Canvasback was missing from the count compilation, but there was a reported sighting of the species on count day. This is the story of 2 eBird lists at the same place on the same morning.
Jay McGowan & Paul Rodewald did a tremendous amount of work for the count, submitting multiple eBird lists together or separately. They started one eBird list at Stewart Park when there was just enough light at 7:11am and continuing until 8:18am during which they traveled .28 mile. Their “complete” list (all the species they could ID) included 19 species, 13 of which were associated with the water, while the other species may have flown across their field of view or been audible to them. Their task was to figure out all the birds on the lake before the birds naturally left to feed elsewhere or were disturbed by hunting starting around 8am. The water birds were: 55 Canada Geese 32 Mallards 500 Redheads 150 Greater Scaup 350 Lesser Scaup 3 Common Mergansers 45 American Coots 25 Ring-billed Gulls 175 Herring Gulls 24 Great Black-backed Gulls 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull 6 Double-crested Cormorants 2 Bald Eagles Clearly some of their numbers were estimates, including the crowded raft of Aythya ducks, the crowded gray gulls, and perhaps the geese which may have been a flyover flock. I think there was a bit of NW wind which could create enough waves to make the more distant Aythya ducks bob in and out of view in front of each other. That would drive me nuts, but Jay & Paul are better birders than I am. I believe there was a different list for Stewart Park later concentrating on land birds. Eight minutes after Jay & Paul quit their eBird list of lake birds at Stewart Park, Dan Watkins and an unnamed partner started an eBird list there, also concentrating on the lake. I don’t know if Dan was participating in the count and visiting Stewart Park in addition to his own territory, or whether he was a birder coincidentally visiting this great spot as well as some other places farther north along the lake. Compared to Jay & Paul, Dan spent less than a third as much time at Stewart, traveled 4 times as far, and observed 10 species, also a “complete” list. This is no criticism of Dan’s abilities. I think Jay & Paul would find twice many species as I or most birders would, especially given that lead time. I think there were changes in the conditions and the birds present, and if Dan stayed in his car or didn’t walk all the way to the shore, then some birds may have been hidden to him. His complete list included these water birds: 8 Mallards 1 Canvasback 9 Redheads 3 Greater Scaup 4 Lesser Scaup 3 Ring-billed Gulls 8 Great Black-backed Gulls 5 Double-crested Cormorants I think the Canada Geese were missing from this list because they have not been roosting on the south end of the lake since hunting season began shortly after Christmas, which is why I thought Jay & Paul’s counted-by-fives geese might be a flyover flock. Their Common Mergansers and most of their Mallards may have stayed close to shores or moved to the shelter of the mouth of Fall Creek where hunters aren’t allowed. The gulls may have largely flown off to feed, or Dan may have only counted the easily identifiable Great Black-backed and a few of the Ring-billeds, who tend to stay closer to land. The wintering Cormorants are obvious resting on logs or the Red Lighthouse Breakwater, often 5 visible while the 6th is out on the lake fishing. What about the Aythya raft? Jay & Paul estimated them to be a thousand ducks, half Redheads and the rest Scaup, fewer Greater than Lesser. Although Jay & Paul were trying to ID & count everything on the lake, including finding that Lesser Black-backed Gull, I have to assume they spent some time scanning the Aythya raft for other species among them, such as the rare Tufted Duck and common Ring-necked Ducks seen on Christmas, expected Canvasbacks, and various other duck species or grebes who tend to join such flocks. But considering that I found a single male Ring-necked Duck in the Aythya raft there both on December 30th and January 2, but it was not reported by anyone else since Christmas, maybe Jay & Paul couldn’t afford to concentrate only on the Aythyas long enough. I think a male Canvasback or Tufted Duck could have eluded me in the rough weather on the 30th but that was less likely on the calm 2nd. Anyway, on Count day that Aythya raft may have skedaddled en masse when gunfire started from nearby blinds or parked boats, and only 17 birds returned or dribbled in, which were easier for Dan to sort through, interestingly in a similar ratio of species as Jay & Paul saw. Maybe a Canvasback was among birds flushed from elsewhere that temporarily joined this raft then went off again in search of other Canvasbacks. Alternatively, maybe there were more Aythyas bobbing there for Dan to see, and he only tried to ID the easier-to-see front row (thus the similar species ratio). When a male Redhead preens, he leans way over to the side, briefly showing a red head and a gleaming white underside, much like a right-side-up Canvasback, instead of the Redhead’s gray upperparts we usually see. It’s possible that, bobbing in waves in a row farther back, that’s what Dan saw. Since Canvasback is not rare in Tompkins County this time of year, eBird does not request any details or description. It’s up to folks in charge of the count to decide whether to include Dan’s report. - - 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/ --
