Birdingonthe.Net Recent Postings from The Cayuga Birding List > Home > Mail > Alerts Updated on Thursday, March 18 at 07:38 PM ET The most recently received Mail is at the top.	Lesser Grey Shrike,©Tony Disley

18 Mar Barred Owl [] 18 Mar RE: Am. Robin w/white head ["Kevin J. McGowan" ] 18 Mar Re: Am. Robin w/white head [Eben McLane ] 18 Mar Am. Robin w/white head [Mark Walls ] 18 Mar Western Grebe ["D.M.Kennedy" ] 18 Mar Re: Western Grebe at Chimney Bluffs, 4PM Wends. [david nicosia ] 18 Mar Rusty Blackbird at the Lab [Matthew Medler ] 18 Mar Winter Wrens [Steven Broyles ] 17 Mar Western Grebe at Chimney Bluffs, 4PM Wends. ["James G. Kohlenberg" ] 17 Mar Re: Double-crested Cormorant on red lighthouse [Dave Nutter ] 17 Mar Re: No Purple Martins [Dave Nutter ] 17 Mar Wednesday morning birds [Marie P Read ] 17 Mar Stewart Park ["Bob Garrison" ] 17 Mar Volunteer for Cornell Lab's Migration Celebration [Anne James Rosenberg ] 17 Mar Double-crested Cormorant on red lighthouse [] 17 Mar early Chipping Sparrow - Sapsucker Woods [Tom Johnson ] 17 Mar pine siskin-brooktondale [Tom Hoebbel ] 16 Mar Campus Golden Eagle [Meena Haribal ] 16 Mar Re: NE Ithaca, Tues 3/16 ["Bill Evans" ] 16 Mar Re: NE Ithaca, Tues 3/16 [Eben McLane ] 16 Mar NE Ithaca, Tues 3/16 ["Mark Chao" ] 15 Mar woodcocks ["Susan Fast" ] 15 Mar Syracuse RBA [Joseph Brin ] 15 Mar Love is in the air! ["Marie P Read" ] 14 Mar Monday Night Seminar Reminder: Mike Webster [charles eldermire ] 14 Mar Western Grebe, Eurasian Wigeon, Sandhill Crane, Ross's Geese etc [Chris Wiley ] 14 Mar Western Grebe at Chimney Bluffs State Park, Lake Ontario [Matthew Medler ] 13 Mar Eurasian Wigeon ["Gary Chapin" ] 13 Mar Eurasian Wigeon ["Gary Chapin" ] 13 Mar Re: Stewart Pk. Mallard "mixed" pair [Kenneth Victor Rosenberg ] 13 Mar broken-billed common loon @ ladoga ["John and Fritzie Blizzard" ] 13 Mar Re: Stewart Pk. Mallard "mixed" pair ["John and Fritzie Blizzard" ] 13 Mar Sat. birds--Rusty, meadowlarks ["Susan Fast" ] 13 Mar Re:crow behavior ["Kevin J. McGowan" ] 13 Mar Re: Stewart Pk. Mallard "mixed" pair [Dave Nutter ] 13 Mar Stewart Pk. Mallard "mixed" pair [] 13 Mar broken-billed common loon @ ladoga [] 13 Mar NEXRAD site ["John and Sue Gregoire" ] 13 Mar Another mistake ["John and Fritzie Blizzard" ] 13 Mar Stewart Park this morning... [Pete Marchetto ] 12 Mar Mucklands Snow Geese ["James G. Kohlenberg" ] 12 Mar RE: snow geese ["John VanNiel" ] 12 Mar ARMITAGE not Armstrong ["John and Fritzie Blizzard" ] 12 Mar Northern Pintail x Mallard hybrid - Savannah (12 March 2010) [Tom Johnson ] 12 Mar Re:snow geese ["Susan Fast" ] 12 Mar Wild and sweet din [Margaret Shepard ] 12 Mar Snow Geese, ducks and other migrants aplenty ["John and Sue Gregoire" ] 12 Mar The fields are alive..... [Stephanie Greenwood ] 11 Mar Around Cayuga Lake Today 3/11 [david nicosia ] 11 Mar Oh what a sight!! ["John and Fritzie Blizzard" ] 11 Mar Red-wings [Kathy Strickland ] 12 Mar Finding Rusty Blackbirds [Ber Carr ] 11 Mar RE: crow behavior [Meena Haribal ] 11 Mar Woodcock ["Kurt Falvey" ] 11 Mar crow behavior [Carol Keeler ] 11 Mar A few lunchtime raptors [Kenneth Victor Rosenberg ] 11 Mar Wednesday- spectacular! ["Susan Norvell" ] 11 Mar trills [Sydney F Penner ] 11 Mar Re:Stewart Park, 11 March [Tom Johnson ] 11 Mar Song [Laura Stenzler ] 11 Mar 300-600K snow geese [Lee Ann vL ] 11 Mar Stewart Park, 11 March [Christopher Wood ] 11 Mar Re: No Geese today ["ConserveBirds" ] 11 Mar No Geese today [Meena Haribal ] 11 Mar Stew pk myers lake ridge [Lee Ann vL ] 11 Mar Beebe Lake [Ryan Douglas ] 11 Mar Seeking two lifers: Rusty Blackbird, Ross's Goose ["candr1 AT i-bird.com" ] 10 Mar Montezuma Audubon Center and Crusoe Creek location ["Dave Spier" ] 11 Mar Peeent [Gladys J Birdsall ] 10 Mar Snow Geese at the stadium [Meena Haribal ] 10 Mar Montezuma Audubon Center today ["Dave Spier" ] 10 Mar PEENT!!! ["Nancy W Dickinson" ] 10 Mar Snow and Canada ["Naomi Brewer" ] 10 Mar Still more SNOWS ["John and Fritzie Blizzard" ] 10 Mar Campus Robins [Karen Steffy ] 10 Mar Mt. Pleasant, Dryden - 10 March 2010 (geese & eagles) [Tom Johnson ] Subject: Barred Owl From: Alm9413 AT aol.com Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:37:40 EDT Hi All, Working late and not being outside for most of the day, I decided that chores could wait. I stopped by the Lab of O for a walk. Along the Wilson Trail, I came across someone who had just seen 6 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS on the SW side of the Wilson Trail. We both tried to find them again, but to no avail. I continued on the Wilson Trail. As I approached the Podell Boardwalk, I was pleasantly surprised to hear a BARRED OWL calling at 6:25 P.M. It was on the Dryden side of the woods, and called at least 4 times while I was there. Good Birding, Ann Mitchell -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: RE: Am. Robin w/white head From: "Kevin J. McGowan" <kjm2 AT cornell.edu> Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:25:38 -0400 Interesting sighting! I remember almost exactly 10 years ago today seeing a similar bird in Cayuga Heights. I was just getting totally jazzed about digiscoping, and these were the first interesting shots I took through binoculars. I remember leaning backwards over the seats to take the photo out the back window. Not sure I could do that now. ;^) You can see the images at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/robin.htm, off the Bad Photos of Good Birds page, http://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/brdphoto.htm. Best, Kevin **************************************************** Ithaca, NY 14850 kjm2 AT cornell.edu http://birds.cornell.edu/crows/ From: bounce-5451113-3493952 AT list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-5451113-3493952 AT list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Mark Walls Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2010 5:22 PM To: Cayuga Birds List Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Am. Robin w/white head My son, Dave, and I saw a robin with a white head this AM on West Hill, Spencer. I remember seeing another piebald robin a number of years ago near Love Fieldhouse, Cornell campus. That bird, however, had many more white patches. -- Mark Walls -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Re: Am. Robin w/white head From: Eben McLane <ebenmclane AT clarityconnect.com> Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:31:02 -0400 For about five years, I had a completely "white-headed junco" around my house. It disappeared a couple of years back--died, presumably. Does anyone know literature on song bird color variations, especially on color variations and reproduction? Eben McLane On Mar 18, 2010, at 5:22 PM, Mark Walls wrote: My son, Dave, and I saw a robin with a white head this AM on West Hill, Spencer. I remember seeing another piebald robin a number of years ago near Love Fieldhouse, Cornell campus. That bird, however, had many more white patches. -- Mark Walls -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Am. Robin w/white head From: Mark Walls <markwalls100 AT gmail.com> Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:22:17 -0400 *My son, Dave, and I saw a robin with a white head this AM on West Hill, Spencer. I remember seeing another piebald robin a number of years ago near Love Fieldhouse, Cornell campus. That bird, however, had many more white patches. * -- Mark Walls -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Western Grebe From: "D.M.Kennedy" <fishwatchers AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:54:28 -0700 (PDT) The Western Grebe was found at 12:30 this afternoon at Chimney Bluffs State Park (west of the bluffs) with the help of an Eaton birder. Fairly close and cooperative. Red-necked Grebes, White-winged Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, Common Goldeneye, Red-breasted and Common Mergansers also present. -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Re: Western Grebe at Chimney Bluffs, 4PM Wends. From: david nicosia <daven1024 AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:43:19 -0700 (PDT) All, I am planning a trip up to Lake Ontario this Saturday with my wife. I will be stopping by Chimney Bluffs in the hopes of seeing the Western Grebe. I also heard that there are many other great spots up there for other birds. Does anyone have any suggestions on locations in that general area around lake ontario? Please email me at daven1024 AT yahoo.com if you have any suggestions. The weather is going to be awesome on Saturday....upper 60s and sun. Thanks so much Good birding to all! Dave Nicosia ________________________________ From: James G. Kohlenberg To: "CAYUGABIRDS-L AT cornell.edu" Sent: Wed, March 17, 2010 9:31:37 PM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Western Grebe at Chimney Bluffs, 4PM Wends. With beautiful calm, sunny weather I was able to find the Western Grebe this afternoon, Wednesday, at 4 PM. It was straight out from the parking area, swimming, snoozing and preening. Over about an hour it swam leisurely west until it was behind the bluff. I was able to pick it up again by scanning from the State Park shore. I noticed a couple things; it doesn't associate with the Red-necked Grebes at all. Once when crossing paths with another Grebe it dove and swam underneath to avoid a close encounter. Many times it looked like it had something trailing behind like a tail extension, but was only dragging a leg. I've seen other birds stretch their legs, but this guy seemed to do in constantly mostly the right leg. Sometimes he would windmill his leg around the side of his body. I don't think anything was wrong, maybe it just felt good. When past the bluff toward the State Park he resumed actively feeding, diving about every 30 seconds and staying down about 20 seconds each time. He came up with a fish on very many of those dives. This lasted about 1/2 hour. He then resumed swimming out to the northwest in a straight line, but not diving anymore. He must have been full. When I left at 6 PM he was still visible in the scope. Gary Kohlenberg -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Rusty Blackbird at the Lab From: Matthew Medler <mdm2 AT cornell.edu> Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:38:03 -0700 (PDT) There was a single singing RUSTY BLACKBIRD at Sapsucker Woods this morning (18 March 2010) as I came into work. For the person who asked on the listserve some time recently about good places to see this species, I'd say that Sapsucker Woods is probably one of the better places in the area. With their preference for wet wooded areas, Rusty Blackbirds can be seen fairly reliably here during late March and early April. Good birding, Matt Medler Ithaca -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Winter Wrens From: Steven Broyles <Steven.Broyles AT cortland.edu> Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 08:55:06 -0400 An employee, Jack Ruggirello, at Tunison Aquatic Science Laboratory