Inspired by a lust for life birds and Joseph Brin's Syracuse RBA, Ann Mitchell convinced Gary Kohlenberg and me to join her chasing a week-old report of King Eiders on the east end of Lake Ontario. Our first stop was at the end of Rainbow Shores Rd off NYS 3 a few miles northwest of Pulaski in Oswego County. The shoreline is due north-south there, so the morning light was good. The temperature was in the chilly teens, but fortunately the wind had not yet reached its predicted force. Immediately we saw several LONG-TAILED DUCKS close to shore swimming in slush, and further out was a tight active flock of 300+ of them. This raft was laced with about 70 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, 3 BLACK SCOTER females, 1 SURF SCOTER, 2 RED-BREASTED MERGANSER females, 20 COMMON GOLDENEYE, 2 REDHEAD, 3 GREATER SCAUP, and yes, 5 KING EIDERS. There was one first winter male (dingy whitish breast, dark blackish brown body & head, yellow on bill) and 4 female-type King Eiders, but there was variety among these brown birds: one (juvenile male?) showed some yellowish on the bill at certain angles, one looked to Gary most like Sibley's first winter female, while the others looked like Sibley's adult female in breeding plumage, complete with tiny dorsal fin. The females had dark concave bills with a light spot between the thin smily gape and the nasal lobe of the bill. When stretching upward each King Eider showed an extraordinarily thick neck and full chest. When one of the females took flight, it took a long time to get airborne, and it had a pot belly and white on the wing linings. During our hour there the King Eiders dove, preened, dabbled, snoozed, and eventually flew out to sea when the other birds grew restless and flighty. They were then invisible to us in the mirages, although we saw numerous distant white heads which we presumed to be Long-tailed Ducks. Also passing by this location were 2 immature BALD EAGLES, 2 HERRING GULLS, and a RING-BILLED GULL.
Other stops were less productive. Montario Point Rd (Jefferson County) also had LONG-TAILED DUCKS, but fewer and with less adulteration of their flock. We did see CANADA GEESE on the lake here, along with a couple of male RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS, and close to shore but far to our south, an AMERICAN BLACK DUCK. >From Derby Hill we watched 3 immature BALD EAGLES play in the air and torment >an immature gull on the water. There were also several COMMON GOLDENEYE and >RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS and more CANADA GEESE. At Oswego Harbor we added 2 DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS, several MALLARDS, and hundreds of RING-BILLED GULLS with a few HERRING GULLS and GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULLS which were put up by an adult BALD EAGLE. An immature Bald Eagle soared to our west, and most of the previously-mentioned waterfowl except the eiders were present in small numbers. It was a very successful trip, including a PEREGRINE FALCON as we passed through Syracuse. --Dave Nutter -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES Archives: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
