[cayugabirds-l] Turkey vultures: Union Springs
At 9:30 this a.m at least 24 TVs were in the field between Spring St. & Seminary St. with wings outstretched, facing the sun. They stayed for nearly an hour with one at a time eventually taking off. I have seen them circling around the tall evergreens immediately west of where they sat & wondered if they might be roosting there instead of down in the swamp behind the high school. Factory St. pond has been hosting 3 to 5 prs. of wood ducks. Several buffle heads continue on Mill. I have birdhouse holes covered to keep out house sparrows until I see bluebirds & tree swallows. Daughter Becky, has been out checking osprey nests & finding a lot of them occupied & several new NYSEG installed risers on utility poles. During our warm spell early last mo. a man on Kozy Kove Rd. put up a very tall pole with nice "regulation size" platform with a perch pole & "seeded" it with sticks. Fritzie Blizzard -- 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] Eagle Nest on Weyers Point Road
Dear birding friends. As one heads down toward Cayuga Lake on Weyers Point Rd. off of Rt. 89 (just north of Shelldrake)(about .7 of a mile down the road from Rt. 89) one can see what I think is an eagle nest off along the tree line across the field (as you look north). On my way to Ithaca this morning I stopped and scoped the nest out hoping to find an eagle or two. It is difficult to say but I do think I saw a white head in the nest.I just can't be sure. If anyone is down that way please keep an eye out for birds on/in the nest and let me know. Thanks.I will be monitoring it myself as well. Happy birding. Pete Saracino -- 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] Stewart Park walk
The sun came out, and the wind died, and about a dozen birders joined me for a slow stroll around the Swan Pond. Some beginning birders saw several life birds, and we all enjoyed spectacular looks at our breeding ducks. Any place that boasts WOOD DUCKS and HOODED MERGANSERS and COMMON MERGANSERS and MALLARDS is pretty special. Farther out were a few of our visiting waterfowl - scattered BUFFLEHEADS, a flock of SCAUP sp off Treman, about 50 RUDDY DUCKS near East Shore Park (including some breeding plumage males, their blue bills hard to discern against the water's reflections), and the biggest surprise for me, a male COMMON GOLDENEYE. There was also a distant COMMON LOON and a few distant RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS. We had an introduction to immature gull ID. We also got great looks at an EASTERN PHOEBE, a BELTED KINGFISHER, and a bold DOWNY WOODPECKER. Songbirds included a pair of BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS, males of RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD and COMMON GRACKLE, SONG SPARROW HOUSE SPARROW, HOUSE FINCH, AMERICAN GOLDFINCH, and AMERICAN ROBIN. Several additional species were heard. The show stoppers, however, were 2 OSPREYS flying past together, and an adult BALD EAGLE first flying south, then perching in Jetty Wood for quite awhile, then flying west and soaring high. I want to thank Sandy Wold for helping, Will Harrod for sharing his scope and expertise, and Stuart Krasnoff for a hot tip on some lake ducks. I think the trip was a great success. I cannot do this again for several weekends, but if anyone else would like to do lead such a walk, an announcement on CayugaBirds-L and to Friends of Stewart Park via Rick Manning helped get the word out. People really appreciate learning about the birds seen in and from this park! --Dave Nutter -- 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] Lansing Red-throated Loon & Red-necked Grebes
This morning before my walk at Stewart Park I biked north on East Shore Drive to the start of the hill. There is just enough room between the guardrail and the embankment to set up a tripod, and I scanned the lake in the hope of re-finding the RED-THROATED LOON which Tom Auer found yesterday from the car pull-off a short distance up the hill, according to eBird. Others have reported the bird somewhere in this vicinity as well. This morning, as Laura Stenzler mentioned, the lake was calmer than I expected and I was in luck. I first saw it very far to the NW in the direction of the Ithaca Yacht Club. The tall neck, and white foreneck & face were the best fieldmarks at that distance. Later it came farther south and afforded more detailed but briefer looks as it took a breath before repeatedly diving. Anyway I was able to see the thinner more upward-angled bill and the dark forecrown as well. Also far to the northwest I saw, swimming close together, 2 RED-NECKED GREBES in breeding plumage, each with a big white triangle on the cheek and a tall reddish neck. There were over 20 COMMON LOONS, all but 1 in breeding plumage. The closest loons two traded calls, which I had never seen or heard so well before. As Laura mentioned elsewhere, there were displaying RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS. There was also a tight flock of 7 LONG-TAILED DUCKS swimming fairly close to shore. --Dave Nutter -- 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] Myers Ospreys, Sat 9 Apr
