[cayugabirds-l] Caspians in Danby
At 7:40AM this morning there were 14 CASPIAN TERNS foraging at Jennings Pond off Bald Hill Rd. in the Town of Danby. They weren't there yesterday late afternoon and they likely got caught in transit up from the mid-Atlantic by the wind shift last night -- I suspect there are such temporary visitors at other water bodies across the region this morning. These individuals are likely headed up to the breeding colony (~1800 pairs) on Galloo Island in northeastern Lake Ontario. Bill E -- 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] Dryden 17Apr11
Pretty quiet in Dryden today. Dryden Lake still has large numbers of mergansers (including at least seven RED-BREASTED), and today a pair of Lesser Scaup, but not much else. Perhaps the best birds were two transitional-plumaged DUNLIN (first found by Stuart Krasnoff) at George Road, near the corner of George Road and Rt. 38. A SPOTTED SANDPIPER was with them as well. Not much else of note at George Road either, although yesterday (and for several days before) I saw a late ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK hanging around that area. We still have FOX SPARROWS in the yard, joined by a few White-throated Sparrows today. Although we don't have any at the feeders, I saw a COMMON REDPOLL coming to a feeder near the base of Beam Hill (east) just now. Good birding, Jay McGowan Dryden, NY -- 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] Mockingbird, Renwick Woods, Mt. Pleasant, Jim Schug Trail, Dryden Lake, and George Rd. Pond
Hi everyone, Here are my e-bird lists from some birding Friday morning. Highlights included a Northern Mockingbird singing at East Hill Plaza, two GREAT HORNED OWLS in Renwick Woods, a pair of American Kestrels copulating at the north end of the Jim Schug Trail, and six Bonaparte's Gulls and two HORNED GREBES on George Rd. Pond. Also we saw some very interesting Mallard behavior at Stewart Park in which one male attempted to mount a female in the water while another male attacked him several times. In the end, the female broke away, and the THE TWO MALES ASSUMED A COPULATION POSITION. Overall a very productive morning. Evan Barrientos www.ebarrientos.smugmug.com Location: Renwick Woods Observation date: 4/15/11 Notes: Two male Mallards fighting to copulate with a female, then mounted each other? Number of species: 18 Canada Goose X Wood Duck 7 Mallard 9 Common Merganser 10 Bald Eagle 0 Spotted Sandpiper 1 Mourning Dove 1 Great Horned Owl 2 Downy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 2 Eastern Phoebe 3 Black-capped Chickadee 2 White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Carolina Wren 1 American Robin X European Starling X Song Sparrow 3 Northern Cardinal 1 Location: Mount Pleasant Observation date: 4/15/11 Number of species: 6 Horned Lark 12 Tree Swallow 1 Vesper Sparrow 1 Savannah Sparrow 12 Song Sparrow 1 Brown-headed Cowbird 2 Location: Jim Schug Trail Observation date: 4/15/11 Notes: 2 American Kestrels seen copulatingbrSpring peepers callingbr2 green frogs seenbr2 masses of spotted salamander eggs along side of trail Number of species: 10 Wood Duck 3 American Kestrel 2 Belted Kingfisher 1 American Crow 1 Black-capped Chickadee 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 Song Sparrow 5 Dark-eyed Junco 1 Red-winged Blackbird 1 American Goldfinch 1 Location: Dryden Lake Observation date: 4/15/11 Notes: ~40 eastern painted turtles along bankbrSpring peepers, wood frogs, and pickerel frogs heard Number of species: 9 Osprey 2 Red-tailed Hawk 1 Eastern Phoebe 1 Tree Swallow 5 Barn Swallow 2 Tufted Titmouse 1 White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Eastern Bluebird 1 Song Sparrow 1 Location: George Road Pond Observation date: 4/15/11 Number of species: 12 Canada Goose X Green-winged Teal 9 Ring-necked Duck 12 Bufflehead 2 Common Merganser 1 Pied-billed Grebe 1 Horned Grebe 1 Turkey Vulture 1 Red-tailed Hawk 1 Bonaparte's Gull 6 Ring-billed Gull 6 Tree Swallow 5 -- 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] Return of the Chipping Sparrows
Chipping Sparrows are at my feeders as of yesterday too -- Pleasant Valley and Sharpsteen Roads about 5 mi. SW of Groton village. They're holding onto the feeders for dear life in the wind gusts! Marla Groton, NY On Sat, Apr 16, 2011 at 7:09 PM, Carl Steckler c...@cornell.edu wrote: A welcome return of Chipping Sparrows at my feeders today. Although they are having trouble holding on with the 50 MPH plus winds we are getting on the hill. Carl Steckler -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOMEhttp://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULEShttp://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 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] SFO: speck-tacular raptor flight at Derby Hill
