This was a big weekend for my birding life list. Four new species, I couldn't positively identify a flycatcher as an Alder or Willow so I don't get credit.
July is also the month in which the fewest people participate in eBird than any other month. So eBird has a July challenge. Submit 50 birding checklists. The winner of the eBirder of the Month challenge gets a pair of Zeiss binoculars and a selection of books from Princeton University Press.
July eBird Challenge
Alder or Willow? If you don't hear the call you can't tell...
More below the squiggle.
The morning of July 5th was devoted to random birding in Chenango County NY. Very few eBirders report birds in the county and it isn't all that far from Syracuse.
We had intended to go to Otselic State Forest, but the road we went down went to part of Beaver Meadows State Forest. (Most of Chenango County is State land, any side road you go down is likely to go through a State Forest or Wildlife Management Unit.) The road we were on only went through two small patches of the forest, but there was an unposted hay field that proved very productive.
The first life bird of the day, Vesper Sparrow
Eastern Wood Peewee
Two-toned beak, that's how I know it is a Peewee and not a Phoebe. I didn't see the wings...
Female Common Yellowthroat. This is as close as I've gotten to a female.
Second life bird, the Savannah Sparrow. Unfortunately I didn't get very close.
There were several other nice places to bird, including a very nice wetland, but no other good pictures.
Another road took us through the northern edge of the Pharsalia Wildlife Management Unit, but no good photos. It is an area that I will be birding again.
The afternoon took me to a place closer to home. The Labrador Hollow Unique Area at the southern tip of Onondaga County. I had never been there before so I didn't know what to expect.
I quickly found another life bird, an Immature Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
There were a number of butterflies...some sort of Checkerspot?
Eastern Kingbird next to the pond
Afternoon isn't the best time for birding, so I went back on the morning of the 6th.
The first bird of the morning was another life bird, Swamp Sparrow
Great Crested Flycatcher
Another Swamp Sparrow
Female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Proof that Honey Bees are still out there...
Baltimore Oriole
There were many more that I didn't get pictures of. Even though it is a 40 minute drive, I'll be going there more often. There are a several places in the southern part of the county that I'll be visiting more often...