[cayugabirds-l] loads of cormorants
Today early afternoon about three miles north of Myers I came upon the largest flock of Cormorants I can remember on the lake, about 120 birds sitting on the water, all took off and flew north as I rowed by. John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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 Sanderlings
5 Sanderlings at Myers point, 7 pm, (juvenile plumage). John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] Bonapartes flock Myers
At about 5:30pm I watched the arrival of a nice flock of Bonapartes Gulls to join the gulls on the one remaining above-water gravel bar off Salt Point at Myers. There were 23 in all, all but 2 in adult breeding plumage. Unfortunately they only stayed less than 10 minutes, and all took off heading north. Probably more on the way, though! John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] Salt point Osprey
Yesterday, Sunday, late afternoon at Myers- Salt Point, an Osprey sat for a while on each of the two nest boxes. The bird had a completely unmarked breast- male? It took off heading north last I saw. Several Song Sparrows back on territory there, and a flock of at least 100 Tree Swallows came over and left heading north along the shore. John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] Black-Bellied Plover Myers
A Black-Bellied Plover at Myers point 8:30 tonight, in mostly breeding plumage. Ate 4 nice fat worms in 10 minutes… could be too full to fly away tonight? John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] Salt point Flicker, etc
A quiet walk around Salt Point at Myers today found the resident flock of a dozen or so E BLUEBIRDS at the north end of the meadow, along with a N FLICKER. Along with the usual gulls and Mallards there was a small flock of C GOLDENEYE off the north shore. John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] Loon watch and foy here
This is interesting. Taking another look at the map, I see that birds diverging from the west shore of Cayuga above Taughannock would pass by Connecticut Hill on a straight course toward the Chesapeake, and would converge with the Susquehanna at Sayre, Pa, at its confluence with the Chemung River coming east from Corning. Might be interesting to have observers on Conn. Hill the next time there is a big flight. As they go by us above Cayuga the birds are undoubtedly following the wind more than the water, and with a N wind there is a strong updraft generated up the hills westward from the lower part of the lake. Maybe that's what they are using, to gain altitude. --John Greenly On Nov 15, 2015, at 8:20 AM, John and Sue Gregoire wrote: > John, Meena, > I was joking about following Rte 15 southbound! The majority of birds > yesterday were > indeed flying on a line that would have taken them to Watkins Glen. Did they > turn? > Where? Why? > > These birds were at sufficient althitude to bring the rivers in view quickly > and the > Bay within a very short time. Our old banding station on the Patuxent River > was at > the same longitude as our current station between the lakes here. > > I agree with a direct flight. The rivers only provide a sense of confidence > that, in > case of an in-flight emnergency, a suitable divert field is available > throughout the > journey south. > > A few years ago some folks from the Maryland Orn. Soc. conducted a watch at Pt > Lookout ( Md shore at confluence of the Potomac,Patuxent and the Bay). The > timing of > touch downs there would coincide nicely with the flight times with tail wind > that we > were discussing yesterday -about 5 hours. All in all, much faster than we > can drive > or sometimes fly IFR. > > John > -- > John and Sue Gregoire > Field Ornithologists > Kestrel Haven Avian Migration Observatory > 5373 Fitzgerald Road > Burdett,NY 14818-9626 > N 42 26.611' W 76 45.492' > Website: http://www.empacc.net/~kestrelhaven/ > "Conserve and Create Habitat" > > On Sat, November 14, 2015 21:00, John Greenly wrote: >> Hi Meena and John >> >> Have to chime in here, as the lake and I are rather good friends, from a few >> thousand hours of rowing and sailing! From Taughannock State Park it's 8 >> miles on >> the water to Stewart Park at the bottom end of the lake, and the west shore >> down >> there (Hog Hole) is only 1.8 miles east of a direct southerly line from the >> shore at >> Taughannock. I don't know how you figured those large numbers of miles; >> below >> Taughannock, around about Myers, the lake actually bends more southerly, not >> to the >> east. On the other hand, Watkins Glen at the south end of Seneca Lake is >> about 17 >> miles WSW from Taughannock, a direction that would be just right if the >> Loons were >> migrating to Pittsburgh. >> >> I do wonder where they go from here though. The Susquehanna takes an >> extremely >> twisty course with a large easterly excursion in Pennsylvania, it would be >> interesting to know whether they follow it or just go straight, which would >> save >> hours of flight. >> >> Cheers, >> John Greenly >> >> >> On Nov 14, 2015, at 6:42 PM, John Confer wrote: >> >>> Hi Meena, >>> >>> Good to see you at Taughannoch. >>> >>> John and Sue Gregoire and I thought that some of the big, loose flocks of >>> loons >>> that were well north of the point we stood on at Taughannoch was far more >>> likely >>> to take them over the southern tip of Seneca Lake than to the southern tip >>> of >>> Cayuga Lake. As I look at Google Earth, that seems a much more likely >>> location >>> that they fly over over than the southern tip of Cayuga. Measured in >>> Google, it >>> looks to me that the southern tip of Cayuga Lake is more than 10 miles east >>> of >>> due south from the tip of Taughannock. >>> >>> Cheers, >>> >>> John >>> >>> >>> From: bounce-119895794-25065...@list.cornell.edu >>> on behalf of Meena Madhav >>> Haribal >>> >>> Sent: Saturday, November 14, 2015 4:00 PM >>> To: k...@empacc.net >>> Cc: CAYUGABIRDS-L >>> Subject: Re:[cayugabirds-l] Loon watch and foy here >>> >>> John, >>> I am not sure if they are following Susquehanna or they are just taking a >>> direct >>> route
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Loon watch and foy here
Hi Meena and John Have to chime in here, as the lake and I are rather good friends, from a few thousand hours of rowing and sailing! From Taughannock State Park it's 8 miles on the water to Stewart Park at the bottom end of the lake, and the west shore down there (Hog Hole) is only 1.8 miles east of a direct southerly line from the shore at Taughannock. I don't know how you figured those large numbers of miles; below Taughannock, around about Myers, the lake actually bends more southerly, not to the east. On the other hand, Watkins Glen at the south end of Seneca Lake is about 17 miles WSW from Taughannock, a direction that would be just right if the Loons were migrating to Pittsburgh. I do wonder where they go from here though. The Susquehanna takes an extremely twisty course with a large easterly excursion in Pennsylvania, it would be interesting to know whether they follow it or just go straight, which would save hours of flight. Cheers, John Greenly On Nov 14, 2015, at 6:42 PM, John Confer wrote: > Hi Meena, > > Good to see you at Taughannoch. > > John and Sue Gregoire and I thought that some of the big, loose flocks of > loons that were well north of the point we stood on at Taughannoch was far > more likely to take them over the southern tip of Seneca Lake than to the > southern tip of Cayuga Lake. As I look at Google Earth, that seems a much > more likely location that they fly over over than the southern tip of Cayuga. > Measured in Google, it looks to me that the southern tip of Cayuga Lake is > more than 10 miles east of due south from the tip of Taughannock. > > Cheers, > > John > > > From: bounce-119895794-25065...