Re: [cayugabirds-l] Myers, Fri 5/24 PM

2013-05-24 Thread nutter.dave 
This morning at 8:50am, I was driving on Salt Road in Groton when I saw a flock of shorebirds alight in the southernmost plowed field on the west side, and since I'd already dropped off my passenger, I stopped to count: 29 DUNLIN plus 1 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER--Dave NutterOn May 24, 2013, at 08:07 PM, Anne Clark  wrote:FYI--to confirm a trajectory:  Broome Co folks, on Bluewing list, reported more than 8 Semi-palmated Sandpipers (and more with time) as well as 6 Dunlin and 4 Semi-palmated Plovers at the Tri-Cities airport this morning.anneOn May 24, 2013, at 7:18 PM, Jeff Gerbracht wrote:After work. I stopped by the compost piles. 4 Dunlin. A few Least Sandpiper=s and 24 Semi Sands.  Biggest count of Semi Sandpipers I've  seen in Tompkin= s County.  They seem to have appeared en mass today   JeffOn Friday, May 24, 2013, Mark Chao wrote:Wanting to ride our wave of recent luck a little longer, Tilden and I returned to Myers Park in Lansing on Friday afternoon at about 4:30 PM.  We don’t think we saw anything particularly rare, but the birding was fun and challenging. Immediately upon arrival, Tilden exclaimed with surprise and had his optics up in a split-second.  Then he paused, relaxed, and pointed out a CASPIAN TERN, a species we haven’t seen at rest so far this year.  I shared a little of his shock to see that big red bill after scanning gull after gull these past couple days on that beach! Again we saw two SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, and by this time the DUNLIN contingent had swelled to at least four birds.  I could swear that I also saw a yellowlegs fly to the tip of the spit (big, slim gray shorebird with a white tail) but I couldn’t find it there a few seconds later.   Even more puzzling were 15 little shorebirds that I think were SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS.  They all had black legs.  Their bills all were completely straight but also quite sharply pointed.  Upperparts were much more brown than gray (though not brightly rufous), with a lot of dark-centered feathers.  All had very fine streaks on the breast.  My instincts were nagging me the whole time that they were Least Sandpipers that somehow all showed dark legs (I wondered whether the extreme cold had anything to do with it).  In the end, though, I concluded that analytic ID should trump impressions in this case, largely because I haven’t closely studied Semipalmated Sandpipers in breeding plumage, nor gotten a very good sense of variation in bill shape with this species.  The field marks do seem to add up, on the whole.  (I feel certain that these birds weren’t larger Calidris species, nor rare stints.  They did not have white rumps.) Mark Chao--Cayugabirds-L List Info:Welcome and BasicsRules and InformationSubscribe, Configuration and LeaveArchives:The Mail ArchiveSurfbirdsBirdingOnThe.NetPlease submit your observations to eBird! Jeff GerbrachtLead Application DeveloperNeotropical Birds, Breeding Bird Atlas, eBirdCornell Lab of Ornithology607-254-2117--Cayugabirds-L List Info:Welcome and BasicsRules and InformationSubscribe, Configuration and LeaveArchives:The Mail ArchiveSurfbirdsBirdingOnThe.NetPlease submit your observations to eBird!Cayugabirds-L List Info:Welcome and BasicsRules and InformationSubscribe, Configuration and LeaveArchives:The Mail ArchiveSurfbirdsBirdingOnThe.NetPlease submit your observations to eBird!--
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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Myers, Fri 5/24 PM

2013-05-24 Thread Anne Clark 
FYI--to confirm a trajectory:  Broome Co folks, on Bluewing list, reported more 
than 8 Semi-palmated Sandpipers (and more with time) as well as 6 Dunlin and 4 
Semi-palmated Plovers at the Tri-Cities airport this morning.

anne


On May 24, 2013, at 7:18 PM, Jeff Gerbracht wrote:

