NT
New York State
3rd November 1987 - 6th November 1987.
3rd November.
I arrived in Ithaca in up-state New York the previous evening, to stay with Greg Budney, a fellow sound recordist, who I had worked with on the Land of the Eagle project earlier in the year. Greg was a recordist and technician at the Macaulay Library, part of Cornell University's Laboratory of Ornithology. New species for me will be in bold.
In Greg's garden there were 6 Black-capped Chickadees, a Blue Jay, a White-breasted Nuthatch, a Red-breasted Nuthatch, a Brown Creeper and 6 Eastern Grey Squirrels.
Later, we drove north to the town of Savannah where there was a Gray Kingbird a rare bird in this area.
Also seen here was another White-breasted Nuthatch, 20 Canada Geese and a huge flock of around 50,000 Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, Brown-headed Cowbirds and Starlings.
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Gray Kingbird.
4th & 5th November.
Staying with Greg, we visited several areas near Ithaca and the 'finger' lakes, seeing Black-capped Chickadee, White and Red-breasted Nuthatches, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Blue Jay, American Crow, Purple Finch, Northern Cardinal, American Robin, American Goldfinch, Evening Grosbeak, Dark-eyed Junco, Great Blue Heron, Tufted Titmouse, Common Grackle, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Red-tailed Hawk, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers. We also heard short bursts of song from several Spring Peepers, although we couldn't see them, apparently they have winter calls.
Calls and winter song from several, Red-breasted Nuthatch in background
Winter calls.
6th November.
It was snowing this morning, stopping by midday, we went to nearby Sapsucker Woods seeing 6 Rusty Blackbirds, a Downy Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadees, Purple Finches, Mallard, Black Ducks, Canada Geese, an Eastern Chipmunk, Eastern Grey Squirrels, Blue Jays, American Crows, American Robins, House Sparrows, a Brown-headed Cowbird, a White-breasted Nuthatch, Northern Cardinals, 2 Dark-eyed Juncos and a Red-breasted Woodpecker.