@list.cornell.edu > on behalf of Meena Madhav > Haribal > Sent: Saturday, November 14, 2015 4:00 PM > To: k...@empacc.net > Cc: CAYUGABIRDS-L > Subject: Re:[cayugabirds-l] Loon watch and foy here > > John, > I am not sure if they are following Susquehanna or they are just taking a > direct route. If you look up on the map, it seems they can fly directly to > Chesapeake Bay in direct line, they don't need to follow Route 15 as we do. > Route 15 is at least 20 miles left to their target destination in our area. > Also, as I mentioned earlier the Cayuga Lake southern tip bends to east > substantially by about 4 or 5 miles to the east from Taughannock State park > if draw straight line south. They know what they are doing! > > 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 > > > > > > From: John and Sue Gregoire > Sent: Saturday, November 14, 2015 3:03 PM > To: Meena Madhav Haribal > Cc: CAYUGABIRDS-L > Subject: Re: Loon watch and foy here > > Meena pls pass to Wes and Diane. Sue and I continued on to Seneca Lake where > we > found no loons. In thinking about those high Southwestward flyers we believe > they > had plenty of altitude to spot the Susquehanna and thus took a bit more > direct route > down Rte 15! (runs alongside the river from Corning south). > > At home we also had Fox Sparrow and our FOY American Tree Sparrow. > > Terrific morning with good company! > > John > -- > John and Sue Gregoire > Field Ornithologists > Kestrel Haven Avian Migration Observatory > 5373 Fitzgerald Road > Burdett,NY 14818-9626 > N 42 26.611' W 76 45.492' > Website: http://www.empacc.net/~kestrelhaven/ > "Conserve and Create Habitat" > > On Sat, November 14, 2015 10:37, Meena Madhav Haribal wrote: >> Hi all, >> >> Today morning Loon Watch trip somebody seem to have lost the eye piece cap >> for Nikon > > > > -- > > 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 List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm &
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Screech owl and eclipse
Our local Screech Owls were calling continuously last night as the eclipse began, but they went silent as the moon dimmed into totality. Coincidence?? John Greenly Ludlowville On Sep 28, 2015, at 7:36 AM, M & K Mannella wrote: > On both Saturday and Sunday morning we heard the whinny call of a screech owl > just before 6:am. Seems we are a stopping ground for screechies on the move > over the last three years-and just for a couple of days in the fall. > > While watching the eclipse from our driveway we had a super clear and > cloudless view. The Milky Way was bright and we saw two amazing shooting > stars. Gorgeous evening. > > Michele > Interlaken > -- > www.thehaywardhouse.com > www.bodyshopwellness.com > -- > -- > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics > Rules and Information > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > Archives: > The Mail Archive > Surfbirds > BirdingOnThe.Net > Please submit your observations to eBird! > -- -- 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] heron near miss
I was out rowing on the lake last evening enjoying the quiet time after sunset, when the silence was shattered by a GRRAAAWWWK followed instantly by two Great Blue Herons at eye level and so close that a set of primaries whooshed by within inches of my face. They had either failed to notice me crossing their flight path or miscalculated how fast I was going. Wouldn't that be a spectacular way for a birder to go... skewered by a heron! Much better than a falling coconut. --John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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 Black-crowned Night Heron
Yesterday evening at about 8:45 there was a juvenile Black-Crowned Night Heron poking around on the Salt Point shore of the creek just about where the grassy gravel bar in the creek begins (as you come upstream from the lake). I watched it until it flew up into a cottonwood on the Salt Point side- it may be roosting there. John Greenly -- 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] New birds (for me anyway) at Salt Point.
yes, that Mockingbird is a virtuoso- when he's really geared up , so many songs go by so fast that it is bewildering. And he doesn't only do the showy songsters, his Willow Flycatcher imitation is just about perfect! But Marie knows him well, and his Wood Thrush isn't his best rendition. --John On 6/11/2015 11:40 AM, Gary Kohlenberg wrote: I had to smile at you hesitance with the Wood Thrush because on May 9th I recorded a Northern Mockingbird at Salt Point singing the best series of imitations I've ever heard. I actually removed a couple birds from my eBird list when I watched the Mockingbird singing perfect renditions. He was doing better N. Cardinal songs than the nearby dueling Cardinal. Gary On Jun 11, 2015, at 9:47 AM, Marie P. Read wrote: Hi all, I'm doing a photo project at Salt Point in Lansing, and have been there most mornings for several weeks. It's been interesting to see and hear the changes in avifauna and behavior as the breeding season progresses. Especially interesting this morning were several new (to me) species: Scarlet Tanager singing male. Finally a good view of a species I thought I saw here a couple of weeks ago. Indigo Bunting singing male. Biggest surprise was hearing a Wood Thrush singing from near the Osprey tower. Didn't see the bird, and only heard once...but unless there's a very good mimic in there somewhere, or someone else was doing playbacks, I'm going to count it...it's a pretty distinctive song... Other delights: Fledgling Baltimore Oriole Cedar Waxwing pair building a nest. A whole bevy of orioles, grackles, kingbirds mobbing a crow that (presumably) was threatening one of their nests in a cottonwood... Osprey pair both on the nest, one feeding the other, presumably also feeding young—Candace Cornell confirmed yesterday morning that all three (yes?) eggs have now hatched. Let the Great Airlift of Fish begin! On the downside: The Common Merganser brood, that by Tuesday morning had shrunk from 15-16 to 8, was nowhere to be seen. There was a lot of nasty, unphotogenic debris on the lake. The high water in Salmon Creek has washed away one of the best log/waterfowl perches...PFFFAHHH!!!(Bird photographers have a different agenda...!) Marie Marie Read Wildlife Photography 452 Ringwood Road Freeville NY 13068 USA Phone 607-539-6608 e-mail m...@cornell.edu http://www.marieread.com Author of Sierra Wings: Birds of the Mono Lake BasinAvailable here: http://marieread.photoshelter.com/gallery/Sierra-Wings-Birds-of-the-Mono-Lake-Basin/GNlCxX37uTzE/CBPFGij6nLfE -- 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 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 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] Many Myers Loons, grebes
At 6:30 pm, at least 20 C. LOONS on the water off Myers, waiting out the N breeze. Hard to count, diving actively. Also at least a half-dozen Grebes, probably Horned- didn't have a scope with me and they were far off. Had 10 Loons in binoc view at once, bobbing on the waves, nice sight! John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] Gr Yellowlegs Myers
There was a single Greater Yellowlegs foraging at the mouth of Salmon Creek at Myers, on the Salt Point side, this morning at about 10 am. --John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] GB Heron Myers
I was surprised to see a Great Blue Heron at the edge of open water in the private marina at Myers this afternoon. Unfortunately I surprised it, too- it flew off eastward toward Ladoga as I was driving in the marina road. John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] snow buntings Myers
Two SNOW BUNTINGS blowing around in the ferocious wind on the point at Myers, 2pm. --John Greenly -- 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] dark red-tailed hawk (zone-tailed hawk?)
