Ten great birders joined me for a trip up the lake. Our first stop was at East Shore Park. The winds were rather calm. We had great looks at all the Aythyas, except for the Tufted Duck. Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Coots, plus 30+ White-winged Scoters were seen. Common and Hooded Mergansers were decked out. Three species of gulls were seen.
Myers offered us Red-breasted Merganser, Pin-tailed Duck, and Long-tailed Duck. Coots were at Ladoga. We then drove up Davis Road to Indian FIeld Road. Horned Larks were the only field bird we saw, and, as slow as we drove, struck out on Snowy Owl. South winds might have been the reason for the lack of field birds. By the time we arrived at the Aurora Boathouse, it was quite windy, so we couldn't see much on the lake. BUT Dorie's was great - lunch, munchies, and coffee filled the bill! Factory Pond In Union Springs had Gadwall for a new species. The best birding place of the day was Mill Pond. Many Aythyas were there plus American Wigeon. We saw two Horned Grebes, one Red-necked Grebe and a beautiful male Wood Duck. Unfortunately many people didn't see it because it quickly hid in the brush in the back of the pond. The amazing find was by Ken who found an inconspicuously perched Cooper's Hawk on a broken tree trunk at the back of the pond. I only noticed it because of the wind blowing it's tail feathers.. Good going! There were four cars on the trip. I don't know what other people saw, but our car also saw a Sharp-shinned Hawk, Blue Birds, 2-3 Mockingbirds, and a Kestrel. -- 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/[email protected]/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/ --
