Date: 5/5/25 5:56 am From: Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes <cth4...> Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Hawthorn Orchard: 5/2 and 5/3
That’s great to hear, Diane, and thank you!! Hope others are enjoying birding here in my absence.
Today, just moments ago, Abhi Sankar found an adult female Golden-winged Warbler at the Hawthorn Orchard along the hedgerow just northwest of the softball field.
Good birding!
Sincerely,
Chris
Sent from my iPhone
On May 4, 2025, at 09:45, Diane Morton <dianegmorton...> wrote:
Thanks, Chris,
I went birding at the Hawthorn Orchard yesterday, mid-afternoon, and it was still very active: https://ebird.org/checklist/S232669946.
Thanks for the trail clearing you did last year!
Waterproof boots are a must, and I recommend rain pants. Mine got a lot of mud on them from an hour on the wet trails.
Diane
On Sun, May 4, 2025 at 6:47 AM Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes <cth4...><mailto:<cth4...>> wrote:
Hi Everyone,
Conditions are shaping up for this spring to potentially be one of the better spring migrations at the Hawthorn Orchard in East Ithaca in recent years. This past Friday morning and Saturday morning may be a tell of great things to come this week as spring migration advances ahead of schedule.
A few notes:
— Tortricid moth larvae are already chowing down on the hawthorn leaves and rolling themselves up into their namesake leaf-rolled daytime harbors. Flying insects abound, including already present mosquitoes. These food resources are why birds descend into this location for the day.
— The area is lush and wet, making some effort quite muddy and drenching, so wear appropriate mud boots and even rain pants to avoid any unfortunate soakings.
— There are NO deer ticks at this location—one hypothesis being that it’s too wet for their hosts (white-footed deer mice) or the ticks themselves, and there are few oaks in the main Hawthorn Orchard.
— This is the first year in well over a decade that this area has not experienced a pre-migration hard freeze, and that has afforded the plants and insects here to flourish this year—and in turn provide great cover and food for neotropical migrants passing through our area.
— The Hawthorn Orchard hawthorns are already in near full bloom, and the recent rains have been hugely beneficial.
Please submit any sightings to eBird and please share sightings here or, if you are on Discord, to the Cayuga-Lake-Basin-Chat channel. I will be unable to make regular visits this week, unfortunately, but look forward to reading about what people are seeing.
