All, I still have not succeeded in crossing paths with the Redhead x Ring-necked Duck hybrid floating around in the Aythya flocks at the south end (although Chris and Jessie saw it briefly off East Shore yesterday morning), but I did finally see not one but two different Ring-necked Duck x scaup hybrids near the Tufted Duck on Friday: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S21503642
As well as a Redhead x scaup hybrid that had not been reported previously, to my knowledge, yesterday near the ice edge at the southwest corner: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S21522340 This bird is very similar looking to the presumed Redhead x scaup hybrid Livia and I found last winter: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17493677 And here is another list from Friday with a few more Tufted Duck photos, though sadly no hybrids: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S21507613 It does have some photos of the continuing Black Scoter, however. I was puzzled last week by my observation that this bird had some dark on the cheek, which made me wonder (from a distance) whether it might have been an aberrant Surf Scoter or something. Now that I have seen it closer, I'm guessing it's a young male, with some orange developing on the bill and some dark on the cheek. On Wed, Jan 21, 2015 at 10:36 AM, Jay McGowan <[email protected]> wrote: > We also checked for the Tufted Duck this morning but were rebuffed by the > misty, shimmery lake. The female BLACK SCOTER was visible out with the > mergansers in the southwest corner of the lake, but the Aythya flocks were > too distant to scan with much confidence. Aythya watchers looking for the > Tufted Duck should also be on the lookout for two cool hybrids seen > recently, a Redhead x Ring-necked Duck and a Ring-necked Duck x scaup sp.: > http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S21400518 > Sightings of either of these birds should be reported here as both are > extremely rare. > > The gull assemblage off East Shore Park this morning yielded a single > GLAUCOUS GULL (probably a third-cycle: gray back, white wing coverts and > wingtips, pink-and-black bill), as well as one and possibly two adult > ICELAND GULLS. Apparently the same Glaucous Gull was subsequently present > at the compost around 9:30 this morning. > > > -- > Jay McGowan > Macaulay Library > Cornell Lab of Ornithology > [email protected] > -- Jay McGowan Macaulay Library Cornell Lab of Ornithology [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/ --
