On our way to Montezuma today, Ann Mitchell & I stopped at Myers Point, Long Point SP, the Lake Rd bluffs south of Aurora, the Wells College Boathouse, the Mackenzie-Childs bluffs north of Aurora, and Frontenac Park and the Mill Pond in Union Springs, plus Sheldrake on our retern trip. Highlights included:
* 3 female WOOD DUCKS on Mill Pond as Fritzie reported * several male & female BUFFLEHEADS on Mill pond, ditto * a few AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS and a few MALLARDS various places * a few GREEN-WINGED TEAL on the Mill Pond * a male REDHEAD on the Mill Pond * 3 female COMMON GOLDENEYE below M-C bluffs * 3 LONG-TAILED DUCKS flying south past Long Point * a male WHITE-WINGED SCOTER off Payne's Cr better from the Lake Rd bluff than Wells boathouse * 2 female COMMON MERGANSERS together at Myers * 20 female RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS at M-C bluffs, some in a flock below, some in a flock flying past * 1 RED-THROATED LOON north of Myers, which inconveniently was no longer visible when Jay & Livia showed up * many COMMON LOONS on the lake (except Frontenac, which was rather a bust), from a scattered few at Myers, Long Point, and Sheldrake, to 150 in a narrow view from the Lake Rd bluff, to 496 which Ann counted in a single scope sweep from M-C bluffs * 3 separate HORNED GREBES from Long Point and 2 close together from Wells boathouse * single RED-NECKED GREBES from Myers, Long Point, and M-C bluffs * a tight flock of 60 DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS swimming far off the park at Sheldrake Point There were also many CEDAR WAXWINGS foraging around the entrance to Myers and drinking from a roadside puddle. There are still a few shorebirds at the Montezuma NWR Visitor Center, including * a LESSER YELLOWLEGS * 21 DUNLIN * 11 DOWITCHERS, presumed Long-billed And there are still scads of ducks on the Main Pool at Montezuma NWR, mainly dabblers and Ring-necked, and on Larue's Lagoon the famous reddish-brown teal with its 2 female BLUE-WINGED TEAL companions. Today I had a much better view than on Sunday because the bird was closer, I wasn't fighting wind vibration or weeds in the way, and the clouds made the sunlight from behind us diffuse for very even lighting. Today I was able to see more dark speckling on the sides of this bird, and a wider dark area behind the eye than I saw before. These marks, along with the pale area where a male Blue-winged Teal has a white hip patch, the pale forward part of the face, and the overall less-than-saturated color seem to indicate that the bird is a hybrid BLUE-WINGED x CINNAMON TEAL. --Dave Nutter -- 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/ --
