[cayugabirds-l] lots o' sparrows
On this unexpectedly nice afternoon, I walked around the Freese Rd. gardens for about an hour. Even though this area was undoubtedly well-worked in recent days, birds were abundant and "pished up" easily to fence posts and weed tops. Sparrow numbers were impressive, and I'm not sure I've seen that many WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS in a single spot east of the Mississippi River - at least 30 adults and immatures. Other estimated numbers were 50 SONG, 50 CHIPPING, 20 SAVANNAH, 10 FIELD, 6 SWAMP, 5 WHITE-THROATED, 1 FOX, and 5 DARK-EYED JUNCOS (1 with fairly pinkish sides). In spite of close binocular views of at least 100 individual sparrows, I did not see any good candidates for Lincoln's. Also several RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS and many AM GOLDFINCHES. nearly every time I looked up, one or more RED-TAILED HAWKS were circling or cruising overhead. Later, I checked Bomax Driive, but it was much quieter -- several SWAMP, SONG, and WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS, and a lone HERMIT THRUSH were all I could find. Around my yard today were several GOLDEN-CROWNED and 1 RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, and many flyover RED-TAILS and TURKEY VULTURES. enjoyer of all kinds of birding posts and rare bird alerts, KEN -- Ken Rosenberg Director, Conservation Science Program Cornell Lab of Ornithology 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd, Ithaca, NY 14850 (607) 254-2412 k...@cornell.edu -- 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 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Reporting on the listserv/ CayugaRBA text messages
Cayugabirders, Though I think the discussion of what to report certainly has merit, and I think that almost everyone would prefer to have more information than less information made available about birds in the area, we need to be careful about expecting everyone to keep up with the demands of the popular, fun, useful (in that it gets people out birding and generates lots of neat records), but ultimately frivolous basin year listing competition in order to report "blocker" birds and first records on the listserv. I find it reasonable that news of a Tompkins County golden-plover or Sanderling, etc didn't go on the listserv straightaway the minute it was found (rest assured that if the finders of those birds had located something like a Bar-tailed Godwit or Golden Swallow, the message WOULD have been spread instantaneously). Technology is a great help for birding, but it is perhaps unreasonable for everyone to embrace it to the extent of posting/ text-alerting for every vaguely notable sighting. Scouring eBird, regional status and distribution guides, and going on concerted birdfinding missions (birding with a purpose every time) might be a better way to track down these uncommon migrants, etc. That being said, I would offer/ suggest that we CAN expand the CayugaRBA text message alert system if that is what users would prefer. Originally the qualifications for RBA birds were these: "temporally or geographically rare birds (i.e. a Broad-winged Hawk in January, or a White Ibis anytime), not [necessarily] for [all] first arrivals or things of that nature." This was mostly to limit text traffic and reduce costs for people that pay per text message. Well, frankly it has been a rather slow fall on the local vagrant front (though a good one for observing general migration if I may say so), and I think we can afford to expand the CayugaRBA to include first records, uncommon migrants, etc. At the same time, I hope that local birders realize that birds like Orange-crowned Warbler, Cackling Goose, etc are NOT exceedingly rare in the Finger Lakes (uncommon migrants might be a better description?), and if everyone split up and searched all the basin's goose flocks or weedy fields instead of converging on a stakeout to pin down a David Cup blocker (and then ignoring geese/ weedy fields thereafter until the next January 1 rolls around), we might have a more realistic picture of this. Relatedly, I might suggest that listserv posts related to birdfinding in the area would be helpful to those of us who like to go out and discover new patches/ hotspots, and might end up having the consequence of eliminating the angst created by "minor" blockers: Where exactly are you finding those Orange-crowns in relation to the edges of fields, and with what plants are they associating?... What is the best microhabitat in which to look for Nelson's Sparrows on migration?... Where the heck can I find a Yellow Rail-catching dog (cheers to John Confer for that record - really pretty amusing/ extraordinary)? As an important explanation, when I started the text RBA (after seeing how well a similar system works in Cape May), I didn't post the access instructions to the listserv because of fear of spam, etc; however, if you are interested in joining (it's a free service, you just pay standard SMS/ text rates), just send me an email (t...@cornell.edu) and I will send you the instructions. As another note, I am interested in receiving all spring/ fall quarter sightings in the Finger Lakes region for inclusion in the Kingbird journal, and Mark Chao would appreciate sightings for the summer/ winter reports. Basically, anything you find interesting that doesn't make it on the listserv, we might also value for the journal (we use Cayugabirds as a starting point for writing the reports - the majority of the information I use comes from this awesome resource, especially in conjunction with eBird - thanks to everyone for contributing!). OK, that's my ramble for the year... Cheers, Tom -- Thomas Brodie Johnson Ithaca, NY t...@cornell.edu mobile: 717.991.5727 -- 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 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Dryden Lake
I birded Dryden Lake Sunday afternoon with my parents. The bushes next to the parking lot were 'Kinglet Alley', with several of both species of KINGLET. There was also a YELLOW- RUMPED WARBLER mixed in. There were lots of sparrows afoot,- SWAMP, SONG, WHITE-THROATED and WHITE-CROWNED. I got a brief glimpse of a PILEATED WOODPECKER flying away. Also seen were WOOD DUCK and BROWN CREEPER. There was a single REDWING mixed in with a flock of fifty COWBIRDS. We then drove over to George Lake and saw the dark phase ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK. He hovered in the air for a bit and then flew off. 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 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Dunlins and raptors: Do dunlins close their eyes when feeding in deeper water?
