This morning I joined the Cayuga Bird Club field trip led by Diane Morton & Ken Kemphues starting at Stewart Park. Consensus was not to go next to the SW corner of the lake due sounds of gunfire and the ducks there being mainly plastic. We headed next to East Shore Park, and I arrived first, by bike, which I decided to lock up, intending to hitch a ride by car from there. Meanwhile the motorized contingent arrived and began setting up scopes. As I was joining the group with my scope, Diane said to me that there was an unusual duck among the few Mallards to the north. I hope I didn’t spoil others’ fun of puzzling out the ID when I blurted out, “Harlequin Duck!” I don’t know how many folks other than Diane already knew what it was.
The bird was small, generally the color of dark chocolate, sitting low on the water, with a short neck, round head, and a small concave bill. The wings were all dark when it flapped, and the tail, which was generally held below the water, also appeared all dark when the bird dove. The belly was gray, but that only showed when the bird “stood up” briefly in the water. When it scratched its head, its foot also appeared to be plain dark brownish. The only distinctive markings were 3 white patches on each side of the face: (1) a very small blurry spot above & in front of the eye, (2) a large, well-defined, brighter, rather triangular patch below and in front of the eye, and (3) a very bright white, well-defined, small, nearly circular spot below and well to the rear of the eye. The bird dove frequently among the docks to the north of East Shore Park. When it swam on the surface, it pumped its head forward. I opted to stay at East Shore Park when the field trip continued north. Photography was a bit difficult as the bird kept swimming behind pilings or diving, but eventually it swam solo out from the docks and south past East Shore Park, a nice photo op for several arriving birders who were not relying on a phone with a dead battery as I was. On my way home, I joined a group of birders viewing the Harlequin duck by scope from Stewart Park for awhile, but then it moved back north of East Shore Park. I think this is a first record for Tompkins County, although the species has been reported from several nearby counties over the years. I wasn’t aware of any other record for the Cayuga Lake Basin, but this morning Kevin McGowan mentioned that Bard Prentiss reported it in Union Springs sometime. Over 20 birders saw it this morning. - - Dave Nutter > On Dec 4, 2022, at 9:13 AM, Laura Stenzler <l...@cornell.edu> wrote: > > Dave Nutter has reported a female harlequin duck by the docks north of East > shore park An unusual bird to say the least for the Cayuga Lake basin. > > Laura > > Laura Stenzler > l...@cornell.edu > -- > > 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/ > > -- > -- 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/ --
