Sue's Bird Blog Archives

Great Cormorant on Irondequoit Bay

Published January 03, 2018
Tags: General Observations, great cormorant, double-crested cormorant, great black-backed gull, fish crow

Today, Celeste and I took a drive out to Irondequoit Bay where a regional rarity was found by Brian Morse. Brian found a Great Cormorant at the Newport Marina on Dec. 31st! What a great find!

It was still bitter cold this morning but we managed to endure the stiff winds long enough to grab a few photos of this large cormorant. There were a few Double-crested Cormorants nearby, along with a few ducks and gulls. The open water has been freezing little by little and I don't imagine this cormorant will want to stay much longer. Hurry if you want to see this guy!

After Newport Marina, we headed on to a few other Rochester hotspots, adding a few new year birds to our lists. I think, besides a dark Snowy Owl, a Fish Crow was the day's favorite. Not only did we get to hear their call but one flew right overhead!

Out on Church Road, we saw all 3 field birds in a large flock: Snow Buntings, Horned Larks, and Lapland Longspurs. Unfortunately, they were too far out for photos.

All in all, it was a very good day!