Seeing Joe DiCostanzo's posting about a female Summer Tanager made me wonder whether perhaps I'd lost my female, but I think both birds are still there. I can certainly add some late June NYS records for the species.
Saw the male Summer Tanager in the front yard on Friday evening (24th) - calling but not singing. On Saturday (25th), I heard Summer Tanagers calling on 5 separate occasions. Always in the same area, the area where I presume the nest is as almost all the calling I hear is in the same area. I was however not able to see the birds - they call infrequently and go quiet the moment they see someone come over to the tree-line. I did have two birds calling at once at one point though so assume both are still there, and hopefully feeding young. Interestingly on Saturday, a male Scarlet Tanager sang twice from the other side of the yard. There was a singing male Scarlet Tanager in the yard for a few days before the male Summer Tanager started to sing but I haven't seen one since. Not sure how these two species share territory - they both seem to be in the same habitat. On Sunday (26th) I heard "pit-a-tuck" calls on two separate occasions - I did not try to chase them down. I have tended to leave these birds alone, figuring that they could use a break in an area that has lost many of it's breeding species in the last 10 years, and must presumably be quite stressed ecologically. I greatly appreciate the understanding of those birders who have inquired about accessing the site. The pair have now been in the same area of woodland for a month or so, and I presume are breeding, although I have yet to see any concrete evidence of such. On the subject of June records for Summer Tanagers, these are not the first birds to be seen in my yard. On June 6th, 2009, I had an "orange" male calling one evening. Watched it for a while but failed to re-find it the next morning. Suspect this species is somewhat under-reported on Long Island. Having lived with a pair for a month, and noting how infrequently they call, and how difficult they are to see, I wouldn't be surprised if there aren't more out there somewhere. After all, what are the chances that the only breeding pair chose a birders yard to nest in? -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
