Date: 10/15/26 4:17 pm From: Shelley Page <shelleypage.imagine...> Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Oct 15 Thursday Birding Meetup Recap and Next Week's Plans
Today's Thursday Birding Meetup felt like a full-on fall celebration as we birded the trails at Lansing Center. Skeins of geese (we lost count after 500 or so!) filled the sky above the gorgeous fall foliage nearing its peak, while ravens cronked in a tree top (nevermore!?). Flocks of red-winged blackbirds and starlings graced the crisp air. Our target birds were sparrows and the 21 of us did see white-throats, song and one swamp. October is all about treats and we received two this morning--a red-tailed hawk perched on a snag very nearby, affording a marvelous close look as it posed and then flew off, and a blackpoll warbler in its "confusing fall warbler" garb at fairly close range. The identity of this warbler was discerned after discussion and field guide consultations. Thanks to Tracy McLellan for a clear photo and some of our other eagle-eyed birders paying attention to all the field marks. We also observed a selection of the expected birds for a total of 19 species. Seventeen of us enjoyed a hearty breakfast at our East Shore Roadhouse haunt. A classic fall morning!
*Want to join us next week?* We'll gather at *7:30 am on Thursday Oct 22 at the Cayuga Nature Center Upper Loop*, again with expectations of sparrows and, who knows, perhaps some other late migrating warblers. From Ithaca: Travel on Route 89 north, turning left on Garrett Road. Then, right on Houghton Road. The parking lot will be 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
