[cayugabirds-l] Taughannock Loon Watch

[bob mcguire]

I arrived at the NE corner of the south portion of Taughannock Park, began 
counting loons at 6:50, and left at 8:40 when the number of migrating loons 
dropped to three in the final 15 minute period. In total, I had 169 Common 
Loons flying south and 3 flying north. The morning began at 42 degrees with a 
10 mph breeze out of the north and ended at 46 degrees, wind up to 15 mph. In 
addition to the loons, I had a Peregrine Falcon circling high overhead and a 
single Cackling Goose in a passing flock of Canadas. 

COLO count:

Per 1   15
Per 2   89
Per 3   8
Per 4   9
Per 5   10
Per 6   32
Per 7   3

Bob McGuire
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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Taughannock Loon Watch wrapup & sightings

[Linda Orkin]

Thanks Ethan, for taking up this count and reporting the sightings. This
has been an enjoyable read to look forward to.  I hope you will be back at
it again next year.

Your comparison to the numbers of two decades ago reminds us all how
important data collection it to our recognition of population events.

Best
Linda Orkin
President, Cayuga Bird Club

On Thu, Dec 6, 2012 at 1:25 PM, Ethan Kistler  wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Monday and Tuesday produced no loon movement. It came down to yesterday's
> perfect NW winds to determine whether or not the loon migration is coming
> to an end. During the two hour period, we counted 135 (south) and 13
> (north) plus another 100 in the fifteen minutes following the count. If
> there was any considerable number of loons still to the north, we should
> have had an outstanding push. This did not occur. Today's easterly winds
> produced another 46 south (one north).
>
> Although tomorrow is officially the last day of the count, I thought I'd
> share the results now. In total, 6,933 Common Loons were counted south and
> 901 north resulting in the difference of 6,032. This is roughly 50% less
> than the average totals 20 years ago. I won't go into the details seeing
> that this is only one season, but botulism is something to think about.
> Perhaps Bill Evans will add to this at a later time.
>
> Other birds of interest over the past few days include a Golden Eagle and
> Red-throated Loon yesterday and roughly 3,500 Snow Geese today (as others
> have mentioned).
>
> Best,
>
> Ethan
>
>
>
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[cayugabirds-l] Taughannock Loon Watch wrapup & sightings

[Ethan Kistler]

Hi all,

Monday and Tuesday produced no loon movement. It came down to yesterday's 
perfect NW winds to determine whether or not the loon migration is coming to an 
end. During the two hour period, we counted 135 (south) and 13 (north) plus 
another 100 in the fifteen minutes following the count. If there was any 
considerable number of loons still to the north, we should have had an 
outstanding push. This did not occur. Today's easterly winds produced another 
46 south (one north).

Although tomorrow is officially the last day of the count, I thought I'd share 
the results now. In total, 6,933 Common Loons were counted south and 901 north 
resulting in the difference of 6,032. This is roughly 50% less than the average 
totals 20 years ago. I won't go into the details seeing that this is only one 
season, but botulism is something to think about. Perhaps Bill Evans will add 
to this at a later time.

Other birds of interest over the past few days include a Golden Eagle and 
Red-throated Loon yesterday and roughly 3,500 Snow Geese today (as others have 
mentioned).


Best,

Ethan
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Re:[cayugabirds-l] Taughannock Loon Watch update--Correction

[Ethan Kistler]

Hi all,

Nov 30th should read 12 (south), 33 (north). We actually subtracted from the 
total count that day!

Ethan



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On Sun, Dec 2, 2012 9:07 PM EST Ethan Kistler wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>As you have probably guessed, the long delay in updates have been due to 
>minimal loon movement. Here's a breakdown for the last week:
>
>Nov 25th - A frustrating day to say at least. Bill Evans joined today and we 
>counted 219 (south), but for some reason the majority (159) returned north. 
>After the count was over, we headed into town and while having coffee at the 
>Ithaca Bakery, Bill glanced out the window and noticed 16 heading south. 
>Walking back to his office yielded another 20 or so. I can't really say what 
>was up that day. Also of note for the count, a single Bonaparte's Gull - the 
>first one I had during the loon counts.
>
>Nov 26th - A little more satisfying with 208 (south) and 11 (north). Other 
>birds of interest include singles of Red-throated Loon and Long-tailed Duck.
>
>Nov 27th - One loon and it was sitting on the water. Other birds of note 
>include a flyover Common Redpoll and my first Horned Grebe for the count.
>
>Nov 28th - 149 (south) and 4 (north). Also five Snow Buntings heading north.
>
>Nov 29th - Another slow day with 5 (south) and an additional six on the water.
>
>Nov 30th - Bill and I expected a decent push today with the strong northerly 
>winds so he joined me again this morning. To our surprise, we only had 23 
>(south) and 12 (north). 
>
>
>Dec 1st - 6 (south). Also two Merlins and an American Pipit that came in and 
>foraged nearby.
>
>
>Dec 2nd - 1 (south)
>
>Over the past few days waterfowl have started congregating northwest of 
>Taughannock Point including a couple thousand Canada Geese, several hundred 
>scaup and lesser numbers of American Wigeon, Ring-necked Ducks, Common 
>Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Common & Hooded Mergansers, Mallards and American Black 
>Ducks.
>
>
>The predicted NW winds on Wednesday could produce the next and possibly final 
>push of Common Loons over Cayuga Lake. Friday is the last day of the count so 
>if you haven't made it out yet, feel free to join us this week!
>
>Also, with the recent talk on Hooded Merganser numbers up at the north end of 
>the lake, while walking out to the white lighthouse a few days ago, there were 
>close to 100 in the inlet.
>
>Ethan


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[cayugabirds-l] Taughannock Loon Watch update

[Ethan Kistler]

Hi all,

As you have probably guessed, the long delay in updates have been due to 
minimal loon movement. Here's a breakdown for the last week:

Nov 25th - A frustrating day to say at least. Bill Evans joined today and we 
counted 219 (south), but for some reason the majority (159) returned north. 
After the count was over, we headed into town and while having coffee at the 
Ithaca Bakery, Bill glanced out the window and noticed 16 heading south. 
Walking back to his office yielded another 20 or so. I can't really say what 
was up that day. Also of note for the count, a single Bonaparte's Gull - the 
first one I had during the loon counts.

Nov 26th - A little more satisfying with 208 (south) and 11 (north). Other 
birds of interest include singles of Red-throated Loon and Long-tailed Duck.

Nov 27th - One loon and it was sitting on the water. Other birds of note 
include a flyover Common Redpoll and my first Horned Grebe for the count.

Nov 28th - 149 (south) and 4 (north). Also five Snow Buntings heading north.

Nov 29th - Another slow day with 5 (south) and an additional six on the water.

Nov 30th - Bill and I expected a decent push today with the strong northerly 
winds so he joined me again this morning. To our surprise, we only had 23 
(south) and 12 (north). 


Dec 1st - 6 (south). Also two Merlins and an American Pipit that came in and 
foraged nearby.


Dec 2nd - 1 (south)

Over the past few days waterfowl have started congregating northwest of 
Taughannock Point including a couple thousand Canada Geese, several hundred 
scaup and lesser numbers of American Wigeon, Ring-necked Ducks, Common 
Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Common & Hooded Mergansers, Mallards and American Black 
Ducks.


The predicted NW winds on Wednesday could produce the next and possibly final 
push of Common Loons over Cayuga Lake. Friday is the last day of the count so 
if you haven't made it out yet, feel free to join us this week!

Also, with the recent talk on Hooded Merganser numbers up at the north end of 
the lake, while walking out to the white lighthouse a few days ago, there were 
close to 100 in the inlet.

Ethan

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[cayugabirds-l] Taughannock Loon Watch - Nov 24th

[Ethan Kistler]

Hi all,

Five of us braved the wind and cold at the Taughannock Loon Watch this morning. 
The first 15 minutes started out great with 111 moving south, but things slowed 
down considerably for the rest of the morning. Nearly all loons were Cayuga 
Lake birds with a few Lake Ontario birds towards the end. In all we had 270 
(south) and 86 (north). There was a high percentage of birds heading north, but 
many of these were just gaining altitude. We count them south, subtract them 
going north, and recount them heading south again so the end count is accurate. 

We were anticipating a good Lake Ontario wave with the WNW and at times, NW 
winds, but it never happened. Looking north, there were dark clouds with a lot 
of precipitation along Lake Ontario; this probably had blocked a lot of birds 
from heading south. 

Other birds of note include two flocks of Northern Pintail (70; 12) as well as 
10 Tundra Swans all heading south.

Tomorrow winds shift to the west so there may still be some birds moving.

Ethan

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[cayugabirds-l] Taughannock Loon Watch - Nov 17-20

[Ethan Kistler]

Hi all,

Once again, another update from the Taughannock Loon Watch. Starting where we 
left off, Nov 17th ended up producing the largest push of loons over the past 
five mornings with 178 south (20 north; 40 on water). Since then there hasn’t 
been much activity. The mornings of the 18th, 19th and 20th were nearly 
identical with 60/60/69 south (12/14/12 north) respectively. The 20th had an 
exceptional number of loons just sitting on the water; I counted at least 120 
with one scan. Today things slowed considerably with 20 south (2 north) with an 
additional 40 on the water.

Things should remain pretty slow over the next few days but Saturday is shaping 
up to produce a huge push if the weather prediction doesn’t change. Being the 
weekend, this should allow a lot of you who have been planning on coming out to 
be able to join us. We’ll keep everyone updated if this prediction holds.

Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Ethan

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[cayugabirds-l] Taughannock Loon Watch - Nov 10-16

[Ethan Kistler]

Hi all,

The last week has been rather slow on the loon watching front, hence the lack 
of reports. Between Nov 10-13, only 23 were recorded south (and 4 north). 
Wednesday, Nov 14th, improved with 342 south (5 north) with the addition of a 
Red-throated Loon as well. Yesterday and today were nearly identical – 93/98 
south (10/2 north) with 30-35 sitting on the water both days.

Other birds of note include six Tundra Swans on the 13th, Red-necked Grebes (2 
on the 12th, 1 on the 13th), Snow Buntings daily, and Merlin every other day. 
Small numbers of waterfowl moving as well.

Feel free to join the watch this weekend. Tomorrow could produce some 
southbound loons but southerly winds on Sunday don’t look promising. 

Ethan

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[cayugabirds-l] Taughannock Loon Watch - Nov 7-9th

[Ethan Kistler]

Hi all,

Last Wednesday (Nov 7th) was very slow at the Taughannock Loon Watch with only 
39 loons heading south (5 north) in addition to 135 sitting on the water. 
Yesterday was more rewarding with 443 south (19 north), which brought the 
season total over the 4,000 mark. Today was another slow day with 102 south (10 
north). The loon count currently sits at 4,249.

Other highlights from the past three mornings include: three flocks of Northern 
Pintail totaling 249, a single flock of 115 Snow Geese, Bald Eagles, Peregrine 
Falcon, Snow Buntings daily and seven flyover White-winged Crossbills this 
morning.

Ethan

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[cayugabirds-l] Taughannock loon watch

[Bill Evans]

North pier count site, 7:40-9:30AM EDT
North wind 10-15 mph, 45 F with low cloud ceiling (~1400-ft asl) and occasional 
drizzle. 
Surprisingly little bird movement:
12 Common Loon (1 southbound; 11 northbound)
~100 southbound cormorants in three flocks
~70 southbound Canada Geese in three flocks
2 White-winged Scoters (low in northbound flight)
1 Black Scoter (low in southbound flight)
6 Bufflehead (low flight south then north)
A few small flocks of mallards and similar-sized puddlers
No gull or passerine migration; a few crows crossing the lake
-Bill E
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RE: [cayugabirds-l] Taughannock loon watch, Saturday morning

[Meena Haribal]

In the morning around 10.00 am when I was heading towards lab (BTI), I scanned 
the sky from driveway. There were several blackbirds heading southwest. Also a 
few Gulls going in the same direction, but there were two Common Loons, which 
had decided that it was too late to go to DC or Chesapeake Bay, so had turned 
and headed towards lake.

