Yesterday afternoon, Ann Mitchell, Gary Kohlenberg & I went to Dryden Lake seeking the RED-NECKED GREBES which Jay reported. The grebes were together in the middle of the lake, mostly sleeping, but they did wake up, and preen a bit. They are distinctive enough to ID even when asleep, though, by their large size and typical grebe sleeping posture with the head resting on the middle of the back. My guess is that with north winds continuing, these birds may remain awhile.
The only other waterfowl were an expected raft of CANADA GEESE, about 40 scattered COMMON MERGANSERS, and one each of male HOODED MERGANSER and male RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. The last species may be uncommon on Dryden Lake. I also glimpsed an adult BALD EAGLE, which I gather is not unusual there in recent years. Anyway the lake was ice-free and open for business, and worth checking during migration if you are in the area. The distance and waves there don’t hide waterbirds so much as on Cayuga Lake. - - Dave Nutter > On Mar 3, 2018, at 12:21 PM, Jay McGowan <jw...@cornell.edu> wrote: > > Two nonbreeding plumage RED-NECKED GREBES are currently sleeping in the > middle of Dryden Lake. Not much else aside from numerous Common Mergansers. > -- 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/ --
