This year’s Migration Celebration
<https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/visit/migration-celebration/> will be
on September 12th, from 10:00-3:00! We have a ton of opportunities to help
the ~2000 visitors explore the exhibits, workshops, and walks going on
throughout the day. If you’d like to join us, you can find all of the
current shifts here: https://signup.com/go/PniPxkY
Best,
Peter
---
Peter Leipzig (he/him)
Public Programs Coordinator
*Cornell Lab of Ornithology *
159 Sapsucker Woods Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
Date: 8/10/26 6:11 am From: Janet McGraw (via CAYUGABIRDS-L list) <CAYUGABIRDS-L...> Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Cardinals still singing/cuckoo
I still have an Eastern Wood Pewee singing in my woods. I love their mournful song and will miss it when they too stop singing.
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
On Sunday, August 9, 2026, 8:55 PM, <anneb.clark...> wrote:
Yesterday near the wetland, a catbird was strongly and continuously alarming. The I saw a slightly shorter tailed, fluffy faced, less sleek juvenile just behind the adult. It just sat looking unsure—not following and not retreating. Finally it moved back away fromthe road and us threats, and the adult followed, finally lowering its alarm vocs. I’d guess less than two weeks out of nest.
Similarly saw a song sparrow with food in its bill right near a juvenile last week. Still feeding that one, I surmised.
In some cases, climate change seems to be allowing birds to nest later—I don’t have a list of those where I’ve seen a study but it makes some sense if frosts and insect disappearance are later.
Anne
Sent from my iPhone
On Aug 9, 2026, at 9:13 AM, Donna Lee Scott <dls9...> wrote:
Yesterday I saw at my feeder an immature cardinal , still mostly brown, with red starting in wing feathers, & no tuft on head yet. So maybe it was from a second nesting?We have a lot of cardinals around Kendal.
Later, early afternoon, I heard several times, a yellow-billed cuckoo call in the woods/west section of Wilson trail.
Donna ScottKendal at Ithaca-377Sent from my iPhone
On Aug 9, 2026, at 8:51 AM, Peter Saracino <petersaracino...> wrote:
From my porch this morning I consistently hear cardinals singing. When I asked Google why, this is the interesting response it gave:
"Cardinals sing in mid-August because they are still finishing up their extended breeding season, defending late-summer territory boundaries, and communicating with their long-term mates. While many other backyard birds stop singing by August to molt or migrate, non-migratory cardinals maintain active pair bonds and can raise broods as late as August or September."
Sar
"Attention is the beginning of devotion."- Mary Oliver--
Cayugabirds-L List Info:
Visit: http://LISTS.cornell.edu for more information
Posting Address: <Cayugabirds-L...>
Archives:
The Mail Archive: //www.mail-archive.com/<cayugabirds-l...>/maillist.html" class="hft-urls">https://www.mail-archive.com/<cayugabirds-l...>/maillist.html Sightings: Please submit your observations to eBird at http://www.ebird.org.
--
Date: 8/10/26 5:51 am From: Jody Enck <jodyenck...> Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Tabling at Migration Celebration on Saturday 12 September
Hello birders and bird lovers,
The Cayuga Bird Club will have a table at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Migration Celebration on Saturday September 12th. Celebration activities run 10am to 3pm.
I am organizing folks to sit at our table for 2-hour shifts that day. Shift 1 set up and opening hour 9:30am to 11:30am Shift 2 11:30am to 1:30pm Shift 2 closing hour and tear down 1:30pm to 3:30pm
Please let me know if you are willing to sit at our Cayuga Bird Club table for any of these shifts. The main responsibility is to engage with visitors, talk about your and their interest in birds, answer questions about the bird club, and encourage folks to join the club and its many activities.
Set up will involve hanging up a couple of posters, setting out other handouts, prepping some clipboards with paper and pencil to generate lists of folks who want to help out in some way with any of our activities or to write down questions about the club that you cannot answer (so we can follow up with folks later), and similar items.