Nice Zone-tail photo, thanks! this comparison nicely shows what I was trying to say about the straight trailing edge of Zone-tailed, no secondary bulge. Also shows the Zone-tailed's light feet showing clearly against the dark undertail coverts. Okay, I'll stick my neck out and say that even though the wing proportions look extreme, Ray's bird is a Broad-wing-- based on the second black band on the tail. Now that Chris Dalton has enlarged the photo, I'm seeing that the second black band in from the tip is as wide as the first, while in Zone-tailed the second is in all pictures I have found, and in my memory, much narrower than the first. ...but why did it call like a Red-tail...? cheers, John Greenly On 6/16/2014 3:02 PM, Christopher Dalton wrote: Hi Cayuga birders, I have been following the discussion with interest and enjoying the back and forth. I have to admit, that my initial impressions were the same as Dave Nutter's - I thought the first photo was a red-tail and the others were of a backlit Broad-winged Hawk. I just thought the second bird looked too pale to be a zone-tailed. Anyway, I quickly did a comparison of this bird with the Zone-tailed Hawk photographed in similarly bad light in MA last month, And one Broad-winged Hawk that I selected from the internet to try, as much as possible, to match this bird. I've posted this quick comparison here: http://www.eeb.cornell.edu/dalton/HawkComparison.html Of course, looking at just a photo or two is not nearly as good as the observations of the birder in the field - which seem to be inconsistent with at least a light morph of BW Hawk. But, based on the photos alone, a few thoughts: I don't get out birding much anymore, and I've only seen Zone-tailed Hawk once before (and that was years ago), but I thought the wing shape was OK for a BW Hawk, especially one that is clearly molting. Also, the last time I was out birding locally (two weeks ago), I saw a BW Hawk that looked a lot like this bird in terms of wing molt. Plus, in my read on the photo, the bird appears to be getting lighter towards the vent, which would be consistent with an adult BW Hawk. Finally, I thought the light on the flight feathers on the wing was light coming through, not the different pigmentation that occurs on ZT Hawks (is it pigmentation? coloration? or is it more reflective? anyway...) . In reviewing photos of soaring raptors online, this translucent phenomenon seems to occur much more with BW Hawk than ZT Hawk. That plus the less-translucent, dark border to the wings would seem to be consistent with field marks for BW Hawk. Anyway, those are my two cents (which is worth considerably less, especially compared to the many excellent birders on this list). But I thought the comparison with the photo with another recent vagrant record of this hawk would be useful for some or interesting if nothing else. Looking forward to seeing if the group can resolve on an ID! Cheers, Chris Dalton Ithaca, NY On Mon, Jun 16, 2014 at 1:45 PM, Ray Zimmerman mailto:r...@cornell.edu>> wrote: It is not something that I noticed, but I didn’t look for it specifically either. Ray On Jun 16, 2014, at 1:40 PM, John Greenly mailto:j...@cornell.edu>> wrote: Ray, one question: when you were observing through binocs, did you by any chance notice yellow feet, or see the feet clearly as showing up light-colored against the black undertail coverts? A quite noticeable feature of Zone-tailed as I remember. --John On Jun 16, 2014, at 1:10 PM, Ray Zimmerman wrote: Thanks everyone for the helpful discussion and sorry for my silence (busy with life). Here’s a bit more information. First of all, I’ve added a few more photos, of even worse quality :-/ Here’s an updated link … https://www.dropbox.com/sh/nm25xfhyarydgxg/AAAvRHHfszKtNmiLRVoy-LYWa To recap, with a bit more detail. I first heard the bird vocalize, and to me it sounded like a completely classical red-tail sound. I quickly located the bird with my naked eye (90% sure it was the same bird). I did not see any other raptors or TVs in the area. I stepped inside the garage to grab binoculars from the car (15 secs or so), quickly relocated the bird and began observing, still assuming “red-tail”. What I noticed first was the dark underside. I observed through the binoculars for a few minutes before asking my wife to go grab my son’s camera. As I continued watching, it vocalized again. Up until this point, I was still certain it was an unusually dark red-tail. I thought that I saw red on the upper side of the tail a few times, but I’d put about 50% confidence on that statement. When my wife brought the camera, before I began taking pictures, my view of the bird was blocked momentarily by some trees. When it emerged from behind the trees I began
Re: [cayugabirds-l] dark red-tailed hawk (zone-tailed hawk?)
