Thanks to the timely CayugaRBA I was able to get down to the Ithaca Yacht Club this afternoon soon after the TUFTED DUCK was seen. This is why I strongly feel folks should report rare birds as soon as possible so that others can enjoy. I was up birding around Myer's Point, and Ladoga with my friend Dan Watkins when the TUDU was reported. There was a lot more ice around these areas than on Saturday. The small open water hole in the ice off Ladoga where Jay originally found the TUFTED DUCK the other day was nearly void of Aythya species and really didn't have much more than a few COMMON MERGANSERS, GOLDENEYES etc this morning. There were much less waterfowl in general at Myer's than on Saturday. We did get the 2 SURF SCOTERS and 3 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS seen yesterday which were target birds. There was also one HORNED GREBE. Otherwise nothing different than what has been seen recently. We arrived at the Yacht Club around 1245 pm and the TUFTED DUCK was still very close to the shore. I got some nice photos and a short video.... https://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157651066408666/ As you can see in the photos the bird's tuft was not long and much more "spiky" as Jay mentions below. The bird was actively diving. Thanks again for the timely rare bird alert!!! Dave Nicosia From: Jay McGowan <jw...@cornell.edu> To: Cayugabirds-L <Cayugabirds-L@cornell.edu> Cc: "nysbird...@cornell.edu" <nysbird...@cornell.edu> Sent: Monday, March 2, 2015 12:30 PM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Tufted Duck, Ithaca Yacht Club A male TUFTED DUCK was found this morning by Tim Lenz just offshore from the Ithaca Yacht Club on Glenwood Road off of Rt. 89 in the town of Ulysses, Tompkins County, west shore of Cayuga Lake. Good numbers of Aythya and mergansers were also present both north and south of the point, and good views of the ice edge to both the north and the south were possible. Other highlights from this spot this morning were at least 29 RED-NECKED GREBES, 3 HORNED GREBES, 2 RED-THROATED LOONS (one adult and one immature), 9 LONG-TAILED DUCKS, well over 100 RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS, a male RING-NECKED DUCK x SCAUP HYBRID, as well as the usual five Aythya and other expected waterfowl. While the Tufted was an adult male and is almost certainly the same that has been around since January, I never saw a very long tuft on this bird, only a bit of a spiky crest. Compared to many of my looks at the bird off Hog Hole in January and at Myers last week where the long, drooping tuft was almost always visible, this bird seemed to have a much shorter crest. Still, it was diving a lot, so it may have just been slicked back and not showing the full extent of the feathers. Nevertheless, it's worth keeping on eye on this bird and continuing to check around Myers in the event that there are two different birds on the lake. Other than the apparent smaller crest, I didn't see any evidence that this morning's bird could be a hybrid. Full list here:http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S22142162
-- Jay McGowan Macaulay Library Cornell Lab of Ornithology jw...@cornell.edu -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net Please submit your observations to eBird! -- -- 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/ --