Hello all, I was planning on visiting a brunch get together and then head to Myers, but I took a wrong turn and that lead another wrong turn (;-)) and reached Myers instead. Here I spent nearly two hours photographing Dunlins feed in a small pool near the parking lot. I moved closer to them very slowly while squatting on the ground. By an hour or so they came so close that I could not focus with my 300 mm lens, a thirty year old model with no auto focus, meaning I have to focus manually so that ismore challenging. They fed just about 5 feet away from me. Talking about focusing, dunlins do move fast and feed at an incredible speed. I used 500 th of a second to shoot the birds, but of 400 + shots most of them had some blur, either head or body. It was great fun watching their feeding techniques. they fed facing directly down, or put their head sideways to pull the critters out. Most of the time i hardly saw what they ate. Because prey were gone before their head was up. On a few occasions I could say something about half cm wide prey they were feeding on. Also, the plumages of individuals varied so very much, some still showed some breeding colored feathers and others totally drab. There were HY birds too. I wonder what their relationship is to each others. I watched some of them close their eyes or at least narrow their slit when going under water! http://picasaweb.google.com/mharibal/DunlinsAtMyersPointOn101809# As usual watched several Turkey Vultures from my yard and elsewhere. AT the junction of Meadow Street and Rt 13 saw a medium sized falcon with dark underside but was too quick to get a good look. Every autumn this question comes to my mind as to why woolly bear crosses the road. I watched several of them cross the road today, I avoided them when I encountered them but the cars behind me went right over. Why do they need to go to other side of the road? Is the grass greener on the other side? Some of the possible explanations I came up with a) May be they think roads are rocks and they are looking for cracks to hibernate b) they think roads are tree trunks and trying to find some cracks But generally they seem to be heading straight across the road and do not investigate along the road so my hypotheses are wrong. So why do they cross roads? I was seeing if all of them went in the same directions. Many looked like crossing over to south side of the road as I was driving on east west road. But on north south road they seem to go both east and west. Anyone one has any explanation? Cheers Meena Meena Haribal Ithaca NY 14850 webpage: http://meenaharibal.blogspot.com/ http://www.geocities.com/asiootusloe/http://www.geocities.com/asiootusloe/mothsofithaca.htmlhttp://haribal.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/wildwest+trip+August+2007+.pdf 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 Archives: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] FW: eBird Report - Montezuma East Road , 10/18/09
Location: Montezuma East Road Observation date: 10/18/09 Number of species: 5 Snow Goose 200 Canada Goose X Great Blue Heron 3 European Starling X Brown-headed Cowbird 1 This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/ny) Joe & Carol -- 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 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] FW: eBird Report - Wayne County, NY, US , 10/18/09
Location: Wayne County, NY, US Observation date: 10/18/09 Notes: Sandhill Cranes were in field south of road. 3:00 pm Number of species: 4 Great Blue Heron 2 Northern Harrier 2 Sandhill Crane 3 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/ny) Joe & Carol -- 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 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] north and south basin, 18 Oct
