I walked every trail on the east side of Sapsucker Woods on Friday morning, then walked home to northeast Ithaca via the Wilson and West Trails. I thought that the birding was excellent throughout. Here are some highlights.
* silent male BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER at the north end of the Woodleton Boardwalk * silent male MAGNOLIA WARBLER in the same vicinity * singing BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER near the long pool with the shelter, East Trail * 7+ BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLERS all along the East Trail * many YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS everywhere * 4+ NORTHERN WATERTHRUSHES along the Woodleton Boardwalk, one singing with the "Woodleton accent" distinguished by three emphatic notes at the end - I almost always hear this song structure here, but almost never elsewhere * one silent bright NASHVILLE WARBLER foraging at and just above ground level surprisingly deep in the woods along the Wilson Trail between the West and Severinghaus intersections (sighting shared with Annie Wexler and Tony Gaenslen) * one OVENBIRD heard along East Trail (technically out of the sanctuary, in woods near the green Lucente building) * LEAST FLYCATCHER at the Sherwood Platform * silent HERMIT THRUSH along this same stretch of the Wilson Trail - my first of the spring in the sanctuary, despite a few attempts * FIELD SPARROW and EASTERN TOWHEE heard in the power-line corridor on the Dryden side * PURPLE FINCH heard singing by the pond near 91 Sapsucker Woods Road * GRAY CATBIRD seen and heard by this pond * a brilliant GREEN HERON perching by this same pond and bobbing its tiny tail in agitation at my presence * two SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS - one migrant and one tiny male perching in the woods on the east side (at first glance at this bird's silhouette, I thought it might be a grackle, then I concluded it was too small) ** two BROAD-WINGED HAWKS - one bird molting its primaries, and one very interesting bird whose body and wing linings were distinctly darker than the flight feathers. I couldn't pick up much color nor determine the exact degree of contrast against the gray sky, but I could not turn this bird into a normal light-morph in about a minute of viewing. I think it could have been a dark-morph, or if such a thing exists, something intermediate between light and dark. (I feel certain that this was not a Red-shouldered Hawk, harrier, or other possible species with vaguely consistent plumage - the bird I saw had an obvious single broad white tail band.) Mark Chao --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com -- 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/ --
