Subject: Audubon moments
Date: Sep 6 13:33:26 1994
From: "Fred G. Thurber" - fgt at CADRE.COM


I was stuck inside preparing and attending a party
during the northeaster that hit SE Mass yesterday. However I kept my
eye cocked to the window (I am a lousy guest) and saw a stream of birds
go by (there must have been a flight of some sort). There was a bunch
of juv. chipping sparrows that I unsuccessfully tried to turn into
clay-coloreds, a sharp-shinned, and an exhausted barn swallow juv. that
flopped down in the driveway. I had to interrupt the party when a
n. waterthrush teetered down the driveway; the binos came out and
some of the non-birders got good looks.

After the party we raced down to the shore in the waning daylight.
We didn't see much else except a pair of nighthawks and a school
of (presumably) striped bass exploding into silversides while c.
terns wheeled over them.

---------
Frederick Thurber

============================

From: "Don Simonson, NIH NCRR VRP, 301-496-3347"
<simonson_d%warp.dnet at DXI.NIH.GOV>
Subject: Audubon Moment

An Audubon moment in the middle of the night in the middle of Manhattan???!!!

Our family went to New York for the Labor Day weekend, a 13th birthday
present for my daughter Lily.. Monday night, September 5, we saw _Tommy_
and then after the show, took a cab to the Empire State Building. Lily
REALLY wanted to go up at night, and tho we were all tired, it was her
birthday and the weather was crystal clear. We got to the 80th floor
observation deck about 11:00 pm, stepped off the elevator, and there was a
thrush (sp.?- Gray-cheeked or Swainson's) exactly at eye level, flying
hard, into the wind, very close. We watched it for about 60 seconds, it
was making no headway, then it veered off. Amazing we all said. We went
on up to the top, the 102nd floor, stepped out onto the outdoor
observation deck, and into an experience totally new to me in 30+ years of
birding.

Immediately off the deck there were a dozen warblers at eye level, flying
hard into the wind, around the tower, off into the distance. We looked
up, and the pale undersides of dozens more shone just like stars above us.
Many chips could be heard. We looked down, and even more birds were below
us! The wind was approx 25-30 mph from the north. I had 10x binos but
couldnt i.d. anything beyond warbler sp? and couple more thrushes. The
bright fluorescent-colored lights washed out most color, but we could see
all yellow undersides on one bird, and black chin patches on a number of
others. I heard one call which was very veery-like. Many of the warblers
were circling the tower, appearing confused. Others flew by and veered
off near the tower. The majority were heading east-southeast, as if
following the Hudson.

The flow continued until midnite, when the building closed and we had to
leave. All of us were profoundly moved by the experience. We have been in
many major flyways, and done some birdbanding, but to see and hear so many
tiny migrants so close, fighting so hard to migrate, in the night, above
the concrete desert, shining like so many stars, was really unique. Once
we reached the street there was of course no sign at all of the life and
drama passing thousands of feet above us. Someone once (Pete Dunne?)
described the North American migration as a tapestry, rising into the air
at night and flowing a few thousand feet above the ground. To be in the
midst of the weave was terrific.

Don Simonson |Voice: 301-496-3347 Fax: 301-402-2819
Computer Specialist |I-net: simonson_d%warp.dnet at cu.nih.gov
National Institutes of Health |Bitnet: drs%nihrr14g.bitnet at cu.nih.gov
National Center for Research Resources |Snailmail: NCRR/VRP, BLDG 14G/103
Veterinary Resources Program |14 SERVICE RD SOUTH MSC 5590
|BETHESDA MD 20892-5590