Ann Mitchell & I made a late start north from Ithaca hoping to see the American White Pelican. I had assumed we didn’t have to hurry because the north wind and rain showers made bird migration unappealing. We were north of Union Springs when I was surprised to get word that the Pelican actually had gotten up and flown north. We arrived at Harris Park in time to meet Gary, who had just packed up his scope. He showed us a recognizable photo of the distant swimming Pelican through more shimmer than I anticipated on such a cool day.
Ann & I took a tour of Montezuma, but did not see the Pelican on any of the large pools, though we did find several Black Terns among the many Swallows over Tschache Pool. Ann wanted to look for Common & Forster’s Terns, so on our way home we stopped at the Cayuga Lake State Park boat ramp. Almost the first thing we noticed was a huge white blob on the lake in the shimmery distance. Its wings had black flight feathers when it occasionally flapped. Otherwise it looked like a Mute Swan, with a massive white body and long white neck, except it also had a straight orange bill so long that it nearly reached down to the water. Evidently the Pelican, having flown around a bit, decided that hanging out with feeding gulls and cormorants on the lake was the best option after all. Shimmer is worst when you look through the air close to the water’s surface, where the humidity and temperature of the water is changing the density of the air. We found that by moving up to the parking lot for the park and setting up our scopes at the top of the stairs above the playground and the concrete fishing pier we could look down through less murkiness and see the birds more clearly. Twenty feet of elevation made a big difference. Even so, we needed scopes, and my photos were horrendous. The Pelican was still on the lake when we left about 4:30pm. Perhaps it will remain tomorrow if the north wind and rain start up soon enough in the morning to deter its urge to soar in the early morning calm. - - Dave Nutter > On May 3, 2023, at 3:44 PM, Gary Kohlenberg <jg...@cornell.edu> wrote: > > Dave Nutter reports Pelican again visible far east of Cayuga Lake State Park, > swimming south near active flying gulls. 3:38 pm. > > This would be south of Harris Park in the village of Cayuga. > > Gary > > > On May 3, 2023, at 1:56 PM, Gary Kohlenberg <jg...@cornell.edu> wrote: > > > Pelican was still visible far south of Harris Park until about 1pm when it > picked up and flew NW, as per Kyle Gage. > It was still raining at the time so my feeling is it’s possible it could stop > somewhere in or near Montezuma. > Gary > > > On May 3, 2023, at 9:36 AM, Dave Nutter <nutter.d...@me.com> wrote: > > Tim Lenz sent out the alert and was looking south from Harris Park in the > Village of Cayuga, Town of Aurelius on the east side of the lake. > > However, when Dave Kennedy found the bird, Dave was looking east from Lake > Road in the Town of Seneca Falls on the west side of the lake. This is north > of Cayuga Lake State Park on Lower Lake Rd, one “block” north, but I bet a > bird that size is visible from the boat ramp or the shore of the park. > > Try whichever side of the lake is most convenient for you. > > - - Dave Nutter > > On May 3, 2023, at 8:50 AM, Laura Stenzler <l...@cornell.edu> wrote: > >> >> Hi >> Just read this on the rare bird alert. >> “ Dave Kennedy found a White Pelican, swimming in middle of Cayuga Lake, >> visible now looking south from Harris Park” >> 8:30 am May 3 >> >> 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: > Welcome and Basics > Rules and Information > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > Archives: > The Mail Archive > Surfbirds > BirdingOnThe.Net > Please submit your observations to eBird! > -- > -- > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics > Rules and Information > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > Archives: > The Mail Archive > Surfbirds > BirdingOnThe.Net > Please submit your observations to eBird! > -- > -- > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics > Rules and Information > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > Archives: > The Mail Archive > Surfbirds > BirdingOnThe.Net > Please submit your observations to 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/ --
