Gail R's Blog

Birding Great Lake Erie

Gail R — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 12:49:53 +0000

Shorebird Watching at a Lake Erie Harbor

Spent most of Friday at Dunkirk Harbor hoping to see some Shorebirds & migration action.

Thought I’d make a pictorial from my photos and start my own Blog. So here is the start of “BLOG BY GAIL R” .. (name subject to change if I think up something I like better)

Stayed most of the morning at the east end of Wright Beach, here …

EAST END SAND CUT

WRIGHT BEACH at GREAT LAKE ERIE

… at this cut in the sand, made from overflow from a water treatment plant on shore

The weather was changeable, with some sun & blue sky, some steely grey sky & water, some overcast, a light drizzle rainfall.

Mixed in with the usual Ring-billed Gulls, Herring Gulls, & Great Black-backed Gulls on the shoreline, are a few Caspian Terns, and a few Semi-palmated Plovers, Semi-palmated Sandpipers, Sanderling, Least Sandpiper, 1 Western Sandpiper (scarce), Killdeer, and 1 Bairds Sandpiper (scarce)

The lake here is surprisingly shallow & you can walk out hundreds of feet into the lake without getting your head wet. The sand is soft & rock free and, since this is a beach, is groomed daily in season.

Highlight of the day at this spot was flyovers by 8 Bald Eagles!

7 juvie Bald Eagles plus 1 adult Bald Eagle. I missed a 2nd adult Baldie that flew thru low, carrying a fish in its talons, darnit.

4 of the juvie Bald Eagles were all flying together, 2 high above and another 2 directly below them. A 5th juvie flew low, solo, west-to-east. And later, a pair of juvie Bald Eagles flying together, mid-height.

Juvenile BALD EAGLE on 9/11/09

The adult Bald Eagle was flying west-to-east, very low over the water, fishing. But unfortunatley, it did not spot a fish to dive down after and so continued on its way.

The water is very clear, about the only advantage of the ongoing Lake Erie Zebra Mussel infestation. There are so many Zebra Mussels that, by their feeding, they filter the water.

MIDWAY SAND CUT

Another good spot for shorebird watching at Wright Beach is this midway sand cut made from overflow, under road drainage than empties into Lake Erie. This is a combination sandy beach & mudflats

This is my favorite place to park & just sit in one place and let the birds come to me. If there are rarities around, enough birders will be walking around at the ends of the beach, near and on the cliffs & breakwalls, that they will chase the birds down to me at the center anyways, so ez birding for me with all the comfys of home sweet car.

See that shadow in lower-right corner of photo “Midway Sand Cut” ?

That is from the roadside/walkway railing and shows you how close you can drive, or walk, right up to the lake along here. You can park your vehicle at this railing & just sit ‘n watch the water & listen to the surf & Gulls.

Highlight of the day at this spot was a lone Black-bellied Plover that was at the harbor, in the muck, when I got there (at this spot) & was still there when I left 6 hours later

BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER

BUT that same Midway Sand Cut railing is NOT such a hot place to park in the winter!

Notice something odd ?

In the wintertime photos of Lake Erie, this harbor is openwater all winter, even with all that cold & ice all around it.

That’s because of hot water discharge into the lake from an electric power generating plant located in the harbor. One of the few coal burning power plants left in NY State.

BTW my car is a PT Cruiser Woodie I call “Creampuff”, and it is just ideal for hobbies, including birdwatching. Plenty of space to stow gear out of sight and several places, front & back, to plug in electronics & gadgets. Cruiser rear seats are raised a la theater seating, so if you have birding-buddies with you, they get a better view.

Cruisers have a rear hatch shelf that pulls out to use as a tabletop, plus more storage underneath, so can handle plenty of spotting scopes and tripods, binoculars, books, field guides, laptops, gadgets, food & drink.. and bird right out of your car.

Here’s a pic of my Lil’ Creampuff …

Another highlight of the Wright Beach, east end, was a flyover by a lone Osprey.

