[cayugabirds-l] Migrants in the morning
Hi all, Today morning from 5 to 5.40 am I listened to migrant birds and recorded some of the calls. Based on the calls and the spectrogram, there were several groups of VEERIES that flew overhead. There were also some ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAKS and at least one WOOD THRUSH. I also heard something like clicking of bills, could have been a cuckoo, but did chance to record so cannot confirm. Local Great Horned Owl between 5.10 5.20 hooted several times. There at least six species of night insects all occupied different frequency levels in the spectrogram. In one species, two or three insects were calling and initially one would start and then second would join in and after few seconds the sounds were matched and sang as one insect but with increased volume! When I was watching the spectrogram at real time I could see how the frequencies joined and separated in real time. About 17 years ago I bought Ziess 10x42 (before that I used Nikon 7X25 and previous to that an 8X32 which had double image, though my brain after some days of use corrected them to a single image) and went to Stewart park hoping that I would be able to see all the birds now better from any distance. Scope was not known to people in India then. I watched the lake and found no birds. Then Kevin McGowan drove in and set up his scope and declared he seeing all three species of Scoters. I was little disappointed that my binoculars were no good to see that far. He let me peek through his scope and I did see all three species of Scoters. Then my goal was to get a scope, which I managed to get one and when I spent evening at May's point watching shore birds, I used to be frustrated with distant birds that other people could pick up with their scope. Yesterday birds were something like 400 m to 1000 m away from observation site (I actually checked using google distance calculator) and everyone is watching Phalaropes, Buff Breasted Sandpiper and I barely could see them in my scope. Again Kevin McGowan mentioned, that with his old scope, which was similar to my current he could not see birds so well, but with current Swaroski he can see things much better. Oh well, but = since last two years I have been thinking I need to get better optics, but recently they seem to have become so very expensive and beyond my reach. I have been digging in my yard to see if someone has buried any treasure, but so far have found none :( But I was musing about how birding and optics have changed. But now I am thinking maybe I should go back bare basics. Just use good old eyes and go closer to see birds! Or look for those birds that are visible! Do we really need to spend so much of money to see birds that far away? Anyway I thought I will share this with others and see what others think. Yesterday, on the way back from an errand in Rochester at the junction of 318 and 414, I saw a huge flock of BROWN-HEAED COWBIRDS. There may have been more than 1000+ birds and flock was almost pure cowbirds only. Also this did not make it to Cayugabirds. To add to Dave Nutter's list of shorebirds at Knox Marcellus, later in the evening while searching for Buff-Breasted, Mike Tetlow found a Golden Plover from East Road. Viewing was much better from East Road at this time, I could actually see RED-NECKED PHALAROPES as red-necked and not just phalaropes, with the same scope. There were also 7 SANDHILL CRANES in the marsh. Meena Meena Haribal Ithaca NY http://haribal.org/ http://picasaweb.google.com/ithmoths http://picasaweb.google.com/mharibal http://www.flickr.com/photos/91426...@n00/ -- 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] Red-shouldered Hawk - a poignant moment......
Just before noon (Sunday), at the very moment my husband drove off southward to start his long research trip to Central Africa, a Red-shouldered Hawk took off, flew past me, circled into the sky a couple of times, then lazily flapped off in the same direction. I'm not usually one to make much of such things but. 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 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
re:[cayugabirds-l] Buff-breasted Sandpipers, Knox-Marsellus, Montezuma
Thanks, Meena, for the additional species (American Golden-Plover makes at least 16 shorebird species from Knox-Marsellus yesterday), the distance data, and the optics observations. I've been thinking that the Buff-breasted Sandpipers (there may have been more than 2) might be easier to see from East Road south of the overlook in the evening when the light is coming from behind you, and heat shimmers may have subsided. From that raised vantage you would not have to contend so much with the birds being hidden behind other birds, behind the height of the strips of land, or behind some of the weeds. Were they found from East Road in the evening?As for optics, I have shared the frustrations. Really good optics are really expensive. Scope envy is common to many of us. I also envy people who have really good eyes and who know really well where when to look and also know what to look for when they do find a bird. We are fortunate here in having so many people who are willing to share what they see. But more than anything I give thanks every day to the folks who figured out optics enough for people like me to be able to see everyday objects clearly as we pass age 35. Let's hear it for spectacles and their inventors, prescribers, and makers! I also envy people who are good at getting close to birds without scaring them off. I think an eyes-only list would be a fine thing to keep, even though I try to carry my binoculars at hand whenever I go outside or even near a window. Among other fun lists, Ann Mitchell just started an ID-through-a-rear-view-mirror list yesterday when she saw a Northern Harrier while backing out of a driveway on Rafferty Road. AlsoStuart Krasnoff started an ID-from-over-a-mile-away list while wistfully scoping Cayuga Lake from Ithaca College and seeing Double-crested Cormorants and Great Black-backed Gulls but knowing that Chris Wood had seen a Long-tailed Jaeger fly south from Myers Point shortly after Stuart had left there. --Dave NutterFrom: Meena Haribal m...@cornell.eduDate: August 29, 2010 8:38:02 AMTo: "cayugabird...