This is a good way for you to interact with other club members and to even learn things about the club that you may not have known before.
Thanks in advance for considering to help the Club in this way. Jody Enck
Jody W. Enck, PhD Conservation Social Scientist, and Founder of the Sister Bird Club Network 607-379-5940
Yesterday near the wetland, a catbird was strongly and continuously alarming. The I saw a slightly shorter tailed, fluffy faced, less sleek juvenile just behind the adult. It just sat looking unsure—not following and not retreating. Finally it moved back away fromthe road and us threats, and the adult followed, finally lowering its alarm vocs. I’d guess less than two weeks out of nest. Similarly saw a song sparrow with food in its bill right near a juvenile last week. Still feeding that one, I surmised. In some cases, climate change seems to be allowing birds to nest later—I don’t have a list of those where I’ve seen a study but it makes some sense if frosts and insect disappearance are later. Anne Sent from my iPhone
On Aug 9, 2026, at 9:13 AM, Donna Lee Scott <dls9...> wrote:
Yesterday I saw at my feeder an immature cardinal , still mostly brown, with red starting in wing feathers, & no tuft on head yet. So maybe it was from a second nesting? We have a lot of cardinals around Kendal. Later, early afternoon, I heard several times, a yellow-billed cuckoo call in the woods/west section of Wilson trail. Donna Scott Kendal at Ithaca-377Sent from my iPhone
On Aug 9, 2026, at 8:51 AM, Peter Saracino <petersaracino...> wrote:
From my porch this morning I consistently hear cardinals singing. When I asked Google why, this is the interesting response it gave: "Cardinals sing in mid-August because they are still finishing up their extended breeding season, defending late-summer territory boundaries, and communicating with their long-term mates. While many other backyard birds stop singing by August to molt or migrate, non-migratory cardinals maintain active pair bonds and can raise broods as late as August or September." Sar "Attention is the beginning of devotion."- Mary Oliver-- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Visit: http://LISTS.cornell.edu for more information Posting Address: <Cayugabirds-L...> Archives: The Mail Archive: //www.mail-archive.com/<cayugabirds-l...>/maillist.html" class="hft-urls">https://www.mail-archive.com/<cayugabirds-l...>/maillist.html Sightings: Please submit your observations to eBird at http://www.ebird.org. --
Date: 8/9/26 6:13 am From: Donna Lee Scott <dls9...> Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Cardinals still singing/cuckoo
Yesterday I saw at my feeder an immature cardinal , still mostly brown, with red starting in wing feathers, & no tuft on head yet. So maybe it was from a second nesting?
We have a lot of cardinals around Kendal.
Later, early afternoon, I heard several times, a yellow-billed cuckoo call in the woods/west section of Wilson trail.
Donna Scott
Kendal at Ithaca-377
Sent from my iPhone
On Aug 9, 2026, at 8:51 AM, Peter Saracino <petersaracino...> wrote:
From my porch this morning I consistently hear cardinals singing. When I asked Google why, this is the interesting response it gave:
"Cardinals sing in mid-August because they are still finishing up their extended breeding season, defending late-summer territory boundaries, and communicating with their long-term mates. While many other backyard birds stop singing by August to molt or migrate, non-migratory cardinals maintain active pair bonds and can raise broods as late as August or September."
Date: 8/9/26 6:05 am From: Janet McGraw (via CAYUGABIRDS-L list) <CAYUGABIRDS-L...> Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Cardinals still singing
Interesting.