Bob McGuire, Susan Danskin, Ann Mitchell & I spent the day (Sun 18 Oct) birding. The other 3 started out at Stewart Park waiting for me then we left as soon as I arrived, so I know little of what was there, except that there was one distant COMMON LOON and, as reported, many PIED-BILLED GREBES, though not nearly as many as Saturday and Friday. We went to Myers Point where we did not refind yesterday's Sanderling or Cackling Goose, but did find 10 DUNLIN, 2 KILLDEER, several GREEN-WINGED TEAL, and a hybrid MALLARD x AMERICAN BLACK DUCK, plus the usual gulls, geese, ducks & cormorants. We then went to Freese Road where we birded with Bill Baker & Stuart Krasnoff. We did not refind yesterday's Orange-crowned Warbler or Vesper Sparrow, but did see numerous WHITE-CROWNED, SONG, and (some confusing) CHIPPING SPARROWS plus a few WHITE-THROATED, SWAMP, and one possible LINCOLN'S which Ann saw. There were also a flock each of RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS, EASTERN BLUEBIRDS, CEDAR WAXWINGS, HOUSE FINCHES, and AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES. On our way we stopped on Benson Road where we found a flock of ~30 DARK-EYED JUNCOS in a roadside hedgerow and a flock of ~20 KILLDEER in a distant harvested field. We four then went north toward Montezuma, on the way encountering Tim Lenz, Mike Harvey, and Shawn Billerman, and we crossed paths several times into the afternoon. Long Point had very few birds on the lake for us: 4 COMMON LOONS, 4 AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS, 2 MALLARDS, 2 RING-BILLED GULLS, and a few very distant CANADA GEESE. There were gulls and geese at the mouth of Paine's Creek at the south edge of Aurora, but we did not stop because we heard they had been scanned and were the usuals with a few SNOW GEESE. The breakwater at Castelli's Marina in Union Springs appeared to have only RING-BILLED GULLS. The pond at the Montezuma NWR Visitors' Center had many CANADA GEESE (no Bar-headed, etc.), NORTHERN SHOVELERS, NORTHERN PINTAIL, and GREEN-WINGED TEAL. There were also 30+ DUNLIN, 1 SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, 2 sleeping LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS (Thanks, Shawn!) and 2 GREATER YELLOWLEGS. We first heard and then saw a distant calling flying group of 5 SANDHILL CRANES which landed and disappeared in the marsh near the caretaker's house on NYS 89. We missed a reported Western Sandpiper, Stilt Sandpiper and Pectoral Sandpiper. Larue's is still overgrown and appears to lack water. The Main Pool has water, but the smartweed is still so tall and dense as to make viewing difficult except in the distance where there were many CANADA GEESE and one sleeping probably SWAN, and along the channel by the drive, which had several GADWALL, AMERICAN COOT, and a RUDDY DUCK. Beyond the Main Pool we saw ~6 TREE SWALLOWS overhead and a GREAT BLUE HERON beside a channel. Bennings had CANADA GEESE, MALLARDS, and NORTHERN PINTAIL in some distant unobscured water. Tschache had many distant AMERICAN WIGEON and one male EURASIAN WIGEON, several GADWALL, PIED-BILLED GREBES, RING-BILLED GULLS, and DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS. May's Point Pool had CANADA GEESE, MALLARDS and GREEN-WINGED TEAL, and possibly other distant ducks. The Knox-Marcellus overlook on East Road had hundreds of SNOW GEESE and CANADA GEESE, 7 DUNLIN, 1 PECTORAL SANDPIPER, 1 LEAST SANDPIPER, several NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS high overhead, 1 distant light ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK being harassed by 2 NORTHERN HARRIERS, and probably other stuff which I overlooked or forgot, but Lenz, Harvey & Billerman have probably entered in eBird. Our next stop was Martens Tract, where the pond held 1 immature COMMON MOORHEN and several PIED-BILLED GREBES. Joined by Judy Thoroughman we waded through the vegetation in the vicinity of the several east-west ditches which are south and east of the parking area. Bob waded more seriously than the rest of us and found at least one NELSON'S SPARROW which eventually gave us all an excellent look. There were also SONG SPARROWS, a SWAMP SPARROW, and a MARSH WREN, but many glimpses of birds were unidentifiable by us. Muckrace Flats on Savannah-Spring Lake Road near Bixby Woods Road had 1 basking turtle, but zero birds that we noticed in a quick binocular scan despite a very attractive expanse of mud and shallow water. The end of Van Dyne Spoor Road had 2 GREATER YELLOWLEGS, 1 LEAST SANDPIPER, 6 DUNLIN, and the only BALD EAGLE we saw today, an immature which flew up from the hidden near side of the pool. The area also had 2 SANDHILL CRANES, 2 GREAT BLUE HERONS, several overhead NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS, and least 4 distant NORTHERN HARRIERS. Other birds seen while we traveled included AMERICAN ROBINS, RED-TAILED HAWKS, TURKEY VULTURES (small numbers) and AMERICAN KESTREL. -- 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.htm
Re:[cayugabirds-l] Only FOY sightings welcome?!