between Cortland and Dryden sent an email indicating the presence of two singing Winter Wrens yesterday morning. I visited there a short while ago to find one very cooperative and approachable wren singing behind the lab in the woods along the stream. Seems to be two weeks early? -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Western Grebe at Chimney Bluffs, 4PM Wends. From: "James G. Kohlenberg" <jgk25 AT cornell.edu> Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:31:37 -0400 With beautiful calm, sunny weather I was able to find the Western Grebe this afternoon, Wednesday, at 4 PM. It was straight out from the parking area, swimming, snoozing and preening. Over about an hour it swam leisurely west until it was behind the bluff. I was able to pick it up again by scanning from the State Park shore. I noticed a couple things; it doesn't associate with the Red-necked Grebes at all. Once when crossing paths with another Grebe it dove and swam underneath to avoid a close encounter. Many times it looked like it had something trailing behind like a tail extension, but was only dragging a leg. I've seen other birds stretch their legs, but this guy seemed to do in constantly mostly the right leg. Sometimes he would windmill his leg around the side of his body. I don't think anything was wrong, maybe it just felt good. When past the bluff toward the State Park he resumed actively feeding, diving about every 30 seconds and staying down about 20 seconds each time. He came up with a fish on very many of those dives. This lasted about 1/2 hour. He then resumed swimming out to the northwest in a straight line, but not diving anymore. He must have been full. When I left at 6 PM he was still visible in the scope. Gary Kohlenberg -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Re: Double-crested Cormorant on red lighthouse From: Dave Nutter <nutter.dave AT mac.com> Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:10:19 -0700 During the time it took me to type out the text message, something scared up most of what was on the red lighthouse breakwater, and the Double-crested Cormorant, which had been a shimmery silhouette, had disappeared. Awhile later from the east end of Stewart Park I had another view of a/the Double-crested Cormorant hunting in the lake. This was more satisfying, showing yellow-orange bill & pouch and even the proper spring double-crested head shape. Despite low numbers of waterfowl, the vast majority having migrated a bit further north, I found a good variety at Stewart Park today during several brief stops, including: SNOW GOOSE (2 flocks high up flying north early this morning), CANADA GOOSE (even though many have paired up and staked out territories elsewhere), AMERICAN BLACK DUCK, MALLARD, GREEN-WINGED TEAL (1M,1F), AMERICAN WIGEON (1M), RING-NECKED DUCK, BUFFLEHEAD, COMMON GOLDENEYE (1F), COMMON MERGANSER, HOODED MERGANSER (1M,1F), RUDDY DUCK (1F) I think I may have also seen Mark Chao heading off to the Renwick Sanctuary. I tried again today (unsuccessfully) to see a Great Horned Owl at the nest from the taxi on Pier Road as I did last year. Yesterday I also tried without seeing any owl, but was pleasantly surprised to see a BROWN CREEPER on the nest tree, which is a very good office bird for me. --Dave Nutter On Wednesday, March 17, 2010, at 12:59PM, <6072292158 AT VTEXT.COM> wrote: > Double-crested Cormorant on red lighthouse breakwater 4pm 17 March -dave nutter > >-- > >Cayugabirds-L List Info: >http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME >http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES > >ARCHIVES: >1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ > >-- > > -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Re: No Purple Martins From: Dave Nutter <nutter.dave AT mac.com> Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:37:13 -0700 Before recording a first record for the year for the basin, I try to remember to check eBird in case someone has quietly submitted a record earlier. When I saw that there were no other NY records yet, nor PA, nor CN, nor MA, nor OH, nor MD, nor VA, and the nearest Purple Martin record was from Cape May NJ just today, and the next nearest from NC, I began to wonder what was going on. Now I wonder whether those NJ records were decoys. Another thing to beware of is that some folks play Purple Martin sounds along with their decoys in a multimedia attempt to lure them to use a new martin house. This was tried at the Lab of O last year. --Dave Nutter On Wednesday, March 17, 2010, at 05:01PM, "Joe & Carol Slattery" wrote: > -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Wednesday morning birds From: Marie P Read <mpr5 AT cornell.edu> Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:43:36 -0400 The easternmost cornfields on Mt Pleasant hosted a flock of 100+ Snow Geese (including 2 blues) around 8:30 Wednesday morning, and they were still there when a friend went by later in the morning. Stewart Park had two groups of courting Common Mergansers, one group of 8 in the pond at the woods' edge, the other smaller group on the actual lake, close enough to the shore for photographs but not quite close enough to be totally eye-popping views. Interesting to watch their interactions (males chasing each other, displaying to the females with their tails upraised, all the time giving low growling calls). I'll go back tomorrow..... Marie -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Stewart Park From: "Bob Garrison" <rgarrison7 AT htva.net> Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:23:38 -0400 There were 11 ring-billed gulls and 19 Canada geese at Stewart Park today, 3/17 Bob G -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2752 - Release Date: 03/17/10 03:33:00 Subject: Volunteer for Cornell Lab's Migration Celebration From: Anne James Rosenberg <baj3 AT cornell.edu> Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:16:02 -0400 Hi all, Here’s an opportunity for some of you to share your knowledge of, and passion for, birds and the natural world with eager members of the general public: VOLUNTEERS NEEDED for a fun-filled event celebrating spring—Migration Celebration at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Saturday May 22. Join our team of volunteers from 9:30-3:30 to help with a variety of activities such as guided bird walks, children’s games and activities, interactive exhibits, and overall event support. Free lunch and appreciation packet if you volunteer for the whole day. Volunteers make this event possible! To sign up, contact Anne Rosenberg (baj3 AT cornell.edu or 254-2109) by April 20th or visit our website at . Anne James Rosenberg Youth Education Coordinator Cornell Lab of Ornithology 159 Sapsucker Woods Road Ithaca, NY 14850 607/254-2109 baj3 AT cornell.edu www.birds.cornell.edu/education -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Double-crested Cormorant on red lighthouse From: 6072292158 AT VTEXT.COM Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:59:30 -0400 Double-crested Cormorant on red lighthouse breakwater 4pm 17 March -dave nutter -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: early Chipping Sparrow - Sapsucker Woods From: Tom Johnson <tbj4 AT cornell.edu> Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:17:26 -0400 Cayugabirders, I forgot to post about an early Chipping Sparrow that was hanging around the front feeders and parking lot yesterday at the Lab of O, Sapsucker Woods. Mary Winston mentioned it to me in the afternoon, and I heard and saw it around 6:30 pm. Notably, this is around 2 weeks early for Chipping Sparrow here relative to historical arrival dates. American Tree Sparrows and Song Sparrows were also around, and Red-winged Blackbirds were singing up a storm in the early evening. Cheers, Tom -- Thomas Brodie Johnson Ithaca, NY tbj4 AT cornell.edu mobile: 717.991.5727 -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: pine siskin-brooktondale From: Tom Hoebbel <tomhoebbel AT gmail.com> Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:35:24 -0400 I saw a single Pine Siskin foraging with goldfinches at our place on Burns Rd in Brooktondale this afternoon. Tom "Time is the friend of the wonderful company, the enemy of the mediocre." Warren Buffett ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thomas Hoebbel Photography www.TH-Photo.com 607-539-6121 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Campus Golden Eagle From: Meena Haribal <mmh3 AT cornell.edu> Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:38:23 -0400 Hi all, I missed my regular bus of 4.43 PM, so decided to take the bus after an hour. But when I came down I had missed this bus too. Then I decided that I will take bus part of the distance and walk the rest . I was so glad that I missed all the buses. As I was waiting I looed around, starlings were having fun. Next time when I scanned the sky right over Vet school tower was a raptor circling fairly low. Initially, thought it might be a Turkey Vulture. But in the beuatiful sun there was no silvery white on the underside of the wing, bird was brownish rather thatn blacking, short neck and tail was short and wings held in slight dihedral, short rounded tale. I watched it cirlced sometime fairly low. I went to the steps of my office builiding to make it my office bird! It looked like it was deciding a spot to crash for the night. Then it decided to head towards Mt Pleasant or Monkey Run area. I think I missed the buses because Ii was destined to see the GOLDEN EAGLE! After a couple of minutes, a Turkey Vulture passed the same location that headed straight north, but lazily. What a contrast of colors between two species that was highlighted by the beautiful sun! I too observed many geese from fifth floor of Entomology Dept while in a meeting late afternoon. I walked from EAst Hill Plaza to home why Hawthorn Orchard ball fields. Red-Winged Blackbirds were claiming properties every where singing "It's my properteee" It was great evening to walk home. Cheers Meena PS: In the morning I saw and heard a SONG SPARROW at the junction of Ellis Hollows and PIne Tree Road. -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Re: NE Ithaca, Tues 3/16 From: "Bill Evans" <wrevans AT clarityconnect.com> Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:26:45 -0400 A wave of 1000+ Snows passed over Danby just after noon today. Bill E ----- Original Message ----- From: Mark Chao To: Cayugabirds-L Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 3:08 PM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] NE Ithaca, Tues 3/16 Despite steady north winds at ground level, thousands of Snow Geese, of which about three percent are blue-morph, have been migrating high over northeast Ithaca between 2:00 and 3:00 PM. Mark Chao -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Re: NE Ithaca, Tues 3/16 From: Eben McLane <ebenmclane AT clarityconnect.com> Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:50:59 -0400 Same