Today I had occasion to stop with the taxi at the Dandy Mini-Mart in Slaterville Springs. It being a cold sunny winter day, I thought to check the cavity in the tree behind the store which John Confer tipped us off to months ago. I guessed right, and added EASTERN SCREECH-OWL to my Office List as well as my 2015 Basin List. I'm also thrilled for Mark & family that their box is occupied despite a recent casualty in the neighborhood.
Another cool Office Bird today was a male NORTHERN HARRIER on McClintock Road by Livermore Road just west of the Village of Dryden. It was moving quickly south while facing more west, such were the weather conditions and its flight style. Although I had previously seen Peregrine from my Office windows this year, I was thrilled to see the male and female perched on the SE corner of Bradfield Hall this morning, he on a ledge directly below her ledge. Has anybody seen them perched on the same ledge together, or actively courting or copulating? Is there an appropriate bit of gravel somewhere atop Bradfield for them to nest? If not, will somebody please quick put a box up for them, and include a camera? By the way, have the Red-tailed Hawks been nearby? What sort of inter-species interactions have there been? Do the Red-tailed Hawks show interest in last year's site? Is Cornell/CLO loyalty/investment in the Red-tailed Hawks so great as to preclude encouraging the Peregrines? I think having Peregrines nest at Cornell would be the best tribute to the folks here in the 70s who worked so hard to captive-breed and reintroduce this species to eastern North America. --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/ --
