[cayugabirds-l] Cayuga Bird Club speaker dinner invitation
The Cayuga Bird Club is pleased to welcome Daniel Baldasarre, a Ph.D. candidate at Cornell, as guest speaker at our monthly meeting on Monday, September 13 at 7:30 pm at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. His presentation will be Sexual Selection and Speciation in the Red-backed Fairy-wren (Malurus melanocephalus) of Australia. The question of how species originate has been at the center of evolutionary biology ever since Darwin's The Origin of Species. Dan will discuss his research and describe the natural history of this fairywren. The Club will be hosting Dan for dinner at Taste of Thai Express (downtown on Rt.13N ) at 5:30 pm prior to the meeting. This is a great opportunity for members to meet Dan in a casual setting and socialize with other members while enjoying some great food. The more, the merrier. If you would like to join us for dinner, please rsvp to cl...@juno.com by Sunday evening so that reservations can be made. Enjoy the birding this weekend - and a big cheer for all the teams up at the Montezuma Muckrace!! Colleen Richards Cayuga Bird Club Corresponding Secretary . Globe Life Insurance $1* Buys $50,000 Life Insurance. Adults or Children. No Medical Exam. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4c842433abd8811a3f0m02duc -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Montezuma NWR, Sunday Sept 5
Bob & I went to Montezuma today. No sign of Jay & Co's Little Blue Heron. (Excellent photos, Jay!)We did see the Plegadis sp at May's Point Pool, best viewed from the roof of Bob's car on NYS 89.Lots of shorebirds, with the best viewing from Towpath into Puddler's well past the dike. A scope affords excellent views of all Peeps. Here's the 17 species shorebird list: American Golden Plover - 8 at Puddlers, 10 at Knox-Marsellus from Towpath close in time but some overlap is possibleKilldeer - visitor center, Knox-Marsellus, Puddler'sSemipalmated Plover - lots at Puddler'sGreater Yellowlegs - few each at visitor center, May's Point Pool (more), Knox-MarsellusLesser Yellowlegs - plenty at visitor center, May's Point Pool, Knox-Marsellus, Puddlers, also at North Spring Pool Solitary Sandpiper - 1 at visitor centerDowitcher, sp - 15 at Knox-Marsellus, all juveniles, I think, & probably Short-billed but too distant from TowpathSpotted Sandpiper - 5, Bob said, I think, in Puddlers at the far end of Towpath RdStilt Sandpiper - several at May's Point PoolSanderling - 2 each at Knox-Marsellus & Puddlers, all quite white and pretty distant, possible redundancy Pectoral Sandpiper - plenty at visitor center, May's Point Pool, Knox-Marsellus, PuddlersBaird's Sandpiper - several at Knox-Marsellus and at Puddlers (phenomenal scope views!)White-rumped Sandpiper - several at Puddler's (excellent scope views), at least 1 at North Spring PoolSemipalmated Sandpiper - few at visitor center, North Spring Pool, lots at Knox-Marsellus & (excellent at) PuddlersLeast Sandpiper - same places & proportions as Semipalmated Sandpiper but perhaps fewerWilson's Snipe - 2 or more at the back of May's Point PoolRed-necked Phalarope - 5 at once at Knox-Marsellus; 1 Phalaropus sp from hunter station on NYS 89 north of Goose HavenThe Main Pool is full of water, with ducks flying in & out but totally hidden by smartweed. A Little Blue Heron could be anywhere. There were several Northern Harriers cruising over the Main Pool, and at least 4 Savannah Sparrows by the photo blind parking area. There were at least 3 Osprey over Tschache, and 2 or more others at other locations. There were at least 2 adult and 4 immature Bald Eagles from Towpath.May's Point Pool had American Coot, Common Moorhen & Pied-billed Grebe.Swallows included Barn, Bank, Northern Rough-winged, Tree, and a single female-type Purple Martin by the lock at May's Point.There were several Caspian Terns as well as the usual mainly Ring-billed, few Herring and individual Great Black-backed Gulls from Towpath.Great Egret tally included at least 11 at North Spring Pool, 22 at May's Point Pool, and 2 at Main PoolUntold numbers of Great Blue Herons and Double-crested Cormorants (sorry, eBird), mainly at Tschache, Knox-Marsellus & Puddlers.Belted Kingfishers at various locations.Waterfowl included: Snow Goose - 1 maimed bird at Knox-Marsellus (why don't the Bald Eagles eat it?)Canada Goose domestic Greylag Goose - 1 at Larue's Trumpeter Swans - 4 at Tschache, 1 at May's Point Pool (I did not pick out the Tundra Swan today)MallardAmerican Black Duck American WigeonNorthern Pintail - May's Point PoolNorthern Shoveler Blue-winged TealGreen-winged TealWood Duck - 1 flying over Main Pool, 1 on log at TschacheRing-necked Duck - May's Point PoolAt Stewart Park we also found a few Common Mergansers. Lots of other stuff around, as expected, but we weren't concentrating on landbirds.--Dave Nutter
