[cayugabirds-l] Screech-owl
Driving east (30mph) on Slaterville/Harford road (Caroline?) at about 7:15PM yesterday evening, my companion and I were startled by a collision and accompanying loud thud on the passenger side of the windshield of my early model Nissan Sentra. After a few breathless seconds we stopped, turned around, and found the object of our unfortunate encounter--a gray Eastern Screech-owl, sitting motionless, eyes closed, right in the center of the poorly-lit road. I pulled the car to the side of the animal and put my flashers on. Keeping the owl in the indirect beam of the headlights, I squatted close to take a look. It was clearly sitting upright, and there was no visible external damage. As soon as I was on the owl's level, it shuffled itself a bit and within a moment, opened wide its calm, yellow-green eyes. It turned its head and looked at me. I said some gentle words of sincere apology. It blinked, and made a single, plaintive noise that I can best describe as a sonorous peep. It was a ridiculously adorable creature. Still quite unsure of the overall condition of this being, I timidly stroked the back of its head. He bristled mildly. Sensing the bird was coming out of being stunned, I thought the most important thing was to determine whether the wings were damaged. I prodded a bit more insistently on its back, hoping to get it to stretch its appendages a bit. It obliged, and after the briefest of self-exploratory motions, the owl whisked itself out of sight into the adjacent woods. Marc Devokaitis Ithaca NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Screech-owl
I'm glad to hear that Marc's owl recovered quickly. Last fall I witnessed a young Red-Tailed Hawk, inexpertly hunting, collide with a car, and I ended up taking it to CU's Wildlife Rehab facility on Hungerford Hill Rd. Weeks later they emailed to say that it was expected to make a complete recovery and would be released back into the wild. I'm so glad to know that we have professional, emergency wildlife care in the area. And the RWBBs were back in Brooktondale this morning. And the geese are migrating! Robin On Wed, Mar 6, 2013 at 9:14 AM, Marc Devokaitis mdevokai...@gmail.comwrote: Driving east (30mph) on Slaterville/Harford road (Caroline?) at about 7:15PM yesterday evening, my companion and I were startled by a collision and accompanying loud thud on the passenger side of the windshield of my early model Nissan Sentra. After a few breathless seconds we stopped, turned around, and found the object of our unfortunate encounter--a gray Eastern Screech-owl, sitting motionless, eyes closed, right in the center of the poorly-lit road. I pulled the car to the side of the animal and put my flashers on. Keeping the owl in the indirect beam of the headlights, I squatted close to take a look. It was clearly sitting upright, and there was no visible external damage. As soon as I was on the owl's level, it shuffled itself a bit and within a moment, opened wide its calm, yellow-green eyes. It turned its head and looked at me. I said some gentle words of sincere apology. It blinked, and made a single, plaintive noise that I can best describe as a sonorous peep. It was a ridiculously adorable creature. Still quite unsure of the overall condition of this being, I timidly stroked the back of its head. He bristled mildly. Sensing the bird was coming out of being stunned, I thought the most important thing was to determine whether the wings were damaged. I prodded a bit more insistently on its back, hoping to get it to stretch its appendages a bit. It obliged, and after the briefest of self-exploratory motions, the owl whisked itself out of sight into the adjacent woods. Marc Devokaitis Ithaca NY -- *Cayugabirds-L List Info:* Welcome and Basics http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME Rules and Information http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES Subscribe, Configuration and Leavehttp://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm *Archives:* The Mail Archivehttp://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html Surfbirds http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds BirdingOnThe.Net http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html *Please submit your observations to eBirdhttp://ebird.org/content/ebird/ !* -- -- Be kind. Be careful. Be yourself. (In that order.) -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Hammond Hill/Yellow Barn: Drilling in State Forests? Be at March 7 Public Hearing!!
