The immature/female BLACK SCOTER was still present off the east end of Stewart Park in Ithaca on Saturday morning. Seeing it among all the RUDDY DUCKS and BUFFLEHEADS requires patience, discernment, and some luck, especially because the scoter spends a lot of time under the surface. For me, overall shape and size were only somewhat distinctive because of varying postures among the Ruddy Ducks, including frequent lowering of the tail. Head shape differences were a bit more helpful (Ruddy Ducks' heads peaked between central and rear crown, Black Scoter round). Clearest for me were differences in the cheek patch. The male Ruddy Duck has a bright white, round, and unbroken cheek patch. The female Ruddy Duck has a dull patch broken with a horizontal line. The scoter has a cheek patch that is duller than the male Ruddy but brighter than the female Ruddy. The scoter's cheek patch seems unbroken most of the time, but sometimes actually shows a faint but very distinctive VERTICAL line through it.
A gray EASTERN SCREECH-OWL remains present in our yard in northeast Ithaca. Late yesterday afternoon, the owl struggled for at least 10 minutes to cast a pellet, but retch after heaving retch yielded nothing. At one point, through my open window about 40 meters away, I heard the owl issue a wheezy groaning "vraf" as it gagged. After all this, clearly exhausted, the poor little bird just rested with its eyes closed, deferring its usual twilight rise to full alertness. https://picasaweb.google.com/114049026073343451957/EasternScreechOwls#594687 1568698802802 I saw the owl for just a few seconds early this morning before it retreated into the box. A brief search under the tree revealed no cleared pellet. Mark Chao -- 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/ --
