Just before midday on Friday, I saw a large, powerful dark bird fly from the south end of Cayuga Lake eastbound over Route 13. Eyes on the road, I didn't get a great look, but I think it was a BALD EAGLE.
When I arrived at East Shore Park a couple of minutes later, the gulls were still swirling. I never saw the eagle again, nor any owls or rare gulls. But the ducks continue to create quite a spectacle there, with hundreds of Redheads, many Canvasbacks, both scaup species, Common Goldeneyes, Common Mergansers, and others. Perhaps most notably, I counted 36 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS (scope needed for half-decent viewing). We missed it during a couple of the coldest days last month, and also on January 30, but otherwise, the EASTERN SCREECH-OWL been appearing daily in its nest box in our yard in northeast Ithaca. Over the past two weeks, it has tended to spend a lot more time in view during the day than in late fall. Today, the owl was moved not only to bask, but also to trill a few times in the bright midday sun. This was my first time ever watching an owl vocalizing in broad daylight. I managed to get this photo of the bird in mid-trill. https://plus.google.com/photos/114049026073343451957/albums/5291963262350115 713/5977718048716253954?pid=5977718048716253954 <https://plus.google.com/photos/114049026073343451957/albums/529196326235011 5713/5977718048716253954?pid=5977718048716253954&oid=114049026073343451957> &oid=114049026073343451957 Mark Chao --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