> After work. I stopped by the compost piles. 4 Dunlin. A few Least Sandpiper=
> s and 24 Semi Sands.  Biggest count of Semi Sandpipers I've  seen in Tompkin=
> s County.  They seem to have appeared en mass today
>Jeff
> 
> On Friday, May 24, 2013, Mark Chao wrote:
> Wanting to ride our wave of recent luck a little longer, Tilden and I 
> returned to Myers Park in Lansing on Friday afternoon at about 4:30 PM.  We 
> don’t think we saw anything particularly rare, but the birding was fun and 
> challenging.
> 
>  
> 
> Immediately upon arrival, Tilden exclaimed with surprise and had his optics 
> up in a split-second.  Then he paused, relaxed, and pointed out a CASPIAN 
> TERN, a species we haven’t seen at rest so far this year.  I shared a little 
> of his shock to see that big red bill after scanning gull after gull these 
> past couple days on that beach!
> 
>  
> 
> Again we saw two SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, and by this time the DUNLIN contingent 
> had swelled to at least four birds.  I could swear that I also saw a 
> yellowlegs fly to the tip of the spit (big, slim gray shorebird with a white 
> tail) but I couldn’t find it there a few seconds later. 
> 
>  
> 
> Even more puzzling were 15 little shorebirds that I think were SEMIPALMATED 
> SANDPIPERS.  They all had black legs.  Their bills all were completely 
> straight but also quite sharply pointed.  Upperparts were much more brown 
> than gray (though not brightly rufous), with a lot of dark-centered feathers. 
>  All had very fine streaks on the breast.  My instincts were nagging me the 
> whole time that they were Least Sandpipers that somehow all showed dark legs 
> (I wondered whether the extreme cold had anything to do with it).  In the 
> end, though, I concluded that analytic ID should trump impressions in this 
> case, largely because I haven’t closely studied Semipalmated Sandpipers in 
> breeding plumage, nor gotten a very good sense of variation in bill shape 
> with this species.  The field marks do seem to add up, on the whole.  (I feel 
> certain that these birds weren’t larger Calidris species, nor rare stints.  
> They did not have white rumps.)
> 
>  
> 
> Mark Chao
> 
> --
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> 
> -- 
> Jeff Gerbracht
> Lead Application Developer
> Neotropical Birds, Breeding Bird Atlas, eBird
> Cornell Lab of Ornithology
> 607-254-2117
> --
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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Myers, Fri 5/24 PM

2013-05-24 Thread Jeff Gerbracht 
After work. I stopped by the compost piles. 4 Dunlin. A few Least Sandpiper=
s and 24 Semi Sands.  Biggest count of Semi Sandpipers I've  seen in
Tompkin=
s County.  They seem to have appeared en mass today
   Jeff

On Friday, May 24, 2013, Mark Chao wrote:

> Wanting to ride our wave of recent luck a little longer, Tilden and I
> returned to Myers Park in Lansing on Friday afternoon at about 4:30 PM.  We
> don’t think we saw anything particularly rare, but the birding was fun and
> challenging.
>
> ** **
>
> Immediately upon arrival, Tilden exclaimed with surprise and had his
> optics up in a split-second.  Then he paused, relaxed, and pointed out a
> CASPIAN TERN, a species we haven’t seen at rest so far this year.  I shared
> a little of his shock to see that big red bill after scanning gull after
> gull these past couple days on that beach!
>
> ** **
>
> Again we saw two SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, and by this time the DUNLIN
> contingent had swelled to at least four birds.  I could swear that I also
> saw a yellowlegs fly to the tip of the spit (big, slim gray shorebird with
> a white tail) but I couldn’t find it there a few seconds later.  
>
> ** **
>
> Even more puzzling were 15 little shorebirds that I think were
> SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS.  They all had black legs.  Their bills all were
> completely straight but also quite sharply pointed.  Upperparts were much
> more brown than gray (though not brightly rufous), with a lot of
> dark-centered feathers.  All had very fine streaks on the breast.  My
> instincts were nagging me the whole time that they were Least Sandpipers
> that somehow all showed dark legs (I wondered whether the extreme cold had
> anything to do with it).  In the end, though, I concluded that analytic ID
> should trump impressions in this case, largely because I haven’t closely
> studied Semipalmated Sandpipers in breeding plumage, nor gotten a very good
> sense of variation in bill shape with this species.  The field marks do
> seem to add up, on the whole.  (I feel certain that these birds weren’t
> larger Calidris species, nor rare stints.  They did not have white rumps.)
> 
>
> ** **
>
> Mark Chao
> --
> *Cayugabirds-L List Info:*
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Lead Application Developer
Neotropical Birds, Breeding Bird Atlas, eBird
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
607-254-2117

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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Myers, Fri 5/24 PM

2013-05-24 Thread Jay McGowan 
Thanks to a tip from Jeff Gerbracht, Livia and I stopped at the compost off
Stevenson Road in Dryden just now to see 4 DUNLIN, 3 LEAST SANDPIPERS, and
a surprising 25 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS in the second little pond along the
side of the piles.


