There were TWO GLAUCOUS GULLS and one ICELAND GULL at the Coxsackie Boat
Launch today. One Glaucous was an adult (very rare - the first I've seen
there) and an immature (the same age class and probably the same bird that
was there yesterday). Also present - an immature ICELAND GULL. No sign of
yesterday's Lesser Black-backed Gull. The gull numbers were way down today
anyway.



I'll post pictures of the adult, and  the immature Glaucous and Iceland
Gulls side by side on the hmbirds yahoo site.



Another pale wing tip gull (possibly a Thayer's) was not seen well enough to
confirm the identification before it flew off. In flight, we could see that
it had dark upper wing tips and pale under wing tips.. And there was another
dark-backed gull that did not match any of the known types. A bizarre hybrid
is one possibility.

.



Oh those darn gulls. If they weren't so attractive, graceful in flight,
photogenic, and full of potential for really exotic rarities, they'd be hard
to like.



To add to the Catskill-Coxsackie CBC "present during count week, but not
seen on count day" category, there was and adult PEREGRINE FALCON at the
boat launch this afternoon. Elsewhere in the count circle in the same
category: SAVANNAH SPARROW - a flock of 12 seen the day before the count,
and one seen today; EASTERN MEADOWLARK several seen today. Drat!



Rich Guthrie

New Baltimore

The Greenish County

gaeltic@...

www://blog.timesunion.com/birding





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The local "2009 Run for Fun" will be ending on Dec 31.  We had 17 people
participate.  We've accumulated 226 species and there is still 2 weeks to
go.  A few of us have seen more than 200 species locally this year.



This Run is mostly for fun, and fun it has been.  Local too, focusing only
on the Region 8 counties.  Sharing the rarer sightings, carpooling to the
more distant locations.



And, of course, it's a friendly competition.  There's nothing like being
with within a few species of another "Runner", and then helping them find a
bird that they haven't seen yet.



If you're interested in participating in the 2010 Run, please let me know,
and I'll include you in all the particulars.



Jory Langner

Delmar



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Check out this birding opportunity outside of the HMBC area. I would normally
not send a link to a commercial site but thought this would be a worthy
exception.

Gerry Colborn

>>> "Gunnar Engblom" <birdingperu@...> 10/30/2009 11:47 PM >>>
Hi all

It is no joke!  You can actually get a birding trip in Peru for FREE. The idea
is to promote community birding tourism initiatives and by giving away some free
trips (14 trips in total still available) it will hopefully bring the sufficient
PR to the area so that both the sustainability of the give-away and the future
as birding destination is secured.

The Manu itinerary is supporting the communities in the threatened (by oil
exploit, mining and logging) Amarakaeri Communal reserve. The itinerary goes
down the Alto Madre de Dios and Madre de Dios rivers to the Macaw lick and Giant
Otter Cocha at Blanquillo, just like any other birding/nature tour circuit in
the area. Four different community lodges are used instead of more well known
lodges.

The other itinerary is located in th Central Peru combining two itineraries
Carpish and Satipo road into one concentrating on the highlights of both areas.
It is the idea that it sometime during 2010 will be possible to do the trip
without camping, as the communities are investing in lodging oportunities for
birders. We'd like to support these efforts by sending many groups immediately.

Giving a way free trips like this, to people able to spread the word of these
areas, should benefit both hopefully very fast, so that the communities don't
get bored with eco-tourism and conservation before we start.

It is all explained in my regular blog.

http://www.kolibriexpeditions.com/birdingperu/blog/index.php/do-you-want-to-go-o\
n-a-birding-trip-in-peru-for-free/

or this short link.

http://bit.ly/8s830C

Just follow the instructions.



THE CATCH?

There are two things you need to do. 1. Promote the same link to my Give-Away on
my blog with the short link that is easier to copy and past.

http://bit.ly/8s830C
Spread the word. The more you spread the word the larger chance that you will
win one of the free trips.

2. The other thing you need to do is to sign up for my bi-weekly opt-in
newsletter, which pretty much replaces this newsletter that you receive one to
two times a year.

Here are two examples of the two latest newsletters with short links.