Had enough time to snap 1 pic which isn’t great but, since the only Osprey all day, I’ll post it anyways …

OSPREY

Moving along to the west, at the Main Street Beach at the west end of Wright Beach …

MAIN ST. BEACH

This area of the beach is more of a sand dune habitat …

The highlights from this habitat were 6 Turkey Vultures on the sandy beach.

Several were juveniles, their faces not yet the bright red with white nosetip of the adults.

One juvenile in particular caught my attention and after studying its photo, I decided it had some plastic litter or fishline wrapped around the top of its head.. or else it was wearing a “‘ ‘do rag”.

Poor thing will probably have some difficulties as its skull grows while banded with that garbage.

Juvie TURKEY VULTURE

Also at this beach were several Caspian Terns, including a juvenile Caspian Tern which still had the juvie smaller & lighter colored bill & legs. Little guy was still food begging but it did no good as the adults just ignored him.

At the far end of this habitat, where sand meets muck at the rock breakwall, where 2 Ruddy Turnstones.

Unfortunately I did not get a chance for any photos of them and had just quick glances.

The usual assortment of Gulls was present all day, numbering in the many hundreds if not thousands of birds.

Mainly they were Ring-billed Gulls.

Lake Flavia Waterfowl Watching

Gail R — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 01:22:15 +0000

NOV 4 waterfowl watching at Lake Flavia…

Numbers & species of waterfowl were greater than my last visit. Weather couldn’t have been better.. high temp 70F with light winds and bright sunshine all day. Wispy white clouds in a blue sky.

Only deterent was a light haze that obscured ‘scoping and heat jigglies at the higher magnifications.

Arriving at Lake Flavia

WATERFOWL SEEN:

Canada Geese, hundreds of Common mergansers, Hooded mergansers, Bufflehead ducks, Ring-necked ducks, Pied-billed Grebes, Greater Scaup, Ring-billed Gulls

Oddly enough, no raptors seen today

OFF the WATER:

Driving across the gravel parking lot, near spots where vegetation was visible, I pulled over after noticing birds foraging. Turned out to be 4 Snow Buntings in winter plumage

Snow Buntings in Winter plumage

Penn-Dixie Fossil Site

Gail R — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:04:13 +0000

HAMBURG

Penn Dixie fossil site has big plans

By Fred O. Williams NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: 10/07/08 6:35 AM

The Penn Dixie fossil site, at a former shale quarry in Hamburg, revealed plans to build a spacious visitors center — providing that it can dig up the $1.8 million construction cost.

“There’ll be no rock left unturned when we get done,” said Jerold C. Bastedo, executive director of the Penn Dixie Paleontological and Outdoor Education Center.

Bastedo displayed architects’ drawings for the 10,600-square-foot building to the Hamburg Town Board on Monday and outlined plans for construction.

Fossil hunters from around the country, and the world, have put the former quarry on the map as a visitor hot-spot, he said. The 54-acre site drew 78,000 last year, coming from 36 states and six countries.

The nonprofit group that operates the natural history site plans to formally announce the building project at a fundraiser on Nov. 6. The site currently lacks a building to house teaching programs and accommodate visitors.

“It’s an ambitious project, but it’s moving forward,” Bastedo said. In addition to soliciting corporate and public sector donors, the group will offer to put members’ names on the building for donations of $1,000 each, he said.

The fossil center near Big Tree and Bay View roads began 15 years ago — or 380 million years ago, depending on how you look at it.

The Hamburg Natural History Society was formed in 1993 to preserve the paleontological find, unearthed in the 1960s when the Penn Dixie Cement Co. removed about 10 feet of shale for use as an aggregate in cement.

The exposed shale, once the muddy bottom of the sea near the equator of the ancient earth, holds a rich vein of Devonian- era fossils — the remains of Trilobites and other long-extinct sea life.

At the Penn Dixie center, visitors can pay $6 to walk the 3,000 feet of nature trails and dig their own fossils at one end of the site. Visitors can keep their finds, contrary to the practice at most fossil sites. The center operates programs in paleontology — the study of prehistoric life — and in ornithology and astronomy, with the help of telescopes shielded from city lights by the ring of trees that surround the site.

