On Monday morning, I decided to scout out the Houghton Land Preserve, where I’ll lead a bird walk on Sunday for the Finger Lakes Land Trust Spring Bird Quest (SBQ). Comprising 194 acres of woods and a vast grassy field, this is the Land Trust’s newest preserve, donated to the Land Trust in 2016 by Jamie and Maisie Houghton and then opened to the public in October 2017.
I found a pretty interesting variety of birds. Here are some highlights. * At least five BAY-BREASTED WARBLERS in the treetops – two adult males, two or more pale females, and one intermediate bird with a dark face and the apparent beginnings of a red throat. I think that the latter bird was a first-year male – something I’ve seen only a few times ever. At one point, four of the Bay-breasted Warblers were together in one tree! * A good variety of other warblers, including BLACKBURNIAN (2 males singing somewhat atypical two-part songs, briefly confirmed by sight); BLACKPOLL (1 silent male foraging high among oak catkins); BLACK-THROATED GREEN (1 singing male), PINE (singing in a pitch pine copse); YELLOW-RUMPED (4+ singing presumably on territories); CHESTNUT-SIDED (one heard only at edge of woods); TENNESSEE (2+ singing typically, one or more singing more of a two-part song but still very intense like normal Tennessee song); NASHVILLE (heard only – I could be wrong, but this two-part song sounded typical to me); OVENBIRD; AMERICAN REDSTART; and COMMON YELLOWTHROAT. * One singing YELLOW-THROATED VIREO and one BLUE-HEADED VIREO among many RED-EYED VIREOS * One YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO heard issuing its knocking call * About half a dozen SCARLET TANAGERS, including an apparent pair together. * One or more BOBOLINKS singing in the big grassy field. Here is my eBird checklist with full details. https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45898387 I can’t promise that we will find quite so many birds on Sunday – but I look forward to trying! If you’re interested in joining me or otherwise supporting the SBQ, you can check out these links: About the Houghton Land Preserve walk: http://www.fllt.org/events/spring-bird-quest-houghton-land-preserve/ About the whole weekend’s worth of SBQ events: http://www.fllt.org/the-birds-are-calling-join-us-for-spring-bird-quest-2/ Link to donate: http://www.fllt.org/donate/ (or contact me directly) I hope to see you this weekend! 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/ --
