Hi all, A cold-but-thankfully-not-windy stop at Stewart Park this morning turned up another December BONAPARTE'S GULL that was swimming just off the ice edge, loosely where 19 TUNDRA SWANS were loafing on the edge of the ice. A huge raft of waterfowl was assembled just west of the jetty, from where I stood I could make out REDHEAD and CANVASBACK along with the expected Mallards and Canada geese; I wouldn't be surprised if more species were mixed in given Chris's report from Myers earlier this morning.
On my way out I spotted a single adult BALD EAGLE perched across the inlet, probably in/near Alan Treman. Full eBird list below. Cheers, Mike -- Mike Powers Horseheads, NY Location: Stewart Park Ithaca Observation date: 12/18/09 Notes: Viewed from the lake edge across from the tennis courts. The vast majority of waterfowl were west of the jetty, while identification of some species was possible (those on the eastern edge of group), counting was impossible due to heat shimmers and the sheer number of ducks and geese. Conditions: 15*F, 15% cloud cover, light breeze, no precipitation. ~2" snow on the ground. Number of species: 22 Canada Goose X Tundra Swan 19 Exact count, all along the ice edge opposite the tennis courts. American Black Duck 1 Mallard X Dozens along ice edge, many hundreds more west of the jetty, impossible to count with my view. Northern Pintail 1 Probing along the ice edge. Canvasback X All west of the jetty, impossible to count with my view. Redhead X All west of the jetty, impossible to count with my view. Bufflehead 4 In flight along eastern edge of the lake. Common Goldeneye 32 Spread loosely out past the ice edge. Common Merganser 6 Ruddy Duck 1 Bald Eagle 1 Red-tailed Hawk 3 Bonaparte's Gull 1 Swimming just off the ice edge. Ring-billed Gull X Herring Gull X Lesser Black-backed Gull 1 Adult bird, preening among Herring and Ring-billeds on the ice towards eastern edge of the lake. Great Black-backed Gull X Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Calling from the willows lining the south shore. American Crow 2 White-breasted Nuthatch 2 American Goldfinch 4 This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org) -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES Archives: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