The Natural History Society envisions a visitor center with a meeting room for up to 120 people, a seismograph station to monitor movements in the earth’s crust, plus restrooms and other amenities.

Scenic Overlook Plans Scrapped

Gail R — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:01:45 +0000

TOWN OF HAMBURG

Plans for scenic overlook are scrapped

By Fred O. Williams NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: 10/08/08 7:03 AM

The Town of Hamburg has dropped plans for a scenic overlook at the site of the former Foit’s Restaurant on Lake Shore Road.

Instead, the Town Board is seeking to shift $250,000 in state funding to fix up its Seaway Trail Visitors Center, about two miles to the south.

At its meeting Monday, the board approved a resolution asking the state to shift the funds targeted for the overlook under the Community Capital Assistance Program in 2004.

“There’s risk in moving funds like this to another project,” Councilman Tom Quatroche said. The state could deny the switch and cancel the funding.

But “we need the funds more at the Seaway Trail Visitors Center,” he said.

With no sale agreement in place with the owner of the Foit’s property, plans for the overlook have stalled, Quatroche said.

If the property owner doesn’t clear the site of overgrowth and fix a “chewed-up parking lot,” the town will have the work done and bill the owner, he said. The restaurant building at the site near Camp Road was demolished in 2007.

The visitors center, on Lake Shore near Cloverbank, would get additional parking, increased handicap access, improved site drainage and general building repairs.

A volunteer group that operates the center is seeking a memorandum of understanding with the town to formalize the arrangement and move the center toward financial self-sufficiency.

The group could perform fundraising and user events to cover such operating costs as electricity and heat, said William P. McKeever, board member of the Hamburg center and of the Seaway Trail organization.

The center, a former Wanakah Water Co. building, was completed in 2006 with $670,000 in state and town funds.

With 35 volunteers, the nonprofit group could ramp up the use of the building, particularly in the tourism off-season, by organizing educational events and a monthly speaker series, McKeever said.

“The price tag is right,” Councilwoman Joan Kesner said. “We’re not paying you, you’re doing it out of the love of your heart.” The Town Board withheld action in order to review the proposed memorandum of understanding.

The Great Lakes Seaway Trail is a 454-mile long scenic byway along lakes Erie and Ontario and the Niagara and St. Lawrence rivers.

Long-necked Seed Bug

Gail R — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:37:46 +0000

LONG-NECKED SEED BUG

FAMILY: Rhyparochromidae | GENUS and SPECIES: Myodocha serripes
The family Rhyparochromidae contains the only “true” seed bugs. The most well-known species in Rhyparochromidae is the Long-Necked Seed Bug, Myodocha serripes.

This distinctive seed bug is very common in gardens, lawns, and agricultural habitats in Kentucky. It is about 3/8″ long.

LONG-NECKED SEED BUG
FAMILY: Rhyparochromidae | GENUS and SPECIES: Myodocha serripes
The family Rhyparochromidae contains the only “true” seed bugs. The most well-known species in Rhyparochromidae is the Long-Necked Seed Bug, Myodocha serripes.

This distinctive seed bug is very common in gardens, lawns, and agricultural habitats in Kentucky. It is about 3/8″ long.

Order: Hemiptera (he-MIP-ter-a) (Info)
Family: Rhyparochromidae
Genus: Myodocha
Species: annulicornis

Genus Myodocha – Long-necked Seed Bugs

Phylum Arthropoda – Arthropods

Class Insecta – Insects

Order Hemiptera – True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies

Suborder Heteroptera – True Bugs

Family Rhyparochromidae – Dirt-colored Seed Bugs

Genus Myodocha – Long-necked Seed Bugs

Species annulicornis – Banded Long-necked Seed Bug
Species serripes – Long-necked Seed Bug

