[nysbirds-l] Summer Tanagers in East Hampton (update 2)
Michael Duffy and I returned to the site at 10:30am this morning and found the Summer Tanager in the same area. Looking at it again and in better light, this bird really does look like a first year bird (very brown with paler undersides and a distinctly yellow throat). Didn't see any obvious streaking (which I'd have liked to see) but it otherwise conforms to written descriptions I've seen. The bird was calling intermittently between between 8:00am and 10:30am and was fairly easy to locate when it vocalized. -- 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/ --
[nysbirds-l] Summer Tanagers in East Hampton (update)
As previously mentioned, we found a pair of Summer Tanagers in our yard in East Hampton in late May. Throughout most of June we continued to hear Summer Tanagers around the yard and saw the male (but not the female) on 8 different dates in June and early July. The male remained remarkably loyal to the same area of woodland, returning to it and calling from it often, especially in the evening where it almost always returned to the same group of trees as the light faded and called loudly. That said, I did not see the female or find any sign of a nest during that time, other than the consistent presence of very shy bird(s) in the same area for a period of roughly 8 weeks. On July 13th I heard what sounded like multiple Summer Tanagers in the (presumed) nest area, calling in a very agitated state. A Red-tailed Hawk sitting low in the trees was the obvious culprit. When the hawk departed the "pit-a-tucking" subsided and the birds (definitely more than one) moved on. From that day forward, we did not hear the birds for approximately 10 days, despite being in the yard regularly both morning and evening. On July 22nd, Ryan Walker thought he heard Summer Tanager calls to the West of our property at some distance in the woods. This morning (July 24th) while driving to buy breakfast at 8am, I heard a Summer Tanager calling at a new location. I stopped and easily located the bird, which was sitting in the open and calling loudly (a complete contrast to the presumed breeding birds who were extremely cautious, often remained hidden and often dropping off their perch and fleeing at the first sign of a human nearby). The bird this morning was not the male (as I'd expected) but rather a brownish female/juvenile type. I appeared overall olive/brown with paler undersides and a yellowish tinge to the throat. I did not notice any streaking so am not sure whether this bird is young of the year as opposed to our female rediscovered, however it did leave me with that impression. It did strike me, even at a distance, as a great deal browner than the olive/green female we saw earlier in the season, however I only saw the female on a couple of occasions so readily admit to potential wishful thinking. I watched the bird for a few minutes and relocated it on the way back home at around 9am, watching for another 5 minutes. Given that the location is publicly accessible and not the presume breeding site, I'm going to make it public in case anyone in the area want to relocate the bird and weigh in on the ID. The bird was on Great Oak Way in East Hampton, about half way between the junction with Old Schoolhouse Lane and the end of the street. There is a chain stretched across the entrance to a Town of East Hampton preserve on the West side of Great Oak Way - the bird was close to that "gate" on both occasions. The "gate" marks a trail head that accesses a lot of good habitat (several pairs of Scarlet Tanagers in the area also). *Please* respect private property signs in the area, much of the land further down Great Oak Way is privately owned. Anthony -- 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/ --
[nysbirds-l] Summer Tanagers in East Hampton (update)
As previously mentioned, we found a pair of Summer Tanagers in our yard in East Hampton in late May. Throughout most of June we continued to hear Summer Tanagers around the yard and saw the male (but not the female) on 8 different dates in June and early July. The male remained remarkably loyal to the same area of woodland, returning to it and calling from it often, especially in the evening where it almost always returned to the same group of trees as the light faded and called loudly. That said, I did not see the female or find any sign of a nest during that time, other than the consistent presence of very shy bird(s) in the same area for a period of roughly 8 weeks. On July 13th I heard what sounded like multiple Summer Tanagers in the (presumed) nest area, calling in a very agitated state. A Red-tailed Hawk sitting low in the trees was the obvious culprit. When the hawk departed the pit-a-tucking subsided and the birds (definitely more than one) moved on. From that day forward, we did not hear the birds for approximately 10 days, despite being in the yard regularly both morning and evening. On July 22nd, Ryan Walker thought he heard Summer Tanager calls to the West of our property at some distance in the woods. This morning (July 24th) while driving to buy breakfast at 8am, I heard a Summer Tanager calling at a new location. I stopped and easily located the bird, which was sitting in the open and calling loudly (a complete contrast to the presumed breeding birds who were extremely cautious, often remained hidden and often dropping off their perch and fleeing at the first sign of a human nearby). The bird this morning was not the male (as I'd expected) but rather a brownish female/juvenile type. I appeared overall olive/brown with paler undersides and a yellowish tinge to the throat. I did not notice any streaking so am not sure whether this bird is young of the year as opposed to our female rediscovered, however it did leave me with that impression. It did strike me, even at a distance, as a great deal browner than the olive/green female we saw earlier in the season, however I only saw the female on a couple of occasions so readily admit to potential wishful thinking. I watched the bird for a few minutes and relocated it on the way back home at around 9am, watching for another 5 minutes. Given that the location is publicly accessible and not the presume breeding site, I'm going to make it public in case anyone in the area want to relocate the bird and weigh in on the ID. The bird was on Great Oak Way in East Hampton, about half way between the junction with Old Schoolhouse Lane and the end of the street. There is a chain stretched across the entrance to a Town of East Hampton preserve on the West side of Great Oak Way - the bird was close to that gate on both occasions. The gate marks a trail head that accesses a lot of good habitat (several pairs of Scarlet Tanagers in the area also). *Please* respect private property signs in the area, much of the land further down Great Oak Way is privately owned. Anthony -- 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/ --
[nysbirds-l] Summer Tanagers in East Hampton (update 2)
Michael Duffy and I returned to the site at 10:30am this morning and found the Summer Tanager in the same area. Looking at it again and in better light, this bird really does look like a first year bird (very brown with paler undersides and a distinctly yellow throat). Didn't see any obvious streaking (which I'd have liked to see) but it otherwise conforms to written descriptions I've seen. The bird was calling intermittently between between 8:00am and 10:30am and was fairly easy to locate when it vocalized. -- 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/ --