high-flying flock (I assume) passed overhead here in Scipio around 3:30. Eben McLane On Mar 16, 2010, at 3:08 PM, Mark Chao wrote: Despite steady north winds at ground level, thousands of Snow Geese, of which about three percent are blue-morph, have been migrating high over northeast Ithaca between 2:00 and 3:00 PM. Mark Chao -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: NE Ithaca, Tues 3/16 From: "Mark Chao" <markchao AT imt.org> Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:08:51 -0400 Despite steady north winds at ground level, thousands of Snow Geese, of which about three percent are blue-morph, have been migrating high over northeast Ithaca between 2:00 and 3:00 PM. Mark Chao -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: woodcocks From: "Susan Fast" <sustfast AT yahoo.com> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:18:27 -0500 I heard 1 WOODCOCK "peenting" atop Bald Hill south of Brooktondale this evening. Also heard 1 "peenting" in the big, recently mowed field along Boiceville Rd., along with several sounds that Stokes describes as "kakak" calls, which indicate aggressive interactions between individuals-so at least 3 WOODCOCK along Boiceville. Check them out, Annette. Steve Fast Brooktondale -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Syracuse RBA From: Joseph Brin <brinjoseph AT yahoo.com> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:44:02 -0700 (PDT) RBA * New York * Syracuse * March 15, 2010 * NYSY 1503.10 Hotline: Syracuse Rare bird Alert Dates(s): March 08, 2009 - March 15, 2010 to report by e-mail: brinjoseph AT yahoo.com covering upstate NY counties: Cayuga, Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge and Montezuma Wetlands Complex (MWC) (just outside Cayuga County), Onondaga, Oswego, Lewis, Jefferson, Oneida, Herkimer, Madison & Cortland compiled:March 15 AT 6:00 p.m. (EST) compiler: Joseph Brin Onondaga Audubon Homepage: www.onondagaaudubon.org #196 -Monday March 15, 2010 Greetings! This is the Syracuse Area Rare Bird Alert for the week of March 01 , 2009 Highlights: ----------- WESTERN GREBE (Extralimital) ROSS’S GOOSE SNOW GOOSE EURASIAN WIGEON GOLDEN EAGLE AMERICAN WOODCOCK ICELAND GULL LONG-EARED OWL NORTHERN SHRIKE Migrants this week: -------------- AMERICAN WOODCOCK - 3/8 GREEN-WING TEAL - 3/10 TREE SWALLOW - 3/10 RED-SHOULDERED HAWK - 3/10 GOLDEN EAGLE - 3/12 CHIPPING SPARROW - 3/13 (possible overwinterer but not reported previously) Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR) and Montezuma Wetlands Complex (MWC) ------------ 3/11: An estimated 100,000 SNOW GEESE were reported in the mucklands on Rt.31. In ensuing days the numbers have dropped to “mere thousands”. 3/12: A ROSS’S GOOSE was seen along Rt.89 between East Road and Rt.31. 3/13: An EURASIAN WIGEON was seen at the end (drivable) of VanDyne Spoor Road. Onondaga County ------------ 3/8: AMERICAN WOODCOCK were heard and seen along Kellog Road in the Three Rivers WMA north of Baldwinsville. 5 PURPLE FINCHES were seen in the Tully Valley area. 3/14: A NORTHERN SHRIKE continues to hang around the Split Rock area west of Syracuse. An ICELAND GULL was seen feeding in the Seneca River in Baldwinsville. Oswego County ------------ 3/13: A LONG-EARED OWL was found at Noyes Sanctuary along Lake Ontario. Derby Hill ------------ A slow week due to indifferent weather. The first GOLDEN EAGLE 3/12 and RED-SHOULDERED HAWK 3/10 were recorded. The count so far is 11 species of raptor and 312 individuals. Most impressive was the Goose flight on 3/14. An estimated 55,000 CANADA GEESE and 77,500 SNOW GEESE were recorded flying over. Extralimital ------------ 3/11: A WESTERN GREBE was initially reported on ebird at Chimney Bluffs State Park on Lake Ontario in Wayne County. It was relocated on 3/14 but there have been no updates today. --end transcript -- Joseph Brin Region 5 Baldwinsville, N.Y. 13027 U.S.A. -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Love is in the air! From: "Marie P Read" <mpr5 AT cornell.edu> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:10:03 -0400 (EDT) I watched my male Northern Cardinal feeding his mate in the apple tree outside my kitchen window this morning. Very sweet! Marie Marie Read Wildlife Photography 452 Ringwood Road Freeville NY 13068 USA Phone 607-539-6608 e-mail mpr5 AT cornell.edu http://www.marieread.com http://www.agpix.com/mari -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Monday Night Seminar Reminder: Mike Webster From: charles eldermire <cre9 AT cornell.edu> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:55:41 -0400 A reminder for this Monday's seminar speaker, our very own Mike Webster! Hope to see you there! March 15, 2010 Mike Webster Director, Macaulay Library Cornell Lab of Ornithology "Adventures with birds Down Under" Australia is home to an amazing and diverse array of birds, many of which are quite strange and unfamiliar by North American standards. Mike Webster, the new Director of the Macaulay Library, has been studying Australian birds for several years, focusing primarily on the evolution and reproductive behavior of these unusual birds. In this talk Dr. Webster will present some highlights of this research, as well as stories and recordings of the bizarre birds that can be found down under. Seminars typically begin at 7:30 P.M. (doors open at 7:00) in the Visitors’ Center Auditorium. As always, admission is free and open to all. Hear great talks, meet the speakers, and enjoy browsing at WildBirds Unlimited! -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Western Grebe, Eurasian Wigeon, Sandhill Crane, Ross's Geese etc From: Chris Wiley <cjw95 AT cornell.edu> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 19:25:12 -0400 With our group suffering various cases of hydrophobia, sleeping-in, and hangovers, Tim Lenz and I were the only ones willing and able for a day of birding. And what a wonderful day it ended up being! The rain mostly kept away, the skies were full of geese and swans, flooded fields everywhere were teaming with ducks, blackbird and grackle song filled the air, and there were good numbers of raptors attracted to all the commotion. We started off by heading up to Chimney Bluffs State Park (Lake Ontario) to look for the reported Western Grebe. The windy conditions meant that it wasn't easy scanning the choppy water, but there were plenty of birds present to keep things interesting. Large numbers of LONG-TAILED DUCKS, COMMON GOLDENEYE and RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS, three WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, and around 30 RED-NECKED GREBES made for entertaining searching. After about 40min, we located the WESTERN GREBE swimming just offshore from the parking lot. The distance and wind precluded fantastic photos, though some grainy, out-of-focus ones were taken. Sodus Bay had 20+ MUTE SWAN, 5 TRUMPETER SWANS, and about 30 HOODED MERGANSERS. We stopped along Road 414 back down to Clyde where the first thousands of SNOW GEESE and hundreds of TUNDRA SWANS of the day were flying over. We managed to pick out one ROSS'S GOOSE from the crowd, as well as a very pale-backed CACKLING GOOSE in a field with some Canadas. Down in Montezuma, VanDyne Spoor Rd contained enormous quantities of NORTHERN PINTAIL, one SANDHILL CRANE, one NORTHERN SHRIKE, one very brown juvenile PEREGRINE FALCON (tantalizingly gyr falon-esque), at least six NORTHERN HARRIERS (many of which persistently mobbed the aforementioned falcon), and a couple of pale ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS. Quite the show! The mucklands lacked the enormous goose-flocks seen there during the past week, but still harbored a couple of thousand snow geese. In the pool on the eastern end of the mucklands (visible from the potato building), were good numbers of wigeon and other dabblers, including our first drake EURASIAN WIGEON of the day. Also here, was a second PEREGRINE FALCON (an adult), which posed on a sign 10 feet from the car for a photo. The main pool at Montezuma had over a thousand CANVASBACK (with a smattering of other Aethya mixed in), hundreds of TUNDRA SWANS, hundreds of RING-NECKED DUCK, and 30 NORTHERN SHOVELLERS. There continue to be huge rafts of Aethya ducks off Cayuga State Park at the northern end of the lake, although they were well offshore. These consisted of a fairly even mixture of REDHEAD, SCAUP, RING- NECKED DUCK, CANVASBACK and AMERICAN WIGEON, with a drake EURASIAN WIGEON mixed in. Here, we also saw another ROSS'S GOOSE flying overhead with the streams of Snow Geese. We finished off the day with a single COMMON LOON off Sheldrake Point. I'm sure I'm forgetting many other things right now - there were birds absolutely everywhere today! I hope others got a chance to get out and see the spectacle. Happy birding, Chris Wiley, Ithaca NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Western Grebe at Chimney Bluffs State Park, Lake Ontario From: Matthew Medler <mdm2 AT cornell.edu> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 10:39:56 -0400 Hi All, I just received a message from Chris Wiley to say that he and some other Ithaca birders are currently (10:30 am, 14 March 2010) watching a WESTERN GREBE at Chimney Bluffs State Park, located on Lake Ontario in Wayne County. The bird is just off-shore from the parking lot area. There are also about 30 Red-necked Grebes present, but the Western Grebe is apparently staying to itself. This bird appears to have "swum under the radar" for the past few days. It was reported to eBird on 11 March 2010, and because of its rarity in the state, triggered a report on the eBird Notable Birds Google Gadget (http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/Google_Gadget.html) for New York. However, I have not seen any mention of it on any local listserves. Good luck if you go! Matt Medler Ithaca -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Eurasian Wigeon From: "Gary Chapin" <gchapin1 AT rochester.rr.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:28:57 -0500 Late this afternoon along the end of VanDyne Spoor Road was an adult drake EURASIAN WIGEON. This bird was in the largest pool of standing water in the mowed portion of the weedy field just before the point where the field transitions to being unmowed. Other sightings of potential interest in the area were a light morph ROUGH LEGGED HAWK along Carncross Road and at least 15 immature BALD EAGLES at Tschache Pool. There were some snow geese, perhaps 2000 - 3000, in the mucklands behind the Potato Building. I spent some time trying to sift through them as best I could given the distance and conditions, but could not pick a Ross's Goose out of the group. Gary Chapin Victor, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Eurasian Wigeon From: "Gary Chapin" <gchapin1 AT rochester.rr.