17 April 2010 - Saugerties Lighthouse - Ulster County A short walk out to the lighthouse today produced two adult Bald Eagles directly across the river from the lighthouse; a Raven flying overhead toward Esopus Bend NP; several DC Cormorants; Carolina Wren; and my FOS Gnatcatcher and Swamp Sparrow.
Most interesting was a pair of Scaup swimming and diving right next to the lighthouse. At first I thought they were Greater Scaup based on the rounded head shape compared to that of the Lesser Scaup. Then another look showed it wasn't as rounded as it first appeared and I was tempted to call them Lesser Scaup. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera handy as this would have made a great photo for an ID challenge. Researching various web sites didn't help. Light conditions weren't very good but they certainly were cooperative, allowing close study with binoculars. I am 51% certain they were Lesser Scaup, but for the record I will reluctantly list them as Scaup species. Good birding to all, Frank Murphy Copake Lake, NY [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