     * Newsletter Dec 15 http://bit.ly/7P0Qrc
     * Newsletter Nov 23 http://bit.ly/7Qqbc7


In much they are summaries of my blog posts and the links I have been sharing on
Facebook, There is something for all I hope. There is also a section on upcoming
trips, but I hope you will see that it is not overly pushy.

That's all folks. Next bi-yearly newsletter will be sent in July or August.

Finally, let me wish you all a very Merry Christmas

Saludos

Gunnar Engblom

PS: You may unsubscribe to these twice yearly newsletters by just answering this
mail with Unscubcribe in the header or the main text. Please use
kolibriexp@... to communicate with me directly.


--
Gunnar Engblom-Lima, Peru.
Gunnar's Blog - updated frequently.
http://www.kolibriexpeditions.com/birdingperu/blog/
Follow me on www.twitter.com/kolibrix
http://www.facebook.com/Gunnar.Engblom/


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Stopped at the Snack Shack on 9P near Plains Rd for breakfast this AM and asked
the owner if he would mind if birders parked at the far end of his parking lot
(near the pump house) and he said yes, saying he hoped they would stop in for a
cup of coffee.

Stop in for the coffee!!! There are big windows over looking the lake. The owner
let us bring our scope inside and we birded in warmth while eating breakfast.
Just binos work well too. We had a constant parade of large numbers of common
and hooded mergansers, common golden-eyes and, of course, Canada Geese. In the
parking lot we also saw a mockingbird, titmice, chickadees and a w.b. nuthatch.
Not a bad haul for breakfast. And not a bad breakfast - $1 coffee with refills,
$7 for 3 eggs, meat and homefries. It's open at 7AM on Wed- Sun. noon the other
days. Check it out!
Susan Beaudoin

At 11:30 had an American Pipit cross the road in front of us on Turner Rd. in
the town of Stillwater near Ketchums Corner. We sat and watched him for about 5
minutes. On the same road were about 1,000 Snow Geese and 2,000 Canada Geese.
The snow geese were on the ground, circling around in the air, the sun was out,
quite a sight, but no camera - grrr.
Susan Beaudoin
Luther Rd.
Saratoga Springs

Sorry for the gaps. That's how it turned out when I cut and pasted the info.
I'll clean it up after I get some rest.



77 Species seen on a fine mild day with very little wind and a little very
light sprinkle now and then.



Thanks to the 24 folks who participated.

I think we all had a good day in the field and enjoyed a fun tally-up with a
fabulous dinner topped with one of the best home-made deserts I've ever had.



Highlights include:


CANADA GOOSE

2,197


MUTE SWAN

2





































NORTHERN PINTAIL

2






































































































COMMON LOON

1
































GREAT BLUE HERON

5












BALD EAGLE

6


NORTHERN HARRIER

24


SHARP-SHINNED HAWK

8


COOPER'S HAWK

13


NORTHERN GOSHAWK

1


RED-SHOULDERED HAWK

1


RED-TAILED HAWK

104


ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK

5


AMERICAN KESTREL

1


MERLIN

3










































ICELAND GULL

2


LESSER BLK BK GULL

1


GLAUCOUS GULL

1






















EASTERN SCREECH OWL

5


GRT HORNED OWL

6







BARRED OWL

1

















BELTED KINGFISHER

9







RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER

58


YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER

4

















PILEATED WOODPECKER

22



























COMMON RAVEN

7


HORNED LARK

34

















R.B.NUTHATCH

2







BROWN CREEPER

12


CAROLINA WREN

31


WINTER WREN

3







G.C. KINGLET

24


R.C. KINGLET

1


EASTERN BLUEBIRD

116







HERMIT THRUSH

4


AMERICAN ROBIN

3,727







NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD

28












AMERICAN PIPIT

1












YEL-RUMPED WARBLER

21












EASTERN TOWHEE

1


AMERICAN TREE SPARROW

123






















FOX SPARROW

1







SWAMP SPARROW

5






















SNOW BUNTING

3







RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD

103












COMMON GRACKLE

31


BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD

113












PURPLE FINCH

20


HOUSE FINCH

137







COMMON REDPOLL

1



Rich Guthrie

New Baltimore

gaeltic@...





