This morning, I birded the Hawthorn Orchard from about 6:15am to 9:00am. I was joined by Pete Marchetto for a good portion of the morning. While there, I was pleased to see several other area birders in the hawthorns enjoying what the place has to offer. Throughout the morning, I saw or met up with: Mark Scheel (from California), George Chiu (from Binghamton), Jay McGowan, Bill Baker, Larry and Sara Jane Hymes, Dave Streater, Sarah Fern Striffler, Anne Klingensmith, Lanie Wilmarth, and Mike Powers.
Please note that the Hawthorn Orchard is most acoustically active earlier in the day (early- to mid-morning). The birds are still present mid- to late-day, but, as Mike Powers noted, they are not very vocal; they produce many contact flight notes, just not much song. If you get there early enough, the cacophony of song is deafening in the Northeast corner, making it almost impossible to think! The Northwest corner is also active, just not as much as the Northeast corner. OK. Highlights: Continued high numbers of TENNESSEE WARBLERS (30-35), abundant BLACKPOLL WARBLERS (15-20), MOURNING WARBLERS (2), CANADA WARBLERS (2-3), YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO (one calling), CAPE MAY WARBLER (single singer), and BAY-BREASTED WARBLERS (6-8). Here is a list with some numbers of birds present throughout the Hawthorn Orchard today, focused on the migrants: 1 YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO (calling, NE corner) 1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 3+ Least Flycatchers 6-8+ Red-eyed Vireos 1 SWAINSON'S THRUSH (just West of NE corner) 1 Wood Thrush (territory, SW corner) 30-35+ GRAY CATBIRDS (huge numbers of what are clearly migrant Gray Catbirds today) 1 Blue-winged Warbler (stutter song heard coming from Southern portion of Hawthorn Orchard) 30-35 TENNESSEE WARBLERS 1 NORTHERN PARULA (NW corner) 10-12 Yellow Warblers 8-10 Chestnut-sided Warblers 8-10 Magnolia Warblers 1 CAPE MAY WARBLER (NE corner) 3 BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLERS (2 males and 1 female, NE corner) 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler (NE corner) 1 Black-throated Green Warbler (NW corner) 6-8 BLACKBURNIAN WARBLERS (throughout) 1 PINE WARBLER (singing from North ravine pines and oaks, highly mobile) 6-8+ BAY-BREASTED WARBLERS (throughout, but mostly NE corner) 15-20 BLACKPOLL WARBLERS (throughout, but mostly NE corner) 4-6 American Redstarts 1 NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH (middle to NE area) 2 MOURNING WARBLERS (working the Northeast area and the hedgerow just North of the Softball field) 10-12 Common Yellowthroats 2-3 CANADA WARBLERS 1-2 Scarlet Tanagers (passing through) 6-8+ Rose-breasted Grosbeaks 4-6 Indigo Buntings 10-15 Baltimore Orioles (varying plumages) Additions include: 1 Wilson's Warbler (per Larry Hymes) 1 GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER (Mike Powers, previous post) 1 Nashville Warbler (Mike Powers, previous post) Info about the Hawthorn Orchard is here: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/cayugabirdclub/hawthorn.htm 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 http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
