Bob McGuire led a great trip. Although it started at the Lab of O, I joined at Stewart Park, arriving shortly before the group.
Highlights at Stewart Park included:
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS - 3 snoozing on the red lighthouse breakwater
PIED-BILLED GREBE - 1 very distant to NW
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER - 2 separate females distant to NNW
AMERICAN WIGEON - 1 female near East Shore Park
BLUE-WINGED TEAL - 1 only seen by me before other people arrived. It was near shore at the east end of the park among Mallards & Canada Geese, and it flew west as I noticed it, alighting near the end of the dock and disappearing among the same 2 species crowded along the edge of the ice. My attention then was drawn elsewhere, and by the time the rest of the field trip arrived the birds in that area had moved, and none of us refound it. I realize that this is very late for this species, about a month since it has been reported in the basin, so one may well ask, "really?" Well, here's what I saw: a small mottled brown duck among the Mallards, but similarly shaped, only glimpsed before it took flight showing large blue patches atop the inner wing (huge epaulettes, not the speculum). Realizing that Northern Shoveler and Blue-winged Teal both have such a shoulder patch, I looked at the head. I did not notice any oversized bill, but I did notice a vertical arc of white in front of the eye. This was not bold and clean-cut, but a bit speckly. Such a mark is shown by Sibley on male Northern Shoveler in November, but Blue-winged Teal should get breeding plumage in November. So, either I'm wrong and it was a Northern Shoveler whose bill I failed to notice, or it was a late-in-the-season, late molting, Blue-winged Teal. I now wish I had spent more time keeping track of the bird or that someone else finds it, as my observation as I read it now doesn't sound as solidly convincing as it felt at the time.
We stopped at East Shore Park to check out a small group of suspicious dark specks on the water which I noticed from Stewart Park. They turned out to be:
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER - 1 female
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER - at least 3 or 4
SURF SCOTER - maybe 1 or 2 females. I think that's what they were, based on size, shape, & color (smaller lower body and longer more rectangular head than the darker birds which showed white in the wing), but honestly I'm not 100% sure, as females of these 2 species give me trouble.
Along East Shore Drive we saw 2 TURKEY VULTURES, which Donna suspects roost by Asbury Cemetery.
Drake Road may have had songbirds that I missed.
Portland Point Road was uneventful, other than 4 or 5 RED-TAILED HAWKS.
Along Ridge Road I noticed a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD.
From Myers Point we saw:
a close male HYBRID MALLARD x AMERICAN BLACK DUCK swimming with a female Mallard. He had a green crown, gray face, yellowish bill, male Mallard pattern on the body but in muted tones of brown, and curlycue rump feathers.
There was also a distant COMMON LOON.
Along Center Road between Lake Road and NYS-34B in Genoa we saw:
at least 12 HORNED LARKS in flight plus several on the ground and had great views of
at least 7 SNOW BUNTINGS, one posing atop a dirt clod; the others feeding in short grass on the road shoulder.
Near the Aurora Show factory an AMERICAN KESTREL was on the wires.
Along Lake Road in Ledyard, near the bottom of the hill we encountered:
hordes of AMERICAN ROBINS
and CEDAR WAXWINGS, plus
a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD and
a YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER. You may have guessed there was fruit on the Cedars and Poison Ivy.
From Long Point State Park we saw
a couple COMMON LOONS,
a close HORNED GREBE, and
a close GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET.
From the Wells College boathouse we saw:
a distant flying adult BALD EAGLE,
7 or more HORNED GREBES, several of which were close,
a close COMMON LOON,
a fly-by female COMMON GOLDENEYE,
several very distant flying small flocks of SNOW GEESE,
3 male RING-NECKED DUCKS accompanied by
an apparent HYBRID RING-NECKED x (GREATER?) SCAUP, which had a rounded head, overall duller dark-brown coloration, a blackish back, distinctly lighter sides with an blurry-edged whitish area at the front of the side where Ring-necked has the white upward point. It was at least as large, perhaps larger than the Ring-neckeds.
In Union Springs at the Factory Street pond we saw:
1 GADWALL,
2 female NORTHERN PINTAIL,
1 male GREEN-WINGED TEAL.
At the Mill Pond there were:
GADWALL,
REDHEAD,
BUFFLEHEAD,
1 AMERICAN COOT,
and circling over a yard nearby 5 pure white ROCK PIGEONS, not associating with the feral flock atop the mill.
From Frontenac Park in Union Springs we saw:
a male NORTHERN HARRIER flying south over the lake followed minutes later by a female
several BONAPARTE'S GULLS far out over the lake, in addition to the 3 common species closer to us, and
3 female COMMON GOLDENEYE.
On my walk home from Stewart Park I saw an adult PEREGRINE FALCON atop a power pylon which I could have seen from my yard had it not flown (SSE) a couple minutes after I found it, and long before I got home.
