Met up with Bob McGuire, Susan Danskin, Deirdre Anderson and Dave Nutter at Stewart Park this morning. Compared to Broome County where all the ponds and small lakes are frozen, there were loads of birds!!! Highlights: LESSER BLACK BACKED GULL found by Dave Nutter, raft of REDHEAD with 2 LESSER SCAUP, 2 RING-NECKED DUCKS, BUFFLEHEAD, MALLARDS, BLACK DUCKS, COMMON GOLDENEYES, COMMON MERGANSERS, 2 NORTHERN PINTAIL, 1 adult BALD EAGLE chasing a younger one.
Then we went to Beebe Lake / Comstock Knoll to look for the late / wintering eastern phoebe with no luck. But there were a lot of common birds around which we enjoyed. Next stop was Drake Rd Lansing where there were at least 9-10 TURKEY VULTURES most of them on the ground which was neat. Then we stopped at Ladoga Point and we got on 4 WW SCOTERS immediately, 2 male, 2 female. There was also a basic plumage COMMON LOON there. Myer's was windy with many ring-billed gulls, and several herring gulls and a few GBBGs. We also had a female NORTHERN PINTAIL pretty far out which was unusual. Then I went on to the north for more water birds as the others went to look for field birds. My next stop was Long Point and to the north in the middle of the lake you could see large rafts of SNOW GEESE. I also had 5 more WW SCOTERS here and at least 10 RED BREASTED MERGANSERS. The Aurora Boathouse was brutally windy but I managed to find 5 HORNED GREBES. One of these times I am gonna find that eared grebe!!!! Twin Orchards Campground was loaded with aythya species with the majority being CANVASBACKS. There were also a lot of REDHEADS too, with many fewer scaup and RING-NECKED DUCK. I checked and checked but no TUDU!! There were even more aythya species too distant to determine which species. Probably 1000-2000 birds total at least. Wildlife Drive Main Pool at Montezuma is mostly open except on the edges and there were massive numbers of TUNDRA SWANS seen from the tower. It was a spectacle. I counted in tens as best as I could and I estimated about 2000. Many eventually took off as there were several BALD EAGLES patrolling. They looked to be flying south toward Cayuga Lake when I left. There was also a raft of mainly RING-NECKED DUCKS with several others present like GADWALL, AMERICAN WIGEON among other common ducks. Next stop was the Savannah Mucklands and I got lucky to get a great photo of a PEREGRINE FALCON sitting on a pole. There were loads of crows and gulls, mostly HERRING GULLS, and RING-BILLED GULLS. There was at least one adult LESSER-BLACK BACKED GULL. The lighting by mid afternoon was terrible. I would definitively check this place out again with morning lighting. Then on East Road I first found a CACKLING GOOSE as this bird( see photos below) was much smaller than the Canada geese and had a white ring around its neck. I searched and searched and almost gave up on the GREATER WHITE FRONTED GEESE as the wind was brutal but I finally managed to find 3 of Brad Walker's and Tim Lenz's GREATER WHITE FRONTED GEESE. They had 4. Anyway, Knox-Marcellus is loaded with Canada geese, more Tundra Swans, and some waterfowl. Most of the waterfowl are mallards but I did find some northern pintails and 1 female green-winged teal in the reeds. Last bird before I hit the road back to Binghamton was a SANDHILL CRANE calling. I totaled 60 species today. Some photos from the day plus a video of the tundra swans can be found here... https://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/albums/72157662046643414 Thanks to Dave Nutter, Susan Danskin, Bob McGuire, Deidere Anderson for some fine birding in the Ithaca-Lansing area. Dave Nicosia -- 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/ --
