Stewart Park was definitely not glorious when I visited at around 1:30 today! Overcast, windy, and rain made viewing conditions hard, and the heat shimmer made any far offshore identifications just about impossible. Close-in I had nothing but Mallards and domestics, along with the three expected gulls. I did have two juvenile Great Blue Herons jousting over the minnows to be speared in the lagoon off the creek, along with a Belted Kingfisher, but that was the extent of interesting birds for me. A scan from East Shore Park added only a pair of Northern Pintails very far off north into the shimmer.
The small flock of domestic ducks hanging out at the east end of the Stewart Park includes some all-white “Pekin” domestic Mallards, some all-dark, glossy “Cayuga ducks”, a couple of Indian runner Mallard domestics (they look like bowling pins when they walk), and a few mixed others, including a broken-wing clean Mallard make that might be a hunting injury looking to hang out with the ducks that don’t fly off all the time. As a rule, anything odd with them is just an odd domestic mutant individual. No loons, no grebes, no scoters, no Cackling Geese for me today. Kevin From: bounce-118671132-3493...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-118671132-3493...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Sandra Wold Sent: Sunday, January 04, 2015 5:03 PM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Stewart Park Bird ID Help Needed Today after the storm clouds parted around 3pm, the sun came out and Cayuga Lake at Stewart Park was glorious, and may still be! Can anyone verify the following birds at Stewart Park? They were in the far eastern corner and then some of them moved westward. 1 Red-throated Loon in winter plumage? gorgeous, elegant, stunning and looked more like a Western Grebe, which I know is highly unlikely if impossible. 2 Red-necked Grebes? but the heads were dark black and bird looked more like a Double-crested Cormorant but Mallard-size, swimming with 6 domestic(?) Snow Geese (orange beaks, no black feathers). 2 Common Mergansers? but looked the coot-size! and there was a Great Blue Heron napping in the muck near the RR tracks! Thanks in advance for any help! Sandy -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- ________________________________ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com<http://www.avg.com> Version: 2015.0.5577 / Virus Database: 4257/8868 - Release Date: 01/04/15 -- 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/ --
