ML108440571

Age and sex

Immature Unknown sex - X

Observation details

*MEGA! I was kayaking the lake looking for shorebirds when I came around an island and saw what I thought was a Double-crested Cormorant huddled in a tree shortly after the rain. I snapped a few pictures as it moved around and then looked at them. I immediately realized the bird was an ANHINGA!!! a "MEGA RARITY" for New York State. I took a few more photos then posted my find to "Whats App" alerting our birding community. Right after that the bird flew off over the horizon and I thought it was gone. Five minutes later, it was circling overhead again. It landed in a nearby tree and I continued to photograph it. I eventually went in to shore, waiting for people to arrive. Eventually quite a few birders came, the first couple got to see the bird before it dove into the lake and disappeared. The bird was unseen for nearly and hour, but eventually flew around the lake again, this time gaining altitude and eventually flying off. It did not return while we were there this time, another rain storm hitting shortly there after. Other observers included Scott Baldinger, Clay Spencer, Karen Miller, Ken McDermott, Kathy Ashman, Bruce Nott and much to my surprise, Richard Guthrie. He heard about the bird and was not that far away and made it in time to see the bird.

Technical information

Model

Canon PowerShot SX530 HS

ISO

100

Focal length

193.4 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/6.5

Shutter speed

1/320 sec

Dimensions

2307 pixels x 1730 pixels

Original file size

614.99 KB