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
On Sunday, August 9, 2026, 8:51 AM, Peter Saracino <petersaracino...> wrote:
From my porch this morning I consistently hear cardinals singing. When I asked Google why, this is the interesting response it gave: "Cardinals sing in mid-August because they are still finishing up their extended breeding season, defending late-summer territory boundaries, and communicating with their long-term mates. While many other backyard birds stop singing by August to molt or migrate, non-migratory cardinals maintain active pair bonds and can raise broods as late as August or September." Sar "Attention is the beginning of devotion."- Mary Oliver-- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Visit: http://LISTS.cornell.edu for more information Posting Address: <Cayugabirds-L...> Archives: The Mail Archive: //www.mail-archive.com/<cayugabirds-l...>/maillist.html" class="hft-urls">https://www.mail-archive.com/<cayugabirds-l...>/maillist.html Sightings: Please submit your observations to eBird at http://www.ebird.org. --
Date: 8/7/26 1:59 pm From: Donna Lee Scott <dls9...> Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Myers Park Saturday
The director of Lansing Parks and recreation department notified me that birding may not be so great tomorrow, Saturday, August 8 at Myers Park , all morning and then into the afternoon.
“Women swimming” is happening there & the park will be crowded with people working with this Hospicare fund raising event.
Donna Scott
Kendal at Ithaca-377
Sent from my iPhone
Date: 8/6/26 4:03 pm From: Shelley Page <shelleypage.imagine...> Subject: [cayugabirds-l] August 6 Thursday Birding Meetup Recap and Next Week's Plans
It was a summer morning that we dream about when February winds howl around us. Glassy calm and serene out at Myers Point on Cayuga Lake with mild temperatures and morning sun highlighting ospreys as they flew right over us. Nineteen of us gathered at this morning's Thursday Birding Meetup in hopes of seeing some migrants--and we did! Jody Enck <https://www.facebook.com/groups/423723264332161/user/1333572662/?__cft__[0]=AZagqHARqX4DJzpVDqw8labl_nKW9Ch_1yoHuPNBJPFV4h1kZxqinq7aoapm6b8MmIda-bVH0_hA1ixdR5LYN3WzmS5cLBEvQiYXTavAvJ53fUqP4fbcFZ2nw7MX-oRiwEiMl7hdd3pbcFM-IL69YT9u&__tn__=-]K-R> helped us identify the juvenile laughing gull and a least sandpiper out on the spit. We got great looks at both. Otherwise, the point was busy with the usual birds we expect to see doing their usual activities. Some were preening as though it was spa morning at the beach--ring billed gulls, a common merganser and some mallards. Some were fishing--ospreys and cormorants. Some were cruising for breakfast: kingfishers, tree swallows and a bunch of barn swallows. Some were simply hanging out: great blue heron, goldfinches and other songbirds. Some flew in to take over the place: a flock of Canada geese. We saw 22 species in all including spotted sandpiper (*sans* spots this time of year!). Several of us headed out to our favorite Lansing breakfast spot, the East Shore Roadhouse as we continued our stories and planned future adventures. Want to join us next week? We're headed to Sapsucker Woods at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology on August 13 at 7:00 am. We'll focus on the meadows and see who is out there amidst the late summer blooms. All birders are warmly welcome to join us! We bird until around 8:30 or so and then head to breakfast. Folks who must get to work or other activities can leave as needed. We hope you'll bird with us! Directions from Ithaca: Take Route 13 North and turn right on Sapsucker Woods Road. The entrance to the Lab of O will be on your right. We'll meet in the Visitors parking lot. Shelley Page *she/they/ki*
313-550-1437 261 Coddington Road Apt. B Ithaca, New York 14850
https://uuma.zoom.us/j/2065380867 "All that you touch you Change. All that you Change changes you. The only lasting truth is Change. God is Change." Octavia Butler, The Parable of the Sower
