During this past weekend ( 9 /13-15/ 19 ) I attended the NYSOA Annual Meeting in Kingston. It was hosted by the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, with assistance by the John Burroughs Natural History Society, and was highlighted by the keynote speaker at the Saturday banquet, Nathan Pieplow. His presentation, entitled "The Language of Birds", was chocked full of his experiences from both the field and laboratory, ie, the Brown Thrasher is capable of over 2100 different vocalizations - the most of any bird species in the world...who knew ?
Field trips are always a popular activity during our statewide convention, with this year's meeting being fairly productive ! On Sunday, after taking part in the excursion to the Shawangunk Grasslands NWR, 4 of us left the main group, and took off for the "hot swamp", near New Paltz, where a grand total of 12 Red-headed Woodpeckers were recorded on Saturday. Upon reaching our destination, but before even getting out of our cars, we were greeted by an adult Bald Eagle, circling over the swamp. Once out, we, in this case, being 3 NYSOA members from the Elmira area (Bill Ostrander, and 2 ladies, Gail & Christine, whom I apologize to for not remembering their surnames. Christine was the first to spot a RHWO, an immature, the first of a total of 6 birds, 3 immatures and 3 adults ! When we weren't looking for the woodpeckers, or listening to their noise making, we were kept busy with a good supply of raptors. In addition to the BAEA, they were: Turkey Vulture; Black Vulture; Sharp-shinned Hawk; Red-shouldered Hawk; Red-tailed Hawk and American Kestrel. Also, while at the Shawangunk Grasslands, we had Northern Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk and American Kestrel. See you next year in Syracuse, Bob -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --