[cayugabirds-l] Around Cayuga Lake
Susan, Judy, and I went around the lake today. Of note at East Shore were GREAT-CRESTED CORMORANTS, RUDDY DUCKS, and REDHEADS. At Myers we met up with Jay McGowan. At Long Point there was a huge raft of SNOW GEESE in the middle of the lake. Aurora Boathouse yielded 3 HORNED GREBES and some GOLDENEYES. Mill Pond at Union Springs had GADWALL, AMERICAN WIGEON, REDHEADS, and a couple BUFFLEHEADS. The main species at Mudlock were HOODED MERGANZERS - 80 of them. The highlight was the Mucklands- 3 SNOWY OWLS (one being a juvenile female I think), 300 TUNDRA SWANS, 30 SANDHILLS CRANES, 2 NORTHERN HARRIERS, and 3 BALD EAGLES. We had a Tom Johnson sighting on Morgan Road. It is always a pleasure to see him. He pointed out a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK. Susan found a CACKLING GOOSE at Cayuga State Park. The last stop was the Creamery which was a unanimous decision! Good Birding, Sent from my iPhone -- 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/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Around Cayuga Lake and Montezuma Area Wed 07 March 2012
Spent the day birding around Cayuga Lake and Montezuma. First stop though was Edwards Hill Road in Broome co. where I finally got the NORTHERN SHRIKE for 2012. I had this guy way back in November. From my photos in November vs. today's, it could be the same bird, a first year bird See http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629172472684/ (Today) vs. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/6408944587/in/photostream/ (Nov 26, 2011) Highlights for rest of trip- East Shore Park: 1 RED-THROATED LOON Stewart Park:1 CANVASBACK, 1 PIED-BILLED GREBE, 3 HOODED MERGANSER, 2 AMERICAN WIGEON Myer's Point- counted 160 RING-BILLED GULLS, 60 HERRING GULLS, 3 GREATER BLACK BACKED GULLS, BELTED KINGFISHER, 1 NORTHERN FLICKER, 1 RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER Long Point St. Park overlook from Lake Road- 31 COMMON GOLDENEYES Aurora Boathouse- no grebes, but counted 183 AMERICAN COOTS Twin Oaks Campground to north of Railroad Tracks crossing Rte 90- Huge aythya raft...maybe 20-25 thousand...all common species present. Both scaup, redhead, canvasback, ring-necked duck also american wigeon, black duck, mallards, ring-billed gulls, herring gulls, loads of canada geese and TUNDRA SWANS. Harris Park- another aythya raft...also 100-200 TUNDRA SWANS. Tschache Pool- CACKLING GOOSE among many Canadas. also lots of NORTHERN PINTAILS, and AMERICAN WIGEON. East Road Knox-Marcellus Marsh- about 20,000 SNOW GEESE. The whole flock took off into a swirling mass as an immature BALD EAGLE flew over. It was a spectacle. I got a poor quality video with my camera and several photos of the shear numbers. awesome. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629172481404/ Lower Lake Road- another aythya raft, many more scaup sp in this one but REDHEADS and CANVASBACK still most common. also TUNDRA SWANS, AMERICAN WIGEON, and another decent size raft of SNOW GEESE. I probably forgot a few. But totaled 54 species for the day which is not bad for early March. A few more select photos... http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629172527778/ Dave Nicosia Johnson City, 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/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Around Cayuga Lake and Montezuma Today 04 March 2012
Took a trip up and around Cayuga Lake today with my father-in-law and brother-in-law. We also went to the Mucklands. The main goal was to see large numbers of snow geese and the bald eagle nest at Mud Lock. In between snow squalls, we succeeded. Great views of the Bald Eagle pair. One on nest and the other posing in the dead tree to the right of the nest. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629513869791/with/6807715836/ Also found two large rafts of snow geese on the west side of the lake in between more snow squalls from lower lake road. Photos and short video of the closest raft can be found here http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629149230304/ In addition, huge aythya raft continues near the Twin Orchards Campground. From east road there were many northern pintails, also got my FOY NORTHERN SHOVELER. There was a smaller flock of snow geese at the mucklands...many hunters around. This group was probably around 10,000 or so. I also had a couple horned grebes at the Aurora boathouse and one grebe that was too far at the time to tell if it was a horned or eared grebe in my opinion. I have yet to get the eared grebe at this location and have never seen one yet. So I am not familiar with these species. The wind was blowing hard, the waves were choppy, eyes tearing in the wind and it was very cold so I did not spend much time on it. So I snapped a bunch of digi-scoped images...most came out blurry ...but I did manage this one... Is this an eared grebe? http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/6808014060/in/photostream Thanks! Dave Nicosia Johnson City, 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/ --
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Around Cayuga Lake and Montezuma Today 04 March 2012
The more I look at my grebe photo...the head shape seems to make it a horned grebe to me, it is not peaked toward the front of the head...also the white is fairly prominent... not enough duskiness thoughts??? From: david nicosia daven1...@yahoo.com To: Cayugabirds- L Cayugabirds-L@cornell.edu; Bluewing bluewing-gr...@googlegroups.com Sent: Sunday, March 4, 2012 7:59 PM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Around Cayuga Lake and Montezuma Today 04 March 2012 Took a trip up and around Cayuga Lake today with my father-in-law and brother-in-law. We also went to the Mucklands. The main goal was to see large numbers of snow geese and the bald eagle nest at Mud Lock. In between snow squalls, we succeeded. Great views of the Bald Eagle pair. One on nest and the other posing in the dead tree to the right of the nest. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629513869791/with/6807715836/ Also found two large rafts of snow geese on the west side of the lake in between more snow squalls from lower lake road. Photos and short video of the closest raft can be found here http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157629149230304/ In addition, huge aythya raft continues near the Twin Orchards Campground. From east road there were many northern pintails, also got my FOY NORTHERN SHOVELER. There was a smaller flock of snow geese at the mucklands...many hunters around. This group was probably around 10,000 or so. I also had a couple horned grebes at the Aurora boathouse and one grebe that was too far at the time to tell if it was a horned or eared grebe in my opinion. I have yet to get the eared grebe at this location and have never seen one yet. So I am not familiar with these species. The wind was blowing hard, the waves were choppy, eyes tearing in the wind and it was very cold so I did not spend much time on it. So I snapped a bunch of digi-scoped images...most came out blurry ...but I did manage this one... Is this an eared grebe? http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/6808014060/in/photostream Thanks! Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net Please submit your observations to eBird! -- -- 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/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Around Cayuga Lake March 15th, 2011
Took my wife around Cayuga Lake today. Weather was nice: lots of sun, temperatures in the 40s with a moderate south wind. The lake was choppy in exposed areas with the coves a little more calm. There was some heat shimmer which hampered distant lake viewing. First stop was Stewart Park. Highlight was a LESSER BLACK BACKED GULL among the other usual gulls. There was also a decent sized raft of various Aythya species mixed in with a few other species. There were both LESSER and GREATER SCAUP which made for nice side-by-side comparisons. Also saw a pair of WOOD DUCKS mixed in with the scaup et al. There was pair of GREEN-WINGED TEAL a first of year for me. I also got several RUDDY DUCK at Stewart as well. BUFFLEHEAD, COMMON GOLDENEYE, COMMON MERGANSER and HOODED MERGANSERS were also present among others. Got 2 EASTERN BLUEBIRDS as well as many AMERICAN ROBINS. Next stop was Myer's Point. Not much but got some nice shots of a KILLDEER and a decent digi-scoped image of a very distant RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. There was also a bunch of AMERICAN COOTS. Next stop was Long Point State Park. The south wind was rocketing up the lake across the park. It was very chilly and the lake was very very choppy here. There were 4 GADWALL in the pond by the dock. There were also 2 HORNED GREBES as well as several BUFFLEHEAD. Next stop- Aurora Boathouse for my 4th attempt at finding the EARED GREBE. Again, no luck. The lake was choppy and there was shimmer in the distance. This did not help. I did get 4 HORNED GREBES and I tried hard but could not turn any of them into eared grebes :( We then stopped at Factory Street to see Screechie and he was there sunning himself from his box. I got a nice photo of him. There were no GADWALL in this pond surprisingly, but there were 3 NORTHERN SHOVELERS, 2 RUDDY DUCKS, 3 REDHEADS and several RING-NECKED DUCKS. Got some decent photos of a few of the above. From Harris Park there were very very large numbers of Aythya species and others seen on the other side of the lake adjacent to Lower Lake road. I loosely estimated 10,000 plus? Not sure but when part of the raft took off it was amazing. Being very distant you got a feel for how extensive the raft was. Next stop was Mud Lock and there was a BALD EAGLE sitting on the nest. Then onto the mucklands and besides the thousands upon thousands of SNOW GEESE, there were large numbers of TUNDRA SWANS and PINTAIL. It seemed that everywhere there were dozens of TUNDRA SWANS there were loads of PINTAIL. Given the large number of SNOW GEESE there probably were some ROSS's but I really did not have the patience to sift through them! I did find several blue form SNOWs here and there. From east road, there were only a few SNOWs but thousands of CANADIAN GEESE and again many many PINTAILs. Next stop was Lower Lake Road to get a better look at the thousands of Aythya sp. and others. There were large numbers of CANVASBACK, and REDHEAD. It seemed that there was a higher ratio of GREATER vs. LESSER SCAUP at this stop vs Stewart. Again great views of both side-by-side. There were AMERICAN WIDGEON, HOODED MERGANSER and a few other species too. It was a spectacle given the shear numbers. Sheldrake Point was quiet and very windy so not much other than many BUFFLEHEAD. All in all, a very nice day of waterfowl. I posted some select photos from this trip on my flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157626150897123/ Dave Nicosia Johnson City, 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 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Around Cayuga Lake
Susie I took a leisurely trip around Cayuga Lake today. Lots of waterfowl. Notable for us were 2 RED-NECKED GREBES and 5 LONG-TAILED DUCKS at Sheldrake. I scanned for some time from the observation tower at the Visitor's Center at MNWR. I saw no birds but the view was interesting; many different shades of brown corresponding to the different vegetation types. I hadn't realized there were so many. At the Aurora boathouse, I gave Susie a test when I told her to pick out the EARED GREBE from a line of 4 grebes. She did it, even through the light snow/fog! There were 11 HORNED GREBES thereabouts. There was a NORTHERN HARRIER cruising the shoreline; this was the 4th time I've seen this over the years-not sure what it was hunting for. Maybe the AMER. PIPIT prospecting the shore. In a large tree on the point to the south were 2 adult and 1 immature BALD EAGLES. We saw a total of 7 BALD EAGLES on the trip; 6 were adults. On the Sheldrake side, one of the BALD EAGLES flew out over the lake and then northeastward. On the lake surface, beneath the eagle as it passed overhead, the rafts of ducks flew randomly about, looking almost as if they'd been stirred up by a helicopter; and when the eagle had passed, all was quiet. We also noted an OSPREY NEST on a tall pole next to the salt piles at Portland Point. I don't recall anyone mentioning it before, but probably missed the post. S. S. Fast Brooktondale -- 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 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Around Cayuga Lake New Year's Day
Took a trip around Cayuga Lake today with Nancy Morgan and Courtney Moore. First stop was Sheldrake. It was windy with choppy waves and not much seen. A couple greater black backed gulls, 1 ring-billed gull and several mallards. The horned grebe that Nancy had here a few days ago was not seen. Next stop was Lower Lake Road near the edge of the lake ice. This was where most of the action was. There were literally clouds of snow geese over the middle of the lake. In addition, there were numerous redheads, several lesser scaup, gadwall, mallards, black ducks, common goldeneye, hooded mergansers, numerous ring-billed, herring and greater black backed gulls. There were probably 50-75 tundra swans. We also had a couple flyover horned larks here. On the other side of the lake, at Harris Park, there were at least 500 common goldeneyes among many gulls, canada and snow geese, and tundra swans. At the North Pond, Union Springs there was a nice raft of redheads with close views. also bufflehead, ring-necked duck, gadwall, mallards, black duck and 3 AMERICAN COOT. The Factory Street Pond did not yield the screech owl today. Also in Union Springs we got a great look at a MERLIN in the top of a tree. He just sat for 10 minutes as Nancy and Courtney clicked many photos of this handsome bird. From an overlook of the lake from route 90 between Union Springs and Aurora there were 3 large very dense rafts of waterfowl, probably 10,000 or so. At times, the birds were flying and it looked like a swarm of insects. The birds were too distant to see any field marks, but I suspect they were redheads and other Aythya species. In any event, the shear numbers were impressive. At the Aurora Wells College Boat House, we had 1 female canvasback with an injured wing and a female scaup sp. There were also common goldeneyes canadian geese and gulls there as well. No eared or horned grebe found today. On lake road, past Long Point St Park, we got great views of a northern harrier hovering over the extensive grasslands. We ended up seeing 2 more harrier between Lake Road and Ithaca. Back at Stewart Park, distant scoping was hampered by heat shimmer. Did not see the king eider today. Closer in, near the edge of ice, there were many gulls as usual. Among the usual herring, ring-billed and greater black backed, found 1 ICELAND GULL and 2 LESSER BLACK BACKED GULLS. All in all, a nice day with 47 species to start 2011. Happy New Year to all. Dave Nicosia Johnson City, 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 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Around Cayuga Lake Today 3/11