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I was there on Monday morning but did not see any of the less usual gulls.  Did
find lots of Ring-billed, some Greater Black-backed and this Herring Gull that
seemd to be practicing his ballet moves for Swan Lake!!!
http://kenharperphotos.com/pelikenphotos_075.htm

--- In hmbirds@yahoogroups.com, "J" <jnphotonet@...> wrote:
>
> What time of day are you seeing this gull assortment? My wife and I visited
Saturday from 2-3:15 and only saw ring-billed. Thanks.
>
> --- In hmbirds@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Guthrie" <gaeltic@> wrote:
> >
> > This afternoon, I went by the Coxsackie Boat Launch. There were lots more
> > gulls present including this interesting batch:
> >
> >
> >
> > LESSER BLACK-BACKED 1 adult
> >
> > ICELAND 2 (both immatures, one of which was very different than any previous
> > immatures - very heavy mottling)
> >
> > GLAUCOUS 1 immature
> >
> >
> >
> > The mix changes daily. There was no sign of either the immature Lesser
> > Black-backed nor the adult Iceland.
> >
> >
> >
> > Lets hope a representative few show up for tomorrow's CBC
> >
> >
> >
> > Rich Guthrie
> >
> > gaeltic@
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>

We'll be having the Saratoga Spa S.P. Christmas Bird Count on Saturday December
19th.  We are short a few participants this year and could really use the help. 
Please contact me by e-mail (offline) if you are interested.  Thanks.

Larry Rowland

While I was watching her eat sushi with her mate looking on, they both let out a
defensive call.  I wondered if it was me, but then I looked in the direction
that they were looking and saw the reason for their concern--two intruding
Red-tailed hawks.  I waited for them to pursue, but was disappointed to see that
the crows did the job for the falcons.  Who wants supper interrupted anyway; you
can get indigestion that way.

Check her out at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hmbirds/photos/album/451306631/pic/873205117/view?\
picmode=original&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=161&dir=asc

What time of day are you seeing this gull assortment? My wife and I visited
Saturday from 2-3:15 and only saw ring-billed. Thanks.

--- In hmbirds@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Guthrie" <gaeltic@...> wrote:
>
> This afternoon, I went by the Coxsackie Boat Launch. There were lots more
> gulls present including this interesting batch:
>
>
>
> LESSER BLACK-BACKED 1 adult
>
> ICELAND 2 (both immatures, one of which was very different than any previous
> immatures - very heavy mottling)
>
> GLAUCOUS 1 immature
>
>
>
> The mix changes daily. There was no sign of either the immature Lesser
> Black-backed nor the adult Iceland.
>
>
>
> Lets hope a representative few show up for tomorrow's CBC
>
>
>
> Rich Guthrie
>
> gaeltic@...
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

This afternoon, I went by the Coxsackie Boat Launch. There were lots more
gulls present including this interesting batch:



LESSER BLACK-BACKED 1 adult

ICELAND 2 (both immatures, one of which was very different than any previous
immatures - very heavy mottling)

GLAUCOUS 1 immature



The mix changes daily. There was no sign of either the immature Lesser
Black-backed nor the adult Iceland.



Lets hope a representative few show up for tomorrow's CBC



Rich Guthrie

gaeltic@...









[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The lake is still filled with birds, mostly common mergansers and common
golden-eyes. It's so much fun watching such large numbers of them. Saw one
American Widgeon mixed in with about 20 mallards.
Today most of the ones I saw  were just south of Luther Rd. The right hand
shoulder just above and below Luther is wide enough to completely pull off the
road. I walked with my scope and found several spots between houses where I
could get a decent view. The road is busy and mostly has very narrow shoulders,
so be careful if you try it.
Susan Beaudoin

Location:     NY, Saratoga Lake, South Shore
Observation date:     12/14/09


Canada Goose     27
American Wigeon     1 -swimming with a raft of mallards
American Black Duck     24
Mallard     70
Lesser Scaup     12
Common Goldeneye     80
Common Merganser     130
Pileated Woodpecker     2 -in the trees at the pump house pull out

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

On my lunch break, naturalist and fellow DEC employee, Kenny Barnett and I were
standing in Tricentennial Park just up from the DEC when a largish raptor flew
low through the park into the large blue spruce next to the building across the
road. The thin white terminal band on the bird led me to first assume that it
was a very large sharp-shinned but the bird was just too big. A juvenile
Cooper's Hawk, it had cached a previously killed Rock Pigeon ( or the remains of
one) beneath the spruce. Kenny and I, along with HMBC member and fellow DEC
employee, Deb Ferguson, got great looks at the bird before it flew off.

