Today a group of us will be participating in the Big Sit! at Derby Hill Bird Observatory along Lake Ontario in Oswego County NY. I will be looking forward to meeting some central New Yorkers that I have not run in to yet. Watch for updates to appear throughout the day, you should not have to reload to see the updates. You can read more about the Big Sit! at Bird Watcher’s Digest.
Drew Weber
Latest posts by Drew Weber (see all)
- Best flight this year - May 18, 2013
- North winds slow migration in east, tonight could be more of the same - May 17, 2013
- Heavy migration everywhere! - May 16, 2013
- Heavy migration with western NY and PA fallout possibility - May 15, 2013
- Another night of storms and strong coastal migration - May 11, 2013
3 long-tailed ducks just flew past and may be the last birds for the day.
A flock of 50 Brant
Finally at fifty. Belted Kingfisher!
#49 – Hooded Merganser to complete the merganser sweep.
Purple Finches are all over the feeder.
Now that the sun is out, raptors are starting to trickle through. Red-tailed Hawk puts us at 48.
Birds are coming slower now – distant floppy Sharp-shinned Hawk getting buffeted by the wind for #47.
After a long quiet spell – Cedar Waxwings! Also, the sun is trying to peak through the clouds so maybe it will start to warm up.
Kevin picked out a two mile distant Turkey Vulture.
2 flyby N. Rough-winged Swallows for #44
2 new species in quick succession – Eastern Bluebird and American Wigeon.
A tally of the numbers while hiding in the car…36 species after adding House Sparrow
Raining pretty hard but just added Surf scoter
Our view so far.
35 Brant and Common loon make 24 species for the day.
American Robin, Tufted Titmouse and Purple Finch for 21 species
Ring-billed, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls
A flock of mallards, black ducks and Green-winged teal
First birds of the day! White-throated, White-crowned and Song Sparrows.
No flight calls yet but at least it’s not raining at the moment.
Strong south winds last night and today will probably keep the number of new arrivals down and ducks far out over the lake. On the other hand, it may push southwestern vagrants up along the shoreline where we can see them if they move past.
National composite radar from overnight.
Looks like a long string of rain heading our way.
I’m hoping to get some finch flight today like the siskin in this photo from Derby Hill or maybe crossbills
Stew and coffee in the Thermoses, it’s time to roll out.
It’s before 4am and I am up, we’ll see if it’s raining when I get to the lake.
We ended up with 51 species for the day, a good total despite the south winds and rain.