Susan, Ann, Diane, Ken, Dave, and I spend the entire day driving up and around the lake, looking for new birds to add to our 2015 year lists (silly game!!) I'm tired from all the driving and don't feel up to a full report. However, there were some real highlights, and I'd like to get them out there.
Because the waterfowl hunters had pretty well cleared out the lake off Stewart & East Shore Parks, we didn't really get started until Portland Point Rd. with two Mockingbirds and a Carolina Wren. There was a Belted Kingfisher in the marina at Myers and a Horned Grebe off the spit (or was that grebe at Long Point?) . On Center Road we ran into a flock of some 100 Horned Larks, very well hidden in the low grass. We had four more Horned Grebes off the boathouse in Aurora. The rain hit us just before Union Springs but we were able to scan the ponds from the car and pull in a few new ducks for the year: Redhead, Gadwall, American Wigeon. A large flock of Robins flew over as we drove up Rt 90 towards Montezuma. Then, at the east end of the Mucklands, we picked out Northern Pintail and a juvenile Glaucous Gull in the mixed flock of several thousand Canada Geese, Tundra Swans, Mallards, and gulls. While we were there, a Peregrine Falcon made one pass, but none of the birds on the ground paid it any attention. We easily found the Snowy Owl that had been reported east of the airport on Martin Road. Dean's Cove was nearly devoid of birds: a small flock of Red-Breasted Mergansers and a couple of Great Black-backed Gulls plus Carolina Wren and Red-bellied Woodpecker calling in the background - until the resident Lesser Black-backed Gull dropped from the sky. Finally, we spent an hour driving the roads around Rock River & Wycoff Rds searching unsuccessfully for Short-eared Owls, but were rewarded with a cooperative Ring-necked Pheasant just off the road and an American Kestrel. As I re-read this, I realize how scattered it sounds! Perhaps one of the others will have the energy to post a full report. It was, in fact, a great day to be out and a wonderful start to the new year. Bob McGuire -- 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/ --
