Re: [cayugabirds-l] Montezuma Knox-Marsellus Marsh Dike Walk Sun Sept 8th, 2019
Dave Nicosia, Thank you so much for leading this past Sundays walk. For someone who mostly birds alone , it was a great learning experience and all the extra sets of eyes were quite helpful as well.Dave Nutter thanks so much for the insight into Stilt Sandpiper feeding behavior it sure made locating them much easier!! The sedge wren imitator , yellow warbler I think you said ( or was it yellowthroat? Please correct me)was also very interesting. What a great experience birding with such a friendly, welcoming and extremely knowledgeable group.Thanks again for a great time. I highly recommend these walks for all levels of birders! Tom FernandesSent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone Original message From: Dave Nutter Date: 9/9/19 3:38 PM (GMT-05:00) To: David Nicosia Cc: Cayuga birds , "Van Beusichem, Andrea" , "Ziemba, Linda" Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Montezuma Knox-Marsellus Marsh Dike Walk Sun Sept 8th, 2019 Thanks, Dave Nicosia, for doing a great job leading the walks, keeping eBird lists, and writing summaries! I have a few things to add. First, it made a big difference that the dike had been widely mowed for the Muckrace, so it was easy to view the impoundment. Not only could we watch from more places, but several people could stand next to each other without anyone’s view being blocked, and short people could just plain see, all of which had been difficult when the vegetation was tall everywhere along the dike. Thank-you, Refuge staff.Second, it was Ken & Adriaan who found the small passerine flock in the SE corner of the woods, including Magnolia Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, a Red-eyed Vireo which surprisingly made a couple of wide sweeping sallies out from the woods, Swamp Sparrow, Song Sparrow (all of which I saw), and Least Flycatcher (which I missed).Dave Nicosia listed a flyover Wilson’s Snipe, but from farther along the dike I managed to follow such a bird in my scope until it alit on the open mud, barely visible to me as I looked over an island of cattails. With several other folks, I walked on the dike past the cattails and proudly aimed my scope at the Snipe who was walking toward a sleeping Greater Yellowlegs and a preening Pectoral Sandpiper on either side of an inconsequential bit of weed stubble. The first person looking through my scope had a great view, but the second person couldn’t find the Snipe. I looked again, and neither could I. Then someone looking through another scope saw the Snipe’s head move in the weed stubble, and people again took turns watching. When I got my scope back, I watched the Snipe for awhile, too. Eventually I realized that I really could see most of the Snipe, but it matched the weed stubble in height, color, and pattern. This was a life bird for one of the people with me. Early in the walk I had fallen behind Dave Nicosia, and I saw 3 American Golden-Plovers flying back and forth over the marsh. They started low, but gradually gained altitude and eventually appeared to fly off toward the Wildlife Drive. At least 2 of them were adults in transition to winter plumage but still with considerable blotches of black below. Much later I found a single such bird walking on the mud, so I told people about it, and when I looked again, there were 3 plovers. Maybe they were the same birds that I saw depart a couple hours earlier, having determined that Knox-Marsellus had the best shorebird habitat around. Again people were interested in the subtleties of Stilt Sandpiper ID, so we worked on that while watching their distinctive vertical ramming feeding behavior among the more randomly pecking Greater & Lesser Yellowlegs. And I talked about Pectoral Sandpipers, whose color & pattern are similar to Least, but whose shape differs, the larger species having a proportionately smaller head with an actual neck showing at times (Least & Semipalmated Sandpipers look neck-less to me). And I talked about how to use color and shape and proportions in shorebird ID generally.On our way out onto the dikes we saw several Long-billed Dowitchers, whose immaculate juvenile plumage had a cold grayish-tan hue overall and whose tertials were plain gray with narrow pale edges. When I was leaving, walking slow and falling behind everyone else, I discovered a juvenile Short-billed Dowitcher which must have just arrived. It had a warm overall orange glow in the sunlight from the edging on all the back & wing feathers, including the tertials, which had additional orange bars. I wished there were still people with me to show it to.
