Good points, Dave. I too saw that Bald Eagle yesterday at Stewart Park and was surprised at how Osprey-like it looked. I also took crappy photos of it, and will try to get them in my eBird checklist soon.
Kevin ________________________________ From: bounce-123439153-3493...@list.cornell.edu <bounce-123439153-3493...@list.cornell.edu> on behalf of Dave Nutter <nutter.d...@mac.com> Sent: Monday, March 18, 2019 8:57 PM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Ospreys are still rare. Here’s what might be mistaken for one Over the past several days there have been several reports of Ospreys. Candace Cornell, who has observed and compiled reports of the Ospreys nesting around Cayuga Lake during their expansion for several years, notes that this arrival is an unprecedented couple weeks early, not just for the species, but for the individual birds believed to be returning to Myers Point. In order to figure out what is happening and why (Is climate change a factor?), it’s essential to have good information. In winter, reports of Ospreys in Upstate NY are presumed to be erroneous observations of immature Bald Eagles unless there’s good evidence for the Osprey ID. Not all birders are aware that one stage of young Bald Eagles’ plumage includes a white belly and a dark mask on a whitish head on a generally brown large raptor. Today I photographed such a Bald Eagle at Stewart Park, where some Osprey reports have been made. My description of the bird is below in the excerpt of my eBird report. There are 2 rather bad photos taken awkwardly through my binoculars also included in the eBird report, which I hope readers can access via the link. A plea: When submitting any eBird report which includes a species which eBird says is rare, PLEASE include in the requested “details” a description of the bird discussing what you observed - field marks such as shape, pattern, color, behavior, sound, anything you noticed about it that helped you ID the bird (or that made ID difficult or any missing field marks), and why you think it was that species and not anything else or something more common. If you can take a photo, even a crappy one, do so, and include it. This makes all the difference between reports that can be useful to others and reports that must be chucked for lack of evidence. Even a well-documented misidentification can be educational to oneself and others and maybe it can help future instructors or MERLIN. I think Osprey will be removed from the rare category for Tompkins County on March 27, unless eBird staff get tired of all the reports and switch the settings. As far as I know (and I have not checked this evening), NO ONE has included a photo of a local Osprey in an eBird report yet, and I think I am the only person who made an effort to describe what they thought was and what was not an Osprey. Everyone else’s reports are going to be confirmed or not by eBird solely on the reputation of the observers, not the observations, and that makes me uncomfortable. That’s my rant for the day, since there is no SFO course in which to say stuff like this. Thanks for humoring me by at least reading this far. - - Dave Nutter Begin forwarded message: From: ebird-checkl...@cornell.edu<mailto:ebird-checkl...@cornell.edu> Date: March 18, 2019 at 8:22:01 PM EDT To: nutter.d...@mac.com<mailto:nutter.d...@mac.com> Subject: eBird Report - NY:TOM:Ithaca: Stewart Pk taxi stop in car, Mar 18, 2019 NY:TOM:Ithaca: Stewart Pk taxi stop in car, Tompkins, New York, US Mar 18, 2019 11:57 AM - 12:39 PM Protocol: Traveling 0.8 mile(s) Comments: ...Unsuccessful quest for Osprey for which there have been sporadic reports lacking description or reputation to back them up. But I did find a suspicious immature Bald Eagle with mostly white underparts and a dark mask on a light head. 25 species (+1 other taxa) Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 1 Immature perched in treetop on Jetty Woods: very large vertical raptor; generally brown above; mostly white belly & neck; blotchy brown breast; dark mask on dirty whitish head; when it flew it showed wing linings largely white; very broad wings; very large hooked bill; large head; rather wide body. Challenging photos through binoculars, rather backlit, and showing the head less well than I hoped. Photo session cut short by model flying away. A birder walking by asked if the bird was an Osprey, as did a person I showed a photo. I hope the photos can be educational. View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S53995582 -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- 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/ --