Tremendous day around Cayuga Lake. Started at Stewart Park at 8 am. had the following: many bufflehead, few hooded merganser, several common merganser, wood duck, several american widgeon, two dozen or so green-winged teal, many canada geese, mallards, few black duck, many common goldeneye, ring-billed, herring and great black-backed gull. also had song sparrow, carolina wren, brown-headed cowbird, downy woodpecker among others. Myer's Point- not much. 2 american pipits on gravel bar. Long Point State Park - 3 common loons. several common goldeneye and bufflehead. Aurora Boathouse- 2 horned grebes, many snow geese and canadas. Factory Street Pond- no screech owl today. nice pair of gadwall close up. also bufflehead. Mud Lock and northeast end of Cayuga Lake- thousands upon thousands of snow and canada geese, along with dozens of tundra swans. also many redheads, lessor/greater scaup, ring-necked ducks, canvasbacks, bufflehead, common goldeneye,common mergansers, and mallard/black ducks. had a belted kingsfisher while watching pair of adult bald eagles at mud lock. From East Road at Knox-Marcellis Marsh, saw thousands and thousands of snow geese. the fields all around east road to the savannah muckllands were white with snows. also had many pintail, ring-necked ducks, american widgeon, along with canada geese from east road . At the Savannah Mucklands from the potato building had probably 100 to 200 hundred thousand snow geese. also heard horned lark singing. there were also waterfowl mixed in with the geese including many pintail, ring-necked ducks, mallards, and black duck. the snows took off and it was a spectacle. there was also a fair number of tundra swans in this area. On the way back along Lower Lake road west side of Cayuga Lake, there was another very very large raft of snow geese probably another 100,000 or more.In addition, there were hundreds of redheads, lesser/greater scaup, ring-necked ducks, canvasback, bufflehead, american widgeon, and gulls. The shear numbers were very impressive. definitively worth the trip!! Total species for day was 57. E-bird list for trip below. All the larger numbers below are very rough estimates Snow Goose - Chen caerulescens 25 Canada Goose - Branta canadensis 25000 Tundra Swan - Cygnus columbianus 150 Wood Duck - Aix sponsa 2 Gadwall - Anas strepera 2 American Wigeon - Anas americana 45 American Black Duck - Anas rubripes 25 Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos 100 Northern Pintail - Anas acuta 75 Green-winged Teal - Anas crecca 25 Canvasback - Aythya valisineria 150 Redhead - Aythya americana 3000 Ring-necked Duck - Aythya collaris 100 Greater Scaup - Aythya marila 1 Greater/Lessor Scaup - many Lesser Scaup - Aythya affinis 100 Bufflehead - Bucephala albeola 30 Common Goldeneye - Bucephala clangula 100 Hooded Merganser - Lophodytes cucullatus 4 Common Merganser - Mergus merganser 10 Common Loon - Gavia immer 3 Horned Grebe - Podiceps auritus 2 Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura 15 Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus 6 Sharp-shinned Hawk - Accipiter striatus 1 Cooper's Hawk - Accipiter cooperii 1 Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis 6 American Kestrel - Falco sparverius 1 Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus 12 Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis 200 Herring Gull - Larus argentatus 50 Great Black-backed Gull - Larus marinus 20 Rock Pigeon - Columba livia 50 Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura 20 Belted Kingfisher - Megaceryle alcyon 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus 1 Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens 2 Northern Flicker - Colaptes auratus 1 Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata 7 American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos 50 Horned Lark - Eremophila alpestris 5 Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus 6 Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor 3 White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis 2 Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus 2 Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis 1 American Robin - Turdus migratorius 25 European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris 500 American Pipit - Anthus rubescens 2 Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia 2 White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis 2 Dark-eyed Junco - Junco hyemalis 10 Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis 4 Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus 35 Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula 100 Brown-headed Cowbird - Molothrus ater 2 House Finch - Carpodacus mexicanus 4 House Sparrow - Passer domesticus 1 Dave Nicosia -- 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 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird:
