Late this morning, I stopped along the Purvis Rd. section of the Dryden Rail Trail. This was not a birding trip, as I was out walking the dog with my youngest daughter; however, we did some birding identification by sight and the use of Merlin.
Of interest, along the pine and spruce trees to the east of the Dryden Rail Trail, walking towards Dryden Lake, Merlin picked up red crossbills multiple times. There were birds in the pines, but I did not have binoculars with me to assess what they were. Some looked to be the right size for crossbills. But I figured people might be interested if they are out that way to see if they can see anything (it could certainly be a missed-ID by Merlin). There were tons of birds along this stretch including large numbers of sparrows. Birds seen close were: Downy and Hairy woodpecker, song sparrows, white-throated sparrows, American tree sparrows, white-crowned sparrow (late, but came close to be ided), Eastern goldfinch, cedar waxwings, Carolina wren, white-breasted nuthatch, blue jays, Northern cardinals, dark-eyed juncos, black-capped chickadee, American crow, tufted titmouse, a mixed flock of common grackles and red-winged blackbirds, ring-billed gulls headed to Harford, and a couple of ravens cruising around. Cheers- Andrew Miller -- (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/ --
