Thank you Dave and Cindy to everyone for reporting yesterday's arrival of the ospreys. We should see most ospreys returning to their nests in the next two weeks. Unmated adult birds will also be checking out vacant nest boxes and vying for mates. Young osprey, hoping to breed, usually arrive a week or so after the adult wave, many acting like intruders and pestering nesting pairs.
So far Olive and Olin have returned to their McGovern Fields, Ophelia and Orpheus to Salt Point, the Treman Marine Park pair are on the nest, as well as the Union Fields ospreys. I have not seen the Cargil pair yet, but the always arrive at least a day before the Salt Point ospreys and are probably here. Keep you eyes on the vacant nest platforms at Dryden Lake, Taughannock Park, and in Ithaca (the suspension bridge nest in Stewart Park, Hog's Hole, Newman Golf Course, and Cherry St.). Around Lansing, there are vacant platforms at Millikan Station, Salmon Creek at Salt Point, Church Hill, and two on Portland Point. At least a few of these will be utilized this year. Keep your eyes to the sky and please keep reporting any ospreys you see nesting! Many thanks, Candace On Sat, Mar 31, 2018 at 8:49 PM, Dave Nutter <nutter.d...@mac.com> wrote: > This morning (31 March) I went to Mount Pleasant, joined by Ann Mitchell > and later Gary Kohlenberg. We were all hoping the south wind would bring > migrating raptors. > > Local birds included singles and pairs of Red-tailed Hawks near & far, an > occasional Common Raven (including one who was accompanied/chased for > awhile by a Red-tail who mimicked its every move), Turkey Vultures, > Killdeer, an Eastern Meadowlark that visited the single tree near the > observatory, an American Kestrel hovering over the valley between Mt > Pleasant’s twin “peaks”, a possible distant Red-shouldered Hawk, a large > Accipiter in deep-flapping display flight far to the south, and American > Crows busy flying back and forth and tormenting any Raven they found. > > Migrants included a flock of 14 Great Blue Herons, a few small flocks of > Canada Geese (<100 birds in 3 hours), lots of small flocks of Common > Grackles and a few flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds (in addition to a > near-constant background of scattered northbound Icterids), American Robins > singly or in small flocks, small flocks of roaming Horned Larks with 3 > probable American Pipits near or among them. > > Migrant raptors were few: a couple Turkey Vultures, a couple Red-tailed > Hawks, at least one Cooper’s Hawk, and a Northern Harrier. Among the best > was a northbound OSPREY (year bird for me!) passing to the west of us. > Perhaps it was bound for some nest in the basin, but evidently not down in > Ithaca. > > When I got home, I decided to heed Candace’s call to keep track of Osprey > nests. I took a quick bike ride around Cass Park combined with a walk > around Treman Marina. In short order I saw one Osprey flying south past the > Children’s Garden hunting over Cayuga Inlet, even though the water was > muddy and a racing crew meet was underway. > > I continued north on the Cayuga Waterfront Trail. No Ospreys were perched > at or near the Union Field nest, nor the Hog’s Hole nest platform, nor the > Newman Golf Course nest platform. > > But the Treman Marina nest (#59 on the Osprey Trail) had one Osprey on the > nest and a second Osprey on one of the attached perches. They stayed there > during the time I walked the path around the field. I also saw 3 Tree > Swallows over the field, two of which perched atop nest boxes for awhile. > The south end of the lake is muddy from yesterday’s rain, so waterbirds > were few. A Double-crested Cormorant on the snag in the lake east of the > White Lighthouse appeared to be too dark and too high out of the water to > be the injured immature who overwintered. > > When I got back to the Parks office by the mouth of the marina, I heard an > Osprey call: it was hunting over the marina. I looked back at the Treman > Marina platform, and it was empty. A little later I saw an Osprey > apparently over Fall Creek near Renwick Wildwood. As I passed Union Fields, > I saw an Osprey overhead near the Inlet, but not associated with that nest. > > So, I saw at least 2 Ospreys, and they acted liked they owned a nest. As > for all the single-bird-in-flight sightings, I don’t know whether they mean > there were 4 Ospreys, or whether all my observations simply demonstrate > that I cannot keep track of one large easy-to-ID bird. Regardless, I am > confident that Ithaca again has Ospreys. > > - - Dave Nutter > > > -- > > 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/ > > -- > > -- 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/ --
