Date: 11/22/24 5:13 pm From: Dave Nutter <nutter.dave...> Subject: Re:[cayugabirds-l] Cave Swallows on Park Rd in Ithaca
About 2:30 this afternoon while glancing out my kitchen window I saw what I thought at first was a European Starling: a medium sized passerine, dark as seen from above and at a distance, with a tail shorter than Red-winged Blackbird or American Robin, and with wings that were broad-based yet pointed. But the behavior was wrong: it flew in a big circle near treetop level over two of my neighbors’ yard & my yard coming very close to the crowns of trees but not perching. Its wingbeats and path were slow and irregular. It acted like a foraging swallow. I last saw it flying east over the cul-de-sac of Park Road toward the Flood Control Channel near the NYS-89 bridge. This was a rare moment when I did not have binoculars handy, so I didn’t see enough details to get a positive species ID. (Note to self: when coming home from errands, remember to bring the binocular in with the groceries.)
I fetched the binoculars and went to where I had last seen it, but saw no birds. I considered frantically combing the neighborhood or heading toward Allan Treman or Stewart Park where I would expect swallows. But that bird looked like it was on a circuit. Maybe it would return. I decided to wait indoors by my windows. An hour later I was rewarded. A definite swallow was flying over my neighbor’s yard. Binoculars showed it to have a tail which was square when closed but rounded when spread, a pale gray belly, a buffy throat. It was generally dark above (not tan like a Northern Rough-winged Swallow), except some white streaks on the back and a peach-colored rump: a Cave Swallow.
Cave Swallows’ range extends north into much of Texas during the breeding season, after which they retreat to Mexico. But some years, when there are strong southwest winds during migration, as happened this year, a rare few Cave Swallows end up along the south shore of Lake Ontario. Even more rare are those seen in Tompkins County. This is generally happens long after our usual swallow species have all flown south. This was a big deal for me. Not only had I found a rarity that local birders had been hoping for, it was a new yard bird!
I readied my phone for taking photos, affixed the adapter on my phone case onto the right eyepiece of my binoculars, and stepped out onto my deck to aim by looking with my right eye through the left eyepiece. Amazingly, I was able to get a couple of identifying pictures of a poorly lit Cave Swallow in flight. And as I took the binoculars down to re-aim between photos, I was further surprised to see there were 2 such swallows. No, there were 3!
I put out a rare bird alert, and within minutes over a dozen birders converged. The swallows came and went several times, and I think everyone at least saw them, although the light constantly worsened. And the angle from the ground to see details of backlit birds was not as good as from my raised deck, where I had been above the swallows at times. I invited folks to join me. The birds then spent less time over the yards, but I had another surprise. For a long time the swallows foraged among the crowns of trees within the woods north of my house. That’s not where I would’ve searched for them! Now you know.
We left the deck, and although many folks, well-satisfied, drove off, I joined the latecomers and diehards on the Cayuga Waterfront Trail near the end of Park Road. I learned that one or more of the swallows had explored a square culvert below NYS-89 south of the Children’s Garden, and one had been seen by the north tip of Inlet Island by the Boatyard Grille. Then we moved nearer the NYS-89 bridge. At one time all 3 Cave Swallows had flown up among the complex girders of the bridge, but then they flew out again. Several more times at least 1 of them flew up and back or alongside the bridge, and 2 flew together across the water toward Island Health & Fitness Center on Inlet Island. I had sightings until at least 4:48 p.m., several minutes after sunset. It’s quite possible the Cave Swallows roosted below this bridge or one of the other big bridges nearby. And with luck they will survive the night and be foraging in the area again tomorrow.
- - Dave Nutter
> On Nov 22, 2024, at 4:00 PM, Dave Nutter <nutter.dave...> wrote:
>
> Seen from my yard, 156 Park Rd, the end of 1-block dead end off bottom of Cliff Street, Ithaca, still being seen 4pm
>
> - - Dave Nutter
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