Watching for in October

Gail R — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:24:38 +0000

Fox Sparrows under feeders during Fall migration

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds depart by the 20th

Juncos and White-throated Sparrows become common at feeders

American Tree Sparrows at feeders

White-crowned Sparrows at feeders

Pine Siskins in an irruptive species year for WNY

Bohemian Waxwings

Northern Mockingbirds in feeding area

Red-winged Blackbirds staging to leave

Eastern Meadowlarks staging to leave

Last visits of Eastern Bluebirds to bluebird trail

Male Goldfinches finish molting to drab color by month’s end

Northern Shrikes

Greatest variety of migrating Raptors, including Bald Eagles and Red-shouldered hawks. Watch the skies ahead of a High front

Rough-legged Hawk

Northern Harrier

Short-eared Owl

Waterfowl migration continues to build

Tundra Swans

Green- winged Teals migrating south in OCT

Most Wood Ducks migrate south this month

Great-Blue Herons migrate south

Brant along the lakeshore

Northern Gannet possibles

Purple Sandpiper possibles

Orionid meteor showers

Fall Foliage peak the 3rd week OCT

Goldenrod, Asters, Boneset, and Blazing Star in bloom

Whitetail bucks go into rut

Woodchucks and Beavers feeding profusely in prep for hibernation and caching of winter food

Full Moon OCT 14 and New Moon OCT 28

Crickets still calling at night until the 1st killing frost

Many frogs, snakes, turtles amd salamanders going into hibernation mid-month

Baby spiders emerging from eggs

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Gail R — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:51:34 +0000

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

the Yellow-billed Cuckoo young develop incredibly quickly.. the entire period from egg laying to fledging lasts only 17 days..

On day 6 or 7 after hatching, the feathers of the young burst out of their sheaths, allowing the nestling to become fully feathered in only 2 hours !!

FORAGING:

feeds on large insects, caterpillars, some fruits & seeds. Waits motionles for long periods. Makes running, hopping dashes to catch prey. Works caterpillars back & forth thru its bill before swallowing- possibly to aid in removing hairs.

YOUNG:

altricial but alert and active within minutes of hatching. Shiny black skin, no down.

OCT Cool Bird Fact of the Day…

The apparent tendency to call more frequently before rain explains why both Black-billed and Yellow-billed cuckoos are called “Rain Crows.” – Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Gail R's Blog

Birding Great Lake Erie

Lake Flavia Waterfowl Watching

Penn-Dixie Fossil Site

HAMBURG

Penn Dixie fossil site has big plans

By Fred O. Williams NEWS STAFF REPORTER Updated: 10/07/08 6:35 AM

Scenic Overlook Plans Scrapped

TOWN OF HAMBURG

Plans for scenic overlook are scrapped

By Fred O. Williams NEWS STAFF REPORTER Updated: 10/08/08 7:03 AM

Long-necked Seed Bug

LONG-NECKED SEED BUG

FAMILY: Rhyparochromidae | GENUS and SPECIES: Myodocha serripes The family Rhyparochromidae contains the only “true” seed bugs. The most well-known species in Rhyparochromidae is the Long-Necked Seed Bug, Myodocha serripes.

This distinctive seed bug is very common in gardens, lawns, and agricultural habitats in Kentucky. It is about 3/8″ long.

Genus Myodocha – Long-necked Seed Bugs

Watching for in October

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

the Yellow-billed Cuckoo young develop incredibly quickly.. the entire period from egg laying to fledging lasts only 17 days..

On day 6 or 7 after hatching, the feathers of the young burst out of their sheaths, allowing the nestling to become fully feathered in only 2 hours !!

OCT Cool Bird Fact of the Day…

The apparent tendency to call more frequently before rain explains why both Black-billed and Yellow-billed cuckoos are called “Rain Crows.” – Cornell Lab of Ornithology

By Fred O. Williams NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: 10/07/08 6:35 AM

By Fred O. Williams NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: 10/08/08 7:03 AM

FAMILY: Rhyparochromidae | GENUS and SPECIES: Myodocha serripes
The family Rhyparochromidae contains the only “true” seed bugs. The most well-known species in Rhyparochromidae is the Long-Necked Seed Bug, Myodocha serripes.