Wednesday at Sodus Bay saw the usual (excellent) concentration of ducks. Highlights were 4 Surf Scoter (1 adult male) plus at least 3 female Common Goldeneye with entirely orange bills, essentially the same as the Irondequoit Bay bird. Very poor gull numbers. Roost flight at the Geneva waterfront found a good number of Canada Geese and ~1000 gulls roosting on the ice. By the time I caught up with them they were too far out for good viewing.
I've put up my own photos of the I-Bay bird, plus a photo showing the two head shapes of Common Goldeneye (round and angular), and photos of 2 different female Barrow's that were at Brewerton, NY last winter. The birds were easily separable, both because of small differences in plumage and because one bird was always seen with its neck outstretched and the other with its head tucked. None so far this year but there aren't any goldeneye there yet. With the naked eye, under any good light, the bright yellow bill on the Barrow's roared out of the dull-billed goldeneye flock like a tiny sun. https://www.flickr.com/photos/krankykestrel/ David Wheeler N. Syracuse, NY -- 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/ --