Gerry Colborn
Rensselaerville and Cohoes


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

An American Pipit appeared before me this morning as I walked to work from the
parking lot to the DEC building. I approached the stairs from the main Water
Street parking lot to the walkway at about the same time as a man with a leashed
dog did from the opposite direction. He got there first, flushing a bird from
the snow covered grass next to the stairway. The bird flew across the road to
the edge of the opposite bank of snow in front of me. It's flight told me that
it clearly wasn't a House Sparrow or other downtown regular. It bobbed it's tail
rapidly. The context threw me for a second but as I got a little closer, it's
form revealed it to be an American Pipit. It then flew up and perched on the
lower lip of one of the huge support trusses under the 787 on-ramp from Clinton
Ave, an even more unusual context. As it flew it gave a "pipititititi" call.

Sometimes Mondays rock.

Gerry Colborn
Rensselaerville and Cohoes


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Doing a little scouting around the Catskill-Coxsackie CBC circle, I found a
few interesting species:



A flock of about 50 HORNED LARKS (but no buntings or longspurs) in a manure
spread near Coxsackie;

AMERICAN KESTREL one individual at the same area;

WOOD DUCK and RING-NECKED DUCK at the Coxsackie Boat Launch;

A flock of RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS (# ?) coming to a feeder in Athens;

Several Red-tailed Hawks and Northern Harriers, but no Rough-legs or owls;



Yesterday, I found a LONG-TAILED DUCK at the Coxsackie Boat Launch;

And about a dozen SAVANNAH SPARROWS near the Coxsackie Prison.

There was also an ICELAND GULL at the Coxsackie Boat Launch



We have a few field parties who could use another participant or two.

Any takers?



Participants are invited to a full course hot meal, on us, at a classy
restaurant after the count.field clothes are certainly acceptable.



Rich Guthrie

New Baltimore

The Greenish County

gaeltic@...









[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

A morning visit to the area only turned up horned lark as birds of interest. For
birds of prey, only the usual red-tailed hawks. Even the Hudson River was empty
of wintering ducks, geese, or perched bald eagles.

Jeff Nadler

The snowy weather this afternoon brought in a small group of Red-winged
Blackbirds to my feeders.  I guess they just followed the hubbub.  The most I
saw at one time was three individuals, 2 adult males and 1 first-year male.

Maybe they'll stick around until next Saturday for the Schenectady Christmas
Bird Count.

Larry Alden
Meadowdale
(on the border of southern Guilderland
and northern New Scotland)

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

A flock of about 15 turkeys wandered into our yard in Rexford a bit ago and
started scratching around the spilled bird food.  Our elderly dog then came
around the building corner, and we suddenly saw the whole flock take off flying
into the woods behind us.  There are still a couple sitting in the trees.  It
was an impressive sight seeing them all fly.

A great time was had by all, at this HMBC, Audubon Society of the Capital
REgion, and Five Rivers joint event.  More than 40 people enjoyed hot dogs,
hot chocolate, and heard two Great Horned Owls.  Some folks also heard and
Eastern Screech-Owl.

Hope to see you all at the Five Rivers New Year's Day count, 9 AM on Jan
1.

Scott Stoner, Denise Hackert-Stoner, Alan Mapes, and Craig Thompson




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

A HUGE flock of Snow Geese flew over my house this morning around 9:00 - I
estimate about 2,000 geese in 5-6 large groups.  Other groups of Canada Geese
came over a bit later - only about 400 of them!  With the number of snows in the
air today, I hope Will Raup saw at least one of them!

