Several birders looked for the Genesee County BBWD today. Birders in the earlier part of the morning were successful but later birders were not, despite persistent scanning from multiple vantage points. We left at 7:00 p.m. for an appointment and the others that were still there left at the same time. We were there from 4:00 until 7 and did not hear the bird call though others reported hearing it earlier.
It is not hard to imagine that a duck could be hiding in those cattails. However, the cattails are not so thick that no one would see it if it started to move around a little. Given the described behavior of the bird in the morning and yesterday when it was photographed, we were confident that it would eventually come out. Alas, perhaps we left too soon. Or, perhaps it flew to a different spot when no one was looking. There is a lot of appropriate habitat, much of which is not as accessible. DIRECTIONS: The BBWD was on NY 77, in a roadside marsh about 200 yards northwest of the Cayuga Pool Overlook (Iroquois NWR). NY 77 is a north-south highway that travels NW in the area of the refuge. Thus, the reason for the sometimes confusing directions. In any case, if you are heading north on Rt 77, Iroquois NWR and Cayuga Pool overlook are on your right and Tonawanda WMA is on your left. Note that there is an exit for Rt 77 from the NYS Thruway. As reported by Jerry Lazarczyk, the duck was on the Tonawanda refuge side about 40 yards in from the road, just inside the cattails and seemed to be resting/feeding comfortably, watching us watch it. It almost always faced us but occasionally turned to expose its white feathering. There were no leg bands or missing toes. Good birding and stay safe out there. The trucks really move through the area. Willie ---------------- Willie D'Anna Betsy Potter Wilson, NY dannapotterATroadrunner.com http://www.betsypottersart.com -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