Today's SFO trip to Derby Hill was far more rewarding and less brutal than yesterday's, but it was still a challenge. The temperature remained in the 40s, the wind remained brisk, but the rain was only in the afternoon and only intermittent. We even saw some blue sky eventually. A big difference was that the wind was from the west instead of the southeast. We had a speck-tacular raptor flight with good numbers and variety, but most were so high as to be just specks to the naked eye. Then when using binoculars to turn the specks into miniature silhouettes, one could often see higher specks beyond. Many birds only came into view when they were at a very high angle, making scope use impractical. In fact standing was impractical after awhile, and some of us leaned back at picnic tables or even lay down on the ground in our raingear. Raptors included many SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS, at least one COOPER'S HAWK, and I heard rumors of a Northern Goshawk There were many Buteos, too, mostly RED-TAILED HAWKS, a few BROAD-WINGED HAWKS, and just as we were leaving a relatively low-flying light form ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK. At least two NORTHERN HARRIERS flew over us, and at least two OSPREYS, several BALD EAGLES, at least one GOLDEN EAGLE, and lots of TURKEY VULTURES. I heard rumors of a Merlin, too. The raptors were cruising eastward. Meanwhile occasional COMMON LOONS powered northward, scores of TREE SWALLOWS (plus a couple of PURPLE MARTINS and at least one BARN SWALLOW) flew randomly at mid-levels, and thousands of midges hovered from face-level to a few feet above head-height, each at an altitude calculated to appear the same size. Another treat at the North Lookout was a first year WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW along with several NORTHERN FLICKERS on the lawn. Lake Ontario had heavy surf but from the vantage of the bluff we could see many RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS, quite a few LONG-TAILED DUCKS (in various plumages), and some DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS and RING-BILLED GULLS. While in the vicinity of Derby Hill, we checked out the "Snipe Spot," a small wetland with grass, cattails, phragmites, red osier dogwood and even a few trees at the corner of NYS-3 and NYS 104B. We kept seeing WILSON'S SNIPE flushing from the vegetation then dropping down to resume invisibility, but rarely could any of us see one on the ground let along show it to anyone else. But there was one bird in the vicinity which cooperated enough to be a life bird for much of my group: a VESPER SPARROW.Despite spending plenty of time seeing plenty of raptors at Derby Hill we decided to go home via Montezuma. At the Montezuma Audubon Center we saw AMERICAN WIGEONS, GADWALLS, RING-NECKED DUCKS, EASTERN BLUEBIRDS, a GREAT BLUE HERON, and a female NORTHERN HARRIER, but the highlight was a SANDHILL CRANE who flew in, alit on a dike, and called. Next we went to Carncross Road where I'd seen about a dozen GREATER YELLOWLEGS the day before. We found about 30 of them hunkered down in shallow water facing into the wind along with a single PECTORAL SANDPIPER. Just then a shower of mixed precipitation swept in, getting the inside of the car wet as we tried to view the shorebirds and several pairs of NORTHERN PINTAILS. When the air cleared again we got out and began searching more carefully. Yellowlegs throughout the corn stubble were hard to count or even identify as either the head or the neck seemed always to be obscured by a corn stalk. Nonetheless there was one smaller, shorter-billed LESSER YELLOWLEGS. Elsewhere on a bed of detritus we saw several SWAMP SPARROWS in the open.A brief pause at Muckrace Flats on Savannah-Spring Lake Rd gave us great views of a pair of TRUMPETER SWANS, plus NORTHERN SHOVELERS, and both BLUE-WINGED and GREEN-WINGED TEAL. Meanwhile from a nearby yard we were serenaded by a NORTHERN CARDINAL singing an unusual song which included Carolina Wren-like 3-note phrases. Our last stop was Towpath Rd, where a hot tip from Bob McGuire allowed a sharp observer in our group to find 2 roosting BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS. From that same spot on the road we added PIED-BILLED GREBE, WILD TURKEY, EASTERN PHOEBE and CEDAR WAXWING to our list. After such a long good day it was surprising and satisfying to be still finding new species at the end. Thanks to a great group.--Dave NutterSFO group 7
RE: [cayugabirds-l] Hammond Hill SF
