Re: [cayugabirds-l] snow geese sightings?

2014-03-20 Thread Jae Sullivan 
Saw many in a field on right going north on Rt. 89past Sheldrake.  
They flew west, not far. 

Gorgeous pattern of bright whites and dark wing tips against an ominous 
purplish sky!
 
Jae




"We lose our souls if we lose the experience of the forest, the butterflies, 
the song of the birds, if we can't see the stars at night."  -- Thomas Berry



On Thursday, March 20, 2014 8:34 PM, erin caruth  wrote:
 
We are hoping to see some snow geese on Cayuga Lake. Is it too late? Any snow 
geese rafts around?
>We are in Ithaca, but will take a drive. Thanks
>
>Erin Caruth
>
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[cayugabirds-l] snow geese sightings?

2014-03-20 Thread erin caruth 
We are hoping to see some snow geese on Cayuga Lake. Is it too late? Any snow 
geese rafts around?
We are in Ithaca, but will take a drive. Thanks

Erin Caruth



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[cayugabirds-l] Merganser

2014-03-20 Thread David McDermitt 
Enjoyed seeing 2 Common Mergansers from the Giles St. bridge this morning.
The female was preening while the male sat next to her on the ice at the
edge of Six Mile Creek.

Dave

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1610 Danby Rd
Ithaca, NY 14850
607-339-9907
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[cayugabirds-l] Eurasian Wigeon continues

2014-03-20 Thread Kenneth V. Rosenberg 
the male EURASIAN WIGEON was still on the ice edge at the SW corner of Cayuga 
Lake at about 12:30 today -- behaving much as Ben reported, walking up on the 
ice and not associating with the American Wigeons nearby. Difficult looks 
through the trees from Rt. 89, but a beautiful bird.

KEN


Ken Rosenberg
Conservation Science Program
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
607-254-2412
607-342-4594 (cell)
k...@cornell.edu


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Re: [cayugabirds-l] crows nesting

2014-03-20 Thread Anne Clark 
Not too early...Kevin found a crow on Yellow Barn road incubating this past 
weekend and there are crows building all over Cayuga Heights. The family at the 
end of Sapsucker Woods Rd and Hanshaw is probably nearing completion of their 
nest.   The peak of many years for starting incubation  is about 5 April.  
However, they often build well before starting incubation--cradle before baby.  

That said...we are particularly interested in nests in rural areas.  Anyone who 
has one, please send Kevin or I locations, off list, especially if we can band 
the nestlings.   ALSO, anyone seeing tagged birds in their yards, or building 
anywhere--a note please!  We lost about 70+ tagged or known birds during the 
last two summers (Aug-October), due to West Nile virus and we expect our 
younger survivors (2-4 year olds--red, grey or dark green tags) to have lots of 
breeding opportunities.   

Thanks, 
anne


On Mar 20, 2014, at 12:11 PM, Susan Fast wrote:

> What I assume are two of our Yard crows have been working on a nest for about 
> a week.  It's approx. 60-70 feet up in a white pine and I can see parts of 
> the nest from our kitchen.  Earlier today, one carried a mouthful of twigs to 
> the site, then repeated this.  They took a break for a couple hours and just 
> now I watched one gathering coarse dead grass from the Yard.  After taking a 
> wad of this to the nest, it dropped down and got another mouthful; but spit 
> this out.  It walked to another spot, pulled up another mouthful, and spit 
> that out too.  It finally got a small wad of what appeared to be the center 
> stem from hickory leaves(which it was under), and delivered that to the nest. 
>  This seems a little early, but what do I know?
> 
> Steve Fast
> Brooktondale
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[cayugabirds-l] crows nesting

2014-03-20 Thread Susan Fast 
What I assume are two of our Yard crows have been working on a nest for about a 
week.  It's approx. 60-70 feet up in a white pine and I can see parts of the 
nest from our kitchen.  Earlier today, one carried a mouthful of twigs to the 
site, then repeated this.  They took a break for a couple hours and just now I 
watched one gathering coarse dead grass from the Yard.  After taking a wad of 
this to the nest, it dropped down and got another mouthful; but spit this out.  
It walked to another spot, pulled up another mouthful, and spit that out too.  
It finally got a small wad of what appeared to be the center stem from hickory 
leaves(which it was under), and delivered that to the nest.  This seems a 
little early, but what do I know?