Ray, one question: when you were observing through binocs, did you by any chance notice yellow feet, or see the feet clearly as showing up light-colored against the black undertail coverts? A quite noticeable feature of Zone-tailed as I remember. --John On Jun 16, 2014, at 1:10 PM, Ray Zimmerman wrote: > Thanks everyone for the helpful discussion and sorry for my silence (busy > with life). Here’s a bit more information. First of all, I’ve added a few > more photos, of even worse quality :-/ Here’s an updated link … > >https://www.dropbox.com/sh/nm25xfhyarydgxg/AAAvRHHfszKtNmiLRVoy-LYWa > > To recap, with a bit more detail. I first heard the bird vocalize, and to me > it sounded like a completely classical red-tail sound. I quickly located the > bird with my naked eye (90% sure it was the same bird). I did not see any > other raptors or TVs in the area. I stepped inside the garage to grab > binoculars from the car (15 secs or so), quickly relocated the bird and began > observing, still assuming “red-tail”. What I noticed first was the dark > underside. I observed through the binoculars for a few minutes before asking > my wife to go grab my son’s camera. As I continued watching, it vocalized > again. Up until this point, I was still certain it was an unusually dark > red-tail. I thought that I saw red on the upper side of the tail a few times, > but I’d put about 50% confidence on that statement. > > When my wife brought the camera, before I began taking pictures, my view of > the bird was blocked momentarily by some trees. When it emerged from behind > the trees I began snapping pictures. I’d say I’m at least 90% sure that the > bird I was observing through the binoculars, that I heard vocalizing, and the > one I got pictures of are the same bird. I’m 99% sure there was only 1 bird > in the area while I was snapping pictures. I.e. they are all of the same > bird, including the one that looks like the tail is reddish. > > I’ve seen broad-winged hawks (though not dark morph), and I’m nearly certain > it was not a broad-wing. The wings and tail seemed too long to me and the > shape and flight style just didn’t seem right either. The vocalization > sounded nothing like the recordings I’ve heard of broad-wings. I’ve never > seen a zone-tailed hawk, but that does seem to be the one that matches best > with what I saw. I don’t recall that I ever saw it flap, but I do remember > thinking that it held it’s wings in a slight V and that there was something > else about the way it flew that seemed “different” (helpful, right? I know). > The vocalization, however, sounded more classical red-tail than the > recordings I’ve heard of the zone-tailed hawk. > > Afterward, I was very sorry I didn’t have a better camera and that the > autofocus had done such a poor job on so many of my shots. I thought I’d > taken plenty that I’d have multiple good ones to help with the ID. > > Based on the comments and my own looking at photos, listening to sounds, etc. > I’m leaning pretty strongly toward zone-tailed hawk, but would love to hear > any further comments. > > Ray > > > On Jun 16, 2014, at 11:32 AM, John Greenly wrote: > >> I have watched Zone-tailed in the SW, and they really do fly like Turkey >> Vultures. Everything I can see in the third picture does look very >> consistent with Zone-tailed (except for one thing), but if you didn't notice >> the flight style, it probably isn't one. The one thing is the shape of the >> wing trailing edge- it's a little bit bulged in the secondaries and somewhat >> pinched in at the body, whereas Zone-tailed usually looks very straight- see >> for instance the photo on the Wikipedia page of a Zone-tailed from almost >> the same perspective as your third picture. Was the bird flapping when you >> took the second picture- I would expect more dihedral for soaring >> Zone-tailed. I absolutely agree about the first picture- the apparent color >> is false, due to out-of-focus chromatic aberration. >> >> If it's a B-wing, it's doing an amazing job of disguising itself: shape and >> proportions don't look right at all. The tail banding pattern is very >> clearly visible, and not right for Red-shouldered. The sound of Zone-tailed >> call is more pure whistle- less screechy or scratchy- than Red-Tailed, but >> not so terribly different if you're not paying close attention. But, would >> a solitary, lost Zone-tailed be likely to be calling at all? >> >> Interesting! But I'm definitely no expert. >> >> --John Greenly >> >> >> On Jun 16, 2014, at 10:22 AM, Gary Kohlenberg wrote: &
Re: [cayugabirds-l] dark red-tailed hawk
I have watched Zone-tailed in the SW, and they really do fly like Turkey Vultures. Everything I can see in the third picture does look very consistent with Zone-tailed (except for one thing), but if you didn't notice the flight style, it probably isn't one. The one thing is the shape of the wing trailing edge- it's a little bit bulged in the secondaries and somewhat pinched in at the body, whereas Zone-tailed usually looks very straight- see for instance the photo on the Wikipedia page of a Zone-tailed from almost the same perspective as your third picture. Was the bird flapping when you took the second picture- I would expect more dihedral for soaring Zone-tailed. I absolutely agree about the first picture- the apparent color is false, due to out-of-focus chromatic aberration. If it's a B-wing, it's doing an amazing job of disguising itself: shape and proportions don't look right at all. The tail banding pattern is very clearly visible, and not right for Red-shouldered. The sound of Zone-tailed call is more pure whistle- less screechy or scratchy- than Red-Tailed, but not so terribly different if you're not paying close attention. But, would a solitary, lost Zone-tailed be likely to be calling at all? Interesting! But I'm definitely no expert. --John Greenly On Jun 16, 2014, at 10:22 AM, Gary Kohlenberg wrote: > Ray, > I think arguments could be made for a couple species / morphs based on the > backlit photos, and I have my opinion, but as you heard the bird call my bet > would be whatever the vocalization indicates. I don’t know if you are solid > on the calls, but to my ear the Broad-winged “p-s” and juvenile Red-tail > squeals can sound similar. Red-shouldered Hawks sound completely different > and the unlikely Zone-tailed even more so. > > Gary > > > From: bounce-116290980-3493...@list.cornell.edu > [mailto:bounce-116290980-3493...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Dave Nutter > Sent: Monday, June 16, 2014 4:32 AM > To: CAYUGABIRDS-L > Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] dark red-tailed hawk > > Good point about the primary barring showing at the molt. If the slaty color > of the wing linings and underside of the body & head is true, not just > reddish which appears so dark because it's dull, backlit, and distant (as our > usual Broad-wingeds appear gray instead of pink on the breast when high > overhead), then I must admit that Zone-tailed seems possible. I think > Red-shouldered, although darker than Broad-winged, shouldn't be so > extensively dark, either. I'm just not familiar enough with Zone-tailed to be > confident. > --Dave Nutter > > On Jun 15, 2014, at 11:28 PM, Rbakelaar wrote: > > The photos seem to demonstrate barring on the primaries, more so than I would > expect on even a dark phase Broad-wing. The molted out feather allows this > characteristic to be seen somewhat well. This bird's proportions seem to > weigh against B-wing too. The wings seem long and narrow, with only a slight > bulge of the secondaries. Tail seems long as we'll. The photos also seem to > show a black body. > > Any of our resident experts care to weigh in? > > Ryan. > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Jun 15, 2014, at 10:57 PM, Dave Nutter wrote: > > I couldn't reconcile the red tail of photo 1 with the black and white stripes > of photo 3, even though I have seen various effects of looking through > backlit feathers. The reason I didn't say Red-shouldered Hawk is that the > white tail-band appeared too wide to me (but this may be a focus issue, or > may judgement may be wrong), and the white mark in the otherwise even-colored > primaries appears to me due to a molted missing feather on each side, not a > "window" across the primaries. The reason I said "the only species of Buteo > around here" is that Zone-tailed Hawk is way out of range, and also is less > familiar to me. My guess was that Zone-tailed would not look so pale on the > flight feathers of the wings. I am open to correction on all points. > --Dave Nutter > > On Jun 15, 2014, at 08:28 PM, Sandy Podulka wrote: > > As you know, I'm really just a beginner at hawks.. but... What about a > Red-shouldered Hawk? It's got the white windows and the banded tail. The > reddish appearance of the tail could just be sunlight shining through > brownish feathers, which can really play tricks on the eye. It seems like the > distribution of light and dark on the underside of the wings matches that of > Red-shouldered Hawk. > > Sandy > > At 08:09 PM 6/15/2014, Ann Mitchell wrote: > > I agree with Dave regarding a Broad-winged Hawk. Ann Mitchell > > Sent from my iP
