Hi All, It felt good to drive around today with the windows down and the sun shining. I thought I might let people know where there is some open water with some birds. Mud Lock is quite free of ice and a person with a scope had his eye on a Long-tailed Duck. There were a few Red-breasted Mergansers and an Eagle was in the tree near the nest. I didn't stay as the driveway is not plowed, but there were other waterfowl as well. A later stop in the day had hardly any birds. Must be the Eagle is hunting there. The damn on the Clyde River off of Route 89 had quite a few birds at the foot of the damn which is the only open water. There were Common Mergansers, Golden Eyes, Herring Gulls, Red-headed Ducks, Red-breasted Mergansers, and 4 Great-blue Herons that looked like they were enduring the cold. A Red-tail joined in when I was leaving. I passed a Rough-legged hawk on Route 89 near Tyre and found a beautiful dark morph on Armitage Rd. near the Eagle's nest. I think I saw an eagle there too, but I was concentrating on the Rough leg. I came upon a small flock of Turkeys on Leader Rd. that were eating sumac. One was up in the trees shaking some down for the rest. I did not find the Gyrfalcon.
As much as today felt like a gift, I bet the wildlife was grateful for some sun. Here is a photo of the Rough-legged Hawk. http://www.dianawhitingphotography.com/Galleries/Birds/Birds-of-Prey/13273665_3ptKMG#!i=3893769030&k=TX2HMgF Diana Whiting Diana Whiting http://www.dianawhitingphotography.com/ -- 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/ --