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Montezuma Knox-Marsellus Marsh Dike Walk Sun Sept 8th, 2019
Thanks, Dave Nicosia, for doing a great job leading the walks, keeping eBird lists, and writing summaries! I have a few things to add. First, it made a big difference that the dike had been widely mowed for the Muckrace, so it was easy to view the impoundment. Not only could we watch from more places, but several people could stand next to each other without anyone’s view being blocked, and short people could just plain see, all of which had been difficult when the vegetation was tall everywhere along the dike. Thank-you, Refuge staff. Second, it was Ken & Adriaan who found the small passerine flock in the SE corner of the woods, including Magnolia Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, a Red-eyed Vireo which surprisingly made a couple of wide sweeping sallies out from the woods, Swamp Sparrow, Song Sparrow (all of which I saw), and Least Flycatcher (which I missed). Dave Nicosia listed a flyover Wilson’s Snipe, but from farther along the dike I managed to follow such a bird in my scope until it alit on the open mud, barely visible to me as I looked over an island of cattails. With several other folks, I walked on the dike past the cattails and proudly aimed my scope at the Snipe who was walking toward a sleeping Greater Yellowlegs and a preening Pectoral Sandpiper on either side of an inconsequential bit of weed stubble. The first person looking through my scope had a great view, but the second person couldn’t find the Snipe. I looked again, and neither could I. Then someone looking through another scope saw the Snipe’s head move in the weed stubble, and people again took turns watching. When I got my scope back, I watched the Snipe for awhile, too. Eventually I realized that I really could see most of the Snipe, but it matched the weed stubble in height, color, and pattern. This was a life bird for one of the people with me. Early in the walk I had fallen behind Dave Nicosia, and I saw 3 American Golden-Plovers flying back and forth over the marsh. They started low, but gradually gained altitude and eventually appeared to fly off toward the Wildlife Drive. At least 2 of them were adults in transition to winter plumage but still with considerable blotches of black below. Much later I found a single such bird walking on the mud, so I told people about it, and when I looked again, there were 3 plovers. Maybe they were the same birds that I saw depart a couple hours earlier, having determined that Knox-Marsellus had the best shorebird habitat around. Again people were interested in the subtleties of Stilt Sandpiper ID, so we worked on that while watching their distinctive vertical ramming feeding behavior among the more randomly pecking Greater & Lesser Yellowlegs. And I talked about Pectoral Sandpipers, whose color & pattern are similar to Least, but whose shape differs, the larger species having a proportionately smaller head with an actual neck showing at times (Least & Semipalmated Sandpipers look neck-less to me). And I talked about how to use color and shape and proportions in shorebird ID generally. On our way out onto the dikes we saw several Long-billed Dowitchers, whose immaculate juvenile plumage had a cold grayish-tan hue overall and whose tertials were plain gray with narrow pale edges. When I was leaving, walking slow and falling behind everyone else, I discovered a juvenile Short-billed Dowitcher which must have just arrived. It had a warm overall orange glow in the sunlight from the edging on all the back & wing feathers, including the tertials, which had additional orange bars. I wished there were still people with me to show it to.
[cayugabirds-l] Syracuse area RBA
RBA *New York September 02, 2019 NYSY 09. 02. 19 Hotline: Syracuse Area Rare Bird Alert To report by email: brinjoseph AT yahoo DOT com Reporting upstate counties: Onondaga, Oswego, Madison, Oneida, Herkimer, Cayuga, Montezuma Wildlife Refuge and Montezuma Wetlands Complex Compiled: September 02 at 11:00 a.m. Compiler: Joseph Brin Onondaga Audubon Homepage: www.onondagaaudubon.org Greetings: This is the Syracuse Area Rare Bird Alert for the week of August 26, 2019 Highlights: -- AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN WHITE IBIS EURASIAN WIGEON SANDHILL CRANE RUDY TURNSTONE RED-NECKED PHALAROPE COMMON NIGHTHAWK RED-HEADED WOODPECKER YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER PHILADELPHIA VIREO SWAINSON’S THRUSH GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR) and Montezuma Wetlands Complex (MWC) Shorebirds seen at the complex this week. AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER SEMI-PALMATED PLOVER KILLDEER STILT SANDPIPER SANDERLING LEAST SANDPIPER SEMI-PALMATED SANDPIPER SPOTTED SANDPIPER GREATER YELLOWLEGS LESSER YELLOWLEGS BAIRD’S SANDPIPER PECTORAL SANDPIPER WILSON’S SNIPE DUNLIN SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER SOLITARY SANDPIPER WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER RED-NECKED PHALAROPE 9/4: This was the last day for a positive sighting of the WHITE IBIS at Knox-Marsellus Marsh. BAIRD’S SANDPIPER, RED-NECKED PHALAROPE and 18 SANDHILL CRANES were also seen at Knox-Marsellus. 9/7: An EURASIAN WIGEON was seen on the Wildlife Drive. A GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH was found on Howland Island. 9/8: The AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN continues at Knox-Marsellus Marsh. A RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was seen on VanDyne Spoor Road. Cayuga County 9/8: A RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was seen at Fair Haven State Park. Onondaga County 9/3: A COMMON NIGHTHAWK was seen in Manlius. 9/5: A rare for this area YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER was seen at a private residence on River Road in Baldwinsville. 9/6: An OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER was seen at Labrador Hollow Park. An OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER was found at Raddison River Park on the Seneca River. It has been seen through the 8th. A PHILADELPHIA VIREO was seen here also. 9/7: An OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER was seen at Green Lakes State Park. A YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER was seen at Labrador Hollow Park. 9/8: A SWAINSON’S THRUSH was seen at Green Lakes State Park. Oswego County 9/4: A RUDDY TURNSTONE was found at Oswego Harbor. 9/5: A PHILADELPHIA VIREO was seen at a private residence in Hastings. 9/9: 8 species of Warblers and a RED-HEADED WOODPECKER were seen at Sandy Island State Park on Lake Ontario. Madison County - 9/3: A PHILADELPHIA VIREO was seen at Tuscarora nature Park in Erieville. 9/4: A LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER was found at the Madison Street north of Hamilton and has been present through the 7th. 9/7: 2 AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVERS were seen at the Sky High sod farm north of Chittenango. 9/8: A COMMON NIGHTHAWK was seen at Woodman Pond north of Hamilton. Oneida County 9/5: A YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER was seen at Spring Farms Nature Center south of Clinton. 9/8: A PHILADELPHIA VIREO was seen in Waterville. 10 species of Warblers were seen at the Spring Farms Nature Center. Herkimer county 9/8: A YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER was seen on Partridge Hille Road in Barneveld. End Transcript Joseph Brin Region 5 Baldwinsville, NY, 13027, USA -- 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/ --
