I've had several spirit-lifting bird moments in northeast Ithaca over the past few days.
* HERMIT THRUSH along St. Catherine's Circle on Saturday at 7 PM. The very occurrence of this species in our suburban neighborhood seemed unusual enough. This bird delivered further surprise and entertainment with its vocalizations (a repeated, exquisitely gentle, high-pitched *zeeeen*, quite unlike the "chuck" or "zhraaay" call notes I've heard from other local Hermit Thrushes) and behavior (standing with a robin right in the middle of the road and on an open lawn, as if pretending to be another robin or maybe an honorary pipit, plus some more typical picturesque perching low in the shadows). * FOX SPARROW heard singing and RUSTY BLACKBIRDS heard and seen in the treetops at Palmer Woods on Sunday morning. * EASTERN SCREECH-OWL continuing along Siena Drive, unexpectedly out of view on Saturday evening and maybe equally unexpectedly in view on both Sunday morning and Monday early afternoon. Today the owl was sleeping with its chin down on its chest, face and ear tufts parallel to the ground. (I've had no screech-owl sightings anywhere else in our neighborhood for more than a month, and no more sightings of two together since the encounter I posted about in February.) * Two sightings of an adult BROAD-WINGED HAWK migrating over St. Catherine of Siena Church at about 1 PM on Monday. * A pair of MERLINS has been conspicuous and very vocal around our neighborhood for the past week, ranging over several blocks, but I don't know where they are nesting. Mark Chao -- 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/ --