[cayugabirds-l] Lansing birds
Saturday a pair of E. BLUEBIRDS on Lans. Stat. Rd. today ~30 SNOW GEESE flying northeast away from Cayuga Lake, today on Lans. Stat. Rd. Probable female A. KESTREL on wire by Scofield Rd. north side NY RT 34B. Sent from my iPhone Donna Scott -- 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] Birding lake/Montezuma yesterday
We also saw the pipits (2) along Wildlife Drive at Montezuma. Believe the large white birds were Tundra swans, not snow geese (saw them fly, no black wing tips etc. Many mixed duck groups , including the Mill Pond in Union Springs, preponderance of Wigeons, and the notable and easily seen raft just south of east shore sailing with maybe 30 ruddy ducks. Very rewarding day. -- 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] Syracuse RBA
RBA * New York* Syracuse* December 01, 2014* NYSY 12. 01. 14 Hotline: Syracuse Rare bird AlertDates(s):November 24, 2014 - December 01, 2014to report by e-mail: brinjoseph AT yahoo.comcovering upstate NY counties: Cayuga, Montezuma National Wildlife Refugeand Montezuma Wetlands Complex (MWC) (just outside Cayuga County),Onondaga, Oswego, Lewis, Jefferson, Oneida, Herkimer, Madison & Cortlandcompiled: December 01 AT 5:00 p.m. (EST)compiler: Joseph BrinOnondaga Audubon Homepage: www.onondagaaudubon.org #419 Monday December 01, 2014 Greetings. This is the Syracuse Area Rare Bird Alert for the week of November 24, 2014 Highlights:--- RED-THROATED LOONTUNDRA SWANROSS’S GOOSECACKLING GOOSEMERLINSANDHILL CRANEICELAND GULLGLAUCOUS GULLNORTHERN SHRIKETOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRERUBY-CROWNED KINGLETEVENING GROSBEAKCOMMON REDPOLL Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR) and Montezuma Wetlands Complex (MWC) Although Shorebirds are gone Waterfowl still abound at the complex. 19 species were recorded this week. 11/24: 75 SANDHILL CRANES were seen from East Road. A ROSS’S GOOSE was seen also. 11.25: The SANDHILL CRANE count at East Road hit 81 this day! 11/26: A MERLIN was seen along Rt.31 in the mucklands. A NORTHERN SHRIKE was seen from East Road. 11/27: A CACKLING GOOSE was seen in Knox-Marsellus Road. Onondaga County 11/24: A BRANT was seen along Onondaga Parkway on Onondaga Lake. 2 TUNDRA SWANS were seen in Beaver Lake. The next day 16 were seen in flight over the lake but did not land. 11/26: A COMMON LOON was seen at Beaver Lake.A TUNDRA SWAN was seen on Skaneateles Lake from the village. 11/28: A RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET was seen at Carpenter’s Brook Fish Hatchery. 11/29: A COMMON REDPOLL was seen at Beaver Lake Nature Center. 11/30: A RED-THROATED LOON was seen on Onondaga lake from the Marina. A NORTHERN SHRIKE was seen on Dunham Road near Beaver Lake. Oswego County 11/28: A GLAUCOUS GULL was seen at Derby Hill. Madison County 11/25: 2 EVENING GROSBEAKS were seen at a feeder on Carpenter Road near Sheds. More were seen at the same location on 11/28. 11/29: A TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE, found last week was relocated. The location is at a nature sanctuary on Irish Hill Road near mailbox #3375 southeast of Cazenovia. Look for Marshview Trail. The bird was seen and photographed today. Cayuga County 11/25: 22 TUNDRA SWANS were seen on Tindall Road in the town of Ira. A probable but unconfirmed BLACK-HEADED GULL was seen in flight at Fair Have State Park. Oneida County 11/29: An ICELAND GULL was seen on Oneida Lake near Sylvan Beach. -- end report Joseph BrinRegion 5Baldwinsville, N.Y. 13027 U.S.A. -- 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] Mill Pond ... Union Springs
Thanks to all who have written to me. I agree with Donna Scott about personal, paper letters. If necessary, I can print letters to present to the mayor. I would like to have copies of whatever is sent to the Mayor. Letters should be addressed to: Mayor Ed Trufant and Board of Trustees, Village of Union Springs Chapel St. on the Lake Union Springs, NY 13160 ***_The path specs are_: Path is to be about 90 meters long, 1.5 meters wide & is to be 3 meters from the pond at the west end & at the widest point will be10 meters from the pond. (At one of the narrowest points about 1/3 of the way down the pond, is where I have observed the wood ducks & babies entering the pond. Whether their nest tree is still there, I can't say because I never walked along the pond since it was private property.) Dave Nutter has walked the perimeter & has presented good observations. (His precise pond bird counts yesterday were great!) Weather is getting nastier but if anyone else can, & cares to walk the proposed trail area & state an opinion, please do so. Note that the cleared area to the north of Shurfine is private property so walk from Rte. 90 westward. (A LOT of the litter comes from people who buy & eat their lunches at Shurfine & the pizza shop & throw their trash out the vehicle windows.) I have a copy of the lad's proposal. He quotes: "There was