On Fri, May 24, 2013 at 6:58 PM, Mark Chao  wrote:

> Wanting to ride our wave of recent luck a little longer, Tilden and I
> returned to Myers Park in Lansing on Friday afternoon at about 4:30 PM.  We
> don’t think we saw anything particularly rare, but the birding was fun and
> challenging.
>
> ** **
>
> Immediately upon arrival, Tilden exclaimed with surprise and had his
> optics up in a split-second.  Then he paused, relaxed, and pointed out a
> CASPIAN TERN, a species we haven’t seen at rest so far this year.  I shared
> a little of his shock to see that big red bill after scanning gull after
> gull these past couple days on that beach!
>
> ** **
>
> Again we saw two SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, and by this time the DUNLIN
> contingent had swelled to at least four birds.  I could swear that I also
> saw a yellowlegs fly to the tip of the spit (big, slim gray shorebird with
> a white tail) but I couldn’t find it there a few seconds later.  
>
> ** **
>
> Even more puzzling were 15 little shorebirds that I think were
> SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS.  They all had black legs.  Their bills all were
> completely straight but also quite sharply pointed.  Upperparts were much
> more brown than gray (though not brightly rufous), with a lot of
> dark-centered feathers.  All had very fine streaks on the breast.  My
> instincts were nagging me the whole time that they were Least Sandpipers
> that somehow all showed dark legs (I wondered whether the extreme cold had
> anything to do with it).  In the end, though, I concluded that analytic ID
> should trump impressions in this case, largely because I haven’t closely
> studied Semipalmated Sandpipers in breeding plumage, nor gotten a very good
> sense of variation in bill shape with this species.  The field marks do
> seem to add up, on the whole.  (I feel certain that these birds weren’t
> larger Calidris species, nor rare stints.  They did not have white rumps.)
> 
>
> ** **
>
> Mark Chao
> --
> *Cayugabirds-L List Info:*
> Welcome and Basics 
> Rules and Information 
> Subscribe, Configuration and 
> Leave
> *Archives:*
> The Mail 
> Archive
> Surfbirds 
> BirdingOnThe.Net 
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>



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Macaulay Library
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
jw...@cornell.edu

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[cayugabirds-l] Myers, Fri 5/24 PM

2013-05-24 Thread Mark Chao 
Wanting to ride our wave of recent luck a little longer, Tilden and I
returned to Myers Park in Lansing on Friday afternoon at about 4:30 PM.  We
don't think we saw anything particularly rare, but the birding was fun and
challenging.

 

Immediately upon arrival, Tilden exclaimed with surprise and had his optics
up in a split-second.  Then he paused, relaxed, and pointed out a CASPIAN
TERN, a species we haven't seen at rest so far this year.  I shared a little
of his shock to see that big red bill after scanning gull after gull these
past couple days on that beach!

 

Again we saw two SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, and by this time the DUNLIN
contingent had swelled to at least four birds.  I could swear that I also
saw a yellowlegs fly to the tip of the spit (big, slim gray shorebird with a
white tail) but I couldn't find it there a few seconds later.  

 

Even more puzzling were 15 little shorebirds that I think were SEMIPALMATED
SANDPIPERS.  They all had black legs.  Their bills all were completely
straight but also quite sharply pointed.  Upperparts were much more brown
than gray (though not brightly rufous), with a lot of dark-centered
feathers.  All had very fine streaks on the breast.  My instincts were
nagging me the whole time that they were Least Sandpipers that somehow all
showed dark legs (I wondered whether the extreme cold had anything to do
with it).  In the end, though, I concluded that analytic ID should trump
impressions in this case, largely because I haven't closely studied
Semipalmated Sandpipers in breeding plumage, nor gotten a very good sense of
variation in bill shape with this species.  The field marks do seem to add
up, on the whole.  (I feel certain that these birds weren't larger Calidris
species, nor rare stints.  They did not have white rumps.)

 

Mark Chao


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