Re:[cayugabirds-l] Montezuma etc.
Sure enough: Dave Nutter reports a RED KNOT at Armitage Road this morning, as well as a RED-NECKED PHALAROPE at Carncross. On Mon, May 26, 2014 at 9:24 PM, Jay McGowan jw...@cornell.edu wrote: In addition to the usual birds at Montezuma (which happily include Prothonotary Warbler, Red-headed Woodpecker, Cerulean Warbler, Black Tern, and many others), Carncross was rife with shorebirds, including an estimated 400 DUNLIN, an amazing group of at least 45 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, approximately 19 RUDDY TURNSTONES, a breeding plumage SANDERLING, dozens of SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS and SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, at least two SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS, and a WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER. The flooded field on Armitage still had a few shorebirds, as did the last pond on the Wildlife Drive, but the numbers and diversity and both places did not compare to Carncross. With reports of Red Knots on Oneida Lake today we had high hopes of picking one out of the flock, but no such luck. Also notable at Carncross were the lingering pair of NORTHERN PINTAIL, the first RED-NECKED GREBE I can recall seeing in a cornfield, and the SANDHILL CRANE pair with at least one colt. This evening on a dusk walk around Monkey Run North, the most notable bird was an ACADIAN FLYCATCHER that sang from the low area on the left side of the trail about halfway to the where the trail descends to the river from the parking area. A little later I picked out two COMMON NIGHTHAWKS to the west from the hill at Sapsucker Woods. They were on the same trajectory (and equivalently distant, unfortunately) to two nighthawks Livia and I saw at Bluegrass Lane last night. -- Jay McGowan Macaulay Library Cornell Lab of Ornithology jw...@cornell.edu -- Jay McGowan Macaulay Library Cornell Lab of Ornithology 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] Montezuma etc.
In addition to the usual birds at Montezuma (which happily include Prothonotary Warbler, Red-headed Woodpecker, Cerulean Warbler, Black Tern, and many others), Carncross was rife with shorebirds, including an estimated 400 DUNLIN, an amazing group of at least 45 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, approximately 19 RUDDY TURNSTONES, a breeding plumage SANDERLING, dozens of SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS and SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, at least two SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS, and a WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER. The flooded field on Armitage still had a few shorebirds, as did the last pond on the Wildlife Drive, but the numbers and diversity and both places did not compare to Carncross. With reports of Red Knots on Oneida Lake today we had high hopes of picking one out of the flock, but no such luck. Also notable at Carncross were the lingering pair of NORTHERN PINTAIL, the first RED-NECKED GREBE I can recall seeing in a cornfield, and the SANDHILL CRANE pair with at least one colt. This evening on a dusk walk around Monkey Run North, the most notable bird was an ACADIAN FLYCATCHER that sang from the low area on the left side of the trail about halfway to the where the trail descends to the river from the parking area. A little later I picked out two COMMON NIGHTHAWKS to the west from the hill at Sapsucker Woods. They were on the same trajectory (and equivalently distant, unfortunately) to two nighthawks Livia and I saw at Bluegrass Lane last night. -- Jay McGowan Macaulay Library Cornell Lab of Ornithology 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/ --
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Montezuma, etc
RE: Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Knox-Marsellus. I would like to offer Dave full half-credit for the Buff-breasted. Not only was it his suggestion that we try east road one more time at the end of a long day, but it was also he who kept whispering in my ear No Bob, that's not a Mourning Dove. Apparently I had confused the two birds some time in the past. I had forgotten. Unfortunately, he had not. The Buff-breasted was actually an easy find. It was foraging exactly where it would be expected: along the grassy edge of receding mudflats. Since the water had recently receded, the grass was short, and the bird stood out clearly. Plus, it was the only bird of that color: decidedly buffy on head and breast. With a dark-and-golden patterning on the back. Unfortunately, it's a long way from the road down to the flats, and a scope is necessary to get one on it. Best of luck to those who try for it today. Bob McGuire On Aug 18, 2012, at 10:16 PM, nutter.d...@me.com nutter.d...