I spent an hour or so at Stewart Park at mid-day today, hoping that Dave Nicosia's predictions might come true before the winds shifted. It was pretty quiet, but I did pick out a group of 4 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS far off the center of the park and a single female-type BLACK SCOTER further to the west. 50+ RUDDY DUCKS still off the east end of the park, and an adult and immature BALD EAGLE came by, scaring up the gulls that were dropping in after their morning at the compost.
In the late afternoon, I drove out behind the Ithaca airport in the cool drizzle, and on Neimi Road near the west end of the research ponds, there was a pure flock of 70 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS feeding in the road and adjacent shrubs -- letting me inch the car right up into the flock to get stunning views of these beautiful birds. If they stick around that area, I recommend the chance to get such great looks at these often-wary birds. KEN Ken Rosenberg Conservation Science Program Cornell Lab of Ornithology 607-254-2412 607-342-4594 (cell) [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> -- 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/[email protected]/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/ --