an interest expressed in the public surveys of having a nature center and trails within the community." Pg. 46 The Village Comprehensive Plan Recommendations for Natural Resources section says: "Promotion of nature trails or a nature center in the vicinity of these sensitive environmental area(s) (the North and South ponds) would also aid in the protection of the area." Pg. 37. (If I recall, this Village Plan was written in relation to the first meeting I attended 2 yrs. ago.) The lad said, "I think building the trail would help to enhance the natural setting of the Mill Pond . would promote a deeper appreciation for the bird life that uses the pond by educating the people who use the (proposed) trail, through trail signs. It would offer a quiet place for people in our village to come and enjoy some of the most beautiful wetland areas in the region. It would enhance our village, by developing a natural resource that we have & making it more accessible to our people." He proposes "small signs (miniature bird box shapes) along the trail that identify some of the local bird species that trail-walkers might see nesting or resting as they travel along their migratory route. ... would like to make a sign that welcomes people & serves as a location to share information about the history of the pond ... add 2 or 3 benches (along the path) to allow people to sit & enjoy the natural setting of the pond as well as observe & appreciate the natural wildlife that inhabits it." "If the Board accepts my proposal, I understand I will need to offer up another proposal that specifies more clearly the specific materials we would use & a clearer time frame for its completion." I must make a correction on my 1st letter. He identified a Red-necked grebe as being a red necked duck, not an eared grebe, as I wrote. Thanks again for taking up this not-well-thought-out proposal which has good intentions but needs birder level input. I don't want to squash his willingness. Perhaps some think we as birders are selfish in wanting to keep the pond a /nature/ environment "for us & the birds." My feeling also is that Frontenac Park has lots of walking, sitting area for the public to enjoy nature & birds that aren't so close as to be easily disturbed. Dogs are not permitted there (supposedly) but the ponds don't have that protection. Fritzie -- 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] Letters opposed to a proposal for Union Sp Mill Pond
Re response to this boy scout proposal for the Union Spring Mill pond: I have much experience with "activism" & letter writing to small town/non-Ithaca town boards (Lansing is not at all like Ithaca, with regard to its governance and with the values of many of its citizens). I chaired the huge effort last year to produce almost 200 paper letters to the Lans. Town Board to ask them to approve acquisition of the Bell Station undeveloped lakeshore land, by the NYSDEC for a State Forest (instead of housing developments as some on the board wished). We also generated a large number of environmentally-friendly people attending town bd meetings for a while). Fritzie, please provide the names of Village board members and the proper US Mail address for letters to this board. Yes, we should all write BRIEF -, one page only, to the point, paper letters (not emails) that address why the pond should stay as it is now, and its bushy surrounds should not be disturbed or cut down for a path & benches, why the birds need the bushes and ducks to be undisturbed by human walkers around the pond. However, local town boards will ignore letters from "outsiders" 1) unless we provide "good authority" for what we write (we need some Lab of O employees to write letters), and 2) unless we show how we birders benefit the local economy. (or other benefits you may think of). Eg., I am going to write that I buy pizza nearby at the NY Pizzaria and do grocery shopping at the Shur Save Grocery store, as well as buy food from other restaurants in U Spring, when I am there bird watching. (all true). This point is very important to remember. "Outsiders" may be ignored, unless we show why we, too, benefit Union Springs. Another possible point: The Mill Pond area as it exists right now, with its street-side mowed part and cute gazebo, already provides a nice spot for humans; leaving the bushy part for animals and birds provides something for all species - and all the birds and animals help "entertain" humans who stop there. Put in a path, cut all the bushes and a lot of the "entertaining critters" will go away. I am going to suggest that we, with Fritzie's help, identify another location where energetic Boy Scouts could do a helpful badge-earning project, and try to get them focused away from the Mill pond. We can remind the Board at U Spring that they already have a large, mowed-lawn park right nearby at the lakeshore, so there is no compelling need to turn the small southern space by the Mill pond into yet another human-based" improvement", especially when doing so will cause great disturbance of many sorts to birds and other wildlife. Take time to write a paper letter to the Union Springs Village Board about this important issue. Donna Scott Lansing From: bounce-118568168-15001...