This was on Nassau county's Mill River, which runs between the villages of Rockville Centre, East Rockaway, and Oceanside. This is often a good place to look for ducks when surrounding fresh waters are frozen, particularly Common Mergansers (of which 17 were present). This was my first record of Common Goldeneye on the river. Overall, the species is scarce on the southern side of Nassau (even the bay waters) and, I believe, was missed on the CBC.
The goldeneye (a female) was associating with Hooded Mergansers (in a section of the river where it's crossed by Pearl Street). It's a strange association for those of us used to seeing these birds in their winter range and habitats. But it brought back memories for me. The last time I can remember seeing this, the goldeneye was, in fact, half merganser (a hybrid). Steve Walter Bayside, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