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Salmon Creek Bird Santuary
Yes, this is great news!! there have been none there for a number of years. I've heard none up to now. Can you say exactly where your found them? --John Greenly On 6/4/2014 3:41 PM, Gary Kohlenberg wrote: Cerulean Warblers are very good ! It seems they have been absent for a while. Gary On Jun 4, 2014, at 2:52 PM, "Carl Steckler" mailto:nyleatherneck3...@gmail.com>> wrote: Salmon creek bird sanctuary Lpts of Baltimore Orioles a few Cerulear Warblers, no Cuckoos Carl -- *Cayugabirds-L List Info:* Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> *Archives:* The Mail Archive <http://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 eBird <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>!* -- -- *Cayugabirds-L List Info:* Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> *Archives:* The Mail Archive <http://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 eBird <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>!* -- -- 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] Black-billed Cuckoos
Yes, Yellow-billed is what I usually hear there at Salmon Creek. I don't think I've had Black-Billed there before. I forgot to say- I saw the Black-Billed on Sunday morning. Geo's post reminded me I hadn't reported this. --John On 6/4/2014 10:22 AM, Jay McGowan wrote: Interesting...just this morning, Livia and I had a calling (kow...kow...) then nicely seen YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO in the Salmon Creek Sanctuary right about where John described. Last evening around 5:00, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo was giving a k'k'k'k'k,kowp song on the Wilson Trail just north of the building here at Sapsucker Woods, and then Matt Medler and I had two Yellow-billed Cuckoos foraging over the feeders along the pond edge a few minutes later. Apart from these, I have heard no other cuckoos in the daytime so far this spring. I did have an excellent night flight last week though, with 39 Black-billed and 13 Yellow-billed Cuckoos vocalizing overhead over the course of a couple of hours. On Wed, Jun 4, 2014 at 10:12 AM, John Greenly mailto:j...@cornell.edu>> wrote: Following up on Geo's YB Cuckoo post, I watched a pair of Black-Billed Cuckoos in the Salmon Creek sanctuary on Salmon Creek Rd. The best encounter with Cuckoos I've probably ever had, lots of cavorting and vocalizing right overhead along the road, maybe two hundred yards past Brooks Hill Rd. Nice to get such good looks at such handsome birds! --John Greenly -- 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/ -- -- Jay McGowan Macaulay Library Cornell Lab of Ornithology jw...@cornell.edu <mailto:jw...@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] Black-billed Cuckoos
Following up on Geo's YB Cuckoo post, I watched a pair of Black-Billed Cuckoos in the Salmon Creek sanctuary on Salmon Creek Rd. The best encounter with Cuckoos I've probably ever had, lots of cavorting and vocalizing right overhead along the road, maybe two hundred yards past Brooks Hill Rd. Nice to get such good looks at such handsome birds! --John Greenly -- 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] Robin ferocity- Salt Point
I was at Salt Point taking bad photos when I saw a chipmunk crossing the dirt road near its dead end at the concrete blocks on the North side. The chippy was heading toward the base of the big scrubby juniper on the east side of the road, and suddenly out of the tree a Robin came streaking down, hit the chippy so hard it tumbled head over heels. The bird chased it back into the brush across the road, with continuing scuffling sounds. The Robin came back to the tree; the scene was repeated twice more in the next 5 min or so. Finally the Robin began marching back and forth on the road like an armed guard in front of a palace, and thereafter no more sign of the chipmunk. The attacks happened so fast that I failed to get a decent photo. I think of chipmunks as pretty quick on their feet, but this one was no match for the Robin, it got nailed every time. Needless to say, the Robin does have nestlings in that tree. Other birds to mention- at least two singing Willow Flycatchers; E. Kingbird seems to have moved in- I see one regularly; Mourning Warbler heard as Jay reported in the ravine across the tracks from the north end; Green Heron on the creek; at least two singing Yellow-throated Vireos- one seen near the RR bridge; fly-over Wood Duck, heading for the creek upstream of the RR bridge. --John Greenly -- 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 Gr. Yellowlegs
6 Greater Yellowlegs at 7 pm today at Myers, foraging around the gravel bar in Salmon Creek 50 yd or so up from the lake. --John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] Carolina wrens
Ah, I should have looked at the Lab's page on Carolina Wrens first: says there they don't migrate at all and stay paired all year. Funny I haven't noticed in the winter the countersinging they do all the time in the spring. Alicia Plotkin tells me that hers do that in the winter too. Anyway, my two must be a pair. --John On Mar 1, 2014, at 12:58 PM, John Greenly wrote: > I always have a Carolina Wren singing all winter, and he makes part of his > living by cleaning up the bits of suet on the ground under the feeder that > the woodpeckers waste. But for the last week I have had two Carolina Wrens > coming together on suet cleanup duty. My impression was that the males > defend territories in the winter- hence all the singing- but these two are > not at all aggressive, often foraging within a foot of each other. There are > other males singing elsewhere in Ludlowville- is this just a truce at the > feeding spot? Or is it possible that the second bird is a female? Do they > stay around in the winter too? I've never seen two together in the winter > before. > > --John Greenly > Ludlowville > -- > > 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 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] Carolina wrens
I always have a Carolina Wren singing all winter, and he makes part of his living by cleaning up the bits of suet on the ground under the feeder that the woodpeckers waste. But for the last week I have had two Carolina Wrens coming together on suet cleanup duty. My impression was that the males defend territories in the winter- hence all the singing- but these two are not at all aggressive, often foraging within a foot of each other. There are other males singing elsewhere in Ludlowville- is this just a truce at the feeding spot? Or is it possible that the second bird is a female? Do they stay around in the winter too? I've never seen two together in the winter before. --John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] Baltimore Oriole
I woke this morning to the sound of our Oriole back in the yard. This is two days later than last year, and for the last ten years one has arrived between May 4 and 7. --John Greenly Ludlowville On May 8, 2013, at 9:17 AM, Tom Vawter wrote: > Our annual Baltimore oriole is once again foraging and singing in the tops of > our backyard ashes. > > Tom Vawter > -- > > > -- > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics > Rules and Information > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > Archives: > The Mail Archive > Surfbirds > BirdingOnThe.Net > Please submit your observations to eBird! > -- -- 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's stick tricks
