Susie & I birded mostly the East side of Cayuga Lake today. First big find was along Midline Rd., just out of Slaterville Springs where there were 7 RAVENS. 6 on the ground in conference (several with throat feathers extended), and one circling low overhead with a single CROW for company.
There was a cold KINGFISHER in the marina at Ladoga, and about 100 COOTS to the south, mixed with about 50 CANADA GEESE. The geese were scarfing up loose vegetation that the coots brought up from the bottom. 3 SNOW GEESE and 3 DOMESTIC GEESE were there also. We found the EARED GREBE way out straight off the Wells College boathouse at Aurora. The best view was from the parking lot above-this eliminated most of the heat shimmer. Best field mark is the pointed head above the eye. >From Aurora to Fries Cove we saw many relatively small flocks of almost exclusively REDHEADS (200-750 birds). This is in contrast to the huge (10,000 bird) raft(s) that we have encountered over the past several years. Why the difference? Maybe these small groups will coalesce later this month. At Levanna (Ellis Pt.), we found a flock of 12 CANVASBACKS, 1 LESSER SCAUP, and 2 GREATER SCAUP. These were the only ones of these 3 species that we found although we did not study every redhead group. There was also here and small REDHEAD FLOCK accompanied by many CANADA GEESE-the geese feeding as they did with the COOTS at Ladoga. We then decided to eschew the vast, frigid, uninhabited wastes around Montezuma and headed inland and southish, looking for field birds. What we found were vast, frigid, mostly uninhabited agricultural wastelands. We did find a couple RED-TAILED HAWKS, and 12 HORNED LARKS. The only SNOW BURNINGS we found all day were a skittish flock of 40 near the Observatory on Mt. Pleasant, first thing this morning. On Rafferty Rd., I found a fresh OWL PELLET on the road edge, under a tree, that I strongly suspect came from a SHORT-EARED OWL (Microtus fur and a couple bones and teeth). HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: We have not stopped at the Triangle Diner in King Ferry since they reopened under new management. It is GREAT! GO THERE! I would go into exhaustive details, but that would just make me hungry again, which might strain the metabolism. Steve & Susie Fast Brooktondale -- 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 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