Apologies to Dave and all: I did not understand that now there are two parallel systems for reporting birds in the basin. I had thought the texting Dave referred to in his message referred to messages being sent to CayugaBirds from the field by him and others, which show up as -...@text.com, and didn't realize that the 'RBA' is an entirely different network. Also, by no means was I seeking to blame anyone for failing to report particular birds - life intervenes! I just wanted to encourage the report all birds, and mistakenly thought he was suggesting that birds that weren't FOY might not be worthy of report to the list. Hence my comment that I don't really care about FOY - that doesn't mean others shouldn't care, only that there are other reasons for reporting and for reading reports to CayugaBirds beyond FOY. Glad we all are agreed that all kinds of birds are worth reporting to CayugaBirds - FOY, LOY and those in between! Best - Alicia Dave Nutter wrote: > Alicia (& all), > > I believe without question that all kinds of wild bird reports should be > posted on Cayugabirds-L, not just rarities or first-of-year reports, and I > hope my own various postings have demonstrated an appreciation for many > aspects of birding. With regard to the Sanderling and Orange-crowned Warbler > on Saturday, I think they should have been reported to Cayugabirds-L, and to > the extent. that those reports were late or incomplete I think that all of us > who saw the birds or knew about them and subscribe to Cayugabirds-L share > some responsibility. I did not intend to suggest in my post that the fact > that neither species was extremely rare and both species had already been > reported this year was a reason for not reporting them to Cayugabirds-L. > > The part which Alicia cut out of my post refered to a different system, not > Cayugabirds-L, by which birders can send a text message about rare birds to > subscribers of that rare bird alert (RBA) who can then receive that message > immediately on their cell phone while they are out birding or anywhere else, > rather than waiting until everyone has come home tired after birding and then > written and posted their own reports and read everyone else's reports on > Cayugabirds-L, and it's gotten dark, and the rare bird may have left, and > others chances of refinding it are greatly reduced. My question was whether > the Sanderling and Orange-crowned Warbler were unusual enough to go into that > system, whose rules I did not make, but specifically speak of birds which are > out of season or out of range and specifically exclude simple first-of-year > reports of expected birds. If the above birds (and the Cackling Geese, and > the American Golden-Plovers) don't qualify, maybe a new text-message service > should be started for birders who have time and texting to spend on finding > out such things without bothering the busy people on the RBA who only want to > hear about the real rarities. Perhaps these messages can also be sent to > Cayugabirds-L? Another option might be to receive all Cayugabirds-L posts as > text messages, but this has its drawbacks as these posts can be numerous, > long, and diverse with the bits of unusual-bird-info hidden so they don't > even show up in text messages. I'm sorry if this is or was confusing. > Perhaps I shouldn't be bothering the whole Cayugabirds-L with such arcane > stuff, but I wanted to be clear. > > As to first of year records (and first of season records), I think there is > value beyond the fun, and there are reasons other than competitiveness to > associate a name with a report. A first of year report gives people a sense > of what time of year a species shows up, and can allow people to be more > alert for that species. A person's name with that report may allow others to > contact that person, which can help in learning such things as how they > identified the bird, how they found the bird, and what sort of places they > were birding, and specific directions. That's certainly how I use those > contacts! By the way, the tradition of keeping track of first of year > records and publicly crediting them to specific observers at specific > locations goes back decades at the Lab of O. > > What I wrote is below. > > --Dave Nutter > -- 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 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Only FOY sightings welcome?!
