Date: 11/22/24 5:55 pm From: Peter Saracino <petersaracino...> Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Cave Swallows on Park Rd in Ithaca
Guys which bridge on 89? Traveling to the Lab of O tomorrow and would love
to see them!
Sar
On Fri, Nov 22, 2024, 8:13 PM Dave Nutter <nutter.dave...> wrote:
> 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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