Steve, what is the loop you walk? Just to clarify, crow begging right now indicates a breeding female on a nest, not fledged young. A couple of our nests should have hatched this weekend, but they were early and most of the 60+ nests we're following are on a later schedule, with fledging in late May or June. Best, Kevin From: bounce-18840425-3493...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-18840425-3493...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Susan Fast Sent: Sunday, April 17, 2011 9:57 AM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Hammond Hill SF I took my usual loop walk around Star Stanton and Hammond Hills early this morning. High winds and occasional snow flurries. Very few birds. But a couple highlights: a male PURPLE FINCH sang from the top of a spruce. It sang a continuous odd jumble of notes and short phrases, quite unlike the more typical song. Suddenly the clouds opened and a brilliant blue sky dawned; the effect was more amazing than a Marie Read photo. At the large blow-down area along Trail Y-1, I loitered, hoping for to see my favorite bird. He did not disappoint, as, close by, he woke up, blasted out a complete song, then went back to bed. Hint: WINTER WREN. Lastly, I heard the plaintive begging calls of an AMER CROW from a spruce stand. I thought this was a bit early for up there, but I guess not. 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/ --
RE: [cayugabirds-l] Hammond Hill SF
I figured it was a female on a nest. Approx. location of begging calls: to the NW of the large parking lot at the top of Hammond Hill Rd. There is a private driveway which you encounter, on the left, as you come up Hammond Hill Rd. The driveway is about 30 yds. before you come to the parking lot. There is a large stand of Norway spruce on the west side of this driveway. The calls came from within this stand. As the begging calls were going on, another crow flew out of this stand, heading SW and calling. It crossed H. H. Rd., lit in a tree, and continued calling. There were 3-4 other crows also occasionally calling from the spruces downhill from the single calling crow (male?) It appeared a discussion of some sort was going on; it did not appear heated, nor was there any sign of a hawk, etc. For reference, the loop I walk starts at the base of Star Stanton Hill Rd., about 100' from Irish Settlement Rd., goes up S. S. Hill Rd. to the top of the hill (abandoned section), then south on a woods road (extension of Canaan Rd.) to the junction with Trail Y-1, down Y-1 to the Hammond Hill parking lot, then west to the start. _ From: Kevin J. McGowan [mailto:k...@cornell.edu] Sent: Sunday, April 17, 2011 10:30 AM To: Susan Fast; CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: RE: [cayugabirds-l] Hammond Hill SF Steve, what is the loop you walk? Just to clarify, crow begging right now indicates a breeding female on a nest, not fledged young. A couple of our nests should have hatched this weekend, but they were early and most of the 60+ nests we're following are on a later schedule, with fledging in late May or June. Best, Kevin From: bounce-18840425-3493...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-18840425-3493...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Susan Fast Sent: Sunday, April 17, 2011 9:57 AM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Hammond Hill SF I took my usual loop walk around Star Stanton and Hammond Hills early this morning. High winds and occasional snow flurries. Very few birds. But a couple highlights: a male PURPLE FINCH sang from the top of a spruce. It sang a continuous odd jumble of notes and short phrases, quite unlike the more typical song. Suddenly the clouds opened and a brilliant blue sky dawned; the effect was more amazing than a Marie Read photo. At the large blow-down area along Trail Y-1, I loitered, hoping for to see my favorite bird. He did not disappoint, as, close by, he woke up, blasted out a complete song, then went back to bed. Hint: WINTER WREN. Lastly, I heard the plaintive begging calls of an AMER CROW from a spruce stand. I thought this was a bit early for up there, but I guess not. 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] Sunday around the lake
