I accompanied the students of the Birding Club at Cornell around the lake today, following in the wake of Bob and Drew. We had an excellent day, with lots of good looks at various waterfowl and a few other winter birds. And of course, moderate temperatures and no wind never hurt morale. We saw American Wigeon, Gadwall, and Northern Pintail at nearly every stop.
We started at Portland Point, where Bob and Drew's much-publicized RED-NECKED GREBE was easily visible to the north (thanks for the tip, Bob.) Two HORNED GREBES and a couple of Tundra Swans were about all from the north spit. We found a handful of Horned Larks in the field directly south of the Triangle Diner, but they quickly multiplied into about 120, with a dozen SNOW BUNTINGS and 2 LAPLAND LONGSPURS in their midst. Rafferty Road was comparatively quiet, raptor-wise, with only a Rough-legged and a kestrel, but we did see several RING-NECKED PHEASANTS near the intersection with Dixon Road. Aurora Bay was exquisitely calm and full of birds, as it often it. We found one male WHITE-WINGED SCOTER that flew north shortly after being spotted. We missed Bob and Drew's Long-tailed Ducks, but I was able to pick out the EARED GREBE not far from 16 HORNED GREBES, very distant but visible thanks to the conditions. At Union Springs, the EASTERN SCREECH-OWL was sunning itself in the Factory Street Pond box, and a female NORTHERN SHOVELER was sleeping on a log to the far left of the pond. We didn't venture into the marina to scan them, but there were large numbers of ducks and geese along the ice edge visible from Union Springs. Although the Athya numbers weren't staggering at the north end of the lake, the swans were putting in a good showing. Five MUTE SWANS were on the ice with Tundras at Harris Park just south of the railroad bridge (as well as a close Horned Grebe and lots of diving and dabbling ducks), and a couple of thousand Tundra Swans were congregated out on the ice and along the open channel to the north. We found a pair of TRUMPETER SWANS on the close ice edge mixed in with the Tundras, as well as a couple more Mute. Five more TRUMPETER SWANS were fairly close to the road at Mud Lock as well. A scan from the tower at the Main Pool at Montezuma yielded three ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS and four BALD EAGLES. We then headed back down the west side. Sheldrake was relatively quiet and the wind started to pick up slightly (marring the glassy surface of the lake), and we didn't see too much, though a COMMON LOON was visible off Sheldrake Point. Finally, after a break at the Creamery, we headed to Ovid to look for owls. Sure enough, at 5:30 on Rock River Road just north of the intersection with Wyckoff Road, we found two SHORT-EARED OWLS sitting in a large tree, another on a fence post close to the road. Two more appeared after a few minutes, and they eventually all took flight and moved about the area until we left at 6:10. Great show! No sign of Red-winged Blackbirds or other spring arrivals other than dabbling ducks, but it was great to get in a bit more winter birding before spring kicks in. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and nearly everyone got at least one life bird. I ended with 70 species for the day. Cheers, Jay McGowan Dryden, NY On Sun, Feb 27, 2011 at 7:27 PM, bob mcguire <[email protected]> wrote: > In addition to the Red-necked Grebe at Ladoga today, Drew and I had a few > other interesting sightings. The wind was calm and the lake like glass in > several places. And no "heat" shimmer. Therefor, it was a good day for birds > on the water. > > But first we encountered a flock of 100 Horned larks on the now-old manure > spread across from the Triangle Diner. No buntings or longspurs, but we > suspected that they might still be in the neighborhood. > > Aurora Bay, scoped from the parking lot above the boathouse, yielded 6 > Horned Grebes, a pair of White-winged Scoters, and two Long-tailed Ducks. > The scoters were in adult plumage, different, I think, from the WHWISC seen > on the lake recently. There remains a tight flock of Redheads north of the > boathouse, but the numbers seemed reduced from past weeks. In fact a large > portion of the aythya flock now seems strung out along the ice edge just > north of Union Springs. > > Van Dyne Spoor Road was drivable to the far end, but we found nothing of > interest - no shrike, mockingbird, kestrel, rough-legged, or harrier. > > Van Cleef Lake was still completely frozen, and no gulls were present. > > Coming down the west side of the lake, we found the ice edge between Parker > Road (Canoga) and Bonnie Banks Road. We noted goldeneye, a portion of the > aythya flock, Tundra Swans, and a single Common Loon. > > Finally, along Elm Beach Road we found 11 Horned Grebes - likely different > ones from those in Aurora Bay earlier. Not much of interest along Wyers > Point Rd/Sheldrake. And we missed grackle at Bill & Shirley's. > > All in all, it was a good day, and great to be out without needing hand > warmers! > > Bob McGuire > > > > > > -- > > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/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 List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/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/ --