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:28:57 -0500 Late this afternoon along the end of VanDyne Spoor Road was an adult drake EURASIAN WIGEON. This bird was in the largest pool of standing water in the mowed portion of the weedy field just before the point where the field transitions to being unmowed. Other sightings of potential interest in the area were a light morph ROUGH LEGGED HAWK along Carncross Road and at least 15 immature BALD EAGLES at Tschache Pool. There were some snow geese, perhaps 2000 - 3000, in the mucklands behind the Potato Building. I spent some time trying to sift through them as best I could given the distance and conditions, but could not pick a Ross's Goose out of the group. Gary Chapin Victor, NY _______________________________________________ GeneseeBirds-L mailing list - GeneseeBirds-L AT geneseo.edu http://mail.geneseo.edu/mailman/listinfo/geneseebirds-l Subject: Re: Stewart Pk. Mallard "mixed" pair From: Kenneth Victor Rosenberg <kvr2 AT cornell.edu> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:51:36 -0500 This cream-colored Mallard has been at Stewart Park off and on for several years. I don't recall seeing it on careful counts of Mallards this winter, so I wonder if it has migrated and returned here. I first recall seeing it during summer 2008 (I think), when all the shorebirds were on the algae mats. KEN On 3/13/10 2:39 PM, "Dave Nutter" wrote: If this is the same bird I saw recently at Wood Street Park, she even lacks blue on the wings - tan speculum instead. --Dave Nutter On Saturday, March 13, 2010, at 10:05AM, wrote: > I don't think anyone has made mention of the Mallard pair at Stewart Park - a normal male with a lovely all-cream-colored female. They make an attractive couple! Carol Schmitt ********************************************** Ken Rosenberg Director of Conservation Science Cornell Lab of Ornithology Ithaca NY 14850 Phone: 607-254-2412 cell: 607-342-4594 kvr2 AT cornell.edu www.birds.cornell.edu -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: broken-billed common loon @ ladoga From: "John and Fritzie Blizzard" <job121830 AT verizon.net> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 18:26:31 -0500 Thanks for the post, Dave. Some of us have been wondering if the loon had survived. Fritzie To: Sent: Saturday, March 13, 2010 12:40 PM Dave Niutter wrote: broken-billed common loon AT ladoga midday sat 13 mar -dave nutter -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Re: Stewart Pk. Mallard "mixed" pair From: "John and Fritzie Blizzard" <job121830 AT verizon.net> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 18:23:45 -0500 Could this female be the one we saw on Factory St. pond early last mo? ....... Fritzie ----- Original Message ----- From: Dave Nutter To: CAYUGABIRDS-L AT cornell.edu Sent: Saturday, March 13, 2010 2:39 PM Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Stewart Pk. Mallard "mixed" pair If this is the same bird I saw recently at Wood Street Park, she even lacks blue on the wings - tan speculum instead. --Dave Nutter On Saturday, March 13, 2010, at 10:05AM, wrote: >I don't think anyone has made mention of the Mallard pair at Stewart Park - a normal male with a lovely all-cream-colored female. They make an attractive couple! Carol Schmitt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.436 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2743 - Release Date: 03/13/10 07:33:00 -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Sat. birds--Rusty, meadowlarks From: "Susan Fast" <sustfast AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:56:44 -0500 Susie & I took a spin around the Dryden area this afternoon. Dryden Lake is still all ice(rotten), but there was a pair each of COMMON and HOODED MERGANSERS near the dam. Also a female KESTREL on a wire. Along Southworth Rd., we listened to a singing male RUSTY BLACKBIRD (saw it too). The pond at George Rd. has a long open stretch on the north shore with 2 E. MEADOWLARKS and a KILLDEER there, with CANADA GEESE and MALLARDS. At our house feeders, we saw our first SONG SPARROW along with an unaccompanied female RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. Steve & Susie Fast Brooktondale -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Re:crow behavior From: "Kevin J. McGowan" <kjm2 AT cornell.edu> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:01:55 -0500 I've been out of the country for two weeks and just saw these posts as I was scanning Birdingonthe.net to see what was happening in the basin. Carol, very nice images! The crow was not amusing itself or playing with the vole, it was trying its best to kill and eat it. Crows love to eat mice, but they, quite frankly, make lousy predators. Crows do not have the weapons to efficiently catch or kill anything larger than a small lizard. They try hard, but they're not very good at it. Crows do not have the talons or foot strength to do any internal damage to a vole with their feet, and in fact will try to keep their feet well away from its teeth. Nor do they have the hooked beak or bite strength of a hawk to kill it that way. All they can do is peck the prey in the back of the head, and that is difficult to arrange. I think, but am not sure, that crows may stun their prey some by biting them behind the head first, then pecking. Getting a hold on the back of the head without getting bitten is tricky! I would interpret your pictures as a crow making attempts to get to the vole's neck, but getting frightened in the process and tossing the mouse before it could bite. The meadow voles love snow and will breed prodigiously all winter if they can do it under cover. When the snow melts crows are quick to take advantage of the uncovered burrows and runways and will seek out voles. Best, Kevin **************************************************** Ithaca, NY 14850 kjm2 AT cornell.edu http://birds.cornell.edu/crows/ Subject: RE: crow behavior From: Meena Haribal Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:23:22 -0500 I think in general many animals behave in similar manner with their preys. Cat plays with the mouse till it is dead, actually it is not game for cat but it is making sure the mouse is killed. Here is a link to a similar behavior by a Great Egret at Bensten Rio Grande State park in Texas. http://picasaweb.google.com/mharibal/TexasGreatEgret#5447545396804630162 I have some video footage too. The egret initially seemed little lost as to how to handle this creature or it was considering if the creature is dead as the smart rodent just clung limply there. The egret tried to kill it by beating it to the ground and the rodent clung to its life and beak of the egre. Finally rodent got away. Egret was not very happy with itself in the end. Meena Haribal Ithaca NY http://haribal.org/ -----Original Message----- From: bounce-5419862-3493976 AT list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-5419862-3493976 AT list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Carol Keeler Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 7:01 PM To: cayugabirds Subject: [cayugabirds-l] crow behavior Hi all, I was out bird watching and photographing when I came upon some interesting crow behavior which I tried to photograph. You can see 4 of the images beginning with this image. http://www.pbase.com/image/122666482 There is an explanation of what I saw below the first image. Any comments or explanations from our crow experts would be welcome. Thanks! Carol Keeler Auburn -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Re: Stewart Pk. Mallard "mixed" pair From: Dave Nutter <nutter.dave AT mac.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 11:39:58 -0800 If this is the same bird I saw recently at Wood Street Park, she even lacks blue on the wings - tan speculum instead. --Dave Nutter On Saturday, March 13, 2010, at 10:05AM, wrote: > -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Stewart Pk. Mallard "mixed" pair From: CFSchmitt AT aol.com Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:05:29 EST I don't think anyone has made mention of the Mallard pair at Stewart Park - a normal male with a lovely all-cream-colored female. They make an attractive couple! Carol Schmitt -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: broken-billed common loon @ ladoga From: 6072292158 AT VTEXT.COM Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:40:24 -0500 (EST) broken-billed common loon AT ladoga midday sat 13 mar -dave nutter -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: NEXRAD site From: "John and Sue Gregoire" <khmo AT empacc.net> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 08:59:08 -0500 We found the site I was looking for. http://www.cam.cornell.edu/~pauljh/US_Composite_Radar/ This has a list of daily images and if you scroll down to the bottom you will get the latest loop. You can back up to the days all those geese were flying and get an idea of the scope of that event. The round light blue blobs that seem to blossom are individual Dopplar stations. Our best indicators are the ones in Binghamton, Buffalo and one in PA. Look, for instance, at March 9. There doesn't seem to be a lot of activity right over the Cayuga basin because there is no dopplar station covering us so you have to mentally fill in the space between the three stations. This is a true case of connect the dots. Sue G. -- John and Sue Gregoire Field Ornithologists Kestrel Haven Avian Migration Observatory 5373 Fitzgerald Road Burdett,NY 14818-9626 Website: http://www.empacc.net/~kestrelhaven/ "Conserve and Create Habitat" -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Another mistake From: "John and Fritzie Blizzard" <job121830 AT verizon.net> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 08:47:40 -0500 The swan I reported yesterday north of Cayuga was a MUTE not a trumpeter. (Thanks Kathy!) I shouldn't rush when writing 'cause my thinker isn't in gear. Fritzie -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Stewart Park this morning... From: Pete Marchetto <pmm223 AT cornell.edu> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 08:10:24 -0500 Katie and I set out for Stewart Park about 6:15a, under cloudy skies threatening rain. Upon arrival, the temperature was ~40 °F, with east winds around 10 mph, gusting to about 15 mph. We birded between 6:30a and 7:30a. Our list is: Waterfowl: Canada Goose Domesticated (White) Goose (There were a pair that had apparently joined a flock of Canadas) Mallard Common Merganser Black Duck American Wigeon Ring-Necked Duck Common Goldeneye Bufflehead Ring-Billed Gull Great Black-Backed Gull Woodpeckers: Northern Flicker Corvids: American Crow Other: House Sparrow Robin European Starling -Pete _________________________ Pete Marchetto Engineer, Bioacoustics Research Program Cornell Lab of Ornithology 1.607.254.6281 "If we knew what we were doing it wouldn't be called research, would it?" -- Albert Einstein -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Mucklands Snow Geese From: "James G. Kohlenberg" <jgk25 AT cornell.edu> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:17:35 -0500 This afternoon I was finally able to