Date: 7/30/26 3:43 pm From: Shelley Page <shelleypage.imagine...> Subject: [cayugabirds-l] July 30 Thursday Birding Meetup Recap and Next Week's Plans
Well, one could say we had a field day at this morning's Thursday Birding
Meetup at South Hill Cider. We literally hung out mostly on the edges of
fields in their high summer finery brimming with flowers and grasses--and
the birds who love those places: goldfinches galore, field sparrows, a few
bobolinks, song sparrows, a savannah sparrow, an indigo bunting, and even
an eastern meadowlark. A bit of drama arose when noticed a small hawk up in
a tree accompanied by some crows. The hawk flew off awkwardly and was
unsuccessful in its half-hearted hunt attempt. While in the field, we were
having the classic Cooper's/Sharpie debate but William Seigart
<https://www.facebook.com/groups/423723264332161/user/508602390/?__cft__[0]=AZaF_5ELWA_7MSGj5CLKiAgeUOjApmiW2xes7RofRDKRhrp2BwHkbwH90pWcVRstAuGlVW_Btjvd79Fqo0VNQjvP_bHoslQfkaGjCUB1QPDtq_sl38hgBlFS2gbpWipXS1vXy2cxGRY7zOlnAzVG75hN&__cft__[1]=AZZi5ABDQmrdWWNmF7W5XNc-KqAsfaZAUAwoC19H9qexlbiQgpuAiyxtCWeaYsTDJEkLMNO-l0EYXn5eoTse6OHLPpzDASzNimLl0GVO6vXiuULHYlDjiyCBRbZ5aG9yD0AUYTPQeV3iURz8Mw7tFcYE&__tn__=-]K-R> captured
a photo of our little hawk and closer examination pegs it as a juvenile
Cooper's (thank you, Sibley!). We also observed red winged blackbirds
flocking up--oh my, the summer is already on the downswing. Our morning
yielded only 16 species but, as usual, it is simply the experience of
seeing what is out there and appreciating every moment of wonder for
creatures great and small along the way. The chefs at South Hill Cider made
us a scrumptious breakfast and it was fun to feel like we had a private
little breakfast party in a beautiful place.
Want to join us next week on August 6? We'll gather at 7:00 am at Myer's
Point Park in Lansing in hopes of seeing early shorebird migrants and
possibly Caspian Terns with their young. All birders are warmly welcome to
join us. Bird with us before work or other activities, or linger with us
over breakfast after our birding adventure. Directions from Ithaca: Take
Route 34 north and turn left on Route 34B. Proceed 2 miles. At the bottom
of the hill, turn left onto Myers Road. Cross the tracks and turn right
into the town park.
313-550-1437
261 Coddington Road Apt. B
Ithaca, New York 14850
https://uuma.zoom.us/j/2065380867 "All that you touch you Change. All that you Change changes you. The only
lasting truth is Change. God is Change." Octavia Butler, The Parable of the
Sower
Date: 7/24/26 3:12 pm From: Jennifer Wilkie <jenwilkie5...> Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Identifying a bird that Merlin did not
Many thanks I have not heard that call before! Sent from my iPhone
On Jul 24, 2026, at 5:46 PM, Joseph Brin <jnrbrin45...> wrote:
It’s a blue Jay. On Fri, Jul 24, 2026 at 5:09 PM Jennifer Wilkie <jenwilkie5...> wrote:
Hi, we heard an interesting bird in Danby today that was in addition to the catbird and Scarlett Tanger that merlin identified, itsounded more like a hawk but… I’m unsure if anybody knows…thanks! Jen
Date: 7/24/26 2:47 pm From: Joseph Brin <jnrbrin45...> Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Identifying a bird that Merlin did not
It’s a blue Jay.
On Fri, Jul 24, 2026 at 5:09 PM Jennifer Wilkie <jenwilkie5...>
wrote:
> Hi, we heard an interesting bird in Danby today that was in addition to
> the catbird and Scarlett Tanger that merlin identified, itsounded more like
> a hawk but… I’m unsure if anybody knows…thanks! Jen
>
> --
> Cayugabirds-L List Info:
> Visit: http://LISTS.cornell.edu for more information
> Posting Address: <Cayugabirds-L...>
> Archives:
> The Mail Archive:
> https://www.mail-archive.com/<cayugabirds-l...>/maillist.html > Sightings: Please submit your observations to eBird at
> http://www.ebird.org.
