A male TUFTED DUCK was found this morning by Tim Lenz just offshore from the Ithaca Yacht Club on Glenwood Road off of Rt. 89 in the town of Ulysses, Tompkins County, west shore of Cayuga Lake. Good numbers of Aythya and mergansers were also present both north and south of the point, and good views of the ice edge to both the north and the south were possible. Other highlights from this spot this morning were at least 29 RED-NECKED GREBES, 3 HORNED GREBES, 2 RED-THROATED LOONS (one adult and one immature), 9 LONG-TAILED DUCKS, well over 100 RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS, a male RING-NECKED DUCK x SCAUP HYBRID, as well as the usual five Aythya and other expected waterfowl.
While the Tufted was an adult male and is almost certainly the same that has been around since January, I never saw a very long tuft on this bird, only a bit of a spiky crest. Compared to many of my looks at the bird off Hog Hole in January and at Myers last week where the long, drooping tuft was almost always visible, this bird seemed to have a much shorter crest. Still, it was diving a lot, so it may have just been slicked back and not showing the full extent of the feathers. Nevertheless, it's worth keeping on eye on this bird and continuing to check around Myers in the event that there are two different birds on the lake. Other than the apparent smaller crest, I didn't see any evidence that this morning's bird could be a hybrid. Full list here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S22142162 -- Jay McGowan Macaulay Library Cornell Lab of Ornithology [email protected] -- 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/[email protected]/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/ --
