Thanks for this Dave. If Dan Watkins or the unnamed partner are reading this list, I'd love to hear from them.
Also, ICYMI, a Tufted Duck was reported through ebird on Jan 2nd. I've added it (and the details) as a count week bird to the spreadsheet. -Paul On Wed, Jan 3, 2024 at 12:13 PM Dave Nutter <nutter.d...@me.com> wrote: > 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 ".") 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