Livia and I checked Dryden Lake late this morning. Although the lake is still almost completely frozen, the tiny open corner at the northeast end had an impressive diversity of ducks, including NORTHERN PINTAIL, GADWALL, AMERICAN WIGEON, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, AMERICAN BLACK DUCK, RING-NECKED DUCK, and four COMMON GOLDENEYE, three females and one male. Goldeneye are generally quite scarce on Dryden Lake.
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S35413814 On our way out we drove along West Lake Road and found an adult ROSS'S GOOSE in a group of several hundred Snow Geese in the wet cornfields near the Rt. 38 end of the road. According to Kevin, the Ross's was still present a few minutes ago (1PM). This is only my fourth time seeing this species on the ground in Tompkins County. http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S35413820 We drove around quite a few other areas in Dryden without too much else to show for it. The only other birds of note were a MERLIN on a telephone pole on Livermore Road and an adult RED-SHOULDERED HAWK perched over the back ditch at the Unit 2 ponds on Niemi Road. Jay -- Jay McGowan Macaulay Library Cornell Lab of Ornithology jw...@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/ --