Alicia (& all), I believe without question that all kinds of wild bird reports should be posted on Cayugabirds-L, not just rarities or first-of-year reports, and I hope my own various postings have demonstrated an appreciation for many aspects of birding. With regard to the Sanderling and Orange-crowned Warbler on Saturday, I think they should have been reported to Cayugabirds-L, and to the extent. that those reports were late or incomplete I think that all of us who saw the birds or knew about them and subscribe to Cayugabirds-L share some responsibility. I did not intend to suggest in my post that the fact that neither species was extremely rare and both species had already been reported this year was a reason for not reporting them to Cayugabirds-L. The part which Alicia cut out of my post refered to a different system, not Cayugabirds-L, by which birders can send a text message about rare birds to subscribers of that rare bird alert (RBA) who can then receive that message immediately on their cell phone while they are out birding or anywhere else, rather than waiting until everyone has come home tired after birding and then written and posted their own reports and read everyone else's reports on Cayugabirds-L, and it's gotten dark, and the rare bird may have left, and others chances of refinding it are greatly reduced. My question was whether the Sanderling and Orange-crowned Warbler were unusual enough to go into that system, whose rules I did not make, but specifically speak of birds which are out of season or out of range and specifically exclude simple first-of-year reports of expected birds. If the above birds (and the Cackling Geese, and the American Golden-Plovers) don't qualify, maybe a new text-message service should be started for birders who have time and texting to spend on finding out such things without bothering the busy people on the RBA who only want to hear about the real rarities. Perhaps these messages can also be sent to Cayugabirds-L? Another option might be to receive all Cayugabirds-L posts as text messages, but this has its drawbacks as these posts can be numerous, long, and diverse with the bits of unusual-bird-info hidden so they don't even show up in text messages. I'm sorry if this is or was confusing. Perhaps I shouldn't be bothering the whole Cayugabirds-L with such arcane stuff, but I wanted to be clear. As to first of year records (and first of season records), I think there is value beyond the fun, and there are reasons other than competitiveness to associate a name with a report. A first of year report gives people a sense of what time of year a species shows up, and can allow people to be more alert for that species. A person's name with that report may allow others to contact that person, which can help in learning such things as how they identified the bird, how they found the bird, and what sort of places they were birding, and specific directions. That's certainly how I use those contacts! By the way, the tradition of keeping track of first of year records and publicly crediting them to specific observers at specific locations goes back decades at the Lab of O. What I wrote is below. --Dave Nutter "Some neat birds were found Saturday that didn't get posted on Cayugabirds-L or texted to the rare bird alert but did get shared by cell phone among several people in the field. There was a Sanderling which Bob McGuire & Gary Kohlenberg (& Stuart Krasnoff?) found at Myers Point early this morning, and was later seen by at least Ann Mitchell and myself. And there was an Orange-crowned Warbler which Nate Senner found at Freese Road which was later seen by Gary Kohlenberg and Ann Mitchell. Neither was a first of year observation nor a bird which is unexpected, but both are tough basin birds which few people have seen this year. Should such observations be put on the RBA? Should observers ensure that such observations get posted on Cayugabirds-L?" On Sunday, October 18, 2009, at 10:07AM, "Alicia Plotkin" wrote: > -- 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 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Mt. Pleasant American Pipit
HI all, On my afternoon walk today on somewhat breezy Mount Pleasant, I heard an American Pipit in flight. A couple of days ago there was a sizable flock of either American Pipits or Horned Larks way out in the fields, spooked up by a Northern Harrier, but I was unable to identify them. 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 Archives: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] More Turkey Vulture sightings
Hi all, The Turkey Vulture flight over Ithaca continued today. I counted 114 over Stewart Park this morning in 30 minutes. I also saw "only" 52 PIED-BILLED GREBES along with 4 RUDDY DUCKS, a few BUFFLEHEAD, and maybe a couple dozen A. COOT that are newer for me this fall. I thought it might be nice on Mt. Pleasant so I spent a few minutes there seeing only 14 T.V's and a Red-tail. The fun sighting was a PEREGRINE FALCON soaring then flapping then in a stoop so fast I could hardly keep the scope on him. I never saw if the object of the stoop survived or not. I cruised up to Sheldrake Point Road as much to see the leaves as birds. On the south end of the road in the "Pacific spot" I counted 42 COMMON LOONS. It was quiet for other birds other than the usual assortment of Gulls out in the middle of the lake. nice day, Gary -- 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 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
Re: [cayugabirds-l] bad communication, Cackling Goose
What Golden-plovers ? I've been looking for one. Bob posted the Cackling Goose at Myer's Point yesterday. Nice photo Kevin, Stu was wishing for his camera yesterday while we were there. Gary Kevin McGowan wrote: So, did anyone know about the three golden-plovers seen on Thursday at the Ithaca airport? Come on guys, let's be a little more neighborly. A number of people would like to have seen them. One bird that did not get posted yesterday was a CACKLING GOOSE in with the Canada Geese north of Myers Point. It was lighter than the other geese, with more distinct silvery striping/edging to back and rear feathers, a very square forehead, and a tiny bill. Photo at http://picasaweb.google.com/KevinJ.McGowan/BasinSpecies2009#5393932308802218066. It should be noted that many of the geese there were not locals, but were tundra breeders that had small bills themselves. In comparison with the larger resident birds they suggested Cackling Geese. But the real one in their midst stood out and was unmistakable, if it stopped looking away (which it did most of the time). kevin -- 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 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
Re:[cayugabirds-l] Only FOY sightings welcome?! [+ Cackling @ Stewart, Sat p.m.]