It was a great day, with good company and lots of fun surprises.
Highlights at Stewart Park included:
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS - 3 snoozing on the red lighthouse breakwater
PIED-BILLED GREBE - 1 very distant to NW
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER - 2 separate females distant to NNW
AMERICAN WIGEON - 1 female near East Shore Park
BLUE-WINGED TEAL - 1 only seen by me before other people arrived. It was near shore at the east end of the park among Mallards & Canada Geese, and it flew west as I noticed it, alighting near the end of the dock and disappearing among the same 2 species crowded along the edge of the ice. My attention then was drawn elsewhere, and by the time the rest of the field trip arrived the birds in that area had moved, and none of us refound it. I realize that this is very late for this species, about a month since it has been reported in the basin, so one may well ask, "really?" Well, here's what I saw: a small mottled brown duck among the Mallards, but similarly shaped, only glimpsed before it took flight showing large blue patches atop the inner wing (huge epaulettes, not the speculum). Realizing that Northern Shoveler and Blue-winged Teal both have such a shoulder patch, I looked at the head. I did not notice any oversized bill, but I did notice a vertical arc of white in front of the eye. This was not bold and clean-cut, but a bit speckly. Such a mark is shown by Sibley on male Northern Shoveler in November, but Blue-winged Teal should get breeding plumage in November. So, either I'm wrong and it was a Northern Shoveler whose bill I failed to notice, or it was a late-in-the-season, late molting, Blue-winged Teal. I now wish I had spent more time keeping track of the bird or that someone else finds it, as my observation as I read it now doesn't sound as solidly convincing as it felt at the time.
We stopped at East Shore Park to check out a small group of suspicious dark specks on the water which I noticed from Stewart Park. They turned out to be:
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER - 1 female
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER - at least 3 or 4
SURF SCOTER - maybe 1 or 2 females. I think that's what they were, based on size, shape, & color (smaller lower body and longer more rectangular head than the darker birds which showed white in the wing), but honestly I'm not 100% sure, as females of these 2 species give me trouble.
Along East Shore Drive we saw 2 TURKEY VULTURES, which Donna suspects roost by Asbury Cemetery.
Drake Road may have had songbirds that I missed.
Portland Point Road was uneventful, other than 4 or 5 RED-TAILED HAWKS.
Along Ridge Road I noticed a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD.
From Myers Point we saw:
a close male HYBRID MALLARD x AMERICAN BLACK DUCK swimming with a female Mallard. He had a green crown, gray face, yellowish bill, male Mallard pattern on the body but in muted tones of brown, and curlycue rump feathers.
There was also a distant COMMON LOON.
Along Center Road between Lake Road and NYS-34B in Genoa we saw:
at least 12 HORNED LARKS in flight plus several on the ground and had great views of
at least 7 SNOW BUNTINGS, one posing atop a dirt clod; the others feeding in short grass on the road shoulder.
Near the Aurora Show factory an AMERICAN KESTREL was on the wires.
Along Lake Road in Ledyard, near the bottom of the hill we encountered:
hordes of AMERICAN ROBINS
and CEDAR WAXWINGS, plus
a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD and
a YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER. You may have guessed there was fruit on the Cedars and Poison Ivy.
From Long Point State Park we saw
a couple COMMON LOONS,
a close HORNED GREBE, and
a close GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET.
From the Wells College boathouse we saw:
a distant flying adult BALD EAGLE,
7 or more HORNED GREBES, several of which were close,
a close COMMON LOON,
a fly-by female COMMON GOLDENEYE,
several very distant flying small flocks of SNOW GEESE,
3 male RING-NECKED DUCKS accompanied by
an apparent HYBRID RING-NECKED x (GREATER?) SCAUP, which had a rounded head, overall duller dark-brown coloration, a blackish back, distinctly lighter sides with an blurry-edged whitish area at the front of the side where Ring-necked has the white upward point. It was at least as large, perhaps larger than the Ring-neckeds.
In Union Springs at the Factory Street pond we saw:
1 GADWALL,
2 female NORTHERN PINTAIL,
1 male GREEN-WINGED TEAL.
At the Mill Pond there were:
GADWALL,
REDHEAD,
BUFFLEHEAD,
1 AMERICAN COOT,
and circling over a yard nearby 5 pure white ROCK PIGEONS, not associating with the feral flock atop the mill.
From Frontenac Park in Union Springs we saw:
a male NORTHERN HARRIER flying south over the lake followed minutes later by a female
several BONAPARTE'S GULLS far out over the lake, in addition to the 3 common species closer to us, and
3 female COMMON GOLDENEYE.
On my walk home from Stewart Park I saw an adult PEREGRINE FALCON atop a power pylon which I could have seen from my yard had it not flown (SSE) a couple minutes after I found it, and long before I got home.
It was a great day, with good company and lots of fun surprises.
--Dave Nutter
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