find a large flock of SNOW GEESE at the south end of the mucklands. Over the 2 hours I watched this flock it grew to 45,000 birds as more came in from the north. The flock periodically rose to circle as BALD EAGLES flew over. I was able to find one ROSS'S GOOSE before eye-strain set in. On Rt-89 between East Rd. and the mucklands I stopped to enjoy hundreds of thousands of BLACKBIRDS streaming north over the road from the nearby trees. The main pool at Montezuma held 1100, most if not all, TUNDRA SWANS. There was a large flock of AYTHYA, NORTHERN PINTAIL, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, A.WIGEON, GADWALL, BLACK DUCK, MALLARD, RUDDY DUCK. Stewart Park still has a terrific variety of waterfowl, including RUDDY DUCK, WOOD DUCK, RED-BREASTED/HOODED/COMMON MERGANSERS, A.WIGEON, C.GOLDENEYE, BUFFLEHEAD, SCAUP, RING-NECKED, MALLARDS. There was also a leucistic Mallard that I haven't seen before. The east side of Cayuga lake, between the ends, was pretty empty. The west side south of Cayuga Lake State Park had some large mixed flocks of waterfowl, but I didn't have time to scan them. Happy birding, Gary -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: RE: snow geese From: "John VanNiel" <vanniejj AT flcc.edu> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:49:24 -0500 I was at the Mucklands AT 715 this morning and saw tens of thousands of snows, on the muck there as well as flying over from what I presumed was the Lake or the Refuge. The ones on the muck lifted off at 724 and headed north. ________________________________ From: bounce-5424357-3493888 AT list.cornell.edu on behalf of Susan Fast Sent: Fri 3/12/2010 3:35 PM To: 'CayugaBirds' Subject: Re:[cayugabirds-l] snow geese I drove up the east side of Cayuga Lake early this morning, expecting to come upon hordes of snow geese at some point. There were none at the north end of the lake, and I made it to East Rd. before I had 2 SNOW GEESE fly over. Nothing in the Mucklands, but at Carncross Rd., I was just in time to see the hinder parts of a flock of about 150 SNOW GEESE heading north. I spent several hours in the North Montezuma WMA and finally a mess of snows came in from the NNW. I estimated about 2000-2500. Returning to the Potato Bldg., I found to the south, and partially hidden by Phragmites, about the same number of snows in a dense mass, mostly sleeping. With favorable winds, I guess the hordes couldn't wait. Almost nothing on the Lake, but thousands of PINTAILS and hundreds of AMER. WIGEON in the wet fields in the Mucklands. Steve Fast Brooktondale -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: ARMITAGE not Armstrong From: "John and Fritzie Blizzard" <job121830 AT verizon.net> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:02:06 -0500 Hi all, Thanks to Mr. Heist & Kathy Strickland for mentioning that I had used the incorrect Rd. name for the eagles. Maybe because I've known Armstrong in Lansing for no less than 30 yrs.! The eagles WERE at the ARMITAGE Rd. nesting area. However, this afternoon Kathy & I struck out on seeing any. We saw lots, putting it mildly, of Redwings & Grackles along 89 just before & along Armitage Rd.. Quite the noise! A day does make a lot of difference. Snows weren't "covering" the muck but we saw lots of them flying over. Many stunningly beautiful M & F PINTAILS were almost invisible, feeding with Mallards, Canadas & A. WIGEON. On East Rd. by the birdbox we saw a M & F BLUEBIRD. TUNDRA SWANS & various other waterbirds were on the Knox Marcellus Marsh. From there we could see SNOWS over on the back side of the muck. Also saw a REDTAIL HAWK sitting on a nest in a tree across the road from the marsh. North of Cayuga we saw a TRUMPETER SWAN not too far out from the houses but all the Tundras I saw yesterday were gone. We saw Gary K.. He told us about the great numbers of swans he saw on the Main pool at the refuge. Kathy & I didn't have time to go there. Hopefully we'll see the Mergansers at Stewart Park before they disappear. I'm sure we missed the boat by not going to Sodus & Oswego to see ducks & Scoters when the weather was still nasty. Fritzie -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Northern Pintail x Mallard hybrid - Savannah (12 March 2010) From: Tom Johnson <tbj4 AT cornell.edu> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:46:38 -0500 Cayugabirders, Jay McGowan, Shawn Billerman, and I looked for the big flocks of Snow Geese in the Montezuma/ Savannah area this morning without success (similar to Steve's report). We did see a massive flock of ~13,000 Northern Pintail (conservative estimate not counting many birds in the tall grass) on Van Dyne Spoor Rd. in Savannah. One of the birds closest to the road was a gorgeous and bizarre Mallard x N. Pintail hybrid. Photos are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bonxie88/ If anyone sees the massive flocks of Snows today or this weekend, please report. Cheers, Tom -- Thomas Brodie Johnson Ithaca, NY tbj4 AT cornell.edu mobile: 717.991.5727 -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Re:snow geese From: "Susan Fast" <sustfast AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:35:02 -0500 I drove up the east side of Cayuga Lake early this morning, expecting to come upon hordes of snow geese at some point. There were none at the north end of the lake, and I made it to East Rd. before I had 2 SNOW GEESE fly over. Nothing in the Mucklands, but at Carncross Rd., I was just in time to see the hinder parts of a flock of about 150 SNOW GEESE heading north. I spent several hours in the North Montezuma WMA and finally a mess of snows came in from the NNW. I estimated about 2000-2500. Returning to the Potato Bldg., I found to the south, and partially hidden by Phragmites, about the same number of snows in a dense mass, mostly sleeping. With favorable winds, I guess the hordes couldn't wait. Almost nothing on the Lake, but thousands of PINTAILS and hundreds of AMER. WIGEON in the wet fields in the Mucklands. Steve Fast Brooktondale -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Wild and sweet din From: Margaret Shepard <mbs19 AT cornell.edu> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:07:17 -0500 Last night, just before dark, John and I made it up to Lower Lake Rd., past enormous rafts of Snow Geese, and on to MNWR. The continuous roar of geese settling in for the night was exhilarating. Such a display of wild vocal energy, after all the energy already spent in flight! And on a smaller scale, for a few minutes from a snowmelt pool at the NMWR Visitors' Center, spring peepers. First I've heard this year, and they stopped as the temperature fell. Still several feet of snow and solid ice on the pond at our farm in Lodi, where we'll have to wait a bit to hear this harbinger. Margaret Shepard Sage Hen Farm 2343 Parmenter Rd. Lodi, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Snow Geese, ducks and other migrants aplenty From: "John and Sue Gregoire" <khmo AT empacc.net> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:31:31 -0500 During our morning walk yesterday we noted that the migrating Canada's were flying at several thousand feet and the numbers of Snow Geese had diminished from the thousands we had seen overhead in the two previous days. (the nexrad radar had been blossoming with large birds moving north through NYS on those days as well) So, on a whim we took off ourselves for the concentration point surrounding Montezuma. From Varick northward the Snow Goose numbers steadily increased. The cove and ice edge at Lower lake road were covered with tundra swans, geese and ducks, mostly Snow Geese. As we watched this fantastic congregation and listened to the din of the combined chorus, the sky filled with snows from the west. It appeared that Seneca Lake must have emptied of snows that headed for Cayuga! We tried to count and estimated at least 100K in that flight that settled in among all the other birds. It was truly beautiful. We could see many snow geese rafts on the eastern shore and found more above the RR bed, at MNWR and the Mucklands where they were shoulder to shoulder and feeding. Taking in that broad expanse of animals was so awe inspiring that it didn't seem appropriate to be scoping for anything else so we sat back and enjoyed. Lee Ann's estimate should be interesting. She took some pan shots and would try a count at home. For our eye, we estimated a total congregation in this small area (there are many other reports in the region)close to a million. That's so wildly amazing that perhaps a "gazillion" suffices. These birds are such strong flyers that they will leave here on a non-stop to Hudson Bay. Wonder when that will happen? We did find a few that were obviously tired and a few others that made it this far and expired. Migration is an amazing event. That said, we wonder what the current population estimates for Snow Geese are. Ten years ago it was around a million but they have obviously done very well since then. At that time,Canadian scientists were concerned about overpopulation of the species and concomitant habitat degradation. One wonders the current status. We have never seen so many Snow Geese! J&S -- John and Sue Gregoire Field Ornithologists Kestrel Haven Avian Migration Observatory 5373 Fitzgerald Road Burdett,NY 14818-9626 Website: http://www.empacc.net/~kestrelhaven/ "Conserve and Create Habitat" -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: The fields are alive..... From: Stephanie Greenwood <stgreenwood AT ev.ithaca.ny.us> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:10:48 -0500 At 7am this morning our fields were alive with flocks of Redwings and Robins and the Song Sparrows have started singing! Whoopee! And yesterday evening a neighbor heard a Woodcock peenting. -- Stephanie Greenwood Ecovillage at Ithaca 221 Rachel Carson Way Ithaca, NY 14850 607 273 1179 607 280 1050 cell -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Around Cayuga Lake Today 3/11 From: david nicosia <daven1024 AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:37:27 -0800 (PST) Tremendous day around Cayuga Lake. Started at Stewart Park at 8 am. had the following: many bufflehead, few hooded merganser, several common merganser, wood duck, several american widgeon, two dozen or so green-winged teal, many canada geese, mallards, few black duck, many common goldeneye, ring-billed, herring and great black-backed gull. also had song sparrow, carolina wren, brown-headed cowbird, downy woodpecker among others. Myer's Point- not much. 2 american pipits on gravel bar. Long Point State Park -  3 common loons.  