Hi all, Here is some information about DEC plans for two well-known birding locations near Ithaca - Hammond Hill and Yellow Barn State Forests. The DEC may consider drilling in these two areas. PLEASE SAVE THE DATE - DEC SEEKS PUBLIC FEEDBACK ON THE DRAFT TWIN SHEDS UNIT MANAGEMENT PLAN (UMP) Read the Twin Sheds document and see that they're considering drilling in Hammond Hill and Yellow Barn State forests (towns of Dryden and Caroline) WHAT: A meeting to accept public feedback on the Draft Twin Sheds UMP. The draft plan is posted on the DEC's website at http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/88726.html A limited number of copies of the plan are available on compact disk (CD). Please contact the DEC Cortland Lands and Forests office at (607) 753-3095 ext. 217 to request a copy. WHEN: Thursday, March 7, 2013, from 3:30 pm to 5:45 pm, and 6:30 pm to 8:45 pm (two separate sessions) WHERE: At the Tompkins-Cortland Community College Forum Room, located at 170 North St., Dryden, New York. Directions to Tompkins-Cortland Community College are available at the following link: http://www.tc3.edu/about_tc3/map.asp WHY: The Twin Sheds Draft Unit Management Plan was developed to address short and long term state forest land management needs, values and opportunities. FORMAT OF THE MEETINGS: The first half hour of each session will be an open house format which provides time for the public to informally discuss the draft plan with DEC Lands and Forest staff. Beginning at 4 and 7 pm, respectively, DEC staff will briefly present highlights of the draft plan. Following the presentation, the public will have an opportunity to comment on the plan. Those unable to attend the meeting are invited to submit comments to the DEC by mail to: NYSDEC, Division of Lands and Forests, Attn: John Clancy, 1285 Fisher Avenue, Cortland, New York, 13045- 1090, or by email to: jmcla...@gw.dec.state.ny.usmailto:jmcla...@gw.dec.state.ny.us. Written comments will be accepted until April 7, 2013. Laura Stenzler l...@cornell.edu -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Peregrine
More Rt 13 birding from Danskin…. 4:45 pm today a Peregrine Falcon was headed northbound in the southbound lane of Rt 13 (Ok really about 20 ft above the lane) near the mall. -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Cayuga Lake (North End) - Huge numbers/new arrivals
Arriving at the Savannah Mucklands at 2pm Wednesday, it was obviously at the leading edge of new migrants/movement. On to Mud Lock, Harris Park, Cayuga Lake SP, and Lower Lake Rd. The ice edge starts south of Harris Park and extends to the area of CLSP. The ice edge is leading to calm waters and dense concentration. Distant but good viewing. Huge numbers of birds. Many new migrants in evidence, primarily Pintails, Black Ducks, Wigeon, Ring-necked Duck. I couldn't find anything unusual. The spectacle is excellent but won't last long. I think the Snow Geese may stage at the Mucks but go on the next sunny morning (which I think will be Saturday). Dave Wheeler N Syracuse, Ny Cayuga Lake - North End, Seneca, US-NY Mar 6, 2013 3:10 PM - 6:10 PM Protocol: Traveling 5.0 mile(s) Comments: Includes viewing from Mud Lock to the RR Bridge, Harris Park, Cayuga Lake SP, Lower Lake Rd; NE winds 10mph; ice shelf from 1/2 mile south of Harris Park to just south of CLSP but some open edge spots; big concentrations 30 species (+1 other taxa) Snow Goose 3 or more; estimated; strong evening flight to the south ice edge coming mostly from the west Canada Goose 1000 Mute Swan 1 Tundra Swan 500 estimated Gadwall 300 or more, possibly double this number American Wigeon 500 or more, possibly double this number American Black Duck 300 or more, possibly double this number Mallard 300 or more, possibly double this number Northern Shoveler 2 Northern Pintail 3000 estimated Canvasback 2000 estimated Redhead 15000 estimated Ring-necked Duck 800 estimated Greater Scaup X no estimate of the fractions Lesser Scaup X no estimate of the fractions Greater/Lesser Scaup 1 estimated Bufflehead 6 Common Goldeneye 100 probably missed some Hooded Merganser 10 Common Merganser 500 Great Blue Heron 1 Bald Eagle 2 American Coot 20 Ring-billed Gull 100 Herring Gull 100 Great Black-backed Gull 10 Belted Kingfisher 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 American Crow 20 Black-capped Chickadee 1 Red-winged Blackbird 75 small groups migrating along Lower Lake Rd (same as last year) View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S13314693 Savannah Mucklands (Seneca Co), Seneca, US-NY Mar 6, 2013 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Protocol: Stationary Comments: East side of the Mucks still frozen; leading edge of new birds and movement 14 species Snow Goose 500 mostly on the move Canada Goose 750 mostly on the move Tundra Swan 200 mostly on the move American Black Duck 150 Mallard 250 Northern Pintail 800 Northern Harrier 2 Bald Eagle 2 Ring-billed Gull 200 Herring Gull 200 Great Black-backed Gull 1 Merlin 1 American Crow 20 Horned Lark 1 singing View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S13314514 -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