I watched the Salt Point Ospreys for an hour this evening. During heavy rain one landed repeatedly in the lake, apparently combining a shower from above with a bath. The female perched on the box for long periods and the male approached several times, apparently with mating in mind, but the female always took off just as he got to hovering a foot or two above her. For the last half hour the female stayed perched while the male brought sticks to the box. This was rather spectacular: his collection method was to fly past a tree, grab the end of a branch in his talons as he went by, and try to break it off in flight. He succeeded five or six times, and deposited the broken-off pieces, a foot or two long, in the nest. He failed more times than he succeeded, including once when he got flipped upside down and backwards by a hefty branch that didn't break and snapped back before he could let go. Interesting flying, to say the least. The female sat and watched the whole show, not noticeably impressed. I assume this is must be the standard method of getting nice clean fresh sticks, but I didn't know about it and was amazed. --John Greenly -- 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] Ospreys-- salt point cleanup
Lots of Osprey activity at the new nest platform on Salt Point. Yesterday there were 4 birds in the area, lots of intense chases. This is clearly very desirable Osprey real estate. Today it appears that one pair has taken possession. They spent a lot of time sitting on the platform, and I saw three attempts at mating: unsuccessful because the female was sitting facing downwind and the male of course approached facing upwind. The male also brought one 2' long stick to the box while I was there. I read that Ospreys head to S. America at the end of their first summer and stay there until three years old, when they return north for the first time. Do I remember correctly that the Portland Point pair first nested three years ago? Could be that one of these are of those chicks, back for a first breeding attempt? Also, I have been asked to post that there is a Salt Point cleanup scheduled for 2-4 pm this Saturday (rain date same time Sunday, but the forecast looks good for Sat.). There will also be a delivery of a number of trees that will need planting. Bring work gloves, help clean up, plant trees, and watch the Ospreys too! --John Greenly -- 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] Re Salt Point cutting
This was posted as I was writing my message. I think it's fine to express concern to Kathy Miller. I meant to be cautioning against going after the town parks department or highway dept. people- they were just doing what they were told to do. thanks, John Greenly On 11/9/2012 12:03 PM, Donna Scott wrote: Ruth Hopkins, nature friendly town board member in Lansing, has emailed Katrina Binkewicz and supervisor Kathy Miller about the salt point cutting . Katrina, who is the newly elected board member & also nature friendly, has permission to tell the Lansing town highway department to stop cutting brush at Salt point. I don't know the extent to which brush was cut because I just returned from Florida.(I am at Mud Lock). Other Lans. board members think brush needs cutting "to make it safe there". I suggest all Lansing residents on this list contact Supervisor Kathy Miller about your concerns re Salt pt. sorry I do not have her address or pho # in my phone. Will send from home later. Lansing town does have a web page. I'll post more info at this list when and if I get more information 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/ --
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Myers Point - Spotted Sandpiper
To all Cayugabirders, Regarding Jay's post about the cutting on Salt Point (north side of the creek across from Myers park): Our newly elected Lansing town board member Katrina Binkewicz has found out that the town highway dept has been directed to do extensive cutting on Salt Point. We are moving fast to try to stop this and preserve the habitat, and we might need help from others who bird there, especially Lansing residents. If we need to convince the town that this is valuable for wildlife, and for the people who go there to see birds, we might need you to come to a town board meeting. If you would be willing to do this and help make the case for keeping good habitat there, please respond to me, NOT TO THE LIST, and I will contact you if there's an opportunity. For now, it would not be productive to contact the town directly- we don't want to create a confrontational situation unless we really need to. Many thanks, John Greenly Ludlowville On 11/9/2012 10:14 AM, Jay McGowan wrote: Myers was pretty cold and dull this morning, with very few waterfowl migrating. Lots of gulls were on the spit but nothing out of the ordinary (although on Tuesday I had a surprising *4* 1st-cycle Lesser Black-backed Gulls with the other gulls on the spit!) The highlight today was a very late juvenile SPOTTED SANDPIPER on one of the sandbar islands in the creek mouth, along with a Killdeer (which I haven't seen there in a while either.) Salt Point was unproductive, perhaps in part because a great deal of the brushy habitat that often harbors lingering warblers has recently been cut. -- Jay McGowan Macaulay Library Cornell Lab of Ornithology jw...@cornell.edu <mailto:jw...@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] Orchard Orioles Salt Point
I watched a pair of ORCHARD ORIOLES foraging this evening at Salt Point. Saw no clue as to nest site. I watched the female vocalize once- she gave the typical whistled note that usually accompanies the "chuck" calls, and then two upslurred notes, something like: "se shooee shooee". The Male was not nearby at the time. John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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 Orchard Oriole
An ORCHARD ORIOLE was present and singing today at Salt Point (the north side of the creek at Myers.) It ranged all over the area and sang from several spots. Also three E KINGBIRDS, and other usual suspects including a CATBIRD doing an amazingly accurate Towhee song. John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] Grouse psychology?
As I was driving along Ludlowville Rd along Salmon Creek just now, I came upon a handsome Ruffed Grouse walking along the line in the middle of the road. It stopped and watched me as I pulled up beside it. Fearing for its safety I opened my door- I could have reached out and grabbed it- and suggested that it should fly away. No result. When I waved my arms at it and yelled, it finally flew off into the woods. It looked nicely groomed and undamaged, and I'm thinking that it was just doing its Grouse thing of being invisible. I've had experiences like this with Sharp-tailed Grouse on hiking trails out west, and several times with Spruce Grouse that walked calmly along trails in the White Mountains in NH; once I literally stepped over one that was meandering slowly along, without spooking it. Do they really think they are invisible, or what? Never had this happen with a Ruffed Grouse before. --John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] best gull toy
This morning at Myers a Herring Gull had found a rubber ball, and spent at least a half hour playing with it.The gull spent most of the time poking or pushing the ball with its bill, so the ball would roll away and then the gull would run after it and catch it. The gull also carried it up in the air a few times (it was just small enough to pick up), dropped it and tried to catch it as it bounced crazily on the stones of the bar at the mouth of the creek. The best catch was a spectacular (lucky) one on the first bounce, about five feet in the air. The bird also dropped the ball once on a bunch of Ring-Billed Gulls in the water, scattering them- they did not try to take it themselves, I think it may have been too big for them to pick up (it floated), but the Herring Gull was too tough to contend with anyway. The bird's chief pleasure, though, seemed to be just poking at the ball and making it bounce and roll, clearly something fascinating that is not within the repertoire of the sticks and stones that normally serve as gull toys. --John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] TV flock
Around 2 pm as I was driving along Triphammer Rd in Cayuga Heights, a gang of TURKEY VULTURES rose suddenly out of the stand of pines along the W side of the road just a few hundred yards north of Community Corners. There were about 30 birds- hard to count through my windshield as they wheeled upward in a tight bunch. It looked as if they had been roosting and were flushed out by something. They headed off in a southwesterly direction. --John Greenly -- 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] Petraglyph bird quiz: Are there any Finger lakes Native art preserved somewhere that I can visit?
