[cayugabirds-l] Common Merganser evades Bald Eagles

[Kevin J. Cummings]

Hi all,

I was riveted by an encounter between two adult Bald Eagles and a female Common 
Merganser on Dryden Lake today.  The merganser was in a small patch of open 
water, in an otherwise mostly frozen-over lake, and the eagles were perched on 
the ice edge just a few feet away.  One or both eagles would periodically fly 
up and hover over the merganser with talons outstretched, and she would 
promptly dive under the surface.  The hovering eagle would either land back on 
the ice edge or plunge into the water, coming up empty-handed each time.  The 
merganser would resurface, and the whole process repeated itself for several 
minutes.  To my eye, the merganser remained surprisingly calm and cool the 
entire time.  At times she was almost preening but remained vigilant.  The 
degree to which the eagles dwarfed her in size was very striking.  Eventually 
the eagles gave up and flew off.  I was thoroughly mesmerized.

Kevin


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[cayugabirds-l] Reminder: CBC webinar with Melissa Groo December 14

[Diane Morton]

Award-winning wildlife photographer Melissa Groo will present "Color and
Grace: Birds of East Africa" at Cayuga Bird Club's online meeting/webinar
on Monday, December 14 at 7:30 pm.

Register to attend the webinar here: https://tinyurl.com/cbc202012mtg

. Cayuga Bird Club webinars are open to the public.

Melissa will share stories and photos about some of her favorite birds in
East Africa, drawing from her visits while leading photo tours in Tanzania,
as well as from her time in Uganda on assignment for a magazine.

About the Speaker: Melissa Groo is a wildlife photographer, writer, and
conservationist with a passion for educating people about the marvels of
the natural world. She believes that photography can be both fine art and a
powerful vehicle for storytelling, and considers herself a “wildlife
biographer” as much as a wildlife photographer. It is her mission to raise
awareness and change minds about not only the extrinsic beauty of animals,
but also their intrinsic worth.

Melissa is a contributing editor to Audubon magazine, and advises the
National Audubon Society on photography content. She’s helped them develop
an online resource on bird photography tips and techniques, and also
advises them on ethics in photography, beginning with the co-authoring of
Audubon’s landmark "Guide to Ethical Bird Photography." Melissa is an
Associate Fellow with the International League of Conservation
Photographers. She is also teaching a new online course on bird photography
at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

The December 14th webinar will begin with the speaker's presentation,
followed by Cayuga Bird Club's regular meeting.

Diane Morton
Cayuga Bird Club

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[cayugabirds-l] Golden eyes

[Donna Lee Scott]

Besides ~1000 Canada Geese & -~60 Mallards, there are ~170 Common Golden eyes 
in lake out from about where Algerine Road used to go straight down to Cayuga 
Lake.

Also, my 2 dozen Pine Siskins were at my nyjer feeders when I left house 45 
min. ago!
Regulars for a couple weeks now.

Donna Scott
Lansing
Sent from my iPhone

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[cayugabirds-l] Thousands of snow geese .. Union Springs

[John and Fritzie Blizzard]

Daughter, Becky & I have just been watching numerous huge flocks of 
snows heading SSW over Cayuga Lake. They were high coming from ENE but 
with sun on them just before noon  ... beautiful sight. We could easily 
see blues mixed in with them. Didn't look like they were planning to 
hang around. Maybe they heard gunshots.


Fritzie  Blizzard



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