I’d like to urge everyone to be certain to submit *any* bird sightings, specifically from the Hawthorn Orchard and East Ithaca Recreation Way areas, to eBird.
There’s another resurgence of activity on the part of Cornell University to develop the East Hill proper; although, development of the Hawthorn Orchard does not specifically appear to be in the current plans, I would not put it past the developers to eye this location for student housing or as an extension to the proposed development. Here’s a snippet from the master plan: http://www.masterplan.cornell.edu/doc/CMP_PART_1/land_use/cmp_lu_4_18_transform_the_east_hill_plaza_area_into_east_hill_village.pdf Having a strong base of birding records from many *different* birders will help strengthen a case for preservation of this area in its current state as critical habitat for neotropical migrants, as opposed to outright development or modification and “improvement”. Thank you!! Sincerely, Chris T-H Details from today are in my eBird list below. From: <ebird-checkl...@cornell.edu<mailto:ebird-checkl...@cornell.edu>> Subject: eBird Report - Hawthorn Orchard, May 14, 2015 Date: May 14, 2015 at 1:12:49 PM EDT To: <c...@cornell.edu<mailto:c...@cornell.edu>> Hawthorn Orchard, Tompkins, US-NY May 14, 2015 7:30 AM - 8:55 AM Protocol: Traveling 1.5 mile(s) Comments: Another really nice morning, albeit cold to start. The sun was a huge help in keeping birds active. Singing was nearly ever-present while I was there. Tennessee Warblers and Blackpoll Warblers dominated the soundscape. Gray-cheeked thrush was giving soft (whispered) "splee-er" night flight notes, in repeated succession, from the small grove of white pines in NW corner area. I failed to produce a visual on this bird, but am fairly confident this was a Gray-cheeked Thrush and not a Bicknell's Thrush. The notes were on the high frequency end for Gray-cheeked, but not high enough for Bicknell's. Swainson's Thrushes were foraging in hawthorn treetops and periodically giving "drip" notes, with one of them whisper singing a brief series of songs. All in all, another fantastic morning; wish I could have stayed longer. <br />Submitted from BirdLog NA for iOS, version 1.8 40 species Canada Goose 1 Mourning Dove 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 2 Hairy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 1 Merlin 1 Willow Flycatcher 1 Calling, SE corner. Eastern Kingbird 1 Philadelphia Vireo 1 Non-vocal; foraging in North-central area. Bright creamy yellow individual, from throat all the way to undertail coverts. Red-eyed Vireo 3 Each of these singers was chased down and verified to be a singing Red-eyed. Blue Jay 3 American Crow 2 Black-capped Chickadee 1 Tufted Titmouse 1 Gray-cheeked Thrush 1 Giving repeated whispered high frequency thin-sounding 'splee-er' night flight calls, from small pine stand in NW corner. On the high frequency end for Gray-cheeked. Swainson's Thrush 2 Two birds foraging in hawthorn treetops of North-central area; soft songs from one; "drip" or "pip" notes from both. Wood Thrush 1 Singing; North-central and ravine edge areas American Robin 3 Gray Catbird 11 European Starling 5 Tennessee Warbler 14 Active singing everywhere Common Yellowthroat 2 American Redstart 1 Ad. male in treetops along creek near softball field Cape May Warbler 2 Two adult males singing song variants; North-central area Magnolia Warbler 8 Males singing throughout Bay-breasted Warbler 5 2 females, 3 males; singing and foraging in hawthorn treetops in North-central area. Blackburnian Warbler 2 singing male from NW corner Oak treetop and maple treetops; female observed in North-central area. Yellow Warbler 3 Chestnut-sided Warbler 6 Singing mostly the alternate songs; throughout, but mostly on Northern half of Hawthorn Orchard Blackpoll Warbler 12 Very active and singing everywhere along Northeast, North-central and Northwest areas Canada Warbler 1 One adult male singing periodically from North-central area, visible from edge of North ravine trail as you look South. Song Sparrow 4 White-throated Sparrow 1 Northern Cardinal 6 Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1 Indigo Bunting 1 Nice adult male singing and foraging in Hawthorn Orchard near Canada Warbler; North-central edge, visible from North ravine trail Red-winged Blackbird 4 Brown-headed Cowbird 1 Baltimore Oriole 1 Only a single bird was heard by me today; moving through WNW area. American Goldfinch 2 View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23435801 This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org) -- Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes Field Applications Engineer Bioacoustics Research Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, New York 14850 W: 607-254-2418 M: 607-351-5740 F: 607-254-1132 http://www.birds.cornell.edu/brp -- 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/ --
