Took a trip with my birding pals, Dan Watkins, Jon Weeks and Rich Youket to the east side of Cayuga Lake.
First stop was Stewart park for the WESTERN GREBE and we found it pretty quickly....distant...but seen well in a scope. Also seen well from East Park. We also had 2 RED-THROATED LOONS with a distant COMMON LOON. Stewart also had many AMERICAN COOTS, 1 RUDDY DUCK, the 3 typical gull sp. The DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT that has been present for the winter was there. There were also many COMMON GOLDENEYES. Also present were AMERICAN WIGEON, GADWALL, MALLARD, BLACK DUCK, COMMON and HOODED MERGANSERS. I probably forgot a few. But nothing additional that was unusual. Next stop beside East Park, where we basically got different views of the WESTERN GREBE, was Myer's Point. Not much unusual there. All 3 sp. of Gulls, many COMMON GOLDENEYEs, MALLARDS and BLACK DUCK. There was a small flock of AMERICAN PIPITs on the gravel bars that were flying back and forth between Myer's and Salt Point. At Salt Point got a nice view of a WHITE-WINGED SCOTER that Jon Weeks found initially. The bird was fairly close to shore and easy to see even with binoculars. Next stop was Long Point State Park. Not much there except loads of COMMON GOLDENEYES. Best birds at this location was a nice pair of RED-BREASTED MERGANSERs. >From Aurora Bay, we had only 1 HORNED GREBE, many COMMON GOLDENEYES and One NORTHERN PINTAIL. We counted 298 AMERICAN COOTS!!! There were also a few distant COMMON LOONS. Next stop was north of the Twin Orchard Campground where there was an enormous aythya raft that we estimated around 20,000. I shot a video of the raft and uploaded it to my flickr site. I also shot many pictures. We estimate around 60% REDHEAD, 25% CANVASBACK and the rest around 15% SCAUP sp. and others. There was also a several RING-NECKED DUCKS. Some photos and a video of this spectacle can be found here... | http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629378999019/ A few select photos from the trip here... http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629378989695/ We had an awesome time and totaled 57 species!! Not bad for February. Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