several common goldeneye and bufflehead. Aurora Boathouse-   2 horned grebes, many snow geese and canadas. Factory Street Pond-  no screech owl today. nice pair of gadwall close up. also bufflehead. Mud Lock and northeast end of Cayuga Lake-  thousands upon thousands of snow and canada geese, along with dozens of tundra swans. also many redheads, lessor/greater scaup, ring-necked ducks, canvasbacks, bufflehead, common goldeneye,common mergansers, and mallard/black ducks. had a belted kingsfisher while watching pair of adult bald eagles at mud lock. From East Road at Knox-Marcellis Marsh, saw thousands and thousands of snow geese. the fields all around east road to the savannah muckllands were white with snows. also had many pintail, ring-necked ducks, american widgeon, along with canada geese from east road . At the Savannah Mucklands from the potato building had probably 100 to 200 hundred thousand snow geese. also heard horned lark singing. there were also waterfowl mixed in with the geese including many pintail, ring-necked ducks, mallards, and black duck. the snows took off and it was a spectacle. there was also a fair number of tundra swans in this area. On the way back along Lower Lake road west side of Cayuga Lake, there was another very very large raft of snow geese probably another 100,000 or more.In addition, there were hundreds of redheads, lesser/greater scaup, ring-necked ducks, canvasback, bufflehead, american widgeon, and gulls. The shear numbers were very impressive. definitively worth the trip!! Total species for day was 57. E-bird list for trip below. All the larger numbers below are very rough estimates.... Snow Goose - Chen caerulescens    250000 Canada Goose - Branta canadensis    25000 Tundra Swan - Cygnus columbianus    150 Wood Duck - Aix sponsa    2 Gadwall - Anas strepera    2 American Wigeon - Anas americana    45 American Black Duck - Anas rubripes    25 Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos    100 Northern Pintail - Anas acuta    75 Green-winged Teal - Anas crecca    25 Canvasback - Aythya valisineria    150 Redhead - Aythya americana    3000 Ring-necked Duck - Aythya collaris    100 Greater Scaup - Aythya marila    1 Greater/Lessor Scaup - many Lesser Scaup - Aythya affinis    100 Bufflehead - Bucephala albeola    30 Common Goldeneye - Bucephala clangula    100 Hooded Merganser - Lophodytes cucullatus    4 Common Merganser - Mergus merganser    10 Common Loon - Gavia immer    3 Horned Grebe - Podiceps auritus    2 Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura    15 Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus    6 Sharp-shinned Hawk - Accipiter striatus    1 Cooper's Hawk - Accipiter cooperii    1 Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis    6 American Kestrel - Falco sparverius    1 Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus    12 Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis    200 Herring Gull - Larus argentatus    50 Great Black-backed Gull - Larus marinus    20 Rock Pigeon - Columba livia    50 Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura    20 Belted Kingfisher - Megaceryle alcyon    1 Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus    1 Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens    2 Northern Flicker - Colaptes auratus    1 Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata    7 American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos    50 Horned Lark - Eremophila alpestris    5 Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus    6 Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor    3 White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis    2 Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus    2 Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis    1 American Robin - Turdus migratorius    25 European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris    500 American Pipit - Anthus rubescens    2 Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia    2 White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis    2 Dark-eyed Junco - Junco hyemalis    10 Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis    4 Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus    35 Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula    100 Brown-headed Cowbird - Molothrus ater    2 House Finch - Carpodacus mexicanus    4 House Sparrow - Passer domesticus    1 Dave Nicosia -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Oh what a sight!! From: "John and Fritzie Blizzard" <job121830 AT verizon.net> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:24:07 -0500 There is nothing I can add to what Sue Norvell & Lee Ann Van Leer have said about the tremendous numbers of Snows. I went to the Refuge & the mucklands today & tho' the haze was horrible for looking with the scope, the view of tens of thousands of birds was astounding. On Armstrong Rd. I watched 3 adult BALD EAGLES. Two perched close to each other in a tree to the left of the nest while another left the nest tree & soared round & round, higher & higher & left my view. In a corn field along Armstrong was a great flock of male REDWINGS. Also saw my 1st two KILLDEER & 1st TURKEY VULTURE near there. From the upstairs viewing deck at the MNWR visitor's center I was able to see an adult BALD EAGLE moving around on the new nest in the woods on the west side of the main pool. Another was flying beyond there. Well over 100 swans were on the north end of the main pool along with the 1000's of Snows & other feathers! While the Mill Pond here in Union Springs only had 2 varieties of ducks I was surprised at the numbers of BUFFLES, esp. females .. the most I've seen there in several yrs. ... more than a dozen. Usually we see one female for every 4 or 6 males. Of course the males were really showing off, or whatever it is called, to impress the females or intimidate the other males. North of Cayuga RR bridge & towards Mud Lock were thousands of waterfowl, including several hundred swans. I chuckled to see dozens of snow geese &/or swan DECOYS right along the east edge of the ice behind one of the cottages. Saw lots more gulls today. My neighbor's car has a huge splat on the top so YUP! the gulls are back. Yes, the big migration push was definitely yesterday. Today I saw nothing but the usual Canadas going out from the lake to feed & then back but they were quite vocal. Rejoicing, maybe? I know I did as I enjoyed the warm day, totally realizing that nasty weather isn't over. The robins always have to have snow on their tails before spring really comes. Fritzie Blizzard -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Red-wings From: Kathy Strickland <carkatstr1ck AT hotmail.com> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:47:19 -0500 Red-winged Blackbird in mass in the trees across the road and in my backyard about 4:30 today. Truly a spring sound and sight! Was going to hang out laundry tomorrow tomorrow but I guess I'll have to rethink that. Also my first Killdeer today (heard on Lockwood Rd, car window down--a real sign of spring!), Common Grackle flyover in Aurora yesterday, and 4 TVs over Auburn yesterday as well. Kathy Strickland, Union Springs _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Powerful Free email with security by Microsoft. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/201469230/direct/01/ -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Finding Rusty Blackbirds From: Ber Carr <mycocarex AT hotmail.com> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:38:05 +0000 In spring, rusty blackbirds will forage on the edge of vernal pools and forested wetlands. Many of these birds will allow a close approach. OOB, Peter Scott Swamp road in the Town of Schroeppel is a reliable location to find rusty blackbirds during spring migration. Bernie Carr mycocarex AT hotmail.com -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: RE: crow behavior From: Meena Haribal <mmh3 AT cornell.edu> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:23:22 -0500 I think in general many animals behave in similar manner with their preys. Cat plays with the mouse till it is dead, actually it is not game for cat but it is making sure the mouse is killed. Here is a link to a similar behavior by a Great Egret at Bensten Rio Grande State park in Texas. http://picasaweb.google.com/mharibal/TexasGreatEgret#5447545396804630162 I have some video footage too. The egret initially seemed little lost as to how to handle this creature or it was considering if the creature is dead as the smart rodent just clung limply there. The egret tried to kill it by beating it to the ground and the rodent clung to its life and beak of the egre. Finally rodent got away. Egret was not very happy with itself in the end. Meena Haribal Ithaca NY http://haribal.org/ -----Original Message----- From: bounce-5419862-3493976 AT list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-5419862-3493976 AT list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Carol Keeler Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 7:01 PM To: cayugabirds Subject: [cayugabirds-l] crow behavior Hi all, I was out bird watching and photographing when I came upon some interesting crow behavior which I tried to photograph. You can see 4 of the images beginning with this image. http://www.pbase.com/image/122666482 There is an explanation of what I saw below the first image. Any comments or explanations from our crow experts would be welcome. Thanks! Carol Keeler Auburn -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Woodcock From: "Kurt Falvey" <kurt AT brokenroadfarms.com> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:03:14 -0500 Three woodcock sightings at dusk. Keuka Hill Road Julie & Kurt Broken Road Farms Dundee, NY 14837 Email: Kurt AT BrokenRoadFarms.com www.BrokenRoadFarms.com -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: crow behavior From: Carol Keeler <carolk441 AT adelphia.net> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:01:21 -0500 Hi all, I was out bird watching and photographing when I came upon some interesting crow behavior which I tried to photograph. You can see 4 of the images beginning with this image. http://www.pbase.com/image/122666482 There is an explanation of what I saw below the first image. Any comments or explanations from our crow experts would be welcome. Thanks! Carol Keeler Auburn -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: A few lunchtime raptors From: Kenneth Victor Rosenberg <kvr2 AT cornell.edu> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:20:08 -0500 Having been away and missing the first spectacular push of spring migration over Ithaca, I was eager to get out at lunchtime for some sky-watching today - with Tom Schulenberg. We were surprised how quiet and empty the sky was at that time, but we did see 2 dark-morph ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS circling together over the Lab of Ornithology, plus a male HARRIER, 2-3 RED-TAILS, a few small flocks of SNOW GEESE, and a KILLDEER. KEN ********************************************** Ken Rosenberg Director of Conservation Science Cornell Lab of Ornithology Ithaca NY 14850 Phone: 607-254-2412 cell: 607-342-4594 kvr2 AT cornell.edu www.birds.cornell.edu -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Wednesday- spectacular! From: "Susan