Today was a good day for waterfowl watching from the comfort of my car
(although it did get a bit chilly when I occasionally rolled down the window to
use a spotting scope).

I began at East Harbor State Park < _http://www.eastharborstatepark.org_
(http://www.eastharborstatepark.org)   > in Ottawa County.  On the left as I drove
out to the beach, three  young Bald Eagles were on the ice of EHSP's Middle
Harbor.  On the right  side of the road, in the water known as East Harbor,
there were two Mute  Swans, some Mallards, and four Great Blue Herons.  At the
beach,  although there was ice along the shore there was open water not too far
out.  Species present included Lesser Scaup (and perhaps at least  one
Greater Scaup), Canvasback, Common Goldeneye, Mallard, Common  Merganser, and
Red-breasted Merganser.  Ring-billed and Herring Gulls were  also present.  After
leaving EHSP, I turned right and headed north to the  end of the road and parked
in the lot of the state park marina to get a view of  West Harbor.  It was
mostly iced up, and the only birds of note were two  Great Black-backed Gulls
and a flock of crows.

From there, I went to the northern end of the old bridge that had  once
crossed Sandusky Bay, just east of the current Rt 2 bridge.  This area  and the
other half in Bayview are open for fishing and birding.  There was  a lot of open
water close to the bridge.  Species here included Canvasback,  American
Widgeon, Ruddy Duck, Redhead, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser,  Lesser
Scaup, and a few Greater Scaup.  The Scaup  species were fairly close to the
road, and offered wonderful  comparisons.  Once when I had both species in view
the sun made one of its  rare appearances and, for the first time, I was able to
see the subtle color  difference between the two species.

Before leaving the Marblehead peninsula, I stopped near the northern end of
the Rt 2 bridge and saw a large dark bird soaring rather high up.  Having
grown up in Hinckley, I really hate to admit this, but it was a Buzzard (aka
Turkey Vulture to all you non-Hinckley natives).  I guess it is okay, as  long as
he waits twelve more days before making his appearance in  Hinckley.

Next stop, the Castalia Duck Pond which contained Northern Shoveler, Lesser
Scaup, Ring-necked Duck, Redhead, Canvasback, Common Goldeneye, American
Wigeon,  Green-winged Teal, Ruddy Duck, Hooded Merganser, Mallard, American Coot,
and Canada Geese.

As I headed north into the town of Bayview,  I noticed a flock of  Hooded
Mergansers in the water that runs parallel to the east side of the road  just
down the hill from the Rt 2 interchange.  On the southern side of the  old bridge
abutment there was less open water and some of the birds were quite  far out
but I observed Canvasback, Scaup (to far out to spot any Greater),  Common
Goldeneye, Redhead, Hooded Merganser, and Common Merganser.

Medusa Marsh is still mostly iced up, but there was a mute swan sleeping in
a small area of open water.

One last note, while on the Marblehead peninsula, I think I saw a  killdeer
flying over a field, but there was too much traffic to get a good  enough look
to be sure.

Sheryl Young
Sandusky


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