Hello folks, First, I should add that yesterday afternoon there was another CACKLING GOOSE around - it was at the west end of shore in Stewart Park among a group of migrant Canadas. It eventually flew off with a dozen or so other birds to the south west around 1:45pm. Other birds visible from Stewart included the Dunlin on the red light house jetty, Gadwall, the adult LESSER BLACK BACKED GULL, and a male Ruddy Duck mixed in with the many Pie-billed Grebes. -- Second, some comments stemming from the "Only FOU sightings welcome?!" post. I'd encourage EVERYONE (as I think would Kevin?) to share whatever it is they find worth sharing (rare or not) that is bird related. This is an open forum used by the local birding community for many aspects of birding and we need to encourage (not discourage) all members of that community to be involved. People on this list enjoy birds in many different ways: some find a great deal of value in documenting "first of year" (FOY) sightings, documenting rarities, investigating difficult IDs, and synthesizing the many observations made by the region's birding community for the benefit of that community. I think most of us really appreciate these efforts. I have nothing but thanks and appreciation for Dave and others who take the time to keep track of such details, and make them available to the rest of us - good work folks! :) That said, it's also true that many of us aren't all that interested in the more scientific or competitive aspects of birding. Fortunately, there's plenty of room on the list for BOTH of these (and many other) ways of enjoying birds ;) So how does such a motley group manage to coexist? Here's a few ideas off the top of my head (others should feel free to add or make corrections!): 1. Mutual respect - there's a huge diversity of folks on this list and each of us needs to respect or at least be mindful of that fact. Borrowing some of Alicia's own words, I personally DO have an interest in who saw a particular bird first, or if it was the first or second or whatever seen in the basin this year. To promote a list that serves to "disseminate information about wild bird sightings in and around the Finger Lakes Region in a timely manner" I think that encouraging participation and open communication is a good answer. It's been said before but worth repeating: if you don't want to read a post - feel free to hit delete :) 2. Reward good behavior - every now and then take a moment to let someone know you like their contributions to the list. If you enjoy seeing full trip lists, let it be known! If you do NOT enjoy seeing full trip lists, remember to use your delete button instead of discouraging others. If you must say or do something about those posts you find annoying or otherwise unwanted, politely remind others to help make it easier for you to use your delete button. Things like using informative subject lines can go a long way in this regard. 3. Participate and encourage others to participate - If you just want to hear about local bird species, help create an environment where folks post about local species. If you want to know more about fall warbler idea, feel free to start the conversation :) Good birding all, Paul -- 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 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Weekend birds: Fox sparrow; R.-l. hawk, goshawks
Just to note several recent migrants into the area: I saw a FOX SPARROW in with some WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS and GOLDEN CROWNED KINGLETS this morning during a walk along Salt Rd. in Summerhill SF. Susie and I observed a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK along Harford Rd., south of Dryden Lake, yesterday (10/17). It was a dark phase even. Also yesterday, we got wonderful looks at a juvenile N. GOSHAWK that coasted in low, then proceeded to spiral up and out of sight right over our house in Brooktondale. An adult N. GOSHAWK was seen by us this morning when it flew across Irish Settlement Rd. (town of Dryden) in front of our car. S. & S. 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 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Only FOY sightings welcome?!
