Hi all, I'm doing a photo project at Salt Point in Lansing, and have been there most mornings for several weeks. It's been interesting to see and hear the changes in avifauna and behavior as the breeding season progresses.
Especially interesting this morning were several new (to me) species: Scarlet Tanager singing male. Finally a good view of a species I thought I saw here a couple of weeks ago. Indigo Bunting singing male. Biggest surprise was hearing a Wood Thrush singing from near the Osprey tower. Didn't see the bird, and only heard once...but unless there's a very good mimic in there somewhere, or someone else was doing playbacks, I'm going to count it...it's a pretty distinctive song... Other delights: Fledgling Baltimore Oriole Cedar Waxwing pair building a nest. A whole bevy of orioles, grackles, kingbirds mobbing a crow that (presumably) was threatening one of their nests in a cottonwood... Osprey pair both on the nest, one feeding the other, presumably also feeding young—Candace Cornell confirmed yesterday morning that all three (yes?) eggs have now hatched. Let the Great Airlift of Fish begin! On the downside: The Common Merganser brood, that by Tuesday morning had shrunk from 15-16 to 8, was nowhere to be seen. There was a lot of nasty, unphotogenic debris on the lake. The high water in Salmon Creek has washed away one of the best log/waterfowl perches...PFFFAHHH!!! (Bird photographers have a different agenda...!) Marie Marie Read Wildlife Photography 452 Ringwood Road Freeville NY 13068 USA Phone 607-539-6608 e-mail m...@cornell.edu http://www.marieread.com Author of Sierra Wings: Birds of the Mono Lake Basin Available here: http://marieread.photoshelter.com/gallery/Sierra-Wings-Birds-of-the-Mono-Lake-Basin/G0000NlCxX37uTzE/C0000BPFGij6nLfE -- 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/ --