Hi Meena, Those people simply had other ideas than realistic depictions. They were absolute masters of design, and they created some stunningly great art- have you ever seen the animals, birds, and fishes on Mimbres pottery? --some of the most wonderful creatures ever drawn anywhere. Their images and designs had symbolic and religious meaning, they were not intended to be likenesses. The "hominid" drawings were of spirits, not people. You can still see some related forms today in Hopi, Zuni and Pueblo kachina masks. Thanks very much for sharing these with us. --John Greenly On Jan 13, 2012, at 8:09 PM, Meena Haribal wrote: > Hi All, > > I visited Three River Petraglyphs in New Mexico near Tularosa. I was > impressed by number of birds and animals they have drawn. I took lots of > pictures, but have uploaded a few on to my Picasa website. i invite you to > try identify the birds by their GISS. I have tried my luck and would love to > know what others think. You can comment on the Picasa page itself so others > can see. Great way to sharpen your skills and think of what could have been > found between 900 to 1400 AD. > > But I also thought this, during the same period, people in Eurasia had > mastered the art and had drawn and sculpted real life like likeness of > drawings. Some of the miniature painting from Rajasthan in Western India drew > minute birds with such details that with upside down binoculars when I looked > at them I could identify many of them to species level. So my question is why > these people had difficulty in drawing pictures of real likeness. Why was > their evolution so slow compared to people of the other parts of the world. > > But nevertheless, they were interested in their surroundings and nature. > > https://picasaweb.google.com/mharibal/ThreeRiverPetraglyphsOfNewMexico# > > Are there any Finger lakes art preserved somewhere that I can visit? > > Some of the hominid pictures in Three Rivers looked like that they were > drawing aliens! Very few drawings look like real human beings. > > Cheers > Meena > > PS;For more information on Three Rivers here is site > http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/recreation/las_cruces/three_rivers.html > > > > > > Meena Haribal > Ithaca NY 14850 > http://haribal.org/ > http://meenaharibal.blogspot.com/ > > -- > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics > Rules and Information > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > Archives: > The Mail Archive > Surfbirds > BirdingOnThe.Net > Please submit your observations to eBird! > -- -- 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 Horned Grebes
A pair of very handsome winter-plumage HORNED GREBES off the point at Myers at 7:45 am. Otherwise, the usual suspects. --John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER
Ahah, a wydah?? cool indeed, but I think we can therefore safely rule out a scissor-tailed there too!! Hmmm, so, the provenance of the photo I was shown My friend said his wife took it and emailed it to him, but I bet she saw the bird, tried to identify it and came up with the scissor-tailed photo on some website and sent it to him, and he misunderstood where it came from. I'll see him again tomorrow and we'll find out for sure. --John On Sep 8, 2011, at 5:42 PM, Tim Lenz wrote: > Didn't find a scissor tailed here but there is a wydah coming to the feeders, > I think a pin-tailed wydah. Cool bird. > > On Thursday, September 8, 2011, John Greenly wrote: > > The dregs of this tropical storm appear to have brought us more than rain- > > I was just shown a very clear cell-phone photo of a SCISSOR-TAILED > > FLYCATCHER perched on a horizontal wire, said to have been taken just a few > > minutes ago on the grounds at Sterling House of Ithaca, which is on Bundy > > Rd just off 96, on the left on the way up to the hospital. It is a > > retirement community, I don't know anything about the situation for public > > access. > > > > --John Greenly > > > > -- > > > > 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/ > > > > -- > > > > -- > Tim Lenz > t...@cornell.edu > Web Applications Developer > Cornell Lab of Ornithology -- 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] SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER
The dregs of this tropical storm appear to have brought us more than rain- I was just shown a very clear cell-phone photo of a SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER perched on a horizontal wire, said to have been taken just a few minutes ago on the grounds at Sterling House of Ithaca, which is on Bundy Rd just off 96, on the left on the way up to the hospital. It is a retirement community, I don't know anything about the situation for public access. --John Greenly -- 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] White-rumped, Myers
Sorry I forgot to report: yesterday at 5:45 a WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER flew by the point at Myers. It disappeared up the lake to the north. --John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] Salmon Creek
A short listen to the chorus at the Salmon Creek FLLT preserve this morning revealed the usual breeding species, and no migrants- and no Ceruleans, as has sadly been the case for several years now. I did not hear Acadian Flycatcher, but did not go up the side ravines. Scarlet Tanager E wood-Pewee Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Great Crested Flycatcher Least Flycatcher Veery (lots) Wood Thrush (not enough) Catbird (too many) Rose-breasted Grosbeak Indigo Bunting Yellow-billed Cuckoo Warbling Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Yellow-throated Vireo all the usual woodpeckers Yellow Warbler Common Yellowthroat (tons) MOURNING WARBLER- heard in the dense shrubbery on the right before Brooks Hill Rd- have had them there in other years) Am Redstart (distant, down by the creek) Cedar Waxwing (a gang) B. Oriole (many) C. Raven (breeding??? they are around regularly) and probably others I have forgotten- I was just there for the overall musical effect- you want precision, ask somebody else... it was a beautiful, soft, singing morning. Even with all those Catbirds. --John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] SFO Sunday- wow!
