Re: [nysbirds-l] Purposeful Birdwatching
This is my time of year for birdwatching rather than birding. Naomi Lloyd On June 26, 2019, at 3:10 PM, Andrew Baksh wrote: There is something quite serene and enjoyable during those slow periods in getting to know your common birds. Robins are still cool birds for me; especially those spotted ones ;-) The reality is, we live in the age of instant gratification. We want our birds now! Fast and lined up for us. "I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence." ~ Frederick Douglass 風 Swift as the wind 林 Quiet as the forest 火 Conquer like the fire 山 Steady as the mountain Sun Tzu The Art of War (\__/) (= '.'=) (") _ (") Sent from somewhere in the field using my mobile device! Andrew Baksh www.birdingdude.blogspot.com On Jun 26, 2019, at 2:26 PM, ArieGilbert wrote: Re doldrums: one cannot appreciate a great day of birding without bad days. Yin/Yang Also its important to have LOOB ( life outside of birding ) Arie Gilbert No. Babylon NY www.PowerBirder.Blogspot.com www.QCBirdClub.org Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device Original message From: Shaibal Mitra Date: 6/26/19 11:11 AM (GMT-05:00) To: "NYSBIRDS (NYSBIRDS-L@cornell.edu)" Subject: [nysbirds-l] Purposeful Birdwatching Judging from many, many recent conversations with fellow birders, it seems that people are having a tough time of it during these June doldrums. From independent sources over the past week, I've heard: "crushing disappointment;" "why is it so bad?;" "is it going to get better?" "something could show up, right?;" "didn't birding used to be good?;" "this place used to be good, I think" and more. And this has mostly been in the context of ordinary, local birding, not directly related to the more ominous big-picture concerns expressed by Chris recently. My usual response, admittedly slightly sadistic, is that birding excitement has always been relative. We modern observers can't begin to imagine how bad it was before the legal protection of birds was implemented a century ago, and yet the observers of that time still found birdwatching exciting--and were motivated enough to achieve protective legislation in the face of forces as ruthless and malevolent as those confronting us now. Imagine the excitement experienced by Harry Hathaway, the father of Rhode Island ornithology, when in 1894 he saw his first Great Blue Heron, after ten years of field work! It was Hathaway's ongoing work that eventually revealed that a unique, seemingly outlying, 19th Century winter record of White-throated Sparrow in RI was not an accident. He documented two more winter records and lived long enough to see RI's plundered and deforested landscape recover sufficiently to harbor the lisping flocks of White-throats we now take for granted on the CBCs. On Long Island, Ludlow Griscom scolded over-exuberant birders who tossed off sight records of Ring-billed Gulls in winter and summer, citing a countable number of such specimens as the gold standard of documentation for that species in that context. Chafing at this discipline, Cruickshank and Peterson figured out how to find and identify Ring-billed Gulls better then their predecessors--proving again the eternal pleasure of purposeful birdwatching. Yesterday I saw my first adult Ring-billed Gulls of the season at Robert Moses SP, Suffolk County. I'm not sure of the date for my last spring adult, but I did manage to record that none were present by 17 April: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S55097294 And I am able to pull up the date of the late-June return of adults in at least one other year: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S17210602 [note to eBird: please enable sorting of checklists by Julian date!] A little sleuthing subsequently revealed that two of my colleagues beat me to it this year, documenting an adult Ring-bill at Cupsogue two days before my exciting find (though it required some follow-up work to obtain their photos and a definitive age): https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S57623401 Hypothesis: Ring-billed Gulls whose breeding efforts fail after early June abandon the colonies and disperse, some reaching the coast. Shai Mitra Bay Shore -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBir
Re: [nysbirds-l] Sage Thrasher yes
Seen this morning on the same side of the pond. Naomi On Friday, November 6, 2020, 09:36:12 AM EST, Isaac Weiss wrote: Hi,Any updates on the bird? Thank youAri On Fri, Nov 6, 2020, 7:18 AM zach schwartz-weinstein wrote: The Sage Thrasher at Ooms Conservation Area is showing nicely again this morning in the same area. I’m not sure who relocated it this morning. -- Zach Schwartz-Weinstein 203 500 7774 -- NYSbirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds ABA Please submit your observations to eBird! -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds ABA Please submit your observations to eBird! -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
