Notes from a field trip with Ann Mitchell, Sat 09 Jan: We saw an UNIDENTIFIED ADULT GULL resting on ice with the usual 3 species at the southwest corner of Cayuga Lake in evening. It was the size of Herring Gull, but with a darker gray mantle. It had a yellow bill with a red gonydeal spot, and it had pink legs. It was relatively clean on the head for a winter Herring Gull, being only slightly streaked near the eye and on nape. I did not see it well when it flew north with other gulls. Thoughts are welcome, especially from those who see or have seen such a gull.
We saw a male RED-BREASTED MERGANSER this morning from Wyers Point Rd in Ovid, the first report in the Cayuga Lake Basin of which I know. On the subject of 2010 Basin Records, these are all the firsts since the first of January as far as I know so far: 02 Jan RING-NECKED PHEASANT by Suan Yong on Freese Rd, Dryden (well outside the game farm!) 03 Jan BALD EAGLE by Kevin McGowan on NYS 13 & at Stewart Park, Ithaca 03 Jan PEREGRINE FALCON by John Woodward on Bradfield Hall, Cornell U, Ithaca, as described to and to the chagrin of Ryan Douglas who has not yet seen the bird. Sorry, Michele Mannella, your report turns out not to be first, but thanks to you I got to see it and it seems to have flushed out the earlier report. 03 Jan LAPLAND LONGSPUR by Bob Wanner, Dublin Hill & Dog Corners Rd, Ledyard 05 Jan GLAUCOUS GULL by Dave Nutter at Stewart Park, Ithaca (a gorgeous white young bird) 09 Jan RED-BREASTED MERGANSER by Dave Nutter & Ann Mitchell from Wyers Pt Rd, Ovid 09 Jan SHORT-EARED OWL by Marty Schlabach at the Beardsley Farm on Rock River Rd, Ovid For those interested in pursuing or following such trivia, there's a list here: http://cayugabirds.pbworks.com/Chronological-2010-Basin-First-Records and the same info in a checklist format (to see more easily what's missing) here: http://cayugabirds.pbworks.com/Taxonomic-2010-First-Records To continue with today's notes: We saw a LAPLAND LONGSPUR with a flock of HORNED LARKS and SNOW BUNTINGS in a field on the east side of NYS 89 just north of Wyers Pt Rd in Ovid. While some of the birds foraged in weeds, others simply rested belly-deep in the snow. We saw Horned Larks and Snow Buntings but no Lapland Longspurs on the manure spread southeast of the intersection of Dublin Hill and Dog Corners Rds east of Aurora, where Bob Wanner had the first Longspurs last weekend. We hiked past the wooded section of Van Dyne Spoor Rd. In the giant weedy field with its shrubs & saplings, we found 3 light ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS and 1 NORTHERN FLICKER. We were unreasonably early in the day to expect Short-eared Owls; they may be there in late afternoon or evening. On the ice of Beacon Bay north of the Village of Cayuga we saw many TUNDRA SWANS and at least one family of 2 adult and 3 immature TRUMPETER SWANS. To the west of Drake Rd in Lansing we saw a flock of ~30 AMERICAN ROBINS flying north in the late afternoon, the same phenomenon described by others, perhaps going toward roosting sites in wooded gorges or cedars. Finally a second-hand report of an immature BALD EAGLE around the southwest corner of Cayuga Lake today. --Dave Nutter -- 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/ --
