John & I went to Ithaca this a.m.. What a gorgeous day!!!Didn't have time to do much looking for birds but did see lots of Mallards & Black Ducks on both sides of the lake. Found 2 female Common Mergs at Sheldrake.
Saw a great raft of Redheads on the lake, near shore, opposite Gully Rd. north of Aurora. They were doing their usual, in-formation, swim-to-the-north then turn & swim-to-the-south ... repetitiously, back & forth with some apparently taking baths & splashing a lot as they flapped their wings. Wonder why? Showing off? Some Common Golden-eye were just beyond them when I first stopped but soon flew northwards. Saw more Golden-eye just north of Long Point S.P. Didn't count but saw probably 25 Turkeys feeding in a field on the west side of Rte. 90 across from, & just south of, Rafferty Rd.. No SE owls but saw 5 Horned Larks on Long Point Rd.. A Robin flew into the big oak tree with the huge burl at the north edge of Aurora & I saw about 50 flying across 89 north of the Creamery. If anyone has ever noticed the osage orange tree in the Aurora yard just south of the big oak, I was told yesterday that it is the largest documented one in Cayuga Co.. Our Mockingbird continues to guard the cedar berries just as it did last yr.. We have at least 5 Tree Sparrows as regulars. I think maybe the Cooper's may have cut down on the Junco & House Finch population. More sun tomorrow? Enjoy! Fritzie -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