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-118568168-15001...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of John and Fritzie Blizzard Sent: Saturday, November 29, 2014 11:29 PM To: Jay McGowan; Cayugabirds-L Subject: Re:[cayugabirds-l] Jay's report (+ a proposal for Mill Pond) Your update is MUCH appreciated, Jay. I've missed the reports. I was invited 2 wks. ago to the village hall to listen to, & comment about, a proposal by a young lad who wants to "clean up around Mill Pond" clean up litter & cut brush & put a path along the south side of the pond, along with several benches. He wants to do this to earn his Eagle Scout status. That's how the "roofless, benchless" but nice gazebo at the east end of the pond came to be. Another Eagle scout built that. Some on the village board were "gung-ho" about his idea & wanted to approve it right away. After I spoke one member persuaded the board to put the idea on hold until more input could be obtained, esp. from birders. I found that the lad & his mother actually know next to nothing about what birds are there, only that birds come to the pond & that people stop to look at them. Indeed, they had a picture of an eared grebe labeled as a red neck duck. Nothing was said about how wide the path would be or how close to the pond. My feeling is that benches are only needed at the east end of the pond. Less litter. Prisoners from the county jail come & mow the grass & cut brush at the east end & also at Factory St. pond. One board member said that it wouldn't matter if walkers along the pond edge scared the ducks to the other side of the pond! No one was aware that wood ducks or mallards (they're all just ducks) have nested in the brushy safety of the south edge of the pond or that the brush serves as nesting habitat for many kinds of small birds. It's true that LOTS of litter is in the brush but now that the Shurfine owner has had the trashy house at the entrance demolished & the lot cleaned & grassed over I believe the local youth who carried litter to & left it in the woods will no longer find it a place in which to congregate, especially if no benches are iin the woods. (I hope). U
[cayugabirds-l] Southern Highlands
I spent yesterday touring the so-called Southern Highlands, starting at the Tioughnioga WMA outside Woodstock (S. of Cazenovia) and moving south through a number of hilltop State Forest conifer plantations, ending in the Pharsalia area. Looked for birds and cones in Norway and white spruce, white and red pines, and larch. I found a few cones at the top of 1 (one) Norway spruce and no cones anywhere else. I heard 1 red squirrel. No finches of any kind. Birds seen/heard include 6 CHICKADEES, 5 BLUE JAYS, 1 each RED & WHITE NUTHATCHES, a few CROWS.But it was a fine day as I discovered several areas I had not been before and that will require further study. Mostly, the only sounds were the winds in the various species of trees, which I found interesting. Steve FastBrooktondale -- 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] EIRW walk from Honness lane to Game Farm Road
?Hi all, Yesterday I walked EIRW and the highlights of my walk are below here. Sparrows included White-throated Sparrows, Song Sparrows and Tree Sparrows near the feeder at house on EIRW near the junction of Hawthorn/foot ball field south entrance, where they usually hang around with local species like Nuthatches, Cardinals and Chickadees. At the entrance of the path off of Mitchell street where there is another feeder, I heard only a couple of times the ' Zeeert' of a Pine Siskin along with noisy House Finches and House Sparrows. On the north entrance of the Maple Wood Road there was the Northern Mockingbird in his usual location. When I passed under him he just looked at me and did not bother to fly away. Further down on the wire there was a lovely male Kestrel, which on my approach flew further down towards Pine tree Road. At the Game Farm Road end in the pines I saw a Brown Creeper and the usual local residents including a Hairy, Downy and Red-bellied. I looked for a shrike along the path near horse pasture but did not see any. Otherwise it was a quiet walk. Finally at home, when I was trashing my compost, I saw the Carolina Wren trying to hide among the brushes, while "churring". Today morning just a few minutes ago a Cardinal was singing in my backyard! Cheers Meena Meena Haribal Ithaca NY 14850 42.429007,-76.47111 http://www.haribal.org/ http://meenaharibal.blogspot.com/ Ithaca area moths: https://plus.google.com/118047473426099383469/posts Dragonfly book sample pages: http://www.haribal.org/dragonflies/samplebook.pdf -- 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/ --
