This afternoon I walked to the southwest part of the lake hoping to bolster my 2013 Luddite List with waterfowl (I was so late on count day that I drove there), but numbers and variety of waterfowl were down due to a party of gunners next to the red lighthouse. Still, I found some cool non-Anseriformes:
One RED-NECKED GREBE by itself between the red lighthouse and the piling cluster. It was diving and seemed to ignore the out-of-range gunfire. This seems to be a 2013 basin bird as well as a count week bird.
A tight flock of 100 AMERICAN COOTS to the northwest of the red lighthouse. This is more coots than this sector had on count day. When I arrived, there were REDHEADS mixed in, but they all flushed at the sound of gunfire, while the coots stayed put, which was interesting to see. Do the coots not feel threatened, or do they just prefer not to fly?
Two COMMON LOONS together in the middle of the lake to the north. Only 1 was found further north on count day.
Two very distant HORNED GREBES, probably closer to the eastern shore.
Several COMMON GOLDENEYES in the lake north of the red lighthouse, plus a male resting on the edge of the ice off Stewart Park. A male COMMON MERGANSER swam up, climbed onto the ice next to the goldeneye, stood up and flapped its wings, then went back in the water and swam off. The goldeneye seemed not to react, but I thought it was hilarious. Did the merganser come over and make the gesture because the two species look similar? Did it leave in a hurry out of embarrassment at its mistake?
I scanned the east horizon hoping to see a Turkey Vulture, but instead I found a/the adult PEREGRINE FALCON flapping and soaring over Cayuga Heights, eventually working its way south towards Ithaca, perhaps downtown, around 3:45pm.
--Dave Nutter
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