Diane Morton's very nice report from the Sunday, August 23 bird walk that she led....enjoy and come next time! And thank to Diane and all the other volunteers who do this each weekend throughout the year.
Eight people attended this morning’s bird walk, 2 from Boston, 2 from Syracuse and 4 Ithacans. Ken also came along, helping to lead and to get the spotting scope on birds that we found. Right away we saw a Green Heron and Great Blue Heron on the pond and a small raptor perched in a tree (more on that bird at the end)—a great start for this enthusiastic group. At the Owens platform we watched four young Eastern Phoebes sallying out to catch insects. This seemed to be the day when young birds were learning how to feed themselves, in the company of adult birds. We had great views of five Green Herons on the pond at once! They were accompanied by a Belted Kingfisher family of three actively fishing. At the Sherwood platform we saw one female Wood Duck and one juvenile. Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds and Northern Cardinals also gave us a chance to look at both adults and immature birds. A Pileated Woodpecker was a popular bird—heard first and then spotted through the trees. When we had circled around the pond back to the spot where we began, the young raptor was still perched in a tree. We had some discussion about whether this was an immature Cooper’s Hawk or Merlin, and leaned toward Merlin. However, Ken and I looked at more images when we got home, and concluded that it was, instead, a young Cooper’s Hawk, based on the head markings, eye, and relative size to nearby birds. Still learning! -- Veganism is simply the acknowledgment that a replaceable and fleeting pleasure isn't more valuable than someone's life and liberty. ~ Unknown If you permit this evil, what is the good of the good of your life? -Stanley Kunitz... -- 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/ --
