, or just giving everyone a bit 
> more space, or preparing to forage.  (I have seen the adult male nearby a few 
> times this spring, but not for a couple of weeks now.)
>  
> * A pair of EASTERN BLUEBIRDS building a nest in a box on the berm that 
> crosses the main pond in Sapsucker Woods.
>  
> * A pair of COMMON RAVENS flying in wide circles around the main pond, 
> sometimes chased by crows and once by a COOPER’S HAWK.  Prior to this year, I 
> had seen ravens only as solitary flyby birds, but this year many birders have 
> been seeing one or two every day over the past couple of weeks.  I heard a 
> mind-boggling rumor this morning that people have seen at least one of these 
> ravens taking Canada Goose eggs.  Has anyone confirmed other behavior that 
> would indicate or confirm breeding here?
>  
> * Two NORTHERN WATERTHRUSHES countersinging across the Woodleton Boardwalk, 
> and another Northern Waterthrush singing at the edge of the green pond across 
> the trail from the Sherwood Platform.  The latter waterthrush sang a very 
> distinctive song that ended with a high squeak.
>  
> * One BROWN THRASHER also across the trail from the Sherwood Platform.  At 
> one point I had both the thrasher and the waterthrush in the same field of 
> view, which I think must have been a first for me.  The thrasher eventually 
> sang a little too.
>  
> * A dazzling BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER singing and working his way south 
> from near the thrasher/waterthrush area to the Charley Harper bench.
>  
> * A western PALM WARBLER also along the western pond edge.
>  
> * One BROAD-WINGED HAWK perched near the Wilson/West intersection, then 
> flying through the treetops to the west.  Later, I saw another Broad-winged 
> Hawk flying west over the Woodleton Boardwalk.  (I am looking forward to 
> seeing how many people count over the next few days…)
>  
> 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!
> --

--

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] Why I'm Voting NO on the ICSD Budget: Urgent Need for Climate Focus

[Barbara Bauer Sadovnic]

The above writer has changed her position:  see “Why I Changed My ‘No’ to a 
‘Yes’ On the ICSD School Budget,”  Ithaca Times May 9-15, page 6.

https://issuu.com/ithacatimes/docs/050918 


> On May 6, 2018, at 3:08 PM, Sandy Wold  wrote:
> 
> Opinion Submission to Ithaca Times: Why I'm Voting NO on the ICSD Budget: the 
> Need for a Climate-Appropriate Budget and Why We Need to Talk About The 3 
> Elephants in the Room (936 words)
> 
> Dear Members of the ICSD School Board:
> 
> I expect to attend and comment at the ICSD Budget Hearing meeting tomorrow 
> evening, and want you to have my thoughts about why I oppose the budget ahead 
> of time. I will also name and speak of the three elephants in the room: the 
> urgent need for Carbon mitigation and sustainability and social justice 
> education, the equally urgent and important need for methane mitigation and 
> plant-based nutrition education, and Cornell's ongoing underpayment of taxes 
> and the impact that has on the lack of affordable housing for working 
> families, child poverty, the trauma eviction causes children, and child 
> homelessness.  
> 
> First Elephant: ICSD needs a CARBON-NEUTRAL PLAN and needs to integrate 
> SUSTAINABILITY and SOCIAL JUSTICE into all aspects of classes and school 
> culture. Given there is less than 1.5 years to meet the Paris Accord 
> Agreement, that we are nearing 1.5 degree Celsius, that 1.9 degrees Celsius 
> is not going to be that much different than 2.0, that scientists predict 2.0 
> will leave our children with an unlivable planet by 2050, and that we need a 
> new mindset to solve problems stemming from the old paradigm, I vote NO on 
> any budget that lacks a Carbon-neutral plan in the budget.  In short, I 
> propose we shorten the 5-day school week by at least one day to divert money 
> that would otherwise be spent on salaries ($11,000,000+) and water/sewer, 
> electricity, and transportation fuel, to finance and promptly begin to 
> install solar panels, efficient lighting, ground or air-source heating 
> systems, and zero-emission buses.  All ICSD staff (including administration) 
> would necessarily take a 1/5 pay reduction in order to finance our transition 
> to carbon-neutral schools. This is not just for the common good, but for all 
> ICSD long-term job security.
> 
> I further propose that the mayor and superintendent declare a state of 
> emergency for our city, county, and state and call on the governor to ensure 
> state funding will not be interrupted due to lack of student attendance.  
> Students staying home would have online reading assignments on the topics of 
> climate science, sustainability, plant-based nutrition, and engage in 
> moderated online discussions on race relations.  Moderation would be done by 
> scholars and community leaders who would take live questions by Tweet, such 
> as the one held at the Brooklyn Historical Society in response to Ferguson 
> (CSPAN, 2014). In addition, students could also opt to spend the day 
> shadowing adults who work in sustainability and report back to their school 
> or class via podcast or Youtube channel.  Food security for students who do 
> not have enough to eat at home shall be addressed.  Lastly, when back in 
> school, the learning that happened on the day off would be documented and 
> connected to all subjects.
> 
> In addition to carbon-neutral and energy conservation planning, I recommend 
> we not buy the proposed 8 full-size gasoline buses ($500k each).  Rather, let 
> us lessen the demand on the ones we have and/or buy 5 zero-emission buses 
> ($800k). I also recommend we begin to replace all ICSD fountains with Elkay 
> wall-mounted fountains ($961 each), which filter out lead and other harmful 
> contaminants.  It would be even more climate-friendly if we could find a 
> filter fountain without refrigeration.
> 
> The second elephant in the room is METHANE MITIGATION.  With or without NYS, 
> ICSD should promote and embrace Meatless Mondays to educate ICSD staff, 
> students, and families (K-12) about the health and environmental benefits of 
> eating less animal products. ICSD should offer plant-based nutrition 
> education to counter the racial and ethnic bias in the US Dietary Guidelines 
> and educate about how racism, racial bias, and government policies resulted 
> in cultural destruction and the loss of community-specific food production 
> methods.  They should also educate how the US Dietary Guideline programs 
> promote excess chronic disease in minority communities and perpetuate 
> poverty.  Finally, ICSD should educate ICSD how to ameliorate the negative 
> impact of federal guidelines and food support programs on the health of 
> minority communities.  To not do this is to be complicit with animal 
> agriculture industry and pharmaceutical greed.
> 
> The third elephant in the room is CORNELL'S UNDERPAYMENT OF TAXES and 
> "voluntary contribution." Many towns compl