Mt. Pleasant Bobolinks, Indigo Buntings - Friday am
Hi all, Carpal-tunnel surgery has banned me from camera, steering wheel, and too much Photoshop for a while, so to keep from losing my mind I am now taking TWO Mt Pleasant walks a day! Fortunately I can type one-handed. Anyway, my morning walk today turned up two delights. A flock of 40 or so Bobolinks swirling very briefly over the switch-grass field north of the road between the observatory and the sheep-farm house. Quickly they disappeared into the long grass and one would then never have known they were there! I've been following the season's progress of two pairs of Indigo Buntings between the farm house and the radio tower road. In recent days the males have been very agitated as a I walked past, chipping loudly and sometimes doing dramatic fluttering flight displays, presumably to distract me away from their nests (although I don't have a clue where the nests are!). This morning a female did the same display, landing on the road with fluttering wings. There must have been an active nest or fledglings in the goldenrod nearby. A very good look at this normally secretive little female. Marie Marie Read Wildlife Photography 452 Ringwood Road Freeville NY 13068 USA Phone 607-539-6608 e-mail m...@cornell.edu http://www.marieread.com http://www.agpix.com/mari -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES Temporary archive: http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
waxwings
Waxwings are getting bolder, I guess they need spider silk badly! Wow she sat quite a few seconds kept moving her mouth as if she was biting or chatting at about 2.5 ft on the other side of the glass! Meena Haribal Cornell Lab Of Ornithology 159, Sapsucker Woods Road Ithaca NY 14850 Phone: 607-254-2148, 607-254-4958 Fax: 607-254-2415, 607-254-2104 webpage: http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/mmh3/ http://www.geocities.com/asiootusloe/ http://birds.cornell.edu/cayugabirdclub/ Current Loc: 42o 25' 44.48 N, 76o 28' 16.90 W Elev 816 ft or 248.7 m Formerly: 19o 0' 41,65 N, 72o 51' 13.02 E Elev 33 ft or 10m -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES Temporary archive: http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
REMINDER: Rochester Birding Association Special Presentation: Birding California's Kern River Valley Thursday, August 13, 2009]
×n½~˪xçÝuÓnwÛ^ôóOtÓRochester Birding AssociationSpecial Presentation: Birding California's Kern River Valley Southern Sierra NevadaTime/Day/Date: 7pm, Thursday, August 13, 2009Location: Downstairs Meeting Room, Brighton Town Hall 2300 Elmwood Ave, Brighton , NYPresenter: Bob Barnes (see Bio below)Rochester area birders have the opportunity to learn about one of America's great birding areas as Bob Barnes shares his program Birds and Birding of California's Kern River Valley and Southern Sierra Nevada. When presented with the idea, Bob extended a weekend family visit to the Rochester area in order to share his birding experiences with western New York birders on Thursday, August 13th. Some of Bob's credentials follow:Since 1977, Bob has led over two hundred Kern River Valley and Southern Sierra Nevada organized birding trips and worked to protect the environmental integrity of the entire Kern River watershed. Due to his extensive area experience, Bob was asked to write the Kern River Valley and Southern Sierra Nevada chapter for the latest edition of the American Birding Association's A Birder's Guide to Southern California (March, 2007). He also wrote the forward for Cornell's Lab's Bird Songs of California CD set, largely due to the fact that a disproportionate number of the CD set's recordings were made in the Kern River watershed. Since 2004, he has worked on birding/wildlife tourism development project teams in Missouri, northwestern Nevada, and Pennsylvania. Bob just completed birding/wildlife tourism development work for Nevada's southern half. He serves on Kern River Valley Heritage Foundation board and is Kern River Valley Chamber of Commerce past president - the first card carrying environmentalist to be entrusted with that job.. He is the California Wilderness Coalition's past president and former Audubon-California Bird Conservation Programs Director. Currently, Bob heads up a small, non-profit foundation working to sustain the unique cultural and environmental character of rural communities facing rapid development. In addition to the ABA birder's guide and Cornell CD set, birds and birding of California's Kern River Valley and Southern Sierra Nevada have been highlighted in Better Homes and Gardens, Birding, USA Today, and WildBird Magazine. In