@cornelledu" cayugabirds-l@cornell.eduSubject: [cayugabirds-l] Migrants in the morning Yesterday birds were something like 400 m to 1000 m away from observation site (I actually checked using google distance calculator) and everyone is watching Phalaropes, Buff Breasted Sandpiper and I barely could see them in my scope. Again Kevin McGowan mentioned, that with his old scope, which was similar to my current he could not see birds so well, but with current Swaroski he can see things much better. Oh well, but = since last two years I have been thinking I need to get better optics, but recently they seem to have become so very expensive and beyond my reach. I have been digging in my yard to see if someone has buried any treasure, but so far have found none L But I was musing about how birding and optics have changed. But now I am thinking maybe I should go back bare basics. Just use good old eyes and go closer to see birds! Or look for those birds that are visible! Do we really need to spend so much of money to see birds that far away? Anyway I thought I will share this with others and see what others think. Yesterday, on the way back from an errand in Rochester at the junction of 318 and 414, I saw a huge flock of BROWN-HEAED COWBIRDS. There may have been more than 1000+ birds and flock was almost pure cowbirds only. Also this did not make it to Cayugabirds. To add to Dave Nutter’s list of shorebirds at Knox Marcellus, later in the evening while searching for Buff-Breasted, Mike Tetlow found a Golden Plover from East Road. Viewing was much better from East Road at this time, I could actually see RED-NECKED PHALAROPES as red-necked and not just phalaropes, with the same scope. There were also 7 SANDHILL CRANES in the marsh. Meena
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Migrants in the morning
But I was musing about how birding and optics have changed. But now I am thinking maybe I should go back bare basics. Just use good old eyes and go closer to see birds! Or look for those birds that are visible! Do we really need to spend so much of money to see birds that far away? Anyway I thought I will share this with others and see what others think. Hi Meena, If your competitive urges can be squelched, and you're not feeling left out of the high-definition telescopic fun, you can certainly go back to birding without top optics. It should offer some interesting stalking challenges (though you wouldn't practice at Knox-Marcellus), and I'm sure you could approach the whole thing as a kind of special training. I've heard that at a certain point in Ski Rescue training they take away your poles, and you're sent out day after day to traverse extremely rugged terrain with just the skis (and a pack on your back, of course). -Geo On Aug 29, 2010, at 11:38 AM, Meena Haribal wrote: Hi all, Today morning from 5 to 5.40 am I listened to migrant birds and recorded some of the calls. Based on the calls and the spectrogram, there were several groups of VEERIES that flew overhead. There were also some ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAKS and at least one WOOD THRUSH. I also heard something like clicking of bills, could have been a cuckoo, but did chance to record so cannot confirm. Local Great Horned Owl between 5.10 5.20 hooted several times. There at least six species of night insects all occupied different frequency levels in the spectrogram. In one species, two or three insects were calling and initially one would start and then second would join in and after few seconds the sounds were matched and sang as one insect but with increased volume! When I was watching the spectrogram at real time I could see how the frequencies joined and separated in real time. About 17 years ago I bought Ziess 10x42 (before that I used Nikon 7X25 and previous to that an 8X32 which had double image, though my brain after some days of use corrected them to a single image) and went to Stewart park hoping that I would be able to see all the birds now better from any distance. Scope was not known to people in India then. I watched the lake and found no birds. Then Kevin McGowan drove in and set up his scope and declared he seeing all three species of Scoters. I was little disappointed that my binoculars were no good to see that far. He let me peek through his scope and I did see all three species of Scoters. Then my goal was to get a scope, which I managed to get one and when I spent evening at May’s point watching shore birds, I used to be frustrated with distant birds that other people could pick up with their scope. Yesterday birds were something like 400 m to 1000 m away from observation site (I actually checked using google distance calculator) and everyone is watching Phalaropes, Buff Breasted Sandpiper and I barely could see them in my scope. Again Kevin McGowan mentioned, that with his old scope, which was similar to my current he could not see birds so well, but with current Swaroski he can see things much better. Oh well, but = since last two years I have been thinking I need to get better optics, but recently they seem to have become so very expensive and beyond my reach. I have been digging in my yard to see if someone has buried any treasure, but so far have found none L But I was musing about how birding and optics have changed. But now I am thinking maybe I should go back bare basics. Just use good old eyes and go closer to see birds! Or look for those birds that are visible! Do we really need to spend so much of money to see birds that far away? Anyway I thought I will share this with others and see what others think. Yesterday, on the way back from an errand in Rochester at the junction of 318 and 414, I saw a huge flock of BROWN-HEAED COWBIRDS. There may have been more than 1000+ birds and flock was almost pure cowbirds only. Also this did not make it to Cayugabirds. To add to Dave Nutter’s list of shorebirds at Knox Marcellus, later in the evening while searching for Buff-Breasted, Mike Tetlow found a Golden Plover from East Road. Viewing was much better from East Road at this time, I could actually see RED-NECKED PHALAROPES as red-necked and not just phalaropes, with the same scope. There were also 7 SANDHILL CRANES in the marsh. Meena Meena Haribal Ithaca NY http://haribal.org/ http://picasaweb.google.com/ithmoths http://picasaweb.google.com/mharibal http://www.flickr.com/photos/91426...@n00/ Geo Kloppel Bowmaker Restorer 227 Tupper Road Spencer NY 14883 607 564 7026 g...@cornell.edu geoklop...@gmail.com -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME
[cayugabirds-l] Glossy Ibis
Now at Mays Point Pool on right far edge straight out from west corner of platform Found earlier by someone leading a group. L Lauster Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry -- 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] Buff-breasted Sandpiper nice but far
Buff-breasted Sandpiper nice but far views from East Rd., Ibis seen at Mays Pt pool. --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 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] East Hill Nighthawks
There were two COMMON NIGHTHAWKS flying around over East Hill about 15 minutes ago (7:35 pm, 29 August 2010). I observed them from near the Cornell Vet School parking lots, and while I was watching them, they seemed to be foraging in the area above the Maple Ave. power substation (or whatever that is). It didn't seem like they were actively migrating, but I eventually lost sight of them, so they might have moved southward. Always a nice sight to see on a beautiful late summer evening! Good birding, Matt Medler Ithaca -- 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/ --