Dave Nutter wrote: > Some neat birds were found Saturday that didn't get posted on Cayugabirds-L > ... Neither was a first of year observation nor a bird which is unexpected, > but both are tough basin birds which few people have seen this year. Should > such observations be put on the RBA? There are hundreds of birders who subscribe to Cayugabirds and relatively few keep first of year lists, let alone seek to be recognized as the person who discovered a FOY bird. A posting of any even slightly unusual bird has value to us. What a strange turn of events, that a list intended to "disseminate information about wild bird sightings in and around the Finger Lakes Region in a timely manner" might be morphing into one where only the documentation of first sightings is unquestionably appropriate. I personally have no interest whatsoever in who saw a particular bird first, or if it was the first or second or whatever seen in the basin this year - I just want to hear about the birds! Alicia Plotkin -- 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 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Just OOB Yellow Rail in Caroline on Saturday[Fwd: Yellow Rail]
Hi all, John Confer, who is no longer a Cayugabirds subscriber, asked me to forward this to the list. John's water spaniel caught a Yellow Rail near his home on Flatiron Road in Caroline on Saturday. Read John's exciting story below: Original Message Subject: Yellow Rail From:con...@ithaca.edu Date:Sun, October 18, 2009 9:31 am To: m...@cornell.edu Cc: con...@ithaca.edu -- 17 October, 2009 From: John L. Confer Biology Department Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY 14850 To: NYSARC Yellow Rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis) report. On the afternoon of 17 Oct, 2009 I was walking through a ~60 acre hay field that was mowed this past July. This site is adjacent to the Goetchius Preserve, owned by the Finger Lakes Land Trust, about one mile west of the eastern edge of Tompkins County, NY and bordered to the east by Flatiron Rd, in the Town of Caroline. The coordinates are N42o, 25â30â, W76o 17â42â. The mixed vegetation averaged about a foot high with patches of taller goldenrod and some areas with shorter vegetation. My dog, Belle Flower, began pouncing in the grass with stiff front legs and then grabbed something in her mouth. I fully expected the creature to be a dead vole, as has happened in the past. I pried her mouth open and was shocked to find it was a bird. I opened my hand and rolled the bird over for a better look. I was actually flabbergasted when it started to move. Iâve banded thousands of birds, but having just gotten it from Bellâs mouth, I was certain this one was dead and left my hand open. In a few seconds, this creature, which I had thought was certainly dead, flew out of my hand. Frankly, I could have gotten a much more detailed view of this hand-held bird if I had anticipated it was well enough to get up and fly a few seconds after I removed it from the jaws of death. In fact this observation might be the shortest view of a potential NYSAR bird on record. Nonetheless, some of the features were seen in hand with complete certainty, enough so that I offer this report. I am quite certain of the features I saw, which I think are sufficient to definitively identify the bird. However, I know that there are features that you might well expect, which I did not have the time to observe. Please donât pillage me too harshly for not noting several other features. DESCRIPTION SIZE. I held the bird in my hand and its head and neck stretched just beyond my thumb and fore-finger . With its body extended diagonally across my palm, the tail reached just beyond the palm of my hand slightly past the little finger. This distance was later measured as 6-7 inches, which is about the length of the bird. LEGS. As I first held the bird in my hand, the very first thing I noted, which made me aware it was not a mammal, was its legs that extended beyond my cupped hand. The bird had notably long legs, about 2 inches. The legs were bluish-gray or slate-gray or gray with a slight hint of metallic blue, a little darker than the leg color of Tufted Titmouse. BEAK. The beak was straight and about ½ inch long. It definitely was shorter and not curved as with a Virginia Rail and it definitely was not the thickness, top to bottom, of a Sora Rail beak. The ratio of the thickness at the base to the length was similar to a Red-winged Blackbird, although the culmen was not curved and the total size of the beak (as well as the bird itself) was smaller. BODY COLOR. The coloration on the back was streaked consisting of broad streaks of medium dark brown alternating with lighter brown. The breast and side of the bird was distinctly lighter brown than the back, more of a straw brown color. I wouldnât say it actually looked yellow, but it was a very light brown color. The head coloration was similar to the body, although, frankly, I didnât take/have as much time to note head details as desirable. TAIL. The tail was short and the underside was a dark color. FLIGHT. When the bird flew out of my hand, it flew about 10 m before it landed back down in the hay field. The flight was sustained by rapid, shallow wing beats, which created the impression of a poor flier. FLIGHT PATTERN. As it flew, a white edge on the secondaries was very clear. The white extend up the secondaries for about ¼ of the feather length. The white edge was clearly not a thin line (not like the thin line of a Wood Duck for contrast). There was no white in the tail, which I could not have missed in viewing this bird from behind and while looking down on it. I looked at Petersonâs fourth edition and noted several discrepancies between my observations/report and his depiction. First, this edition depicts the legs as being yellow. I recall being quite impressed by the length and bluish-grey color of the legs, the very first thing that made me aware it was a bird and not a vole, as I