@me.com wrote: Bob McGuire, Ann Mitchell I spent today birding from Stewart Park to Montezuma. Stewart Park had the usual suspects for this time of year, including BARN SWALLOWS, BANK SWALLOWS, SPOTTED SANDPIPER, CASPIAN TERNS, DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS, BELTED KINGFISHERS, ten COMMON MERGANSERS on a log (the other 4 wouldn't fit), and 3 species of gulls. I had heard a PILEATED WOODPECKER as I biked from home, and we all heard a CAROLINA WREN. We walked around the Swan Pond and found a few passerines, including a quiet WARBLING VIREO, a singing RED-EYED VIREO, a YELLOW WARBLER, a YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, a WHITE- BREASTED NUTHATCH, HOUSE FINCHES and (non-passerine) DOWNY WOODPECKER. I also glimpsed a possible GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER. We met Stuart Krasnoff at Salt Point, he having told us he'd found the spit at Myers to be empty. We saw the 2 SOLITARY SANDPIPERS hee'd found in Salmon Creek, 2 WARBLING VIREOS, an EASTERN WOOD- PEWEE, an EASTERN KINGBIRD, several CEDAR WAXWINGS, a BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, HAIRY and RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS, NORTHERN FLICKER, and other stuff. Additional entertainment was provided by guys across the creek at Myers using a home-made shoulder-fired device to fire a tethered tennis ball into the canopy of a large shade tree. This may have had something to do with a sign advertising an amateur radio club. Other people's hobbies sure are weird! On our way north we saw a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, an AMERICAN KESTREL, an EASTERN BLUEBIRD, and an AMERICAN COOT (inside the breakwater of the former Castelli's Marina in Union Springs). At Mud Lock we saw juvenile BALD EAGLES, both adult and juvenile OSPREYS, 2 GREEN HERONS, 5 PIED-BILLED GREBES, and the famous GREATER SCAUP (resting on the other side of the river and facing us so we could see the minimum detail and add nothing to the debate). We also had a singing EASTERN PHOEBE fly to a dead branch atop a nearby tree. At Montezuma NWR, the Visitor Center pond has water and a some shorebirds, including plenty of KILLDEER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS, a PECTORAL SANDPIPER, a SOLITARY SANDPIPER, a few LEAST SANDPIPERS, and four adult DOWITCHERS resting close together. Three of them were molting their back feathers, but the fourth seemed to be pretty much in breeding plumage still. As with most Dowitchers, I found them (and the field guide) confusing. The Wildlife Drive was pretty quiet: Larue's is plowed but dry, there is lots of empty water in the main pool just waiting for ducks to join the single WOOD DUCK, the shorebird area has lots of tall vegetation but a few LESSER YELLOWLEGS and KILLDEER in the more open areas, plus one lovely WILSON'S SNIPE which made Bob very happy as he and the snipe had been avoiding each other all year until now. Benning's Marsh had BLUE-WINGED TEAL and NORTHERN SHOVELER, as well as all the other shorebirds listed above, plus SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER and SEMIPALMATED PLOVER. Tschache Pool had GREAT EGRETS, GREAT BLUE HERONS, The bonanza was at Knox-Marsellus Marsh, but as is often the case, viewing was challenging due to distance and heat shimmer. Dave Nicosia who was there with a club from Binghamton, pointed out 3 AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS in various states of molt. We had 4 in view by the time I sent out a text, but eventually we saw a total of 6. There was also an immature BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON intermittently in view along witha some immature COMMON GALLINULES. A pair of SANDHILL CRANE strolled regally about and bugles occasionally. Ducks included GREEN-WINGED TEAL and doubtless others I wasn't paying attention to. Through intense study, Bob, Ann I concluded that one juvenile DOWITCHER was a SHORT-BILLED and another was a LONG- BILLED. Although it was Bob who actually found a BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER walking around in the short, vivid green, new growth out on
[cayugabirds-l] Montezuma, etc
Bob McGuire, Ann Mitchell I spent today birding from Stewart Park to Montezuma. Stewart Park had the usual suspects for this time of year, including BARN SWALLOWS, BANK SWALLOWS, SPOTTED SANDPIPER, CASPIAN TERNS, DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS, BELTED KINGFISHERS, ten COMMON MERGANSERS on a log (the other 4 wouldn't fit), and 3 species of gulls. I had heard a PILEATED WOODPECKER as I biked from home, and we all heard a CAROLINA WREN. We walked around the Swan Pond and found a few passerines, including a quiet WARBLING VIREO, a singing RED-EYED VIREO, a YELLOW WARBLER, a YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, a WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, HOUSE FINCHES and (non-passerine) DOWNY WOODPECKER. I also glimpsed a possible GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER.We met Stuart Krasnoff at Salt Point, he having told us he'd found the spit at Myers to be empty. We saw the 2 SOLITARY SANDPIPERS hee'd found in Salmon Creek, 2 WARBLING VIREOS, an EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE, an EASTERN KINGBIRD, several CEDAR WAXWINGS, a BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, HAIRY and RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS, NORTHERN FLICKER, and other stuff. Additional entertainment was provided by guys across the creek at Myers using a home-made shoulder-fired device to fire a tethered tennis ball into the canopy of a large shade tree. This may have had something to do with a sign advertising an amateur radio club. Other people's hobbies sure are weird!On our way north we saw a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, an AMERICAN KESTREL, an EASTERN BLUEBIRD, and an AMERICAN COOT (inside the breakwater of the former Castelli's Marina in Union Springs). At Mud Lock we saw juvenile BALD EAGLES, both adult and juvenile OSPREYS, 2 GREEN HERONS, 5 PIED-BILLED GREBES, and the famous GREATER SCAUP (resting on the other side of the river and facing us so we could see the minimum detail and add nothing to the debate). We also had a singing EASTERN PHOEBE fly to a dead branch atop a nearby tree.At Montezuma NWR, the Visitor Center pond has water and a some shorebirds, including plenty of KILLDEER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS, a PECTORAL SANDPIPER, a SOLITARY SANDPIPER, a few LEAST SANDPIPERS, and four adult DOWITCHERS resting close together. Three of them were molting their back feathers, but the fourth seemed to be pretty much in breeding plumage still. As with most Dowitchers, I found them (and the field guide) confusing. The Wildlife Drive was pretty quiet: Larue's is plowed but dry, there is lots of empty water in the main pool just waiting for ducks to join the single WOOD DUCK, the shorebird area has lots of tall vegetation but a few LESSER YELLOWLEGS and KILLDEER in the more open areas, plus one lovely WILSON'S SNIPE which made Bob very happy as he and the snipe had been avoiding each other all year until now.Benning's Marsh had BLUE-WINGED TEAL and NORTHERN SHOVELER, as well as all the other shorebirds listed above, plus SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER and SEMIPALMATED PLOVER. Tschache Pool had GREAT EGRETS, GREAT BLUE HERONS,The bonanza was at Knox-Marsellus Marsh, but as is often the case, viewing was challenging due to distance and heat shimmer. Dave Nicosia who was there with a club from Binghamton, pointed out 3 AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS in various states of molt. We had 4 in view by the time I sent out a text, but eventually we saw a total of 6. There was also an immature BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON intermittently in view along witha some immature COMMON GALLINULES. A pair of SANDHILL CRANE strolled regally about and bugles occasionally. Ducks included GREEN-WINGED TEAL and doubtless others I wasn't paying attention to. Through intense study, Bob, Ann I concluded that one juvenile DOWITCHER was a SHORT-BILLED and another was a LONG-BILLED. Although it was Bob who actually found a BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER walking around in the short, vivid green, new growth out on the mud, I would like to take some credit for suggesting that we look for them and for lending moral support by standing next to him and staring through my own scope the entire time he searched. Bob and Ann also saw 2 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS when a NORTHERN HARRIER flushed many of the shorebirds, and a fellow I don't know with a possibly German accent, whom we helped see the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, returned the favor by finding us a WILSON'S PHALAROPE.Between bouts of watching at Knox-Marsellus from various perspectives and hoping for the heat shimmer to calm down, we stopped by Muckrace Flats on Savannah-Spring Lake Road (KILLDEER, PECTORAL LEAST SANDPIPER, GREATER LESSER YELLOWLEGS, and we went to Carncross Road to monitor progress on changes to that access point to Howland Island. The gate by the Seneca River has been removed, and machines and materials are arrayed to replace the causeway with a bridge. The new end of the public road is in a parking area at the top of the hill on the island. While checking this out we also found an OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER which favored the top of a dead tree on the island just east of the trees along the river on the south side of the road.With 16
[cayugabirds-l] Montezuma etc. 2Apr11
I went up the lake this afternoon with Sarah McLean, Nate Williams, Hope Batcheller, Tim Healy, Gaelyn Ong, and Caleb Arellano. Highlights included the continuing (presumably) COMMON TEAL at the visitor center pond, 4 basic-plumage DUNLIN at the shorebird flats along the wildlife drive and a male EURASIAN WIGEON at the Audubon Center (which subsequently flew off with most of the wigeon.) East Road had a male Blue-winged Teal and 300 Snow Geese, and Ospreys and Tree Swallows were everywhere. Earlier in the day I saw the GREATER SCAUP x RING-NECKED DUCK hybrid offshore at Stewart Park. Good birding. Jay McGowan -- 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/ --
