Root/Ames, NY

      My birding friend Joe and  I took a day trip up north to the area of Root and Ames, NY in Montgomery County where the NY rarity the Mississippi kite has been a local resident for the past three years.  Reports of a Henslow's sparrow and a number of Upland sandpipers thrown into the mix made the temptation of traveling 3 hours north too good to pass up.  We were not disappointed in the least.  Maybe it was the fact that we were making the trip on lucky 7/11, but we scored quickly on all three targets.  The Henslow's was located as promised by Peter Schoenberger's posting on the NY list-serve.....immediately across from mailbox 221 on MacPhail Rd in Ames (Montgomery County).

Henslow's sparrow

       The bird was singing and was perched at first low down in a Queen Anne's Lace, but later few up into the top of a stand of wild parsnip at close range.  There he presented us with great looks at a bird which happened to be a "lifer" for both of us.

 From here, we moved down to West Ames Road, following a tip from fellow birding club member Greg Prelich.  At the end of the road are a series of horse paddocks and fields.  In one of the larger fields, we first noted what were looking for....an Upland sandpiper.  We were thrilled to then see another, and another, and....before we were done counting, we had 17 of the birds in clear sight!

Upland sandpiper

     Two down and one to go.  We still needed the Mississippi kite to round out the trifecta.  Sharon and I had seen the bird two years ago when it first appeared in Root.  I knew the general area and we headed over to the junction of Donato and Mapletown Roads.  As we turned onto Donato, we saw what we throught was the kite perched on a utility pole, but it quickly flew as we approached.  We parked the vehicle and begin to search in the skies above the field across from the car as we ate our lunch.  Within minutes, an adult male Mississippi kite flew into view.

Adult male Mississippi kite

     It was only a matter of time before a second kite, what we believe to be a first-summer juvenile, flew onto the scene and afforded us more good looks and photo ops.  We had three targets in mind when we left this morning on a three hour car ride to the farm fields of central New York State.  We nailed all three in quick succession....quite a day's birding for a hot 90 degree summer day.  How can this summer's birding get any better than this?