[cayugabirds-l] Golden-winged Warbler
I just found a Golden-winged Warbler at Monkey Run South. Park at lot go to river and fallen bridge. Turn Left and go to white pines along river. Bird alone but a couple Common Yellowthroats calling in same area. Chris Wood Ithaca, New York http://ebird.org -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Egret
A Great Egret has been hanging around Fall Creek between Etna and Freeville. My dad saw him several days ago, and I saw him yesterday. Bruce Packard Groton -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Mundy on Sund(a)y
Hi all, I spent an hour in Mundy as I had no hurry to rush back to lab. Birds were sparse, active and frustratingly giving brief glimpses. Most of the birds were around Pawpaw grove. For example all I could see of a female Scarlet Tanager was mostly underside of the tail, fluffed rump, beak and an eye that too from a strange angle as she was looking down at me. But that was enough to say she was a Scarlet Tanager. A juvenile PINE WARBLER, I spent long time to see its all characters, but once I was convinced it was a Pine Warbler, it landed fairly close to me several times. A CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER flitted around affording many excellent views. Two juvenile BLACKPOLLS gave me variety of fleeting glimpses enough to identify them. A young (probably) REDSTART was quite co-operative. A couple with a dog disturbed a hiding SWANSON'S THRUSH from its location in Pawpaw grove and forced to land near me on a tree. It was alarmed and was hesitating as to go closer to dog or a human. But it preferred me. Gave excellent looks. While I was watching the thrush, Boyeria vinosa circled in front of me and above me and picked off insects, presumably those that were trying to me. Tons of Goldfinches everywhere and their babies continuosly begging "feed me feed me" and parents feeding seeds of Helianthus and deep leafed Rudbeckia. I am sure babies can pick these seeds, but they seem to be not willing to do their own job. Iw onder why is it that seeds still need to be partially processed before being fed to the juvs? Warblers spent most of the time in Ash and Basswoods. Mundy had a busy traffic of I think mostly freshmen and their parents. I could hear gates opening and closing with a bang very often. I was forced to hear conversations such as "Tommy or Tony used his computer for four years, so you should be able to do it too". Reply was "but they keep upgrading often". Or "So what do you get for dinner?" Parents probably visiting their offsprings to make sure their kids have settled down and have what they need for their future life on the campus. Meena Haribal Ithaca NY 14850 http://haribal.org/ -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Mt. Pleasant
During a walk atop Mt. Pleasant this morning, bird activity was sparse. There was a flock of a dozen or so SAVANNAH SPARROWS, a N. HARRIER, one BOBOLINK was heard, a young GOLDFINCH begged for food from an adult, a group of AMER CROWS was discussing whatever on the road, with one of their number playing with a small potato. Also observed were 2 AMER. KESTRELS soaring about in the stiff breeze. One of these, a male, grasped something about the shape of a bite-sized Snickers bar in its right talon; and several times dropped its head down and took a bite of it while on the wing. I had not observed this feeding behavior before. Steve Fast Brooktondale -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Sapsucker Woods and Freese Road, Sun 9/5
I found a small mixed flock of migrants at the Sherwood Platform in Sapsucker Woods during a brief spell of sunshine on Sunday morning. I saw BAY-BREASTED WARBLER, BLACKPOLL WARBLER, CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER, BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER, WILSON'S WARBLER, and AMERICAN REDSTART, plus a SCARLET TANAGER, Red-eyed Vireo, Eastern Wood-Pewee, and some chickadees and woodpeckers. I saw one individual of each warbler species. All appeared to be hatch-year and/or female birds, except for the redstart, which was an adult male. I also saw a juvenile NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD by the Owens Platform. In my experience, this species is not common in Sapsucker Woods. I then paid a 20-minute visit to the northern half of the Freese Road gardens. As expected, the place is teeming with Song Sparrows of various ages and plumages (many finely streaked or even nearly unstreaked). I also saw one Savannah Sparrow, a Field Sparrow, a few brown Indigo Buntings, and a House Wren. Mark Chao -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --