Jessie and I went Hog Hole this evening, not knowing of all the fun at Stewart Park. In addition to excellent views of the adult Franklin's Gull, we had what was in many ways almost a bigger surprise -- an adult male Least Bittern that we saw in flight! I considered this to be one of my more overdue Tompkins county birds, which I knew I would eventually hear flying over some evening (having heard recordings of several that Steve Kelling has had over his house). But to see it while in flight while it was still light enough to see very well, was certainly a big surprise.
>From my eBird notes: Least Bittern (Ixobrychus exilis) 1 ***Presumably a rare but regular migrant in the county, but infrequently detected away when not heard as a nocturnal migrant. County bird for both CLW and JHB. Found at 7:44pm when it came flying out from the behind the trees on the NW side of Hog Hole, where it was almost certainly roosting in the cattail marsh for the day. Very good views in flight. First noticed floppy quick wingbeats, very different from Green Heron, with wingbeats much deeper and quicker. Legs appeared to be somewhat longer. Adult male with black crown and upperparts. Wings showed bold and extensive buff contrasting boldly with rest of upperwing (unlike uniformly, or nearly uniformly dark upperwing of Green Heron). Not too often that we get two county birds in one day! Cheers, Chris Wood eBird & Neotropical Birds Project Leader Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York http://ebird.org http://neotropical.birds.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/ --
