Date: 6/11/26 4:17 pm From: Shelley Page <shelleypage.imagine...> Subject: [cayugabirds-l] June 11 Thursday Birding Meetup Recap and Next Week Plans
It's always a treat to see some of our favorite birds up close and personal, and, today's Thursday Birding Meetup at Lighthouse Point offered a wonderful chance to enjoy this closer look at the bird banding station. "Hummingbird" and his assistants banded most of this morning's captures before we arrived but we felt lucky to see the banding of a Carolina Wren, a fledged Robin and (star of the show) an American Redstart. This is the first season of banding at Lighthouse Point, the focus of Cayuga Bird Club's conservation work through improving habitat, and, documenting the birds who live or pass through this critical wet forest on the south shore of the lake. Jody Enck <https://www.facebook.com/groups/423723264332161/user/1333572662/?__cft__[0]=AZbpIVt27bvI34rHOGRP74_3-r_AfQl7kw7FlbOGTWcRJzNVH8KQrYgDjFMD8pnefpSQWBwkkkV3l4IDQTioTxv9IX_D3cwCU5Wghhr8nzNgWQijf3rVUueYNxaznBs5842cNQhwK35jV0qgJpJgU-RL&__tn__=-]K*x-R> also showed us the encouraging habitat improvement progress, a work still very much in process but well under way. We were surrounded by bird song (especially northern yellow warblers, warbling vireos and redstarts) but also got to hear the "conversations" of the 40 cormorants nesting directly above us in the trees along the inlet. While one walks beneath their nests at some peril and aroma from their droppings, it was a thrill to see them up close as the next generation was nurtured into being. The ospreys on the golf course were busy with their young as well. Overall, we saw/heard 28 species including two male Northern Flickers in a head bobbing-tail flicking dance together which is their way of competing for mating or territory (but, after all, it is Pride month--perhaps a bit of bromance going on?). All in all, a morning of charming little surprises and affirmation of the club's conservation work. Eight of us enjoyed breakfast at Modern Ohana. Want to join us next week? We'll gather at 7:00 am at the Dorothy McIlroy Preserve. From Ithaca, take Route 13 east to Route 366. Follow Rt. 366 through Etna and Freeville. At the four corners in Freeville, turn left (north) on Rt. 38. Turn right on Rt 34B, then left on Salt Rd. Turn right on Rt. 90 (in Summer Hill) and then left on Champlin Rd. Take a brief right on Creech Rd. and then left on Sprouls Rd. Turn left on Lake Como Rd and watch for the Finger Lakes Land Trust McIlroy Preserve sign on the right. Turn right into Fire Lane A which leads to the parking lot. Whew, we promise you can get there! 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
