I agree with John Confer and others. I think his arguments should be more clearly and succinctly stated in order to be clear to others and effective to those who make decisions. I'm not volunteering or attempting to do so here, just adding some observations.
The number and variety of waterfowl throughout Cayuga Lake in the winter are directly and obviously related to when the ponds at the adjacent Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge are frozen. Large numbers of birds rely on the lake as they do on the refuge.
Duck shooting still occurs along the shore of Treman Marine Park despite bans by the City and/or the park. The loophole is that firing initially happens from a shallow-draft boat, while chairs, supplies, and carcasses are piled a few feet away on the shore. Gunners step into the ankle-deep water or wade up to their knees to shoot repeatedly at wounded birds. It's surprising how many shots it takes to kill a sitting duck.
Yesterday morning a large raft of Redheads was in the southeast corner of the lake. Two guys from near Treman in the southwest corner of the lake, where we had heard gunfire, drove over in their boat, flushed the raft, and returned to the southwest corner. It looked like a deliberate disturbance of the birds in hopes that they would settle near the ambush. Thousands of Redheads flew north instead, but maybe some did settle in the southwest and get shot. I have also seen this practice of flushing birds on the water within the southwest part of the lake when birds are settled outside the range of their guns.
I would prefer not to hear gunshots, as I did throughout my New Year's Day walk all over the streets of West Hill in the City of Ithaca. Rather than see birds being harassed, maimed, and killed by guys with guns and big motor boats, I would prefer to watch the birds feeding, courting, preening, and resting. Truly the bird life on Cayuga Lake is a spectacle worth publicizing and promoting.
--Dave Nutter
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