To continue the insurance policy of listing some bird species which have been observed within the Ithaca Count circle during the 3 days before the count, in hope that they will be found on January 1, but, in case they are not, to ensure they are included on the official Count Week list:
On December 29 from Allan Treman State Marine Park I saw male & female HOODED MERGANSERS, which I did not see from there this morning (the 31st) despite excellent viewing conditions. On December 30 from Stewart Park I saw a male RING-NECKED DUCK in the small remnant Aythya flock, but I did not see it among them or anywhere on the lake this morning from Allan Treman. There was plenty of gunfire, so the above 2 species may have departed in one way or the other. There were 21 AMERICAN COOTS near the SE corner of Cayuga Lake this morning, although I did not see them yesterday or the day before. Only a handful of COMMON MERGANSERS were present this morning: 3 very distant in the middle of the lake and 2 flying over land, but I hope this species will show up tomorrow on creeks or ponds. (In a similar disturbance-related but non-Count Week note, CANADA GEESE were only flyovers, apparently not using Cayuga Lake to rest or forage at all. I do not doubt that they will be present on the count, but it may be challenging to determine their numbers as they fly around or forage in ag fields. Look carefully among them for CACKLING GEESE with their ridiculously tiny bills.) Today Stephanie Herrick heard a GRAY CATBIRD giving “meow” calls in Jetty Woods from a Privet thicket near native tree planting plot M30 and approximately opposite the mouth of Treman Marina. Yesterday Suan Yong reported 2 PINE SISKINS at feeders at (if I interpreted his message correctly) the Lab of O. Today I saw a BROWN CREEPER in the patch of woods north of the marina at Allan Treman SMP. I realize that this is not as much at risk of being missed on the count, but I don’t see them every day, so I’m ending on that personal high note (no pun intended, as I probably miss many due to difficulty hearing them). Have a great day tomorrow! - - Dave Nutter -- (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") Cayugabirds-L List Info: NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsWELCOME_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsRULES_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave_DOT_htm ARCHIVES: 1) mail-archive_DOT_com/cayugabirds-l@cornell_DOT_edu/maillist_DOT_html 2) surfbirds_DOT_com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) aba_DOT_org/birding-news/ Please submit your observations to eBird: ebird_DOT_org/content/ebird/ --
