While wondering when we were likely to be able enjoy group Sunday Outings again I thought about where in the past we had been sending the information about these Outings…birds seen and their numbers etc. I checked with Marianne, who confirmed that our sightings were sent to eBird Australia.
These are then sent to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in the Ithaca region of the USA, where sightings from all over the world are kept and collated. I then thought about several visits Malcolm and I had made there in 2019, the first on 2nd of July, and the second on 23rd of December, (when it had been snowing, the central lake frozen, and the only birds seen were at a bird feeder) See photograph #1. In July we enjoyed a “behind the scenes” tour in the large building, given by a volunteer guide, who after a short talk on the history of the complex took us into various laboratories to see many specimens and also hear sound recordings. She also pointed out a huge mural which had been painted on a tall inside wall. It was covered with paintings of a member of each bird family in the world superimposed on the continents. See photograph #3. After this the group went their separate ways. We walked around one of the paths in the adjoining Sapsucker Woods Sanctuary which surrounds this Centre for Birds and Biodiversity. We took the Wilson Trail, which incidentally has bird call recorders at various stations along it, and walked in a clockwise direction around the central pond, which was covered with waterlilies. The sanctuary is named after the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a furtive mainly silent Woodpecker which gets its name from the habit of boring holes into the inner bark of a tree. They then suck up the oozing sap with their brush-like tongues. They are mainly silent, so it was no surprise that the only ones we saw were a pair of taxidermed ones in a glass case in the foyer of the main building! A Downy Woodpecker was the only one we saw, and it’s the smallest and most commonly seen. See photographs #4 and 5. Returning to the centre we sat in comfortable chairs looking through telescopes, a number of which were set up by the windows overlooking the ponds. If ever we visit the family in Ithaca again we will be back there!
2 Comments
Rosemary
27/5/2020 10:07:47 am
What a fantastic site! We never managed to visit it but I am glad to think that at least our records go there.
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Marianne
30/5/2020 06:01:39 pm
Great Story, Margie. I especially like the explanation of from where the Sapsucker got its name. I
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