Today was incredible…after thinking that the buildup of loons moved through yesterday, I did not anticipate today to surpass yesterdays count, but it did…by a lot! The total count was 2,112 (South) and 231 (North). The first wave off Cayuga Lake commenced quickly with 150 heading south in the 15min before sunrise and another 392 in the 15min following. Looking south, the cloud buildup was low and it appeared to be precipitating. This probably explains why the majority of loons returning north occurred at the end of the first wave – they hit this barrier and decided not to continue.
The second wave was a bit unusual; it started out very strong, then quieted down a bit and ended strong again. Roughly 25% of the birds heading south occurred in the last 15 minutes of the 2-hr count. The final 5 minutes had very little to no movement. It’s as if they were delayed, probably by weather, then moved all at once. It will be interested to see what tomorrow will do.. Ethan -- 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/ --
