This morning, I was joined by Anne Klingensmith for some birding between 6:15am and 9:30am at the Hawthorn Orchard, located to the SW of East Hill Plaza in Ithaca. It was a slower day than previous days, but not without some great views of migratory birds in and around the Hawthorn Orchard.
Here are the birds that were heard and/or seen while walking throughout the area: 2 Canada Geese 1-2 Killdeer 1 Ring-billed Gull 2-3 Chimney Swifts 1 Downy Woodpecker 1 Pileated Woodpecker (heard calling) 1 EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE (in Cottonwoods to NW of Hawthorn Orchard) 1 YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER (only heard call "chew-wee" three times in very NNE section of Hawthorn Orchard) **NOTE** This year, there is again a Brown-headed Cowbird whose whistle is atypical from the normal two-parted whistle "whoo--heee". Instead it is a three-parted "chu-wee--heee", the first part of which sounds amazingly similar to the two-parted "chu-wee" that Eastern Wood-Pewees sometimes sing, but much louder than the soft "chew-wee" of the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. So, just be aware of this. 1 ALDER FLYCATCHER (repeated individual "pip" or "pup" notes in very SE section of Hawthorn Orchard) 12-14+ LEAST FLYCATCHERS (everywhere, doing both "whit" notes and "che-beck" calls; every "whit"-producing bird that I happened to see did have a distinct "eye-ring") 1 Great Crested Flycatcher (establishing a territory near old oak tree in NW corner of Hawthorn Orchard) 1 Warbling Vireo (singing cottonwood knoll just West of the South rugby field) 1 Red-eyed Vireo (singing in oaks in field to NW of H.O.) 6-8+ Blue Jays 3-4 American Crows 2-3+ Barn Swallows 5-6 Black-capped Chickadees (I've already found 2 natural nest cavities this year) 4 Tufted Titmice (one pair building a nest in a nestbox near entrance to EIRW) 1 White-breasted Nuthatch 3-4 House Wrens 1 Eastern Bluebird 2-3+ American Robins (ZERO other thrushes) 15+ Gray Catbirds 4-5+ European Starlings 8+ Cedar Waxwings 1-2 TENNESSEE WARBLERS (1 active singer in oak in field to NW of H.O.; a single probable TEWA giving "seet" flight notes in NW corner of H.O. earlier) 1 Northern Parula (singing near mid-NW section of H.O., audible from EIRW) 15+ Yellow Warblers 4-5 Chestnut-sided Warblers 6-8 Magnolia Warblers 2 CAPE MAY WARBLERS (1 adult male and 1 first-spring female in two spruces located just down little pathway that leads from the East Ithaca Recreation Way (EIRW) to the West to the corner of a small field, located about 100-150 yards to the North of the middle of EIRW where both sides of the EIRW have railings; same location where a single adult male was last weekend...they really love those spruces!) 6-8 Yellow-rumped Warblers (mostly in and around same spruces as Cape May Warblers, others in H.O.) 1 BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER (incredibly cooperative singing male, low in bush tops along gravel path that leads from the South rugby field to the EIRW) 2-3 American Redstarts 6-8+ Common Yellowthroats 1-2 WILSON'S WARBLERS (1 singing in same location as yesterday, along gravel path that leads from the South rugby field to the EIRW; possibly a second bird was heard and seen in same vicinity as where the Tufted Titmice are nest-building near entrance to EIRW, just before cottonwood grove) 1 Scarlet Tanager (distant singer, heard once) 2-3 Chipping Sparrows 2-3 Song Sparrows 1-2 White-throated Sparrows 8-10 Northern Cardinals 1 Indigo Bunting (flyover, "bzreee!" flight note) 1 Bobolink (flyover singer) 6-8 Red-winged Blackbirds 4-5 Common Grackles 2-3 Brown-headed Cowbirds 5-6+ Baltimore Orioles (seemed more prevalent today) 1 Purple Finch (singing across Mitchell Street in direction of Cemetery) 4 House Finches (flyover) 6-8 American Goldfinches 1-2 House Sparrows Good birding! Sincerely, Chris T-H -- Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes TARU Product Line Manager and Field Applications Engineer Bioacoustics Research Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, New York 14850 W: 607-254-2418 M: 607-351-5740 F: 607-254-1132 http://www.birds.cornell.edu/brp -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/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/ --
