I lead an SFO trip to Arnot Forest via Green Springs Cemetery. It was freezing in the morning with gusty winds whole day. And temp did not rise above 45 F.
But we did have some great birds and good birds. Highlights were Blue -headed vireo displaying to its mate with wing quivering, we also saw the nest and adults adding material to the nest. We also saw another pair pulling nesting material from dead plant bark. Lots of Chestnut-sided and American Redstarts and a very co-operative Louisiana Waterthrush. Unexpected were, a possible Palm warbler, though I did not get good look at it as it was against the light, but had yellow underside and shape felt right and was singing an unfamiliar song from top of larch, which sounded similar to Palm Warbler warble. Other members of my group saw either same bird or a different bird just a couple of hundred yards away and did catch the chestnut head. This seemed a little late for this warbler. We also saw a Swainson's Thrush in the same locality. So it seemed such a contrast. Best highlight was an AMERICAN WOODCOCK and her brood of at least four. It was noon time and there were no bathrooms on the top of the hill. So I was looking for a place behind some bushes when I flushed a WOODCOCK, it flew in front of me holding its wing in funny fashion and looking at me into the woods. So I thought it seemed interesting so scanned the ground and I found a tiny baby as big as tennis ball crouched to the ground. As I did not want other people walk in this location unguarded, I invited them to the see the baby. But as the group approached I started seeing more babies. They were so perfectly camouflaged that they were hardly discernible from their surroundings. All of them had different patterns of their back. One was so close, it was just one foot from someone's foot. The babies looked at us with their beady eyes and made no movements at all. One careless step could have been disaster for the chicks. After this we were concerned and searched the ground thoroughly before taking next step. After about five minutes we all walked back as I could hear mother nearby waiting to reunite with her babies. Twenty minutes or so later one of members had not seen the babies as she was lunching, so someone took her to the spot. By then babies had vanished! Nice Mother's day gift to the AMERICAN WOODCOK mom - an intact brood safe from human trampling! Lowlights were no Indigo Buntings, Prairie Warblers or Kingbirds etc. Plus just as we packed in and headed back to Ithaca there was a wet snow shower! Overall we ended with 63 species for the group. We were all still drooling over the sight of beautiful Woodcock babies when we left the Green Springs Cemetery at the end of the trip! A life time memorable day! Cheers Meena Meena Haribal Ithaca NY 14850 http://haribal.org/ http://meenaharibal.blogspot.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/ --
