I descried the Barrow's Goldeneye on the West Pond at 7:10 this morning, and it flew out, together with about 4 Common Goldeneyes, at 7:12. There remained 117 Common Goldeneyes, almost all of which had flown out by 7:30. There was a steady exodus of hundreds of Red-breasted Mergansers from 7:00, when I started searching, until 7:30.
I was slightly surprised, when turnng the corner of the information center, to see a Muskrat scurry away from the base of the feeder. I suppose it was eating fallen seed, and I didn't know muskrats (or other voles) ate seeds. I later saw another in Big John's Pond, a more usual place. My effort to see the King Eider at Glen Cove was unsuccessful. Viewing conditions during the snowfall were not great, but the several species of ducks that could be identified didn't include the eider. Doug Futuyma Stony Brook, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
