[nysbirds-l] "Back in the saddle again......"
A really good bird sighting always makes me think I have a really good singing voice ! Being realistic, I drop the tune, but try to work out a plan to see, and possibly hear, that avian prize ! Today was one of those days ! With the prize being the adult, male, Calliope Hummingbird, found by Darlene Massey on her property in Eastport, L.I. on 11/06/22. After making sure of her identification, she contacted a number of birders and then set up a sane way for others to share in her find ! Darlene, over many years, has turned her gardens into mega - birding attractions. I arrived at ~ 1530, hearing about some of today's earlier visits by the hummer. Approximately 35 minutes later the prize appeared, and gave a good showing of himself ! A handsome fellow, whose movements were "slow" enough when changing perches, to be able to stay up with, and get some photos ! This perfect outing was even more profound, as we were starting to leave, when Darlene pointed skyward and yelled out "2 eagles"...which all 3 of us got to see ! The gravity of the moment made me realize that we, standing on the same piece of ground, had just witnessed 2 of the largest bird species we will ever encounter on L.I., while also seeing a Calliope Hummingbird, the smallest species you can see on L.I. "Oh what a wonderful day.." This bird marks the 2nd time I have seen this species in N.Y.S. The first was with Jim Clinton Sr. at Ft.Tryon Park, Manhattan on 12/27/01. We recorded the bird as an immature male. We then pressed our luck and headed for Lenoir Park in Yonkers, Westchester Co. to find the Rufous Hummingbird that had been recorded there recently. Once again, we found our prize, another immature male. In total I have seen this species 5 times, going back to 6/24/77 at Sequoia National Park, Ca. I will never forget meeting the park ranger in the parking lot for a bird walk. As he was describing some of the species we might see on the walk, he had just begun talking about a really small bird (the Calliope Hummingbird) when a young boy asked him if what he was talking about was the bird in the tree right above him ? It was, of course, and got everybody off to a great experience ! Cheers, Bob -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] "Back in the Saddle again"
This weekend my #4 grandson Brady made his First Communion, and his
Godfather, Paul Baliles, flew in from Evanston, Illinois. to attend. This
morning I was tasked with taking Paul (who also happens to be my
son-in-law) back to LaGuardia Airport. After wishing him a " Bon Voyage" at
1030, I proceeded post-haste to Forest Park, where I was like a kid in a
candy store - I was thrilled with it all ! There was not all that much, but
most of the species seen were FOS for me {didn't get much birding time in
this past week) with a number of them affording real nice photo ops.
Solitary Sandpiper, Wood Thrush, Black-throated Blue, Black & White,
Ovenbird, N. Waterthrush and Common Yellowthroat were all FOS.
My next stop was at Alley Pond Park where the same conditions prevailed ,
with Warbling Vireo, Yellow, A. Redstart and N. Parulao being FOS. I
also had a "white" bird at Trout Pond (which I didn't see well before it
flew away) that looked to be ~ robin size. A short while later I met a
local birder, whom I asked about the leucistic or albinistic bird I had
seen earlier. He didn't know about it being seen this year, but had seen a
Leucistic Robin here last year.
My final stop was at Hempstead Lake S.P., where I added Chimney Swift to
the FOS list.
Cheers !
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NYSbirds-L List Info:
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm
ARCHIVES:
1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html
2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L
3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html
Please submit your observations to eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/
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[nysbirds-l] "Back in the saddle again"
As a retired Lilco/Brooklyn Union/Marketspan/Keyspan employee with 42 years, 8 months and 23 days service that ended on 1/1/99, I was a tad surprised to be asked to help out with the "Sandy" crisis, by acting as a crew guide to an out of state contractor, here to help LIPA/National Grid restore electricity to it's many affected customers. I did this from 11/7 to 11/20, and although I was in, or near, many well known birding areas, did not get a minute's worth of birding in. I was attached to a company from Kansas (PSJ Power) made up of 43-46 men, along with ~ 30 pieces of equipment. We started off (working 16 hours a day) in the Yaphank area, and finished our last 6 days working out of the LIPA Yard at Beach 108th St. & Beach Channel Drive in Far Rockaway...a real "war zone". Throughout all of this time, I was very impressed by the work ethic and "can-do" attitude of PSJ's personnel, especially Brandon Commons, one of it's General Foreman. And so, with much anticipation, I finally got "back in the saddle" today, and with Tom Moran, headed west to Alley Pond Park to try for the Virginia's Warbler we had missed on 2 previous occasions. We spent ~ 3 hours looking & listening, but could only come up with a Winter Wren (at the marsh near the s/e c/o the park) for our efforts. Upon arriving at Jones Beach, we met Michael McBrien, and his Dad, Mike who told us of their 1 hour old encounter with 4 Cave Swallows in Pt. Lookout, where they had them resting on the rocks, as well as roosting on the gutters of a green house. After not finding the birds there, and just before checking the rocks, Steve Walter rode by and asked if we wanted to see the swallows. He had just left them, was in his car ready to leave, saw us, turned around and led us to the CASW's - which we probably would have missed, on our own...thanks guys! 3 of the 4 birds were huddled together on a s/s ledge on the last house before the ocean, w/s of the last street before Reynold's Channel. The 4th bird was aloft at the time, but finally came to sit upon the other 3...forming a warming ball of protruding wings & feathers ! While at this location, Steve Schellenger told us about a pair of Harlequin Ducks he had just seen at the 2nd jetty, and as we approached this spot, were met by a retreating Tom Burke & Gail Bensen, who had just been informed of a Painted Bunting being seen at Alley Pond Pond. Responding to the axiom of "2 in the hand is worth 1 in the bush" we found the ducks and quickly moved on. Eric Miller, finder of the PABU, was in the group trying to relocate the bird, when we arrived, at ~ 3:20 PM.After about 1/2 hour, the bunting appeared, quite close to where it was found originally. This bird (a female) was a state bird for me, as well as a "lifer" for Tom, who had another "hat trick", with the Winter Wren & Cave Swallows making up the other two new species. What a great way to get back in the game ! Cheers, Bob -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
