Thanks to Paul Anderson quickly setting up the tables, and to the magic of eBird, I have been able to start filling them in. You can check it out on the Cayuga Bird Club website Resources page here:
https://sites.google.com/site/cbc14850/resources/cayuga-lake-basin-first-records-and-arrival-information Please let me know of omissions, corrections, questions, etc. Common species found by multiple parties on the Ithaca Christmas Bird Count are presumed to be generally present and are credited to Ithaca CBC both as observers and as locations. In other cases I try to credit all observers of the species on the first day it is found. The list is uses eBird’s names and taxonomic sequence, which gets revised annually. My main source is eBird reports, although CayugaBirds & personal communications also help. Reports of rare birds, as categorized by eBird, should include a description of the observed features of the bird which prompted the ID. Photos - even unaesthetic photos - can also be very helpful. I try to credit the person who finds &/or tells the birding community about the bird, even if that finder does not know what the bird is and the ID is only determined later by someone else. The Cayuga Basin was adopted as a working area by Cornell Lab of Ornithology founder Arthur Allen. It was the subject of a 1926 botany textbook by Wiegand & Eames, and it encompasses lots of interesting ecological areas, from the forested hills in the south, to the Montezuma Marshes, various ponds, and drumlins in the north. “Wait a minute!” I hear you cry, “Montezuma doesn’t drain into Cayuga Lake!” And you are right. They defined the basin to include lands which drain directly into Cayuga Lake, which are pretty easy to figure out, plus a few streams which, like the lake, flow north into the Seneca River & Erie Canal system, but also lands farther north which drain south into the Clyde River and Erie Canal system. I am also interested in birds which occur nearby, even if they aren’t within the basin and won’t end up in this table. To me it’s fascinating how many notable birds occur just on the far side of a saddle such as Hile School Road, Goetchius, Shindagin Hollow, or Willseyville Valley. For instance, an eBird report on the 5th included a photo of an American Goshawk (renamed last year!) which had just killed somebody’s rooster. The location was on Bull Hill Road in Newfield close to Mazourek Road and NYS-13. The eBird pin is barely but clearly outside the basin as shown by a nearby south-flowing stream on a topographic map. So, if you aren’t sure whether a bird was in or out, let me know, and I’ll try to figure it out, while enjoying the sighting either way. - - Dave Nutter -- (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") Cayugabirds-L List Info: NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsWELCOME_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsRULES_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave_DOT_htm ARCHIVES: 1) mail-archive_DOT_com/cayugabirds-l@cornell_DOT_edu/maillist_DOT_html 2) surfbirds_DOT_com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) aba_DOT_org/birding-news/ Please submit your observations to eBird: ebird_DOT_org/content/ebird/ --
