Hi All,

My sister and nephews will be flying in from LA late Thursday, so if all goes well, Don and I will bring them along with us Saturday morning!

Suzanne and Don in Ithaca

Hi All,

Don't know if anyone has already seen/posted this somewhere, but yesterday we got our new "Bird Watching" magazine and the cover article is on "Falcons Clash".  It is about the Cleveland, Ohio falcons by Chad and Chris Saladin.  AWESOME photography!  There are a few other Falcon related tidbits in this issue also.

Suzanne and Don in Ithaca

Hi All,
Yesterday Don and I checked the Montezuma area Eagle nests. We observed at least one Eaglet at the Mudlock nest.  It appears that some of the other nests also have Eaglets, but they are too distant to get a confirmation.

We went back again today, since it was rumored to be less cloudy.  While waiting and watching we could easily at least one head pop up when one of the adults flew to the nest edge.
Suzanne

Yesterday, Saturday, Don and I were in Syracuse and, as usual went downtown to check Groucho and Fancy. We didn't see any falcons initially, but while parked and eating lunch we saw Fancy fly in and settle on top of the Bank of America building.

About 15 minutes later we saw the pigeons stir in a building south of the Bank of America building. They were being chased by Groucho who then flew in and joined Fancy on the opposite side of the Bank of America building.

We started to leave when I looked up and saw them copulating on the BOA building. Suddenly Groucho took off and flew around the State Office Tower and over our heads and disappeared.

When we left Fancy was still on the BOA building, and no sign of Groucho, but we were happy to see both together!

Suzanne and Don

Hi All,

This Saturday, September 15th, Wild Wings will be presenting a program on raptors sponsored by the Friends of the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge.  The event will be 2-3:30pm at the Visitor's Center. 

Don and I are planning to attend and then go out looking for that juvie Peregrine we saw during the Muckrace!  This is the time of year when the young Peregrines show up at the Refuge, which is full of little shorebirds!

Suzanne

Ei, the rain and wind at the time was still nasty so Don didn't bring out the not water proof camera

We actually went back the next day to get pics of the Avocets and juvie Peregrine.  We found the Avocets but not the Peregrine...boohoo

Hello All,

This past weekend was the Montezuma Muckrace, the 24 hour birding competition on the Refuge lands.  In the past our fearless team has braved the elements and the mosquitoes to compete.  This year due to an unusual sequence of events only Don and I were actually able to compete.  Originally we decided not to compete, but our names were already on the tee-shirts and we had raised some money for it!!  So we decided to go ahead and compete in honor our members and their families.  This one was for you guys:))

We left work early Friday afternoon, and after gathering all the necessary gear, drove up to the refuge to scope out potential birds for our checklist.  It was pleasant weather Friday, so we were able to locate a few good areas.  Around 6 pm we completed all the registration activities and were ready to head off to where we wanted to be for the 7 pm race start. 

We went to the Knox-Marcellus overlook.  There were already 6 or 7 cars there, an indication this was a good choice.  At 7 pm someone announced we could start!  It was awesome, many birds started to fly in for the night, Sandhill Crane pairs, 4 species of Swallows, Bald Eagles, and more!  Unfortunately the light goes quickly in the evenings now, and in dim light we drove to another pool to look for Green Herons and Bitterns.  We were rewarded, though, as we watched both head off to their night roosts.  We drove home in the dark, and discussed what our plan would be for the big day, Saturday.  We were pleased to have 30 species checked off already.

Saturday morning we got up at 4 am and drove back to the refuge area.  While driving we again discussed where to start and decided on Towpath Road where we should be able to locate lots of shore birds.  We were concerned about the weather forecast though, potential straight line winds/tornadoes and heavy rain.  Not good weather for being out birding!

We did not find the shore birds there we had hoped, so we headed off to the top spot for Warblers and Vireos, Howland Island.  By the time we got there it was very windy and looked threatening, but we were sure we would locate the Warblers and Vireos.  We assumed there would have been a fallout given the north winds.  Evidently there was we heard later, but the winds were so severe that they were hunkered down out of sight!  We only located 3 Warblers and 1 Vireo the entire competition!

We finally left Howland Island as the tree branches started to hit the car and the thought of the only road off the Island being blocked by downed trees!  The storm was about to hit and we decided to ride it out on the Knox-Marcellus overlook ridge, where no trees could fall on us.  At this point we had about 60 species on our checklist, given last year 5 of us located a total of 73, this was not bad. 

We lost a bit of time riding out the storm, eating lunch, and getting a much needed bathroom break, but we were ready to resume the search.  We returned to Towpath Road, as during our bathroom break someone mentioned seeing an American Avocet there.  Yes, we spotted them!!  There was actually a pair, and these are rare birds for this area!  We also picked up a few other shorebirds we had not seen earlier.

Next we headed for the wild life drive at the refuge itself.  We could usually see a PEREGRINE there, and sure enough, at the top of a tree on the drive was a thoroughly soaked juvenile Peregrine!!!  Yeah!!  We also saw both Blackbellied and American Golden Plovers, potential Peregrine food I suspect. 

It was now about 4 pm and our count was up to 85!  Could we reach 100??  I had hoped, but we had to find some birds and the weather was just not cooperating!  We decided to go back to some of the impoundments we had checked earlier to see if anyone new had showed up.  Yes, there had been a few newcomers!

We had to 7 pm, but at 6:30 we handed in our checklist with 92 species checked off and headed home, exhausted!  I was a little bummed we couldn't hit 100, but last night we heard that the winning recreational team of 5 "top expert Ithaca birders" had 102 species!!  I guess the Genesee Valley Peregrines had a  respectable showing this year!   

Suzanne in Ithaca

Oh shucks...Don will be out of town, returning over the weekend, and I have classes scheduled.  Unfortunately this Sunday is our day to work at the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge Visitor's Center. 

I'm bummed....   Would have been great to see everyone again!

Suzanne

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes!  Looking forward to watching our little one learn to fly, now!!

Suzanne

Thank you EVERYONE for the birthday wishes!!!

Happy Belated Birthday Shaky!!!

Hope you had a great day!!

 

Don and I drove up the lake Sunday to see if there was any activity with the bald eagles.  When we arrived both adults were around the nest.  One took off and returned with a stick...ah, nest building has started!  They flew around the lake together...awesome!  Then perched on the nearby snag. 

One flew off and circled over the water hoping to catch a duck.  Twice the duck dove into the water, the last time it finally took off. 

It was a nice day of eagle watching, though.

Thank you all for the wonderful birthday messages

Don and I have been enjoying watching the Osprey kids on their light pole nest in the grocery store parking lot.   They have been exercising their wings, and hopping from one side of the nest to the other.  It's been tough to find a good angle for a pic, though, too close! 

I also have two baby crows with my Cape Cod crow family, one of the kids is very mouthy! 

Thanks everyone
Suzanne

It is very sad    I guess at least she passed away quietly in her sleep, and will now fly free with William and all the others 
Suzanne

Hi MAK 
This has definitely been a crazy bird year!  Twice a hawk has snapped up a baby bluejay in my front yard!!  Oh the cries of the adults were just heart wrenching.  I know the hawks have to feed their young too, but could they please shop in someone else's yard! 

Glad to hear the downtown Rochester crows are thriving    Maybe some will migrate here during winter. 

Don and I are heading off to Cape Cod tomorrow...maybe we'll see a Peregrine!
Suzanne