One of the neat things about birding with others is our varied experiences and perspectives regarding the same events. That's why I tend to submit independent rather than shared eBird checklists. Here are a few of my highlights from yesterday with the gang:
First, on my way to join the others by biking on the Cayuga Waterfront Trail near the dock at Stewart Park I saw 2 adult GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULLS on the ice nearby, close together yet far from any other birds, they were posturing together with their necks, heads, & bill stretched skyward. I'm guessing courtship. Second, near the large pavilion I saw my first NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD for my Luddite List (observed during one leg of a no-fossil-fuel round trip including my home). I've logged 65 species so far this year on that list. Sad news at Stewart Park: Two large trees have been cut down next to the east end of the parking area. In a way, they were victims of climate change: During a warm nearly snow-less winter, workers with time and power tools on their hands start cutting down trees. Those trees had provided the only shade for people in cars viewing the lake. I heard several singing birds during the day, including TUFTED TITMOUSE, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, and NORTHERN CARDINAL. In the mixed flock at Summerhill I saw both RED-BREASTED and WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH and also a BROWN CREEPER. The PINE SISKINS along Lake Como Rd were new for the year for everyone except Ann. She has been birding so diligently that she has observed more species than the rest of us, and I think she did not add any during the day. On the other hand, Ken went fishing instead of birding one weekend, so he may have added some birds which he missed that day. And the morning I spent locally with the Rusty Blackbird and the Fox Sparrow, the others went to Van Cleef Lake and found an Iceland Gull. Thus, in terms of lists, I was the main beneficiary of the gull chase, though it was also neat to find how different the viewing conditions of essentially the same birds were at various places. The warm south wind on coming up Cayuga Lake (okay, technically down the lake) made the gulls on the ice far from the boat ramp at Cayuga Lake State Park look like murky bill-less blobs, but farther south along Lower Lake Road, where the contour of the ice edge brought the flock (which had been moving south) closer to shore, we were able to see the birds better even as dusk closed in. Another phenomenon we saw throughout the afternoon was the accumulation of SNOW GEESE. Rivers of them flew south over the middle of Cayuga Lake to gather in at least 3 large rafts between Aurora and Dean's Cove. Some were still headed that way after sunset during our gull search. --Dave Nutter On Jan 30, 2016, at 09:48 PM, bob mcguire <bmcgu...@clarityconnect.com> wrote: > Ann, Dave, Diane, Ken and I spent the day out looking for birds. We found a > few new year birds for each of us and experienced a few remarkable moments. > > From the shore at Stewart Park we watched as an immense flock of thousands of > Redheads took to the air from the water off East Shore Park and circled the > south end of the lake for a good twenty minutes, murmuration-like. They were > joined by dozens of gulls. Although we never saw it come in, an adult Bald > Eagle perched above the sailing clubhouse was probably what caused them all > to take flight. > > We then headed up to Summerhill, cruised Salt Road (quiet except for a few of > Chickadees and two Red-breasted Nuthatches), then dropped down to Lake Como > Road. There was a fresh coating of snow in the McIlroy Preserve, and we > walked the yellow loop trail hoping for Ruffed Grouse. We never actually > found the grouse but were rewarded by a set of fresh grouse tracks that we > followed until they led out over thin ice. What was remarkable was that we > could read so much of the bird's behavior from its tracks. The tracks began > when the bird flew in from somewhere. Its tail hit the snow first followed 18 > inches farther by side-by-side footprints followed another 12 inches by the > set of tracks leading away. As the bird walked it flicked the ground with its > tail. There were a couple of places where it stood still then turned sideways > and back. At one point it hopped up on a thin log and walked along and > upwards until jumping back to the ground and continuing. > > Nick was out plowing around the house on Lake Como and invited us to view his > feeders, saying the only birds he had were Chickadees and Goldfinches. I was > getting hungry and said "let's go get lunch". Dave overruled that with "we > should at least take a look". A good thing: there were at least a dozen Pine > Siskins coming to the feeders along with the other birds! > > We did eat after that - an indifferent, over-priced burger/fries/grilled > cheese spread at the Lake Como Inn. Steve Fast: I remembered too late that > wonderful roadside inn up near Bear Swamp! > > From the Aurora boathouse we picked out a single White-winged Scoter, 7 (or > more?) Horned Grebes, and several distant rafts or Snow Geese. No loons and > no Eared Grebe. At this point it was already mid-afternoon, and we decided to > head over to the ice edge on the west side to look for white-winged gulls. > > Looking out from Cayuga Lake State Park we found a couple of Glaucous Gulls - > one adult and one juvenile. Then, on a tip from Alexander Lees, we drove back > to Van Cleef Lake to look for the 4 - 5 Iceland Gulls he had just seen there. > Unfortunately, as we arrived the last of the gulls there were taking off for > their evening roost on Cayuga Lake. So - we scooted back to Cayuga Lake SP > and, in the failing light were finally able to pick out one Iceland Gull. > > I'm sure that I have missed other highlights from today (right now my light > is failing, too). So I'd invite any of the others to chime in. > > Bob McGuire > -- > -- 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/ --
