There was a smorgasbord of waterfowl in the open waters of the west end of Oneida Lake on Saturday afternoon. I came up with 19 species of water birds after viewing from 2 different locations. First I scanned from the fisherman’s access point underneath the I-81 bridge (accessed from the Park-and-Ride parking lot near Bartel Rd in the Onondaga County portion of Brewerton), and then from the end of Camic Rd (which is off Co Rt 37 in the Oswego County portion of Brewerton.)
Species highlights for me were the 9 CANVASBACK and my first ever Region 5 CACKLING GOOSE. Unfortunately, I was unable to locate the Eurasian Wigeon while I was there, although he was seen sometime Saturday morning from Camic Rd. Here is the list of species I found: CACKLING GOOSE – 1 individual spotted within a large floating mass of Canada Geese Canada Goose Tundra Swan Gadwall American Wigeon American Black Duck Mallard CANVASBACK – 8 males and a female Redhead Ring-necked Duck – many many many!!! Greater Scaup Lesser Scaup Bufflehead Common Goldeneye Hooded Merganser – 20 birds, all in pairs Common Merganser Red-breasted Merganser – just a single pair Horned Grebe – just 1 very hungry bird who was repeatedly diving, surfacing each time just long enough for me to say “Darn, I missed him again!” American Coot – 2 birds hanging around the marina directly adjacent to the northbound lanes of I-81 in Oswego County (Tri- Bridge Marina) In one very comical scene, I watched as a Herring Gull stole a fish from a male Common Merganser, just to have it stolen away by a female Common Merganser, who promptly swallowed it before the Herring Gull could recover. Ha ha!! Take that you thieving scalawag!!! Mickey Scilingo Constantia Oswego County, NY [email protected] 315-679-6299 -- 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/ --