Norvell" <snorvell AT twcny.rr.com> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:07:05 -0500 My husband and I made a trip up the east side of Cayuga Lake yesterday, witnessing the spectacular Canada and Snow Geese migration as we drove. Virtually all the migrating Snow Geese appeared to be white adults, rather than the dark or blue form. Close to Aurora, an enormous cloud of Snows swept up the lake ahead of us, swirling like confetti in a windstorm. Seen from the viewing tower, the distant main "pool" at Montezuma was covered with thousands of Snow Geese, Canada Geese, and many, many, swans, probably Tundras. Closer in, on the extensive exposed mud flats, were American Black Ducks, many Mallards, and probably thousands of Northern Pintails. The muck lands near the potato barn was also covered with thousands of Snow Geese in addition to Canadas. Much of what we first took to be actual snow cover, turned out to be dense flocks of distant Snow Geese. Many Snow Geese were near enough to the road so that we got close looks at a couple of blue morph geese, next to the many pristine white adults, as well as several white adults which hadn't reached full adult plumage - still grayish about the head and neck. Many hundreds of Pintails and Mallards were present, too. Mud Lock had few birds close in, but the few included a cooperatively posed Bald Eagle, and 5 Common Goldeneye, a pair of Green WingTeal, several pairs of American Black Ducks, Scaup, Hooded Mergansers, more swans, and Buffleheads. As we were watching the eagle, a male Kingfisher rattled past us. Large rafts of water birds were present further out, but hard to see. Earlier in the day as we worked our way up the lake we saw American Wigeon at Lagoda Park (Myers Point), Hooded Mergansers and Buffleheads at the Factory Pond, Redheads (3 pairs) and a pair of Common Mergansers at the Union Springs dock. And many others...All in all, an amazing day. Sue Norvell -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: trills From: Sydney F Penner <sfp26 AT cornell.edu> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:04:54 -0500 My ear just got caught by a trill coming through an open window on the east side of Goldwin Smith Hall that sounded rather different than the juncos trilling at my house. On the other hand, it did sound very much like the recording of a Chipping Sparrow trill that I just listened to. I wasn't able to visually locate the bird. So, depending on your predilections, you can interpret all of that as a possible Chipping Sparrow on Cornell's campus or as an illustration of the difficulty in distinguishing those two species by sound. I'm inclined towards the latter. Though there was a sighting of a Chipping Sparrow in Ithaca two years ago to the day ... Sydney Penner -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Re:Stewart Park, 11 March From: Tom Johnson <tbj4 AT cornell.edu> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:05:58 -0500 Cayugabirders, I visited Stewart Park this afternoon between 3 and 4:30 and also had a nice variety of species. While many of my counts are similar to those Chris et al. made earlier, I did note a few big differences in the afternoon. These were a big flock of 74 Hooded Mergansers near the Fall Creek outlet, an adult Golden Eagle circling the waterfowl flock, and 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls on the ice. Given some of the bigger duck numbers reported in the morning, I suspect there was quite a bit of turnover throughout the day. Location:     Stewart Park, Ithaca Observation date:     3/11/10 Notes:     excellent afternoon birding at Stewart Park, Ithaca (57 degrees F, 10 mph SE wind, mostly sunny) Number of species:     41 Canada Goose - Branta canadensis     650 American Wigeon - Anas americana     20 American Black Duck - Anas rubripes     30 American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid) - Anas rubripes x platyrhynchos     2     *uncommon - males Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos     250 Northern Pintail - Anas acuta     2 Green-winged Teal - Anas crecca     12 Ring-necked Duck - Aythya collaris     16 Bufflehead - Bucephala albeola     17 Common Goldeneye - Bucephala clangula     8 Hooded Merganser - Lophodytes cucullatus     74     *high, careful count - large flock in the mouth of Fall Creek, displaying and fishing Common Merganser - Mergus merganser     12 Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura     8 Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis     2 Golden Eagle - Aquila chrysaetos     1     *rare at location - my second at Stewart Park; adult flying south down the lake, circling over waterfowl flock, then moving NE up Rt. 13; photos Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus     2     flyover migrants Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis     200 Herring Gull - Larus argentatus     570 Iceland Gull - Larus glaucoides     2     *uncommon - both first cycle, one dark and one light bodied, both had pale white primaries Lesser Black-backed Gull - Larus fuscus     6     *high, ties Tompkins Co. high count in eBird - 4 adults, 2 second cycle (missed the first cycle bird seen here yesterday) Great Black-backed Gull - Larus marinus     85 Rock Pigeon - Columba livia     2 Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura     1 Great Horned Owl - Bubo virginianus     2 Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus     1 Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens     2 Northern Flicker - Colaptes auratus     1 Pileated Woodpecker - Dryocopus pileatus     1 American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos     5 Fish Crow - Corvus ossifragus     12 Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus     2 White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis     1 Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus     1 Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis     1 European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris     25 Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia     1 Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis     1 Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus     35 Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula     65 Brown-headed Cowbird - Molothrus ater     1     with Red-winged Blackbird/ Common Grackle flock American Goldfinch - Carduelis tristis     2 House Sparrow - Passer domesticus     20 This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org) -- Thomas Brodie Johnson Ithaca, NY tbj4 AT cornell.edu mobile: 717.991.5727 -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Song From: Laura Stenzler <lms9 AT cornell.edu> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:04:12 -0500 Hi all, At 4 pm, a SONG SPARROW was singing near the north feeders at the Lab of Ornithology. Ah, Spring! Laura Lab Manager Evolutionary Biology Program Cornell Lab of Ornithology 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd. Ithaca, New York 14850 Office: (607) 254 2141 Lab: (607) 254 2142 Fax: (607) 254 2486 lms9 AT cornell.edu -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: 300-600K snow geese From: Lee Ann vL <zoologist333 AT gmail.com> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:45:32 -0500 Northern end of Cayuga lake & Mucklands/Montezuma So far estimate but will analyze photos later as we are now driving and snow geese on lower lake road as far as the eye can see. Lots of waterfowl. Details later. Lee Ann van Leer Sent from my iPhone -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Stewart Park, 11 March From: Christopher Wood <pinicola AT gmail.com> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:25:53 -0500 Location: Stewart Park Observation date: 3/11/10 Notes: A very nice morning at Stewart Park with a good selection of waterfowl, 3 Iceland Gulls and 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Attempted to make exact counts of all waterfowl--there was still quite a bit of turnover while we were there. WEATHER: 44F. Calm. Water almost glass-like. Excellent visibility. A few high clouds (30%). OBSERVERS: Chris Wood, Jessie Barry, Andrew Farnsworth, Marshall Iliff. Andrew focused on scanning the sky for birds flying over, resulting in the good counts of robins and blackbirds. The rest of us focused on the lake. Number of species: 41 Canada Goose - 384 Snow Goose - 1 Wood Duck - 7 American Wigeon - 20 American Black Duck - 38 Mallard - 455 Northern Pintail - 1 Green-winged Teal (American) - 32 Redhead - 2 Ring-necked Duck - 64 Greater/Lesser Scaup - 2 Bufflehead - 22 Common Goldeneye - 14 Hooded Merganser - 15 Common Merganser - 7 Great Blue Heron - 1 Red-tailed Hawk - 3 Killdeer - 3 Flyovers. Ring-billed Gull - 70 Estimate by 5s. Herring Gull (American) - 390 Estimate by 10s. Iceland Gull (Kumlien's) - 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull - 2 One adult and one second cycle bird on the ice. Great Black-backed Gull - 89 Exact count Rock Pigeon - 5 Mourning Dove - 1 Downy Woodpecker - 1 Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) - 3 Blue Jay - 2 American Crow - 54 Black-capped Chickadee - 2 Carolina Wren - 1 Eastern Bluebird - 2 Flyovers. American Robin - 120 All but a couple flyovers. European Starling - 110 Mostly flyovers. Cedar Waxwing - 5 Flyovers. Song Sparrow - 1 Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) - 1 Northern Cardinal - 3 Red-winged Blackbird - 395 Flyovers. Common Grackle - 970 Flyovers. Brown-headed Cowbird - 2 Flyovers. House Finch - 6 House Sparrow - 4 This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org) Chris Wood eBird & Neotropical Birds Project Leader Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York http://ebird.org http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Re: No Geese today From: "ConserveBirds" <conservebirds AT gmail.com> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:48:11 -0500 For all those who need a daily laugh: I was sitting at my computer when I heard a flock of Canada Geese heading my way. As I often do, I ran outside and waved to them, calling, "Hi! Welcome back! We missed you!" As I turned to go back in, I saw that there were men working on the backside of my neighbor's house... yes, within sight and earshot... and I remembered that I was still in my pajamas..... oops! Mona Bearor South Glens Falls ----- Original Message ----- From: Meena Haribal To: CayugaBirds Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 10:31 AM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] No Geese today Hi all, I have been looking on and off at the sky when I get chance and hardly seen migrant geese today. Wow, all action occurs just in a day or two. Meena Haribal Boyce Thompson Institute Ithaca NY 14850 Phone 607-254-1258 http://meenaharibal.blogspot.com/ http://haribal.org/ http://haribal.