Birding Dude: Rare Tufted Duck - A First for Nassau County LI...

A Tufted Duck was found by Gary Strauss on Tuesday January 4th, at Cold Spring Harbor LI. I got word from birder and friend Jean Loscalzo, but I was unable to get out in the field to make the confirmation. I did manage to get to the location much later in the afternoon, but dipped on the bird by getting to the location too late, as it was getting dark. That, coupled with finding out from other birders that it had relocated to an inaccessible location was not a winning formula. Undaunted, I decided I would try again the next day if it was seen. Sure enough, my friend Debbie Martin, whom had I had seen at the location on Tuesday and had also dipped on the bird, got the Tufted Duck early Wednesday morning and immediately sent out an alert. Again, I had to bide my time as I could not make the run until the afternoon. Even though, posts towards the afternoon had not come through on the wire before I started my run, I decided to give it a shot and was successful. I enjoyed views with Eric Miller of the Queens County Bird Club. According to birder Dave Klauber, it is a first for Nassau County and the Northshore of Long Island. Below is a digiscoped shot of the Tufted Duck.