On Saturday morning I took my SFO group to Salt Point. We saw no Ospreys on platform #69 (Church Hill), #3 (Salmon Cr), or #2 (Salt Pt). From Salt Pt we saw an Osprey perched in a tree along Salmon Cr on the Myers Park side. We also saw an Osprey atop #4 (Myers Hill), and a second Osprey, which had been perched on a tree by the pond north of Ladoga Park Rd and eating a fish, flew up to the platform briefly. After a couple minutes it flew east, still carrying its fish. A few minutes later from the Ladoga lake access we saw an Osprey fly west over the water not carrying any fish. Maybe it was coming from #68 (Cargill). We did not see that platform nor Portland Pt #1 & #2. --Dave Nutter -- 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] Great Blue Heron
First one for us this year, up on a pond on Comfort Rd in Danby, near Jersey Hill Rd. -- 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] osprey activity at Treman
The osprey nest # 59: Treman Marina nest, on the Cayuga Lake Osprey map had some promising activity today! While walking around the Treman Marina and lake shore area at around 11:30 or noon, we saw and heard an osprey calling on the nest. As we came closer to the nest, another osprey flew in, and a bit of mating activity took place. Cool! - yet I always feel a bit like obnoxious paparazzi when I have my binoculars aimed on the couple. After two or three minutes, one of the ospreys flew off, and the female (?) continued to call for a while longer. Perhaps eggs and chicks to come. -Liisa Liisa Mobley E-Resources Unit Supervisor, Cornell University Library, Ithaca, NY 14853 -- 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] Monkey Run South, Sun 4/10
The seasonal birding at Monkey Run South was even a little better than I had hoped on Sunday morning. * Three sightings of probably four FOX SPARROWS -- two along red-blazed trail where it runs low along Fall Creek, one by parking area, one singing near wide grassy path where it crosses the road. The two along the red trail revealed their presence with subtly distinctive rising “tt?” calls. They remained unseen for a long time but eventually perched up, even flying to open tree limbs 20+ feet above the trail. * Four HERMIT THRUSHES – one deep in woods along yellow-blazed trail, one by parking area, two calling together unseen (“zhraay”) from conifers up the slope from grassy path * More than a dozen each of PINE SISKINS and GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS * A flock of about 20 CEDAR WAXWINGS feeding in bushes at eye level along the road, often descending to the ground, sometimes occupying the same field of view as the two roadside Fox Sparrows. * PURPLE FINCHES singing along both the road and the trails * COMMON RAVEN calling from the gorge. I also saw an AMERICAN PIPIT flying north over the parking lots of Barnes & Noble and Wegmans yesterday. Mark Chao -- 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] Loons
Hi, I am on my way to Montezuma along the east side of the lake. I want to share that the lake is very calm right now and there are lots of common loons in breeding plumage. Most are close in. I've watched them from Meyers and Long Point parks. Also red-breasted mergansers doing their displays at Long Point. I've never seen this before - quite impressive. The 2 males were doing a bowing display in unison. Laura 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] Woodcock interactions
Meanwhile, in the world of woodcockery: https://www.facebook.com/suan.yong/posts/10209416615430306 Suan _ http://suan-yong.com -- 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] Red-shouldered @ Sapsucker Woods
During this morning's CBC walk around sapsucker woods, I heard from Podell Boardwalk the call of a red-shouldered hawk. Around then, the cacophony of bird sounds went silent, as we watched a red-bellied woodpecker freeze itself at a spot on a tree trunk. Soon a Cooper-sized raptor came by low and close, casually passing within a few feet of the petrified red-belly then on towards the pond and out of sight. A sapsucker commenced a loud drumming, and thereafter the other birds started up their vocal activity again. The red-belly remained frozen in place for some time, even as a second red-belly came by as if to say "dude, the coast is clear now". I did not get binoculars on the raptor, and my experience remains limited, but I got the impression of very long tail, suggesting Cooper more than red-shouldered. But the call heard earlier was unmistakable (unless there was very loud playback nearby). The walk, attended by only one other, was very eventful. Sapsuckers were drumming and showboating. At one point, two males came together to the top of the same tree to do that do-se-do thing, then one flew off in the direction of the lab building, struck one of the upper windows, and fell to the lower roof/deck on the west side of the building. Perhaps someone at the lab could check if it's still there (it may be visible from the publicly accessible observatory on the second floor). We saw brown creepers on three occasions - could be the same individual or three different ones - and a towhee was calling between the beaver dam and Sherwood platform. The feeder area had a pine siskin, heard singing several times before finally seen, and an American tree sparrow seen several times and then singing its sweet melodious song. Three ring-necked ducks and a pair of buffleheads continue in the pond, with two pairs of wood ducks and about 8 female-type hooded mergansers (some showing hints of male plumage). Good to finally start seeing some gold in them goldfinches. Suan _ http://suan-yong.com -- 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/ --