My first 2021 American Robin was on the Count on New Year’s Day, a single bird in the suburban neighborhood above my home on Ithaca’s West Hill. It was over a month before I saw another Robin: On February 6th, around the time that other folks began writing on CayugaBirds-L about flocks of them, I happened to be staring out a window with my scope aimed toward the Collegetown skyline when a few distant passerines crossed my view. They were substantial and dark but didn’t have fast and regular wingbeats of Starlings. Fortunately, they were tracking toward me, and I stayed on one until it surprised me with a telltale white lower belly and undertail coverts contrasting with brick red elsewhere below. Closer, and the fuller wings and longer tail supported the ID as well. How novel to see a Robin shape! Scanning nearby, I confirmed 4 of them before they went out of view. Neat, but a bit weak as a contribution to discussions of flocks. Sorry.
Yesterday, while trying to write, I kept being distracted by individual birds flying past the window, too far away for an easy naked-eye ID, but too fast for me to get binoculars on them. Eventually I gave up and went to the window as they became more organized. They were Robins, and at least 40 of them went past toward the bit of woods nearby, but they didn’t seem to be feeding. Today we were expecting a delivery, so I set up closer to the window. I didn’t get much of my writing project done. The Robins came back. Many settled into a Hawthorn tree whose numerous fruits I had assumed nobody liked. But they were tasty enough today. Another little tree that I hadn’t thought much about also had fruit, and the Robins covered that tree, too, and brought a few Cedar Waxwings along. Birds were busy emerging from the woods, eating, and resting in nearby trees. I tried to count them and got to at least 60 Robins. A few other birds tagged along - a Starling, a male and a female Red-bellied Woodpecker, a male Hairy, and also a gorgeous Flicker. I showed Laurie, who declared the array well worth looking at. She’s getting a bit tired of the small dull-colored birds. Then a Red-tailed Hawk, who had spent the morning next door quietly sitting atop a large tree, tried to join the party. Awkward! That so-called raptor was really bad at hunting songbirds in the woods, and after a few short flights and asymmetrical landings, it gave up and left. I hope it finds a nice, fat, slow squirrel crossing the snow. Within a minute the birds were back at the berries. A dozen Robins were thirsty enough that they came down to the pavement to sip at wet spots. I kept scanning through all the birds, hoping for a Hermit Thrush. No luck there, but I did notice something atop a tree about a quarter mile away: a young Cooper’s Hawk who has graced my yard many times this season without catching anything that I saw. How could it not notice the activity here? When my attention wandered I suddenly saw several Robins start a rush straight for the woods. Yup, the Cooper’s Hawk came ripping past, but veering off, again unlucky, I think. Still, everyone took this predator seriously, and the feeding session seemed to be over. A little while later I noticed Robins leaving the woods to fly away over downtown. There were 2 groups totaling about 75. The maximum number of Cedar Waxwings I saw at once was only 5. There is still some fruit, so I hope they come back. I still need to go out and try to ID that mystery tree. And get back to the other writing project. - - Dave Nutter -- 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/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/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/ --
