There are also different factors at play with different species and different individuals of the same species. Some, like Northern Pintail, American Black Duck, Mallard were waiting to be able to forage in fields (say at the Mucklands). So they tend to concentrate at the north end and then make flights up to those fields to see if there are areas to forage. Tundra Swans and Snow Geese do similar things (forage in muck). Snow Geese are shot at right now, so they stay out more toward the middle of the lake.
Aythya (Redhead, scaup) dive for food. As the lake opens in the spring, they follow the ice edge as it reveals foraging areas that were impossible to reach earlier in the year. So you have optimal staging for daily movements in some species, optimal foraging for others, migration staging for others compounded with the advantages of flocking for predator avoidance. All this leads to some very large concentrations with exceptional diversity at the north end of the lake in spring -- concentrations and levels of diversity that you never see at the south end at any season. Christopher Wood eBird Project Leader Cornell Lab of Ornithology http://ebird.org http://birds.cornell.edu On 3/11/13 10:38 AM, "Donna Scott" <d...@cornell.edu> wrote: >Interestingly, I live by the deepest part of the Lake, 430 feet deep, and >I rarely get big concentrations of Snow geese or swans here. >Now and then big rafts of diving ducks will go by or stay near the >shallow edges for a while, but I almost never get all the big >concentrations of geese, swans or duck rafts one sees up north or down by >Ithaca. >Donna Scott > >Sent from my iPhone >Donna Scott > >On Mar 11, 2013, at 10:31 AM, Geo Kloppel <geoklop...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Those two factors (shallow water, ice shelf) are related; ice forms >>soonest and lingers longest over the shallows. Aquatic ecology (hence >>exploitable food resources) are also influenced by depth. And of course >>the north end of the lake is surrounded by marshes and agricultural >>lands that offer forage whenever the snow cover does not prevent it. >> >> The winter draw-down of lake level makes the shallows even shallower, >>almost like a tidal area. >> >> -Geo Kloppel >> >> On Mar 11, 2013, at 8:58 AM, John VanNiel <vanni...@flcc.edu> wrote: >> >>> There was also an ice shelf there to loaf on... >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: bounce-75479805-3493...@list.cornell.edu >>>[mailto:bounce-75479805-3493...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Geo >>>Kloppel >>> Sent: Monday, March 11, 2013 8:06 AM >>> To: cayugabirds-l >>> Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Question about lower lake road >>> >>> I imagine a number of factors contribute to the attractive power of >>>that area. Here's one: the lake is still broad there, but it's very >>>shallow, mostly 5 - 6 ft. >>> >>> -Geo >>> >>> On Mar 11, 2013, at 1:29 AM, "Barbara B. Eden" <b...@cornell.edu> >>>wrote: >>> >>>> I am curious why that is the place where the snow geese and tundra >>>>swans congregate >>>> >>>> Thanks, >>>> Barbara >>> >>> -- >>> >>> Cayugabirds-L List Info: >>> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME >>> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES >>> >>>http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.h >>>tm >>> >>> 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/ >>> >>> -- >>> >>> >>> -- >>> >>> Cayugabirds-L List Info: >>> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME >>> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES >>> >>>http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.h >>>tm >>> >>> 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/ >>> >>> -- >> >> -- >> >> Cayugabirds-L List Info: >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES >> >>http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.ht >>m >> >> 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/ >> >> -- >> >> > >-- > >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/ > >-- > > -- 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/ --