Larry Alden
Meadowdale
(on the border of southern Guilderland
and northern New Scotland)

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi all,

I had a flock of ~375 Snow Geese flying over my house this afternoon.
No Ross's Geese mixed in that I could see....

Good birding,
--Hope Batcheller
Petersburgh, NY

I did the same down along the Coxsackie Flats - they turned out to be a
flock of about a ddozen SAVANNAH SPARROWS and one HORNED LARK.



Rich Guthrie





   _____

From: hmbirds@yahoogroups.com [mailto:hmbirds@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
Alan Mapes
Sent: Saturday, December 12, 2009 12:53 PM
To: hmbirds@yahoogroups.com; birdline
Subject: [HMBirds] Sparrows on Roadside - check them out





There were lots of sparrows and juncos along the sides of backroads this
morning. For some reason, I stopped along Meads Lane in Delmar to look
at one little group. They were White-crowned Sparrows, 5 immature and 1
adult.

Alan Mapes
New Scotland





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I just photographed a winter plumaged Chipping Sparrow at my feeder in Albany. 
What makes the sighting a bit more unsual (other than the Decmeber date!) is the
fact that in Spring/Summer Chipping Sparrows do not nest around my yard.  I'll
post the pictures late this evening on my blog.

Will Raup
Albany, NY
http://hoaryredpoll.wordpress.com




_________________________________________________________________
Hotmail: Trusted email with powerful SPAM protection.
http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/177141665/direct/01/

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Location:     NY, Saratoga Lake, South Shore
Observation date:     12/12/09
Number of species:     8

Besides the birds there were 10 scuba divers out in the frigid water; I'm
guessing practicing fro emergencies. At first glance I thought I was going to
get to add a new goose species to my life list

Canada Goose     8
Mallard     50
Common Goldeneye     10
Hooded Merganser     15
Common Merganser     120
Ring-billed Gull     22
Herring Gull     8
Great Black-backed Gull     1

A check of Vly Reservoir (Delmar water supply, but located near New
Salem in the town of New Scotland) showed the water mostly open, with
these birds:

Ruddy Duck - 6
Ring-necked Duck - 20
Bufflehead - 10
Common Merganser - 1
Black Duck 6
Mallard 60
Canada Goose 350
Ring-billed Gull - 50
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1

Viewing spots are limited (park carefully and leave the flashers on),
and the reservoir lands are strictly off-limits. The patrol truck came
by twice in the short time I was there, but they did not accost me.

The beef feedlot at Hilltop Farm nearby (Stovepipe Road) was loaded with
American Crows, Mallards and Canada Geese; a Red-tailed Hawk sailed
overhead).

Alan Mapes
New Scotland

There were lots of sparrows and juncos along the sides of backroads this
morning. For some reason, I stopped along Meads Lane in Delmar to look
at one little group. They were White-crowned Sparrows, 5 immature and 1
adult.

Alan Mapes
New Scotland

Hi all,

On the way to Christmas Tree shopping I spotted (at least) one straggling
SNOW GOOSE in a flock of Canada Geese flying over Route 7 from the fields
behind the Walmart.

Brad Walker

bmw38@...
bradley.michael.walker@...


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I missed them (still don't have any Snow Geese for the YEAR!), but my wife
Danika reported a large "V" of Snow Geese winging their way south about 9pm.



Seems like there has been a big push of them tonight.



Will and Danika Raup

Albany, NY

_________________________________________________________________
Your E-mail and More On-the-Go. Get Windows Live Hotmail Free.
http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/171222985/direct/01/

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I just listened to a rather large flock of SNOW GEESE fly over southbound.



Since it was dark out, I couldn't get a number, but I'd guess it was
somewhere about 50.



As I type this, another flock is going by (picked up by my outdoor monitor).



Rich Guthrie

New Baltimore

The Greene County

gaeltic@...





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I've frequently checked the Rotterdam I-890 spot this week but no further
appearances of a snowy owl. Instead, a male Am. kestrel has been frequently seen
in the same area along with the usual 2-4 red-tailed hawks.  I was just
pondering that this is the first Nov-early Dec. in years that I've not seen the
adult peregrine falcon hanging out at the GE plant when today, one flew across
890 from the SCCC campus toward GE.

Jeff Nadler