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Observation details
***Mega - 1st Erie county record, 3rd NYS record. A similar bird was originally posted as a probable Neotropic Cormorant by Jim Pawlicki. After this siting and review of the images, he is certain that the bird we saw is actually different from the adult (all jet black plumage inc. head and neck) "probable NECO" that he had seen with Dean D. last Monday (July 13th). After communicating with him, I launched a kayak a couple days later and went out to the breakwall while he directed me from land through his scope. I flushed the birds from the West side of the breakwall as they were sunning. Once they were all on the East side, Jim was able to pick out a probable bird, which we then lost track of until this Neotropic appeared. I was at the South end of the breakwall on the phone with Jim when he realized he found it again. I paddled out about 100 ft from the breakwall as to not flush the birds and went up slowly and got some video. I tried to move in closer but flushed them out again. At that point I paddled back in. While observing the bird, the size was remarkably smaller, the tail was relatively longer, and the build was much less heavy. You can see this in the attached image, in which it can be seen adjacent to a Double-crested Cormorant. You can also see in the video that the orange gular area is not as extended as in a DC, and so it creates a a sharp angle with the gape that extends beyond it. I am still working on processing the video. Obviously, this bird is best viewed from a boat... and IMO, a kayak, as the birds will not be flushed as easily in compared to a motorized boat. The water is a bit choppy, so good paddling/water skills are required and a sturdy kayak, especially if windy. Also can be viewed from land through a scope.
Technical information
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