[birdky] RPT: More details on Harlequin Duck

The female Harlequin Duck found late this morning by Ohio birder, Donald
Morse, was relocated by several Cincy area birders as well as myself,
Joe Caminiti, and Frank Renfrow late this afternoon. Both Frank and I
got some photos of this long overdue second state record. Thanks to
Frank for relaying Don's post to the Ohio listserve by mid-afternoon.
 
The bird is a *bit* tricky to see in KY, but while there we saw it at
least once swim and once fly out over KY waters, which according to an
aerial photo GIS layer I have here at work is about 50 feet beyond the
outer of two docks that lie parallel to the river bank. The trick is
that most of the time the bird was loafing on the Ohio shore, dabbling
with a pair of Mallards right along the Ohio shoreline, or diving
against the face of the floating restaurant and the docks.
 
The location is quite easy to reach; from I-71/I-75, take I-275 east to
the Ohio River bridge on the east side of Cincy and take the US 52 south
exit to New Richmond (second exit into Ohio); then just follow US 52 for
about 10 miles to a traffic light at Front Street, which angles off to
the right and over to the river. Once Front Street reaches the river,
there is a nice overlook onto the docks (there is just one set attached
to the restaurant).
 
Anyone heading that way tomorrow morning should note that the Cincy area
was expecting 1-2 inches of snow tonight (it was going pretty good and
already down to 32 degrees by the time I headed south about 7:30).
Cincy's AM station WLW 700 gives frequent weather and traffic reports;
the station can be heard easily at least as far away as Lexington and
Louisville if you want to check on the status of road conditions. Also,
the Ohio Listserve might be a good source of update info over the next
few days in addition to BIRDKY.
 
bpb, Frankfort

Other related posts: