First I’ll set the scene, then describe some odd behavior others saw, add my own observations, and speculate on what was going on. You can read a more succinct version in my eBird report if/when the unusually large number of Chickadees gets approved as part of the public data base.
A couple mornings ago, while on one of my frequent walks at Allan H Treman State Marine Park, I met a couple of fellow birders, Leigh Stivers and a companion whose name do not recall (my apologies!). From a distance, I had seen them looking intently toward the tops of the big Cottonwood trees at the NE corner of the marina which are closest to the mouth of Cayuga Inlet. They were standing on the peninsula north of the mouth of Treman Marina. This location, as one looks across the Inlet, is about opposite the base of the White Lighthouse Jetty and the point of Jetty Woods (aka the Cornell Biological Field Station, aka the Lighthouse Point Natural Area). I asked what they had seen: a couple of Yellow-rumped Warblers foraging in the trees, which are to be expected now, and a small flock of Chickadees hovering above the trees, which we agreed was odd. Having not seen any warblers yet this year, but having seen various warbler species there in past springtimes, I vowed to study those trees more thoroughly. And I recalled that in previous years I had also seen groups of Black-capped Chickadees a bit farther to the south, in the trees near the park office in numbers bigger than a typical winter foraging flock and well into the time when Chickadees here are generally paired up, on territory, and probably nesting. This morning I stood where Leigh & friend stood, and I stared a couple minutes at those Cottonwoods, which currently are covered with their flowers but without leaves, and I saw only a few Common Grackles passing through on local business. So I took my usual post immediately north of and slightly shaded by those trees to scope past the White Lighthouse Jetty to check the waters along and off Stewart Park. Then I heard a couple of “tip” notes, which I traced to two male Myrtle Yellow-rumped Warblers overhead in a Cottonwood. (Success! I am into my personal Warbler season!). Then from somewhere a bit west in the canopy a Ruby-crowned Kinglet sang, so I stared for that. I never saw the Kinglet, but in addition to a local foraging Titmouse, I saw a couple Chickadees in and above the treetops working their way east, but more traveling rather than foraging. They accumulated in the easternmost large Cottonwood. A few flew up, a bit out over the water, and quickly came back to the tree. Then some flew away over the Inlet. But more arrived from the west. This was around 9am. I returned to that grassy peninsula toward the mouth of the marina, where Leigh & friend had been, so I could watch the top of that Cottonwood without staring at the sun. Over the course of a few minutes, Chickadees gathered in that half-dead tree crown. Each bird that I got a decent look at was a Black-capped Chickadee. Then a few would fly up and out over the Inlet, but return. More gathered, adding from above the trees to the west. Then a larger group of the tiny birds would fly up and out over the Inlet, and most or all would continue across the Inlet and out of sight. Several times I saw this happen. I saw flocks as few as 15 and as many as 50 head out diagonally (E or slightly ESE) across the Inlet. One flock I was able to follow with binoculars into a similar greening crown of a big tree (probably another Cottonwood) in Jetty Woods. I watched about a hundred birds do this, thus what eBird rightfully considers a surprising number of Chickadees on my list. I think these Chickadees are long-distance migrants returning to the northern part of their range. They want to go north, and like other migrants I have watched, they view Cayuga Lake, which is oriented NW-SE, as a barrier to their preferred direction, so when I saw them they were going east around the south end of the lake before they could continue going north. They are nervous about flying over open water with no cover, and they are right to be nervous because Merlins have been common here in past years. The Chickadees have some safety in numbers as they cross because a Merlin would only take 1 out of whatever group it attacked, but the raptor might be more distracted by many birds and thus get none. Perhaps the Chickadees try to stay low above trees and forests as they travel so they can quickly dive into the protection among the branches and twigs. I wonder if others have heard of or noticed these phenomena, and if this explanation sounds right. - - 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/ --
