Similar here in Broome County. A rare few waterfowl are here and there. Glenn Wilson Endicott, NY www.WilsonsWarbler.com
On Jan 4, 2019, at 8:59 AM, Donna Lee Scott <d...@cornell.edu> wrote: Yesterday, I was on the lake shore here in Lansing and looked up and down for a while and saw no waterfowl in any direction. Donna L. Scott Lansing Station Road Lansing, NY -----Original Message----- From: bounce-123219952-15001...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-123219952-15001...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Dave Nutter Sent: Friday, January 04, 2019 6:32 AM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L <cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu> Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Raptors, swans, ducks Yesterday afternoon (Thursday 3 Jan) Ann Mitchell & I went north toward Fayette & Seneca Falls townships looking for raptors with some success: in addition to the ubiquitous Red-tailed Hawks we saw an adult Cooper’s Hawk on a pole in Covert, a male American Kestrel and a Merlin about a quarter mile apart on Seybolt Rd, a female Northern Harrier atop a mound of brush & wood along Peterman Rd, and two Snowy Owls, one on Seybolt Rd, another at the Fingerlakes Regional Airport, so that was a success. On our way back we made the tough choice to check out the lake rather than seek Short-eared Owls. The lake was calm and temperatures not extreme, so there was very little heat shimmer. We scanned from the boat ramp at Cayuga Lake SP while several boats of gunners came in for the day. I’m used to the shallow north end of Cayuga Lake being frozen for several miles in winter, but there was no ice at all. And when there’s no ice, or as the shelf is melting back in mid-March, I’m used to seeing hordes of northbound ducks diving near the ice edge. Yesterday the lake appeared eerily empty. In a complete scan I saw 3 pairs of Mallards scattered along the west shore along with 1 male Hooded Merganser (perhaps his mate eluded me?), a pair of breeding plumage Long-tailed Ducks far to the SE which flushed as one of the boats approached them, and another group of 9 Long-tailed Ducks already in flight farther south. That was it for ducks. There were dozens of Herring Gulls along with a few Great Blacked Gulls on the water far to the east, but all of the above birds except one pair of Mallards required a scope. There were small flocks of Canada Geese coming in overhead from the NW. The most interesting find from Cayuga L SP was a probable family group of 5 Mute Swans on the lake to the east of the boat ramp. They also took flight between when I found them and when Ann looked through my scope. They continued flying south out of sight. The Mute Swans I believe are a first for 2019 for the Cayuga Lake Basin (the table of 2019 basin firsts has been filled out and should be up on the Club website shortly). Along Lower Lake Rd we saw a handful of scattered Ring-billed Gulls, and from NYS-89 as we drove south we saw small separate groups of American Black Duck (11), Common Goldeneye (9), Bufflehead (10?), Red-breasted Merganser(3), and American Coot(~35), and Snow (2) and Canada Geese. The diversity aded up after awhile, but still the impression was of an empty lake. The only exception was the large raft of Snow Geese in the middle of the lake off Poplar Beach Rd by the Beer Garden, viewed from NYS-89. We didn’t go down to Sheldrake. - - Dave Nutter -- 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/ -- -- 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/ -- -- 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/ --