Steve Fast
Brooktondale

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[cayugabirds-l] Monday Night Seminar: Unraveling the Mysteries of Songbird Mating Systems

2014-03-20 Thread Marc Devokaitis 
Hello All,


Please join us at *7:30 on March 24* for the next Monday Night Seminar at
the Lab of Ornithology .
As always, these seminars are free and open to the public. The doors open
at 7:00.



*Sara Kaiser, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Unraveling the Mysteries of Songbird Mating Systems*

*Host: Mike Webster *Sara Kaiser is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the
Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center.
She'll discuss how habitat quality affects where and how often the
seemingly monogamous Black-throated Blue Warbler mates outside its pair
bond. Most male Black-throated Blue Warblers are "socially monogamous,"
meaning they are mated to a single female. However, all is not as it
appears: up to 50% of Black-throated Blue Warbler nests have young sired by
a male that is not the territory holder. Sara has been studying the mating
system of these warblers in the hardwood forests of New Hampshire.


Thanks for helping to spread the word--hope to see you there!

Marc



*UPCOMING MONDAY NIGHT SEMINARS*





*March 31 Margaret Barker, Elissa Wolfson, Chris Willett Building, Placing,
and Maintaining Great Homes for Great Birds Host: Robyn Bailey *Join
authors Margaret Barker and Elissa Wolfson, along with woodworker Chris
Willett as they share what they learned--and built--while writing and
researching the Audubon Birdhouse Book (Voyageur Press, 2013). Find out how
to build for birds that take up residence within birdhouses--including Wood
Ducks, kestrels, and of course, bluebirds--as well as those such as Great
Blue Herons, Ospreys, and loons that nest "outside the box." We'll explore
the reasons behind birdhouse building, especially where natural habitat is
scarce, the latest design innovations, and how people everywhere are
helping birds by providing them with safe homes.





*April 7 Taza Schaming, PhD candidate; Cornell Lab of Ornithology Clark's
Nutcrackers: Pivotal Players in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Host: TBA*
Whitebark pine and Clark's Nutcrackers have a fascinating relationship. The
trees provide the birds with rich, fatty seeds that have more calories per
pound than chocolate. In return, the nutcrackers "plant" the seeds that
grow whitebark pines as well as 10 other conifer species--trees needed to
provide food for wildlife and to helping retain snow (and thus drinking
water) on the upper slopes of the Rockies. Schaming will also provide
insights into the social behavior of the Clark's Nutcracker.




*April 14 Cayuga Bird Club Meeting Dr. John L. Confer, Biology Department,
Ithaca College Saw-whet Owls: The Cute Factor Aids Science: 206,000 Birds
Banded by Insomniac Banders Reveal Migration Patterns and Regional
Reproductive Success*
The Northern Saw-whet Owl is widely distributed and an intensive banding
effort provides a data trove for this tiny raptor. Banding records combined
with GIS analyses reveal exceptional detail about migration patterns in
eastern and central North America which allows us to analyze
temporal/spatial patterns of reproductive success for breeding populations
in different portions of North America.




* April 21 Anne B. Clark, Binghamton University; Kevin McGowan, Cornell Lab
of Ornithology; To Know the Crow: Insights and stories from a quarter
century of crow study Host: TBA*
American crows have followed us into our suburban and urban neighborhoods,
making them one of our most familiar birds. But they have socially
intricate lives, with more complex goals than converging at your local
dumpster--in fact, socially, they are probably more like us than any
primate. Ithaca is home to the longest running study of marked American
crows anywhere: it is now 26 years since Kevin first began banding them.
Kevin and Anne will tell some of their stories, including tales of family
values and treachery, stay-at-homes and travelers, dynasties and disease.