A wonderful morning for my group of intrepid SFO veterans- all three of them (where were all the rest, it can't be the rain deterred them?). We were joined at first by Mark Chao this morning at Sapsucker Woods, as Mark has already reported. Close, clear view of the MOURNING WARBLER was probably the most spectacular sighting. We saw all the species reported by others in the last few days there except the Blue-winged (Kevin's photo is wonderful!), we had great looks at BAY-BREASTED, BLACKBURNIAN, MAGNOLIA . It got a bit soggy by 9:30 so we got in the car for a bino cleaning and headed over to the Hawthorns, where the rain stopped and the show was just as spectacular as reported by Chris and others the last few days. TENNESSEE WARBLERS were everywhere, i've never seen/heard so many, and all the other species reported by others, especially two PHILADELPHIA VIREOS, seen together in the same tree about halfway along the edge on the Equestrian side. Today there were numerous RED_EYED vireos as well. A single BLUE_WINGED warbler was in the same area. One song from a WINTER WREN was heard, probably down in the ravine on the NW side, a WOOD THRUSH sang constantly, and an E MEADOWLARK sang out in the pasture. John Greenly -- 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] 3 Orchard Orioles Myers
Three ORCHARD ORIOLES singing in the sun today 7:30 am at Myers, two in same places as reported by David Nicosia yesterday: one in trees by the first house on left at the RR crossing to the park, and one on Salt Point (north side of the creek) straight along the road after the RR. The third was at the extreme north on Salt Point, I could hear the two singing at once. Could the other one from the park entrance have come over there- don't know, but it was in the same place both before and after I saw/heard the two on Salt Point, so I doubt it. John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] 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/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Myers Osprey
As I drove up to the point at Myers at 7:40 this morning, an OSPREY was just rising from the water off the mouth of Salmon Creek with a nice fish in its talons. A couple of Ring-billed Gulls (wishful thinking) made brief attempts at larceny. A Black-backed might have had a chance. The Osprey, with its wriggling prey, flew off to the south. I'm sure the Osprey knows that the rainbow trout are massing at the mouths of the creeks right now, waiting for higher flow to make their spawning runs. John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] more Pipits-Myers
lots of Pipits blowing around down on the shore at Myers, and along the roads nearby too. --John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] strange duck adventure??
Today at lunchtime I took advantage of the balmy weather and went for a row on the lake. A couple of miles north of Myers and about 100 feet from shore, I came upon a duck thrashing about rather feebly on the water. It turned out to be a male Mallard and when I first rowed by, its neck appeared to be very awkwardly twisted backward over its shoulder and it was flailing around with one foot out of the water. I wondered if it was tangled in fishing line or something and decided to approach and see if I could help. I rowed right up to it, and by this time it had stopped moving. It was floating with body upright, but its head and neck were laid out backwards and to one side, so that its head was upside down in the water, crown down and throat up. No sign of entanglement. I reached down and lifted its head, and its neck was totally limp and floppy. As I lifted its head out of the water I saw that its eye was open, and as I raised its head up so its beak pointed upward it opened its mouth a bit but no sound came out. Its neck was so floppy that I had a hard time getting it back into a normal position, upright and facing forward. But I did, and just then suddenly I felt its neck muscles come to life, I slowly let go- and it held its head straight! It began to swim, slowly but in a nice straight line toward the shore. I watched it, and it watched me with that suspicious sidelong duck look, as it swam away and finally climbed out of the water onto the shore, changing course slightly to walk up behind a rock where I could no longer see it. I rowed away, not wanting to approach and stress it any more. What had happened?? I could see no sign of injury, the bird was well-preened, floated high and dry, and looked normally plump and thoroughly duck-shaped. What had happened? I can still feel the strange sensation of holding up that absolutely limp neck, and then suddenly felt it come to life. John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] Rafferty Rd
Stopped by Rafferty Rd late this afternoon. 2 N HARRIERS active, didn't find any owls. At 4:15 huge, spread-out flocks of HORNED LARKS and SNOW BUNTINGS came from somewhere south, flew over and appeared to be headed for the wooded area north of the Rafferty Rd fields. I counted 360, but there were already some passed by and uncountable in the distance when I got there. What sort of a place do these species tend to like for the night's roost- anybody know? --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/ --
[cayugabirds-l] little gull apology
I've been meaning to apologize for being so slow in reporting the Little Gull from Myers last week- it was an hour before I could get to a computer and report it. I guess I should (a) have my cell phone with me, and (b) have somebody's phone number so I could report things. I do stop by Myers often, but haven't seen anything worth urgent reporting in a long time. The Little Gull was a wonderful surprise- I noticed it at quite a distance as it approached from the north, got great looks as it came close by the point. I know the species pretty well from Europe, and I got very nice looks at the features that distinguish it from Bonapartes. I sure wish it had stopped here.... John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] LITTLE GULL
A first winter LITTLE GULL flew past Myers ( I think would have stopped there but a dog flushed the gulls off the spit just as it approached) at about 8 am this morning, heading south. Might be worth a look at the south end of the lake. --John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] OOB Sandhill Crane
OOB- Seneca lake basin: This morning Lisa, Sandy and Bill Podulka and I heard and then saw a single SANDHILL CRANE flying north over the Catherine creek marsh S. of Watkins Glen. 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/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Osprey 1, fishermen 0
Last Sunday evening I was at Myers for about half an hour and observed two fishermen in kayaks flailing away fruitlessly at the water with their lures. They had just given up and were heading in to shore when an Osprey came gliding in behind them, made the standard spectacular dive, plucked out a fat fish, and flew away. The fishermen didn't even see it. By the way, the Osprey made a big circle over Myers park and headed off in a southward direction with its catch. I wonder where it was going. --John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] calling Loon
Early this morning I was rowing quietly along the east side of the lake a couple of miles N of Myers. All of a sudden I heard Loon calls close behind me, I stopped rowing and a COMMON LOON paddled by about 20 ft away, and called repeatedly for about 2 minutes while I sat still nearby. Wonderful sound- I could hear echoes coming back from the far side of the lake. Does anybody know whether such vocalizations have any significance as to migratory versus potential breeding? - I don't remember hearing anything like this continuous outpouring on the lake before. I was very surprised that this bird paid no attention to me (unless the vocalization was a reaction to my approach?) In many encounters with Loons on lakes in NH, VT and Maine, my experience has always been that they dive well before you come as close as I was this morning. This bird just sat there, and finally I rowed away. --John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] raven's the bad guy
At noon today there was a nice thermal over my house in Ludlowville that a TURKEY VULTURE was circling in. I heard a croak and looked up to see a RAVEN join the TV spiraling upward. Shortly, one of our local RED-TAILED HAWKs joined in too. Seconds later, a CROW appeared, and began ferociously dive-bombing the RAVEN, and ignoring the other two potential predators. Soon three more CROWS joined the mob, and they all went after the RAVEN, one CROW doing some absolutely spectacular "stoops", long nearly vertical dives with folded wings like a mini-peregrine. The RAVEN turned upside-down several times to fend them off, but soon gave up and flew away fast. The crows chased after, continuing to ignore the RED-TAIL and TV, who were still circling. I am getting more suspicious that we have nesting RAVENS somewhere in the Salmon Creek valley. John Greenly Ludlowville -- 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] RC Kinglet
I found a RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET dead on the ground outside the glassed stairway of Rhodes Hall on campus yesterday evening. A sad end to migration for this one. Look out for live ones! 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/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Montezuma tree swallow
Seems like someone must have reported one by now but I can't remember, so: one TREE SWALLOW yesterday, over the pond on East Rd past May's point. --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/ --