Hi all, I took lunch out on top of Mundy. Then walked around from Mundy to Comstock Knoll and back to BTI. It was a wonderful day. While having lunch watched silently feeding COMMON YELLOWTHROATS and YELLOW WARBLERS. And several Cedar Waxwings which were feeding on Buckthorn and rose berries. A couple of Catbirds chased each other from respective territories. Then I heard a vireo, I first thought it was a Blue-headed, but on hearing clearly I realized it was an YELLOW THROATED VIREO. I got a beautiful look at it from a close distance. This first time in twenty years I have seen this bird here. While I was heading down to Mundy I heard a WOOD THRUSH and a RED-EYED VIREO. As I reached bottom of the Mundy, I saw thrush under a hemlock, I was thinking it could be a Wood Thrush, but o a closer look I realized it was a VEERY. It was hunting on bare branches and saw it eating a caterpillar. WARBLING VIEROS were squabbling in the sycamore. I continued walking along Fall Creek under another sycamore, I saw bird with bright spots again I thought I might be looking at Wood Thrush as I had heard it. But its raised head told me that it is something else. A beautiful OVENBIRD was staring at me and then continued feeding. It caught a large noctuid caterpillar of about 2 inches long and it maneuvered the caterpillar and finally ate the whole thing. Then I had a fantastic encounter with the common American Robin. A female American Robin caught a wooly bear caterpillar right in front of me. So I got curious to see if it is going to eat or not. So I watched the robin batter the caterpillar on the ground and rub it on the grass for more than five minutes till the caterpillar became bald then gulped it in a one go! While she was eating the male robin, her partner) was nearby and he kept watch on me. At one point he walked straight at me in threatening posture, because I was looking at her. Then I continued my walk, at the Comstock Knoll just in front of the Summer House I saw an ORANGE CROWNED WARBLER, which sang once while feeding in the hemlock. I also heard the PINE WARBLER trilling. As I was climbing the stairs to Tower Road I heard a BLACK-THROATED BLUE singing! CHIMNEY SWIFTS were chattering away above my head.
I the morning just near Mitchell street end in the ravine I heard one of each CHESTNUT-SIDED, NASHVILLE and a TENESSEE Warblers I posted these in the morning. Afterwards, I also I heard a CAPEMAY WARBLER singing from the spruces of NB and B professor's yard. A COOPERS HAWK that flew by at time made a GROSBEAK 'chink', and chickadees and TUTI go into alarm mode. Again in the evening while we wee having our FLNPS meeting at the Summer House I heard two PINE WARBLERS trilling Totally, today I had eleven species of warblers including a YELLOW-RUMPED Warbler which landed from the sky as I was watching it! Dr. Meena Haribal Boyce Thompson Institute Ithaca NY 14850 Ph: 607-3011167 http://meenaharibal.blogspot.com/ http://haribal.org/ -- 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/ --
