This was the best birding year ever for me personally. In New York, it was nothing short of spectacular. Some of my highlights: WESTERN GREBEs winter into the early spring on Cayuga Lake, the masses of SNOW GEESE last spring (and again this fall), significant fallout of migratory waterfowl, grebes, gulls around April 1st, GLOSSY IBIS for two days in spring Broome County and a YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD almost 3 weeks in Broome County, great warbler waves too, close-up views of breeding plumage HUDSONIAN GODWIT at Benning Marsh Montezuma, MISSISSIPPI KITES Sterling State Forest in summer, DICKCISSELs Seneca meadows, FRANKLIN'S GULL Towpath Road, many many shorebirds K-M marsh and Puddler's, AMERICAN AVOCETS Stewart Park and Puddler's/K-M Marsh, RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD Interlacken, NY, all the vagrants from Sandy, and then to finish it off...great views of TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE in Romulus! (I probably forgot a few too)
I would like to thank EVERYONE who quickly shared these amazing birds with the birding community and for all the updates on the whereabouts of these great birds. We are so blessed with great varieties of birds and even more so with such great birders. Happy New Year and good birding to all for 2013!! Dave Nicosia -- 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/ --