Just got back from doing bird stuff in New England, and in a brief check of
Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas Co., this afternoon (Monday March 9) I
saw 17 species of waterfowl.  Highlights included careful estimates of 650
Redheads, 150 Lesser Scaup, 140 American Wigeon, 120 Gadwall, 110 Mallards,
70 Ring-necked Ducks, and 60 Northern Pintail.  The water is high in the
marsh; many of the birds were quite distant from the road, and a scope was
necessary for seeing many of the birds well. About 30 Hooded Mergansers were
concentrated in the canals paralleling the road, and the males were actively
displaying.  Very few birds were visible on Lake Erie from the end of the
road at Metzger.

In late afternoon I checked the lakeshore from Port Clinton.  Several
hundred scaup were offshore (all that I saw well were Lessers) along with
decent numbers of Canvasbacks and Common Goldeneyes.  Numbers of gulls were
down from last month, but one adult Lesser Black-backed Gull and one
first-cycle Glaucous Gull were still associating with the Herring and
Ring-billed Gulls offshore.  I've seen one to three Lesser Black-backs
almost every time I looked at gulls in Port Clinton this winter.

Along with the waves of Red-wings and grackles, Rusty Blackbirds have
started to appear in this area.  I saw a total of about 100 in woodlots near
Metzger Marsh today, and Kim noted at least 200 in woods around the Black
Swamp Bird Observatory (Ottawa Co., entrance to Magee Marsh W.A.) this
afternoon.  A small flight of Red-shouldered Hawks was also evident this
afternoon.

Kenn Kaufman
Oak Harbor, Ohio

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