Andrew VanNortstrand and I birded the east side of Cayuga Lake and the Montezuma area today. Conditions were good, if a little chilly, after the morning rain stopped. At Stewart Park we found no terns but did see a Ruddy Duck and a Ring-necked Duck sleeping side by side. Myers Point and Long Point were both unrewarding, and a BONAPARTE'S GULL was the only bird of interest at Mud Lock. Lots of swallows were flying over the lake today at every stop. At Montezuma, the visitor center pond had a few ducks but no shorebirds or geese. The channel at the beginning of the wildlife drive had ten Lesser Yellowlegs, a Least Sandpiper, and a juvenile STILT SANDPIPER. The main pool has some water in it now, but most of its inhabitants are obscured by the smartweed.
Tschache had good numbers of waterfowl in the back, including hundreds of wigeon (seen flying briefly) and ~150 Ring-necked Ducks, as well as smaller numbers of Gadwall and Redhead. May's Point had only three Least Sandpipers. East Road had the most shorebirds of the day, with three (later 11) LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, 20+ Pectoral Sandpipers, 4 Semipalmated Plovers, 4 Least Sandpipers, 2 Greater Yellowlegs, 5 and Lesser Yellowlegs. The most intriguing bird of the day was also at East Road. Shorebirds were flying around a lot (probably because of the many harriers combing the area), and as one flock of ten or so Pectoral Sandpipers approached us, I scanned it briefly, looking for smaller shorebirds (hoping for a Baird's) among them. After I had moved on, Andrew called my attention to a larger bird in the flock. I got the scope on them as they were headed away, and followed them into the distance to the north. One bird was noticeably larger than the other birds in the flock (whose identity as Pectorals I'm pretty confident of, as I got a decent look initially and they were calling.) We estimated perhaps a third again the wingspan, and significantly heavier-bodied than the Pectorals. The overall proportions and patterning were very similar, and I got a good enough look at the face to be sure it wasn't a plover or anything else but a sandpiper. The rump was dark, but the white sides of the rump were very bright (such that I very briefly thought it might be a turnstone.) I never saw the bird head-on, but Andrew's impression was that it was quite buffy on the front. The flight pattern was similar to the Pectorals except for the longer wings, and it easily outdistanced them several times as they sped away. Our look was unfortunately brief and highly inconclusive, but it would not surprise me if this bird was a juvenile RUFF. It's conceivable it could have been a huge male Pectoral with a flock of females, but the size discrepancy seemed too great to me. We looked around the area for a while subsequently and revisited East Road a couple of hours later, but failed to refind the flock. Anyone birding in the area should keep an eye out for a larger shorebird... A check of shorebird spots around Savannah was largely unproductive. The plowed field in the mucklands had no shorebirds but 20 Horned Larks, a PEREGRINE FALCON (perched in the field), two SANDHILL CRANES, a flyby MERLIN. The Savannah-Spring Lake Road pond and the new pond across from the Audubon Center were uninhabited, and the mud at the end of Van Dyne Spoor Road had three Pectorals and two Lesser Yellowlegs. Three juvenile and three adult TRUMPETER SWANS were hanging out in a little pond along 31/89 south of Savannah. Finally, on my way home I saw a GREAT EGRET with a couple of hundred Canada Geese at the George Road pond in Dryden. Jay McGowan Dryden, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES Archives: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