> --
> Sent from my iPhone
Date: 7/24/26 2:07 pm From: Jennifer Wilkie <jenwilkie5...> Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Identifying a bird that Merlin did not
Hi, we heard an interesting bird in Danby today that was in addition to the catbird and Scarlett Tanger that merlin identified, itsounded more like a hawk but… I’m unsure if anybody knows…thanks! Jen
Date: 7/24/26 6:46 am From: Shelley Page <shelleypage.imagine...> Subject: [cayugabirds-l] New Summer Field Trip with Ken Haas!
Summer Field Trip: Alder Pond and Black Road with Ken Haas
Tuesday, August 11, 2026 - 8:00 – 10:30aM
5915 NY-79, Trumansburg, NY 14886, US
Ken Haas is once again offering a field trip starting at his home (Alder
Pond) near Mecklenburg with 10 acres including a half acre pond, mixed
deciduous and coniferous young forest with some dense undergrowth, a swampy
area and some shrubby areas. Single track and double track trails meander
through most of the property. Easy walking. After that, we may drive up to
nearby
Black Road to look for Bobolinks, Meadowlarks, Savannah Sparrows and other
field birds.
Directions from Ithaca: take 79 west to Mecklenburg. Continue 0.8 miles out
of the village up the hill and around to a straight stretch. Shortly before
the road curves again, Turnpike Road comes in from the left. The driveway
to Alder Pond is to the right directly opposite Turnpike Road. There is
space for five cars to park on the property; if that is full, park along
Turnpike Road (i.e., if you see cars parked on Turnpike Road, the lot is
probably full at the property).
Shelley Page
*she/they/ki*
313-550-1437
261 Coddington Road Apt. B
Ithaca, New York 14850
https://uuma.zoom.us/j/2065380867 "All that you touch you Change. All that you Change changes you. The only
lasting truth is Change. God is Change." Octavia Butler, The Parable of the
Sower
Date: 7/23/26 1:28 pm From: Shelley Page <shelleypage.imagine...> Subject: [cayugabirds-l] July 23 Thursday Birding Meetup Recap and Next Week Plans
A little bit of everything birdy greeted us this morning at Hog Hole as the Thursday Birding Meetup convened. That hot spot offers variety with water, meadow and edgy woodland habitats and the birds that love to hang out in each of those areas, thirty of which we saw today. Thirteen of us appreciated seeing the young ospreys flexing their wings and practicing getting a bit airborne. The cormorant colony was busy as ever with older chicks now hanging out with the adults. Three kingfishers cavorted along the shore. A spotted sandpiper (in its plain nonbreeding plumage) surprised us for a moment (yes, the is it spotted?, is it solitary? discernment). A red-bellied woodpecker adult poked its head into a nest hole repeatedly with a fledged juvenile red-bellied nearby, causing speculation about a possible second brood (usually only one brood up north but who knows?). We enjoyed discovering a nesting goldfinch. All this going on while we're surrounded by song sparrow, catbird, warbling vireo and goldfinch song. Yet another ordinary yet extraordinary birding morning together, followed by a breakfast stop at Ithaca Bakery. Want to join us next week? We're gathering at 7:00 am at South Hill Cider (550 Sandbank Road) to bird on their land and adjacent Finger Lakes Land Trust areas. The South Hill Cider folks have offered to make us breakfast. They would appreciate knowing the approximate number coming so please reply to me if you plan to join us. Deadline is Tuesday, July 28 in the evening. Directions from Ithaca: Head south on Route 13 and turn left on Sandbank Road. South Hill Cider will be up the hill on your right. Shelley Page *she/they/ki*
313-550-1437 261 Coddington Road Apt. B Ithaca, New York 14850
https://uuma.zoom.us/j/2065380867 "All that you touch you Change. All that you Change changes you. The only lasting truth is Change. God is Change." Octavia Butler, The Parable of the Sower