[cayugabirds-l] Rusty Blackbirds / Yellow-rumped Warblers / Swainson's Thrushes
At the Owasco inlet yesterday morning there were 2 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS and 40 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS. Also of interest was a clear sustained audio on a RED-SHOULDERED HAWK and visuals on one YELLOWTHROAT, 14 RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, 2 GREEN-WINGED TEAL, 2HOODED MERGANSERS, and 45 ROBINS among others. In Frozen Ocean we had 3 SWAINSON'S THRUSHES, 4 BROWN CREEPERS, 1 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, 15 GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS, and 50 ROBINS among others. At Long Point around noon we had 2 COMMON LOONS and a DUNLIN as well as a SEMI-PALMATED PLOVER. Happy fall! Caroline Manring Sent from my iPhone On Oct 18, 2009, at 1:16 AM, Dave Nutter wrote: Kevin (& all), Some neat birds were found Saturday that didn't get posted on Cayugabirds-L or texted to the rare bird alert but did get shared by cell phone among several people in the field. There was a Sanderling which Bob McGuire & Gary Kohlenberg (& Stuart Krasnoff?) found at Myers Point early this morning, and was later seen by at least Ann Mitchell and myself. And there was an Orange-crowned Warbler which Nate Senner found at Freese Road which was later seen by Gary Kohlenberg and Ann Mitchell. Neither was a first of year observation nor a bird which is unexpected, but both are tough basin birds which few people have seen this year. Should such observations be put on the RBA? Should observers ensure that such observations get posted on Cayugabirds-L? I admit that when Ann called me a second time saying she didn't know how to do an RBA, I chose to look for the Orange-crowned Warbler during my limited opportunity rather than spend the time typing out an RBA, but I told her so and thought she was going to have someone else do it. As for the Sanderling, I was driving for the first 45 minutes after I heard about it, and I never was at my computer again till well after I saw it, so I didn't realize it didn't get posted till mid afternoon. At noon when I saw it I was about to text that it was still there, but called Ann first because I knew Sanderling had been on her list of missing species, and then I got distracted by looking for the Orange- crowned Warbler until I had other obligations. Sorry about that. --Dave Nutter On Saturday, October 17, 2009, at 06:55PM, "Kevin McGowan" > wrote: Did I miss something? What Orange-crowned Warbler? k At 06:27 PM 10/17/2009, Gary Kohlenberg wrote: This afternoon I was able to re-find the Orange-crowned Warbler that Nathan Senner discovered while birding with Ann Mitchell. A quick call to Ann gave her a second chance to see it as she wasn't quite tall enough to see over the goldenrod. It made me think that sparrow-ing in the fall would be more productive wearing short stilts. That may have given me just the edge I needed to see the Henslow's sparrow I missed at Hog Hole. Gary -- 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 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ -- -- 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 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ -- -- 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 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ -- -- 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 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] daring nuthatch cache
Friday morning I had my sliding door open onto my deck while I was trying to photograph kinglets and Yellow-rumped Warblers in the snowy golden leaves. I suddenly realized that a bird had flown past me and into the house. I turned and a Red-breasted Nuthatch with a seed in its bill was perched on top of my cat's scratching post! Those of you who may know my cat know this wasn't quite as dangerous as it sounds, but even she came running over. The bird looked around as if thinking of tucking the seed into the post, and then flew out the door again. A few weeks ago a Red-breasted Nuthatch hid a seed in my scope tripod when I left it out on the porch. Nice spots, yes, but I can't imagine how the nuthatch planned on getting them back. ;^) Kevin -- 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 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] bad communication, Cackling Goose
So, did anyone know about the three golden-plovers seen on Thursday at the Ithaca airport? Come on guys, let's be a little more neighborly. A number of people would like to have seen them. One bird that did not get posted yesterday was a CACKLING GOOSE in with the Canada Geese north of Myers Point. It was lighter than the other geese, with more distinct silvery striping/edging to back and rear feathers, a very square forehead, and a tiny bill. Photo at http://picasaweb.google.com/KevinJ.McGowan/BasinSpecies2009#5393932308802218066. It should be noted that many of the geese there were not locals, but were tundra breeders that had small bills themselves. In comparison with the larger resident birds they suggested Cackling Geese. But the real one in their midst stood out and was unmistakable, if it stopped looking away (which it did most of the time). kevin -- 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 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] more Brant
At 7:30 this morning a flock of Brant (60 or more) flew over my place in West Danby, headed south. -Geo -- 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 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
