I spent all today being part of the search team for the missing Cornell student canoeist, on a boat with the fine Aurora Water Rescue crew from the Aurora volunteer fire department. We combed both sides of the lake from just north of Aurora southward to Sheldrake (and back, and back, and back). It was an interesting chance to put my binoculars-on-a-boat pelagic birding skills toward a public good, and allowed me to spend some time out in the middle of the lake, which I rarely do. We were very focused on things in the water, so I probably missed a lot of birds flying over, and the seriousness of the event kept me from actually birding the way I usually do, but I did see a few interesting birds.
First, I did NOT see the Laughing Gull that other Lab search teams seemed to keep tripping over. But I did see a juvenile NORTHERN GANNET that unexpectedly flushed off the water just north of Long Point, at the west edge of the bay formed by the next rocky point to the north. We had seen little other than Common Loons and a few Ring-billed Gulls, so when this very large, dark bird started flying up off the water in front of us I wasn't quite sure what it was. It was big and dark, and the only thing logical was first-year Herring Gull. But, it took way too long to get off the water for a gull, and my brain said, it's having as hard a time taking off as a pelican. That's when I recognized the looong, pointed wings and neat speckly pattern of light markings as a young gannet. The bird flew low over the water away from us, and I managed a few very poor photos (not yet posted). It started to rise and I expected it to get up above the hills on the horizon and give me a decent silhouette (as it flew away forever), but instead it dropped back to the water close to the middle of the lake, slightly to the northwest of where we were, well NW of Long Point, but well south of Aurora. I texted the CayugaRBA, but didn't have time to think more about it, and we never went back into those waters. I got back on shore at Long Point about 6:30 and spent some time scanning from the Wells boathouse, the Long Point/S Aurora bluffs, and Long Point, but couldn't find the bird again. It's a pretty darned big bird, and it did land back on the water, so it's possible it will be visible tomorrow morning if the weather is good. The other couple birds of note were a single RED-NECKED GREBE flushed off the water somewhere on the west side north of Sheldrake, and a single MUTE SWAN flying south along the east shore across from Sheldrake. Years ago Ned Brinkley suggested doing "pelagic" boat trips down the middle of Cayuga Lake to see what we might turn up. We never really did any, but I've always thought about the possibilities. Chris Wood told me this morning to find a Red Phalarope, which has always been a prime suspect for the pe-lake-ic trips, but I think I did a notch better. Gannet was a Basin bird for me. Kevin -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