Hi all, After sleeping in today Bob and Ann picked me up for a trip up the lake to see what was new. It was a funny day with the weather. Although we had some new birds for the year, numbers were low, and we had to work to get them. At Mud Lock the female Bald Eagle was vocalizing almost constantly with their, I think, too wimpy raptor call. It was nice to hear Savanna and Swamp Sparrows again. Here are some highlights from a few of our stops including the surprise Black-crowned Night Herons sitting in a tree at the start of Towpath Rd and our first Common Moorhen at Matin's Tract. We missed the shorebirds on the auto-loop the first time around probably because a Peregrine Falcon was hunting. The second loop was the charm. Location: Lake Road Observation date: 4/17/11 Notes: 40 deg. cloudy, gentle/mod.- breeze Number of species: 3 Northern Harrier 1 European Starling 2 Savannah Sparrow 1 This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.orghttp://ebird.org/) Location: Montezuma NWR--Auto Loop Observation date: 4/17/11 Notes: 40 deg. cloudy, gentle/mod.- breeze. No large numbers of any birds. Number of species: 16 Canada Goose X American Wigeon X Mallard 3 Blue-winged Teal X Northern Shoveler X Green-winged Teal X Common Merganser 2 Pied-billed Grebe 2 Red-tailed Hawk 1 Peregrine Falcon 1 Herring Gull (American) 1 European Starling X Song Sparrow X Swamp Sparrow 1 Red-winged Blackbird X Common Grackle X This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org Location: Montezuma NWR - Towpath Rd. Observation date: 4/17/11 Notes: 40 deg. cloudy, gentle/mod.- breeze. Eagles were all imm. Number of species: 23 Trumpeter Swan 1 Wood Duck 6 Green-winged Teal (American) 40 Pied-billed Grebe 4 Double-crested Cormorant 30 Great Blue Heron 5 Black-crowned Night-Heron 2 Turkey Vulture 1 Osprey 1 Bald Eagle 4 Northern Harrier 1 Bonaparte's Gull 16 Ring-billed Gull 120 Herring Gull (American) 1 Caspian Tern 2 American Crow X Tufted Titmouse 1 American Robin 4 Cedar Waxwing X Song Sparrow 2 Swamp Sparrow 1 Red-winged Blackbird X Brown-headed Cowbird 1 This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.orghttp://ebird.org/) Location: Marten's Tract Observation date: 4/17/11 Notes: 40 deg. cloudy, gentle/mod.- breeze. Small numbers of Ducks Number of species: 5 Canada Goose X Northern Pintail X Green-winged Teal (American) X Common Moorhen 1 gull sp. X Song Sparrow 1 This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.orghttp://ebird.org/) Location: N. Montezuma WMA--Railroad Rd. Observation date: 4/17/11 Notes: 40 deg. cloudy, gentle/mod.- breeze Number of species: 14 Canada Goose X American Wigeon X Mallard X American Bittern 1 Turkey Vulture 14 Virginia Rail 2 Killdeer 1 Caspian Tern 1 Tree Swallow 200 Barn Swallow 1 American Robin X Song Sparrow 1 Swamp Sparrow 3 Red-winged Blackbird X This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.orghttp://ebird.org/) Location: Montezuma NWR--Auto Loop Observation date: 4/17/11 Notes: 40 deg. cloudy, gentle/mod.- breeze. A quick drive by the new shorebird spot. Number of species: 5 Killdeer 1 Pectoral Sandpiper 5 Dunlin 3 American Crow X Tree Swallow X This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.orghttp://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] SFO local trip
Some highlights from a fine morning with the SFO local trip. From Monkey run south, where we found no new migrants but listened to songs of residents and watched the sun come out, we proceeded to Mount Pleasant, where we found cold WSW wind and no raptor movement at ~ 8:30 am. The only passing traveler was a single DC CORMORANT flying high; there was a group of N FLICKERS that may have been migrants foraging for the morning, and we heard and saw a presumably local C RAVEN. We stopped off at the game farm where a patch of sunshine beautifully lit a great demonstration of multiple RED-TAILED HAWKs' aerobatics in the strong wind. A single distant BROAD-WINGED hawk went by heading north, but was seen only by the leader and not counted on our list. We next went down to Stewart Park where there were some SCAUP (L) on the water along with BUFFLEHEADS, and (probably more than one, though not seen/heard simultaneously) YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS around the swan pen. Also great looks at many ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWs, flying and perched, along with the TREE and BARN SWs for comparison. Also had great looks at a presumably newly-arrived migrant BROWN THRASHER foraging on the ground in front of the boathouse, along with HOODED MERGANSERS in the channel. An OSPREY did a very dramatic low-altitude flyover, ending in a spectacular folded-wing acceleration down and out of view behind the boathouse. We later watched it deconstruct a fish while perched in a tree across the channel. Next stop was Burdick Hill Rd, where we heard but did not see an E MEADOWLARK, also E BLUEBIRD, KESTREL and a single (!) TURKEY. Finally we stopped at Comstock knoll and heard a couple of songs from a PINE WARBLER and RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES. Back at the lab we picked up a FIELD SPARROW and FOX SPARROW, and a PIED-BILLED GREBE. A 57 sp. morning, thanks to all good observers! --John Greenly -- 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/ --