her book Songbird Journeys: Four Seasons in the Lives of Migratory Birds, author Miyoku Chu (Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology) highlights the Kern River Valley and Southern Sierra Nevada along with southeastern Arizona as two Hotspots for Summer Songbird Diversity in the western hemisphere. The two hundred+ nesting species which have been recorded within an eighteen mile radius of Audubon-California's Kern River Preserve is thought to be the highest total in the US and Canada in such a small area. The spring migration phenomenon through the area is considered a Best in the West. Weather patterns, elevation range, soil diversity and resultant habitat presence supports this remarkable total of migrant and nesting species. Central Valley, Great Basin, Mojave Desert, Sierra Nevada, and Southern California Chaparral habitats all occur within a few miles of each other in the Kern River watershed. Land protection and access abounds via Audubon-California's Kern River Preserve, Giant Sequoia National Monument, Sequoia National Forest, plus numerous other designated wildlife areas.Bob Barnes' program will give an overview of Kern River Valley and Southern Sierra Nevada birds and birding: Le Conte's Thrasher to Lawrence's Goldfinch, Williamson's Sapsucker to Tricolored Blackbird, Mountain Quail to Pinyon Jay; and the avifaunal attributes which led the American Bird Conservancy to designate the South Fork Kern River Valley as one of the first ten Globally Important Bird Areas in the United States. Bob's presentation is greatly enhanced by the photo images of renowned bird photographer Bob Steele ( www.bobsteelephoto.com/home/bio.html).
birders needed for september study
Dear all, We are still looking for volunteers to help with the fall season of the Migratory Stopover Project by TNC and Audubon. This is an exciting conservation study and if you are an experienced birder, we could really use your help! The study season runs from Sept 1 - Oct 10, but we can use help at various intervals during this time period at sites that range throughout the Lake Ontario basin and into the northern edge of the Finger Lakes. Gas for travel to orientation session and survey sites will be reimbursed. Let's talk about your availability and location, and any questions you have about this project. Please contact me, Laura, directly at lmccar...@audubon.orgmailto:lmccar...@audubon.org or 518-869-9731 this coming week! I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you and happy birding! Laura McCarthy Audubon New York Looking for Volunteers - Please contact us by mid-August! Audubon and The Nature Conservancy have partnered on a study to identify and protect critical stopover habitats in the Lake Ontario basin of New York, as well as to improve our understanding of why birds choose to stop in certain places. This past Spring we launched the pilot study, and this fall we are still looking for volunteers to help us with the fall season of this important project. Recent studies indicate that migration is the period of highest mortality for neotropical migrant birds, and the conservation of migratory birds requires protecting a network of stopover sites, particularly in the highly-altered Lake Ontario watershed. However, there is only anecdotal information about important stopover sites, and no tool to predict where they occur. In this project, Audubon New York, TNC and other partners are developing a predictive model of stopover habitat for the NY portion of Lake Ontario's watershed, based on habitat and landscape characteristics and proximity to the lakeshore. This model is now being validated by a volunteer-based field study of migratory bird abundance and diversity. We are seeking experienced volunteer birders in the Lake Ontario Watershed who would be available to monitor specific sites this September. Money is available to cover volunteer travel expenses associated with this study. For more information or if you or someone you know might be interested, please contact Laura McCarthy (lmccar...@audubon.orgmailto:lmccar...@audubon.org) or 518-869-9731. Thank you! Laura McCarthy Grassroots Coordinator Audubon New York 200 Trillium Lane Albany, NY 12203 518-869-9731 lmccar...@audubon.orgmailto:lmccar...@audubon.org [cid:image001.gif@01CA1762.2B28ABC0]To be successful in our conservation efforts, we need your help! Sign up for Audubon Alerts and the Advisory at www.audubonaction.org/newyorkhttp://www.audubonaction.org/newyork -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES Temporary archive: http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --inline: image001.gif