Meena

Meena Haribal
Ithaca NY
http://haribal.org/
http://picasaweb.google.com/ithmoths
http://picasaweb.google.com/mharibal
http://www.flickr.com/photos/91426...@n00/



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[cayugabirds-l] Taughannock loon watch, Saturday morning

[Dave Nutter]

This morning from 7:30 to 9:30 Gary Kohlenberg, Ann Mitchell & I, later joined by Paul Anderson, 
went to Taughannock Falls State Park to see if the predicted light northwest breeze would be 
enough to provoke a loon migration despite predicted snow flurries.  The traditional viewing spot 
is the south side of the mouth of Taughannock Creek.  Civil twilight, the time when the sun is 6 
degrees or less below the horizon so one should be able to view objects fairly well, had begun 
at 7:15, but with the heavy cloud cover, it was still pretty dim when we arrived.  It was a few 
minutes before we saw any loons in the sky, but we were encouraged by Common Loon calls 
from the lake, and it was light enough to pick out about 20 in three far groups on the water.  The 
migrating loons started out as isolated birds flying south or southeast against the sky at various 
elevations above the lake.  Later loons, possibly from Lake Ontario, were more apt to be in groups,  to fly higher, and to track further west, either directly overhead or over the ridge to our west.  One group of 14 birds was dimmed by intervening clouds, raising the question as to how many flew by out of sight above the clouds.  We counted a total of 228 COMMON LOONS flying south, and only a handful flew north: a respectable but not overwhelming southward migration.  

As we watched loons going directly overhead, Paul noticed some extremely small / high specks.  
 We quickly realized that there was a stream of Icterids, probably mostly RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS 
also migrating south, and definitely above the lowest clouds.  At one point I managed to scope some 
and was able to discern a COMMON GRACKLE among them, but they were generally the size & 
shape of Red-winged or Rusty Blackbirds.  We figured we saw about 5000, but they were likely going 
past long before we noticed them and during much of the time when we could not see them.  The track of this bird-river varied quite a bit, sometimes being far to our east.  Perhaps Montezuma emptied out today. 

Other birds of note included a flock of about 32 BLACK SCOTERS which Paul diligently followed 
with his scope as they flew around low over the water to our north.  When they alit on the water, 
they disappeared behind the heat shimmer even though the splashes rose above.  Later Paul saw 
them flying again, and they actually came past us.  The flock was mostly females or juveniles, with the contrasting black caps and evenly gray cheeks.  When they aimed directly at us I saw at least one male bill / face that was yellow-orange (Black Scoter) or orange & white (Surf Scoter) but I missed 
 this as they sped by, and I did not see any white head markings of male a Surf Scoter.  Later still, 
what was likely the same flock of scoters flew north past us again.  On one of the southbound 
flights the scoters were accompanied by a single male LONG-TAILED DUCK flying slightly higher.  
I think he continued south when they turned back north.  

Most of the ducks we could ID as they flew by in various directions were MALLARDS, but many went 
unidentified.  One small flock of compact birds with particularly rapid wingbeats we figured were 
GREEN-WINGED TEAL.  As we left, a flock of about a dozen male and female BUFFLEHEADS 
also flew south.  There were of course CANADA GEESE in the air and also in Taughannock Creek, 
but the number of flocks and individuals in the flocks was not great: We saw no mass movement 
due to migration, commuting, fear, or boredom among geese.  We did see some DOUBLE-CRESTED 
CORMORANTS, all suspiciously southbound and not low over the water: a group of 5, two singles, 
and a double flock of about 58 total as we were leaving.  

Other observations included GULLS, SP kettling high over Taughannock Creek and over the ridge 
east of the lake, moving concertedly in various directions, lazing around overhead, and on the water.  
The three usual species were represented in that an adult  GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL swam 
hopefully near some loons, and an immature HERRING GULL flew among some obviously smaller 
RING-BILLED GULLS.  Okay, we didn't pay a lot of attention to the gulls nor make any effort to count 
them, but if there had been smaller species such as Bonaparte's around, I think we might have noticed.  

Additional birds flying over the lake included a few AMERICAN CROWS (various directions) and a 
westbound Accipiter which I believe was a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK.  We were also greeted by a 
few DARK-EYED JUNCOS among shoreline bushes, and EUROPEAN STARLINGS in the treetops 
as well as the sound of HOUSE SPARROWS somewhere nearby. 

There was no snow after all, only a few light showers which were offset by the sight of the right foot 
of a rainbow.  

--Dave Nutter