I have yet to see Pine Siskins at my feeders, although I can’t swear they aren’t among the birds who empty them daily when I’m not looking, and I’m impressed by how well the winter-plumaged Goldfinches blend in with the dead Goldenrod.
So I followed up on yesterday’s eBird report (below) by Caleb Centanni at Comstock Knoll, east of Beebe Lake on Cornell Campus. Although the Pine Siskins were not evident in the particular tree which Caleb described, I saw about the same number as he did feeding on cones in the tops of other tall White Pines immediately to the west of the Nevin Welcome Center and elsewhere around the short paved loop of former road. This is the first time I have actually associated this species with Pines. Previously I had thought they deserved a name change. If you want to get closer to their elevation you can climb a few stairs on gravel paths to the summit of Comstock Knoll. For better lighting in case it’s sunny you may be able to scope them from the paid parking lot near the west end of Arboretum Rd. I walked in from the free parking lot for the Wildflower Garden off of Forest Home Drive just south of the upstream one-lane bridge over Fall Creek near where Caldwell Rd ends. The gravel paths from there were free of snow and the wooden stairs up out of the flood plain were nearly free of snow and quite passable. > Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus) (40) > - Reported Jan 30, 2024 12:25 by Caleb Centanni > - Cornell Botanic Gardens--Nevin Welcome Center and Young Flower Garden, > Tompkins, New York > - Map: > http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=42.44955,-76.472208&ll=42.44955,-76.472208 > - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S160221270 > - Comments: "seen well foraging actively ongoing for over half an hour in > white pine cones of large white pine tree at least (prob more) 3 ft DBH. > “Easily 40 siskins” in it foraging ongoing, voraciously. (42.4500,-76.4720)— > 25 fly off 12:58p to land atop deciduous tree." - - Dave Nutter > On Jan 31, 2024, at 10:42 AM, Marty Schlabach <m...@cornell.edu> wrote: > > My niger seed feeders have been refilled. Please encourage several to head > our way. > --Marty > Interlaken, NY > > -----Original Message----- > From: bounce-128003013-3494...@list.cornell.edu > <bounce-128003013-3494...@list.cornell.edu> On Behalf Of Sandy Podulka > Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2024 9:36 AM > To: CAYUGABIRDS-L <cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu> > Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Pine Siskins in Brooktondale > > Following in Larry Hymes' footsteps, we have 11 Pine Siskins with the > Goldfinches at our feeders in Brooktondale this morning! > > I'm excited--haven't seen them all winter. > > Sandy Podulka > > > -- > > (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") > > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsWELCOME_DOT_htm > NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsRULES_DOT_htm > NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave_DOT_htm > > ARCHIVES: > 1) mail-archive_DOT_com/cayugabirds-l@cornell_DOT_edu/maillist_DOT_html > 2) surfbirds_DOT_com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds > 3) aba_DOT_org/birding-news/ > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > ebird_DOT_org/content/ebird/ > > -- > > -- > > (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") > > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsWELCOME_DOT_htm > NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsRULES_DOT_htm > NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave_DOT_htm > > ARCHIVES: > 1) mail-archive_DOT_com/cayugabirds-l@cornell_DOT_edu/maillist_DOT_html > 2) surfbirds_DOT_com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds > 3) aba_DOT_org/birding-news/ > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > ebird_DOT_org/content/ebird/ > > -- > -- (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") Cayugabirds-L List Info: NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsWELCOME_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsRULES_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave_DOT_htm ARCHIVES: 1) mail-archive_DOT_com/cayugabirds-l@cornell_DOT_edu/maillist_DOT_html 2) surfbirds_DOT_com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) aba_DOT_org/birding-news/ Please submit your observations to eBird: ebird_DOT_org/content/ebird/ --