* April 28 Alfonso Aguirre Muñoz, Director, Grupo de Ecología y
Conservación de Islas Restoration of Mexican Islands and Conservation of
Birds Host: Eduardo Iñigo-Elias*
The Mexican islands are among the most valuable natural ecosystems. While
well preserved, invasive mammals have been a big threat to its
biodiversity, even causing the extinction of some island species. In
response, Mexico has eradicated 56 populations of invasive mammals from 36
islands, protecting 147 endemic species of mammals, reptiles, birds and
plants. In addition, 227 colonies of seabirds have been protected. The
eradication of invasive mammals from the approximately 40 remaining islands
is a strategic goal achievable by 2025, thanks to the collaboration of
local communities, federal government agencies, academic institutions, and
NGOs, as well as national and international donors and funds.





* May 12 Cayuga Bird Club Meeting Mia Boynton PhD, granddaughter of Louis
Fuertes and independent writer Fuertes Revisited: A Bird Artist in His
Setting

[cayugabirds-l] TVs and a bone mystery at Asbury

2014-03-20 Thread Chris R. Pelkie 
The Turkey Vultures have been reappearing in numbers this week over my house 
and woods and landing in the pines on Asbury Rd just east of the cemetery 
(corner of Triphammer and Asbury) and occasionally in the neighbors’ large 
pines next to our sunroom.

We have had resident pair or two all winter.
Monday, there were 6 birds.
Tues there were 14.
Wed there were 25-30 (couldn’t count as they were boiling around).

I had a good look at the half-white winged (left wing) individual for the first 
time since last year. I thought I saw a spot of white on its breast or belly 
and at first thought it was carrying something white. Haven’t seen it yet again 
to resolve what I was seeing. It may have just been tipped at a weird angle at 
first glance, so I was seeing the wing tip.

Tue I saw 2 cavorting in a raven-like way: very close coordinated flying with 
sharp turns, almost wing tips touching. Never noticed TUVU doing this before so 
very intriguing. Not sure if that is a courting pair or a rivalry show-off pair.

I really like watching these guys; they clearly are having a ball flying in 
harsh windy conditions like yesterday’s. They do some crazy Ivan stunts like 
fly really low and really fast down the creek bed through the trees or really 
low over my house and adjacent trees, then shoot up in the air. Some were being 
pushed sideways by the wind, but always under control (fortunately, to date, 
none have smashed into my sunroom windows like the passerines). I think of them 
as the skateboarders of the bird world: taking nutty chances to show off and 
just have fun.

They all look pretty healthy too: clean bright plumage and bright red face skin 
on the whole; only one missing primary on one bird of the many observed. I 
wonder if the ‘hard’ winter led to more food sources: i have certainly noticed 
decaying flesh smell on several recent walks at home and SSW (and checked my 
boots to be sure it wasn’t me). Probably critters being exposed as the snow 
melts. My dog has turned up several Red Fox caches under the snow.

A few days ago, I found a beef leg bone piece (about 5 inches long, 4 in 
diameter) that we had given the dog, then disposed of in the compost heap when 
she was done getting all the marrow out. The bone was stashed up in the crotch 
of a small branch, 6’ off the ground on a large horizontally growing box elder 
that I pass under when we do our walk. It stayed there a couple days and is 
back on the ground again now (not directly under where it would have fallen). 
Raccoon? Opossum (we had one pass through the yard in the last few days)? Fox 
(they can climb trees and this would be an esp. easy place for a fox to get 
to)? Raptor (we have a resident Cooper’s Hawk but that seems like a silly thing 
for it to fool with)? Corvid? There was no meat or marrow on this bone, so I 
can’t imagine what critter thought it was worth the effort to cache. I think it 
must be too heavy and unwieldy for either squirrel species in the neighborhood.

__

Chris Pelkie
Research Analyst
Bioacoustics Research Program
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Road
Ithaca, NY 14850


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