Re:[nysbirds-l] [hmbirds] White Red-tails
I found one Dec. 2018 in the Ft Edward grasslands. It was subsequently banded by Bob Yunick Naomi Lloyd On January 7, 2021, at 9:44 PM, Richard Guthrie wrote: I saw yet another report of an all-white Red-tailed Hawk. This one in Ulster County - away from where one that had been previously reported. So. Are all-white Red-tails increasing in number and distribution? Seems so to me. Do you know of the location of one? Without giving specific location, can you provide a general idea where it is/was? I know for example that there were the following: Millbrook, Dutchess County - nesting female which was around for about 15 years, at least; not recent Stone Ridge, Ulster County - another nesting female around for maybe 20 years; no recent reports; New Paltz, Ulster County - recent Near Columbia County Airport - Ghent, Recent but no reports in the last few years; Near Hoosick, Rensselaer County; few sightings from about 10 years ago Did I miss any? Current ones? Rich Guthrie New Baltimore -- Richard Guthrie _._,_._,_ Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#26753) | Reply To Sender | Reply To Group | Mute This Topic | New Topic Your Subscription | Contact Group Owner | Unsubscribe [naomi_kest...@yahoo.com] _._,_._,_ -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
Re: [nysbirds-l] Barn Swallow question
I've watched a pair of Ravens engage in "the stick game" - one drops a stick or pine cone in flight, the other catches it then gains elevation and drops it to their partner, accompanied by lots of vocalizations. Probably has pair-bonding aspects but it sure looks like they enjoy it. Naomi Lloyd West Sand Lake On June 5, 2021, at 10:04 PM, Joseph Wallace wrote: This is more about bird behavior than rarity, so apologies if it's o/t, but I watched a swallow engage in extraordinary (to me) behavior at Croton Point Park in Westchester today. It started when I spotted something white drifting slowly towards the ground: a large, downy feather. Just as I focused on it, a Barn Swallow snatched it out of the air with its beak. I expected the bird to head off to its nest, but instead it dropped the feather...and then circled and snatched it out of the air again. For the next few minutes, I watched the swallow repeatedly release the feather, do wide loops around it--sometimes feinting in its direction--and then pluck it out of the air. Twice it let the feather land on the grass, retrieving it once while on the wing and once by landing beside it. Finally the swallow did head off, I imagine to line its nest at last. I'd never seen swallows engage in play, but I can't see how this was anything else. Has anyone else here ever witnessed something like this? Thanks--Joe Wallace -- NYSbirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds ABA Please submit your observations to eBird! -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
Re:[nysbirds-l] [hmbirds] Hunting season Oct. 1
Thanks for the info, Rich. In addition, Vischer Ferry has a short duck season October 16 - 22, 2021 Naomi On Thursday, September 30, 2021, 12:05:09 PM EDT, Richard Guthrie wrote: Heads-up Small game and beginning with Snow Goose, waterfowl hunting season starts tomorrow, Oct. 1st. Despite objections, duck hunting and deer hunting are permitted on the Coxsackie Grasslands. The persuading argument put up was that there's no evidence that birders are discouraged from entering the grounds even though the posting signs indicate that hunters may be present. At the Coxsackie Grasslands, the duck season runs from Oct. 16 through Nov. 28th, and Dec. 4th through Dec. 10th. The second season elsewhere in the southeastern zone runs through Dec. 19th. So, be aware that at the Coxsackie Grasslands, duck hunting is permitted up to 3 hours after sunrise and then from 3 hours before sunset. And, deer hunting is permitted in the deer season. For December, the permitted hunting hours would be up to apx. 10 AM and after apx. 1:30 PM. Hunting will also be permitted through December 10th, and during the week of Dec. 26th through Jan. 1st. Plan and dress accordingly. Rich Guthrie-- Richard Guthrie _._,_._,_ Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#27578) | Reply To Sender | Reply To Group | Mute This Topic | New Topic Your Subscription | Contact Group Owner | Unsubscribe [naomi_kest...@yahoo.com] _._,_._,_ -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --