Rick Marsi

August Sightings

August 1, 06 – High of 95 degrees. Cicadas whining. Cut another large black birch from grove on lower parcel where many are dying.
August 1, 07 - American lady still in yard, as is great spangled fritillary. Monarch on coneflower, which has been attracting butterflies regularly.
August 1, 08 - On the river... I stop to photograph an especially beautiful cardinal flower. While standing by it, I hear the loud buzzing of hummingbird wings. The bird departs upon discovering me. After photographing the flower, I walk back to my kayak. As I get in I see the hummer return to the flower, and feed from every one of its dozens of flowers. Family of 12 common merganser juveniles still can't fly. Cabbage butterflies nectaring on blooming purple loosestrife.

August 2, 06 - All three of my monarch caterpillars have gone into chrysalis stage.
August 2, 07 - Peeping from young in cardinal nest at top of yew by house. Both parents actively feeding. Very hot weather brings the crickets out in force at night.
August 2, 08 - Juvenile cardinal lands on deck railing right outside window. Beak on juveniles is black, distinguising them from femaes, which they resemble in plumage. Families of birds everywhere.

August 3, 06 – Red-breasted nuthatch calling in morning. Very hot – cicadas whine and lone cricket chirps.
August 3, 07 - Pair of juncos erupt from rhododendrons at my approach, then scold. A second nesting? During peak of mid-day heat, a red-eyed vireo begins singing.
August 3, 08 - I discover numerous bolete mushrooms in mature woods, mostly under big oaks. This is Boletus edulus, a choice wild edible. Also come upon four or fie poisonous jack-o-lantern mushrooms.

August 4, 06 – Smallmouth Run river float. First summer osprey circling. Song sparrows continue singing along river – many pairs as I float along. Pale blue damselflies mate on my kayak. Young mergansers still can’t swim – stir up quite a wake as they motor downstream. Red-tail screams overhead – youngster following parent.
Here – Cooper’s Hawk calls like sapsucker circling low over pond.
August 4, 07 - Encountered a broad-winged hawk in lower woods. It flew to a branch where I could see it was holding prey that looked much larger than a mouse. It then flew to a tree farther away carrying the prey in its talons.
August 4, 08 - Sauteed my edible bolete mushroom - delicious.
  
August 5, 06  - Hummingbird moth at petunias in back. Doe and two fawns in back yard for photos. Also photographed monarch chrysalises. Cut wood in lower woods. Tops of two Norway spruce had been snapped by violet thunderstorm mid-week. Top five feet knocked off. Loaded with cones. Heavy and green. Took home for photos. Also, a large limb from black birch knocked down and across trail. Photographed spruce cones and also cones and needles of larch.
Four chickadee young are always together. They like hanging out on the gutter in front of house, dropping in – and out of sight – to have a drink and then popping back. Four fledgling juncos also hang together. They are brown and streak-breasted like sparrow. Three jay young also hang together, often coming to the feeder in a group.
August 5, 07 - We continue to remove many Japanese beetles from foliage and flowers, most notably monarda and rose-of-sharon. However, there are no gypsy moth or tent forest caterpillar larvae in the oak trees.
August 5, 08 - On the river ... Flush a great horned owl while floating down a quiet side channel. Perched in high deciduous tree overhead. Flew off immediately. Six or seven clumps of cardinal flower in four mile stretch. Lovely clumps of green-headed coneflower also. Viceroy butterfly observed. Song sparrows, wood pewees, chickadees still singing. Sharp-shinned hawk fly high over the river. Floated by two bucks standing by the river. They looked identical - good-sized with nice antler racks in velvet. They bounded into brush when they saw us.

August 6, 07 - Joe-pye-weed, vervain, black-eyed susans, chicory, jewelweed and evening primrose all in flower. Goldfinches very active now and should be nesting, because thistle is starting to go to seed. They use the fluffy parachute material attached to the seeds for nest lining.
August 6, 08 - A pair of chickadees chasing one another around inside basketball net on the driveway. E-mail from Tioga County resident reporting sighting of bobcat crossing road with gray squirrel in its mouth.

August 7, 07 - River float at 7:30 a.m. Thick fog made several creatures less afraid at our approach by kayak. Doe and fawn stood on the bank watching us. Several green herons lingered on low branches at river's edge without flying away. Solitary sandpiper feeding along riverbank. Season's first migrating shorebird? Song sparrows, cardinal, yellow warbler still singing. Nine barn swallows hunting insects over the river. Monarch butterfly nectaring on purple loosestrife. Damselfly with black-tipped brown wings that featured a small white spot at the end of each wing.
August 7, 08 - Mourning cloak in the yard. Hummingbirds actively feeding on monarda.

August 8, 07 - Loud "kak, kak, kak" in woods by bird feeders. Initially I think it is either a sharp-shinned or Cooper's haw. However, the birds continue feeding without alarm. Suddenly there are two blue jays at the feeder. I change my mind and figure one of them is imitating the hawk sound. Jays are great mimics and do several birds of prey very well. 
August 8, 08 - Six turkey vultures circling suburban neighborhood I passed through at 9 a.m.
 
August 9, 06 – RB Nuthatch calling.
August 9, 07 - Floated the Chenango, 7:45 a.m. to 10 a.m. Level at 1.95 feet. Bumped bottom a couple times but never had to get out of the boat to get through a riffle. Fog on the river. Birds still singing - yellow-throated vireo among them. Green herons squawking - a pair of them together. Also saw blue herons and kingfishers in pairs. Hen mallard with nine young. Three phoebes. Waxwings. Green-headed coneflower at its peak in clumps along bank. red-tailed hawk on the riverbank flies up to a dead stub in corn field. 

August 10 - 15, 08 - Trip to wilderness camp in Quebec, about 50 miles west of La Touque.
Bird List
Spruce Grouse (two males)
Ruffed Grouse
Boreal Chickadee
Red Crossbill (large flock flying across lake into spruce forest)
Evening Grosbeak
Black-capped Chickadee
Goldfinch|
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Magnolia Warbler
Raven
Merlin
Osprey
Loon
Ring-necked Duck
Hooded Merganser
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker


August 11, 06 – Two rb nuthatches are now feeding at lower sunflower feeder. Very active and frequent visitors.
August 11, 07 - Japanese beetles continue their assault on Rose-of-Sharon foliage and flowers. Very few butterflies in the yard, although the butterfly bush is blooming profusely.

August 12, 07 - Friend in So. Montrose reports bobcat returned to his yardand caught a woodchuck there.

August 13, 06 – Chenango River float. Level perfect. Water very clear. Clear and cool weather. No fish. Saw a mink running down Chenango Rte. 32. Dark. Faster and smaller than a woodchuck. Pair of hooded merg young on river. Many waxwings.
At home, first monarch appeared around 4 p.m. It hung on wire until 9 a.m. the next morning when sunlight warmed it and off it flew down the cut in the driveway. Pileated flew right across lawn and 20 feet from me as I watered new grass. Landed in side woods on fallen aspen trunk. Had been calling front woods before that. A juvenile?
At a friend's house, I was standing on his deck around 4 p.m. Gazing skyward I noticed a commercial jet approaching quite low, headed for the airport. I asked my friend to look up and take note. As the jet passed over, I noted two birds of prey soaring very high, seemingly at the same altitude. After the jet passed, I continued watching the birds. One was huge, with black wings. When it soared in front of white clouds I could see nothing for a tail or head. But when it soared with blue sky behind it, I could clearly see the white head and tail of an adult bald eagle. The second bird was a red-tailed hawk, normally appearing large but dwarfed by the eagle. Very high in the sky. It made my day.
August 13, 07 - First migrating osprey sighted on the river.

August 14, 06 – Monarch flies away. Two other chrysalises getting very dark.
August 14, 07 - Red-breasted nuthatch visiting sunflower feeder. Two appeared last year at about the same time.

August 15 – Bear in the yard. 150 – 200 pounds. Feeder raid.

August 16, 08 - Hundreds of red pine cones have fallen and are littering the forest floor. Five great spangled fritillaries on the butterfly bush at one time. Hummingbird moth also a regular there.

August 17, 08 - On the river... Numerous green and blue herons. Huge flocks of redwing blackbirds in corn field. Also a large flock of what sounded like obolinks flying about. Wood pewee singing, but only briefly. Kingfisher dives from branch 15 feet above the river and catches a minnow. I'm only about 20 feet away. The bird goes under completely for a second before emerging with its prize. A female harrier sweeps in front of the kayak. Beautiful. Already migrating. Sneezeweed dds its yellow blooms to green-headed coneflowers along riverbank.

August 18, 06 – Lesser yellowlegs on the Chenango River. Short call. Immature bald eagle there also. Very dark with white on the back. A few birds still singing: song sparrow, phoebe, tanager and yellow warbler. Blue jay bathes in garden pond.

August 22, 06 – Squirrels chucking loudly at one another. Six chipmunks feeding below and around side yard feeder.
August 22, 07 – Male hummers appear to have left already. Much action around feeders but without males. Watched a hummer chase a mourning dove 100 yards at Upper Lisle – right on the dove’s tail.

August 26, 06 – At a friend's in CT., photographed a spring peeper clinging to the side of his house. X on back visible. Also viewed flock of shorebirds foraging in tidal rocks along LI Sound near Madison. Semi-palmated and spotted sandpipers, turnstones and semi-palmated plover. Very tame. Many monarchs on butterfly bush in butterfly garden. 

August 28, 06 – Huge pile of green Norway spruce cones at edge of brush pile. Red squirrels midden well-established.
August 29, 06 – Screech owls calling late at night. 

August 30 – Adult Cooper’s hawk attacks doves at feeder.

August 30, 02 – Greater lobelia in several sections of trail at Robert Treman State Park. Gorge.

August 31, 07 – Paddled upriver from to several good fishing spots. Caught a 27-inch pike on black jig. Also a small walleye. Caught a bass and small pike on crayfish crankbait. Lost a pike on a surface lure when the pike’s teeth cut the line. Kingfishers a constant presence. Several spotted sandpipers. Goldfinches drinking by the side of the river.