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/wildwest+trip+August+2007+.pdf -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: No Geese today From: Meena Haribal <mmh3 AT cornell.edu> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:31:11 -0500 Hi all, I have been looking on and off at the sky when I get chance and hardly seen migrant geese today. Wow, all action occurs just in a day or two. Meena Haribal Boyce Thompson Institute Ithaca NY 14850 Phone 607-254-1258 http://meenaharibal.blogspot.com/ http://haribal.org/ http://haribal.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/wildwest+trip+August+2007+.pdf -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Stew pk myers lake ridge From: Lee Ann vL <zoologist333 AT gmail.com> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:12:17 -0500 Today: Stewart park Green- winged teals Goldeneyes Hooded mergansers Common merganser Ring-necked ducks Buffleheads Wood ducks American Widgeons Blackduck And an imm herring gull? having a grand old time playing rolling around a ping pong ball like object trying to break into like an egg --- Myers American pipits --- Lake ridge road a few snow geese House finch Skipping many birds just posting highlights Sent from my iPhone -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Beebe Lake From: Ryan Douglas <rnd4 AT cornell.edu> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:42:04 -0500 I stood at the overlook in the SE corner of Beebe Lake at Cornell this morning for about a half hour to see what might come by. A RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD was singing from down below and a KILLDEER and BELTED KINGFISHER made some noise, but went unseen. A TURKEY VULTURE lazily circled over the lake, and while I was following it a TREE SWALLOW jetted through my field of view determinedly heading north. One adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL made a brief stop on the ice before heading NW. The only waterfowl on the lake were a pair of COMMON MERGANSERS and a few CANADA GEESE. My first woodchuck of the year stumbled out of a hole near the overlook in a daze before taking a control slide (or maybe it was just a clumsy rodent) down the snow covered slope to lake level. Good birding, Ryan -- Ryan Douglas rnd4 AT cornell.edu Dept. of Plant Biology 142 Emerson Hall Cornell University, Ithaca, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Seeking two lifers: Rusty Blackbird, Ross's Goose From: "candr1 AT i-bird.com" <candr1@i-bird.com> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:27:32 -0700 With the spring migration now starting to flow, would like help in locating two lifers that we have missed over the years. Should anyone see Rusty Blackbirds in the Ithaca area or north of the city would be grateful. Second, in seasons past individuals has noted one or two Ross's Goose in flocks of literally thousands of Snow Geese. First, how does one find this particular white goose amongst thousands of others? In any case, should these two show up in the area, please notify either to the list or personally. Additionally, if someone is going out for these birds, and if it is not a bother, would live to tag along. Thanks, Richard Tkachuck candr1 AT i-bird.com ---------------------------------------- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Montezuma Audubon Center and Crusoe Creek location From: "Dave Spier" <dspier AT zoom-dsl.com> Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:05:20 -0500 A point of clarification prompted by an email I received: Crusoe Creek is the outlet from Crusoe Lake and meanders west to east along the south border of the Montezuma Audubon Center (MAC) less than 2 miles north of the Village of Savannah (in southeastern Wayne County). There is a D.E.C. canoe launch on the west side of the road where it passes under Rt. 89. On the east side of Rt. 89, there is a pulloff and kiosk overlooking the creek and the new Colvin Marsh impoundment. I'd estimate the MAC is about 10 miles north of the Federal refuge. Just follow Rt. 89 from 5&20. (You can check Tschache Pool, May's Point and East Road along the way, or take a side trip to the Mucklands along Rt. 31.) Crusoe Creek is visible from the MAC building, but a scope is needed to identify the ducks. There is a scope at the MAC when it is open (winter hours: 10-4, Tue.-Sat.). The Bald Eagles have a nest on Crusoe Lake, but it's not visible from MAC because of a wooded swamp inbetween. One of the eagles made a low pass over the MAC on Tuesday. There are a number of other good birding locations in the Town of Savannah. Most are beside Savannah Spring Lake Rd. or short sidetrips; most are part of the Northern Montezuma W.M.A. The Friends of Montezuma is sponsoring a new map and users guide which will be out hopefully this spring or summer. Dave Spier -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Peeent From: Gladys J Birdsall <gjb5 AT twcny.rr.com> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:00:27 -0500 Just a few minutes ago, I also heard my first Woodcock for this year. Peenting and the twittering of his flight display in the field behind my house here in West Dryden area. A Killdeer was in the neighbors field calling loudly. Love that sound. Good birding Gladys Birdsall -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Snow Geese at the stadium From: Meena Haribal <mmh3 AT cornell.edu> Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:44:38 -0500 Hi all, About half an hour ago, I was heading to my car on Tower road from Plant Science building, when I saw 5 large white birds with black tips circling around in the flood lights of the stadium. They circled around and came down and then disappeared behind the building. I drove towards the stadium to see if they landed on the ball field, but there was a game going on. The field in front of Rhodes hall had lots of snow and no birds. May be they just continued their journey to the lake. I also heard some geese as I got off my car at home. In the afternoon, during lunch time, I watched geese from Caldwell Road side of the arboretum. I found a small goose, probably a Cackling among the Canada's out of hundreds and hundreds I watched. Meena -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Montezuma Audubon Center today From: "Dave Spier" <dspier AT zoom-dsl.com> Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:02:22 -0500 Location: NY WAY Montezuma Audubon Center Observation date: 3/10/10, 7:51 am - 1:45 pm composite thin cirrus, sunny, calm morning; altostratus afternoon, breeze from east Snow Goose 40 flying Canada Goose 3000 (total; most flying past, heading north; some on Crusoe Creek ) Trumpeter Swan 1 on Crusoe Creek American Black Duck 2 Crusoe Creek Mallard 15 Crusoe Creek Northern Pintail 20 Crusoe Creek Killdeer 1 (front of building) Gull, Ring-billed 3 flying over Rock Pigeon 3 Mourning Dove 7 under the feeder Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 heard Downy Woodpecker 2 Northern Flicker 1 heard American Crow 8 Tufted Titmouse 2 White-breasted Nuthatch 2 Eastern Bluebird 1 (heard at least 1) European Starling 6 (1 on top of new Purple Martin house) American Tree Sparrow 6 Northern Cardinal 1 Red-winged Blackbird 70 (males, under the feeders) Common Grackle 100 (100-150 under the feeders) House Finch 1 pale male American Goldfinch 3 This report was compiled from 4 separate reports to eBird v2(http://ebird.org) Dave Spier -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: PEENT!!! From: "Nancy W Dickinson" <nwd1 AT cornell.edu> Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:47:18 -0500 (EST) A woodcock is peenting right now (6:45 pm) in the field north of my house-- which is still mighty snowy!!! Hooray! Nancy Dickinson Mecklenburg -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Snow and Canada From: "Naomi Brewer" <nbrewer AT fltg.net> Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:40:20 -0500 Hi All - Migration it is. Yesterday there were rows of Snow Geese and many more rows of Canada from Kidders all the way thru Wyers Point Road. Most of them were way out and all were quiet. This morning Wed. the 10th, they were there and very, very noisy. I got a call from up toward Kidders at noon telling me he had just seen thousands and thousands of Canadas gong north over water and more way up high in the sky. He also saw the Snows leaving. At 12:00 when I went out there were thousands out from my home on Wyers Point Rd., near the middle of the lake and very very noisy. I came back home at 3:30pm. and from Kidders home there was not a goose on the lake. The lake was still and a few ducks here and there. Got home and found 6 Canada Geese resting on my lake shore. What a day. Naomi Brewer 7214 Wyer's Pt. Rd Ovid -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Still more SNOWS From: "John and Fritzie Blizzard" <job121830 AT verizon.net> Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:38:30 -0500 About 1/2 hr. after I sent the previous note about SNOWS I glanced out the window then grabbed the binox & went outside. As far as I could see with the binox, north & south, were snows & more snows. Lower down were hundreds of "blackbirds", mostly Redwings. Where are they all tonight?? Will more come tomorrow? I also noticed the return of the "garbage" gulls today. First thing some did was to raid my garden compost. That's off limits to all but the 5 or 6 resident crows! Most of the "little" birds have deserted us, except for house finches & the lousy house sparrows. Fritzie -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Campus Robins From: Karen Steffy <ks247 AT cornell.edu> Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:34:10 -0500 I just heard and saw one robin singing by Wee Stinky Glen, and another one on the opposite side of Day Hall, by Stimson. I also got to see snowdrops and crocus along the sidewalk near the azalea garden. Karen -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ -- Subject: Mt. Pleasant, Dryden - 10 March 2010 (geese & eagles) From: Tom Johnson <tbj4 AT cornell.edu> Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:10:49 -0500 Cayugabirders, Jay McGowan and I watched the tail end of the huge goose flight around midday from Mt. Pleasant in Dryden. We ended up seeing ~20,000 geese, over 90% Canada, and 10 Cackling Geese, most of which Jay photographed. 6 Golden Eagles and 2 Bald Eagles also starred in the migration today while we were watching. Since the density of geese seemed higher over Cornell earlier in the morning (including more Snows), I suspect we probably had a six figure goose flight over Ithaca today - did anyone count all morning by chance? Later, 1 Iceland (first cycle), 2 Lesser Black-backed (1 first, 1 second cycle), and 1 probable Herring x Glaucous Gull (second cycle) were at Stewart Park in Ithaca along with a Cackling Goose, 2 adult Bald Eagles, and a nice variety of ducks. Cheers, Tom -- Thomas Brodie Johnson Ithaca, NY tbj4 AT cornell.edu mobile: 717.991.5727 -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l AT 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/ --