Livia and I checked for the Gyrfalcon this morning. We did finally succeed in finding the SNOWY OWL out on the runways at the Finger Lakes Airport in Seneca Falls (viewed from the north end), but, not surprisingly, saw no sign of the Gyrfalcon photographed in the area by Dave Kennedy yesterday. As anyone with Gyrfalcon experience can attest, this bird could be anywhere in the state by now, but it is still worth looking for. We had an eye out for waterfowl concentrations that might attract a hungry falcon, but the ice edge is in that awkward area between Union Springs and Aurora, so at least on the east side of the lake it is difficult to view. Montezuma and the Mucklands were in practically white-out conditions so we beat a not-so-hasty retreat after checking these areas briefly.
The highlight of the day came in Union Springs where we stopped to scan the Mill Pond and picked out, among the many wigeon (20+), Gadwall, and Redhead (200+), an apparent Ring-necked Duck that I quickly realized was actually a REDHEAD X RING-NECKED DUCK HYBRID, possibly the same one that several folks saw at the south end of the lake when the Tufted was being seen (although probably not, that one apparently showed a bolder white shoulder spur than today's bird did). The snow was too heavy for great photos, but a few are in our list here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S21601821 Three male GREEN-WINGED TEAL are still present in the Factory Street pond, oddly enough actively diving when we were there, although for what they were foraging was unclear. And finally, we missed the longspur on the way back down but did have a SAVANNAH SPARROW with Horned Larks just south of the Triangle Diner in King Ferry, one of apparently dozens spending the winter in the Basin this year. -- Jay McGowan Macaulay Library Cornell Lab of Ornithology [email protected] -- 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/ --
