New York Tower Survey
1998 Results
1998 Results
10 Oct 98 NYS Towerkill Survey
Dear NYS Tower Surveyors and Friends:
Below are the results from our 9&10Oct98 tower surveys. A low pressure system stalled off the New Jersey coast on the evening of 8-9Oct bringing northerly winds and 100% overcast across to our region. We conducted a survey at seven towers on the morning of the 9th and only one casualty (an injured Hermit Thrush) was found. Steady drizzle pervaded the region the previous night; no flight calls were heard and the rain probably grounded most birds.
On the evening of 9-10 Oct 98 the low pressure was still in place off New Jersey but at the beginning of the night there was no rain across central New York. The cloud cover was 100%, the ceiling below 2500 ft asl, and the wind was NNE 5-10 mph. Radar data indicate that by 3AM, a band of light rain was moving in from the southeast. It had reached Binghamton and Elmira, and extended northward to Syracuse and to just east of Ithaca by 4AM. As I drove from Ithaca to Syracuse at 5:30AM I encountered light rain in Freeville, NY. This dissipated near Cortland, NY, then as I approached Syracuse several areas of dense fog covered the hilltops. At 6:45AM, the tower at Pompey, NY was not in the fog but the two towers at Otisco were partially fogged in - the top ~200 ft. of the towers stuck out of the fog. By 7:15AM the Pompey towers had become totally fogged in.
So the region experienced a wide variety of weather during the evening, but birds were definitely moving. At about 9:30PM on 9Oct, Karen Edelstein and I drove up to Ithaca College to listen for night flight calls and we heard a light flight consisting of Gray-cheeked Thrush, Hermit Thrush, Swainson's Thrush, a Green Heron, and numerous sparrows and warblers.
It is difficult to know exactly what precipitated the larger kill at the Pompey towers. The two tall towers in Otisco are only about 15 miles west of the Pompey towers and these towers also produced casualties. Though only four casualties were noted there, these towers have extensive deep grass under much of the guy wires so it is more difficult to find carcasses than at the Pompey towers. The fact that songbird casualties were found at both these sites suggests that a similar confluence of weather and bird migration across this region brought about the casualties. No songbird casualties were found at tall towers of similar height in Elmira and Binghamton, though Geo Kloppel found a Common Gallinule at the Binghamton tower.
Notes: We were not able to check the 700 foot tower at the Coast Guard station near Romulus because the station is not attended during weekends. One of the casualties at the Pompey towers occurred at the shorter <300 ft. tower at that site.
Dear NYS Tower Surveyors and Friends:
Below are the results from our 9&10Oct98 tower surveys. A low pressure system stalled off the New Jersey coast on the evening of 8-9Oct bringing northerly winds and 100% overcast across to our region. We conducted a survey at seven towers on the morning of the 9th and only one casualty (an injured Hermit Thrush) was found. Steady drizzle pervaded the region the previous night; no flight calls were heard and the rain probably grounded most birds.
On the evening of 9-10 Oct 98 the low pressure was still in place off New Jersey but at the beginning of the night there was no rain across central New York. The cloud cover was 100%, the ceiling below 2500 ft asl, and the wind was NNE 5-10 mph. Radar data indicate that by 3AM, a band of light rain was moving in from the southeast. It had reached Binghamton and Elmira, and extended northward to Syracuse and to just east of Ithaca by 4AM. As I drove from Ithaca to Syracuse at 5:30AM I encountered light rain in Freeville, NY. This dissipated near Cortland, NY, then as I approached Syracuse several areas of dense fog covered the hilltops. At 6:45AM, the tower at Pompey, NY was not in the fog but the two towers at Otisco were partially fogged in - the top ~200 ft. of the towers stuck out of the fog. By 7:15AM the Pompey towers had become totally fogged in.
So the region experienced a wide variety of weather during the evening, but birds were definitely moving. At about 9:30PM on 9Oct, Karen Edelstein and I drove up to Ithaca College to listen for night flight calls and we heard a light flight consisting of Gray-cheeked Thrush, Hermit Thrush, Swainson's Thrush, a Green Heron, and numerous sparrows and warblers.
It is difficult to know exactly what precipitated the larger kill at the Pompey towers. The two tall towers in Otisco are only about 15 miles west of the Pompey towers and these towers also produced casualties. Though only four casualties were noted there, these towers have extensive deep grass under much of the guy wires so it is more difficult to find carcasses than at the Pompey towers. The fact that songbird casualties were found at both these sites suggests that a similar confluence of weather and bird migration across this region brought about the casualties. No songbird casualties were found at tall towers of similar height in Elmira and Binghamton, though Geo Kloppel found a Common Gallinule at the Binghamton tower.
Notes: We were not able to check the 700 foot tower at the Coast Guard station near Romulus because the station is not attended during weekends. One of the casualties at the Pompey towers occurred at the shorter <300 ft. tower at that site.
Height Location Surveyor(s) #Casualities
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850ft. tower 3 miles WNW of Elmira - C. Hanks, B. O'Shea 0
1019ft.towers 6 miles SW of Syracuse (Otisco, NY) - B. Evans 4
934ft. tower 4.5 miles SW of Binghamton - G. Kloppel 1
355ft. tower 2 miles E of Ithaca - M. Barker, A. Kendall 0
964ft. towers 3 miles N of Pompey, NY - D. Crumb, Don Feuss, B. Evans 10
185ft. towers 1 miles NW of Newfield - C. Hanks, B. O'Shea 0
306ft. towers south Ithaca - M. Haribal, M. Pitzrick 0
<200ft towers W of Rochester - J. Greenberg 0
~200ft tower near Owego - A. Cooke 0
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Total 15
Species (# of individuals)
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Common Gallinule (Binghamton)
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
Unidentified Thrush
Solitary Vireo (injured)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (injured, female)
Black-throated Green Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler (3)
Unidentified Warbler (2)
Common Yellowthroat
White-throated Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Bill Evans
Ithaca, NY
SURVEY RESULTS:
| September 22, 1998 |
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October 10, 1998 |
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September 22, 1999 |
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