A correction to this previous post.  The title should read 'Mar 09' and
not 'Mar 08'.  Apologies for any confusion - James

Hi - 
    My wife Angie and I visited a couple spots along Maumee Bay
yesterday morning to look for waterfowl and any other early migrants.
The strong, 20+ mph northwestern winds made viewing difficult (and
unpleasant), concealing many ducks among the ebb and flow of the bay's
small whitecaps.  However, the conditions did concentrate several large
flotillas of ducks in the more secluded spots of the bay, particularly
near the 'Bayshore' power plant, where we first stopped.  The following
is a brief summation of our sightings.  The larger waterfowl numbers are
conservative estimates only, derived from counting groups of twenty.
 
Maumee Bay (east of the power plant, near the Veteran's Park)
American Black Duck        23
Greater Scaup        75
Lesser Scaup        130   
Aythya spp.     200 (several large, unidentifiable enclaves further out
in the bay)
Common Goldeneye    215 (undercounted)
Common Merganser    145
 
Following this stop, we made a brief made a brief driving excursion
through Maumee Bay State Park.  The highlights:
Bufflehead        6
Hooded Merganser    2  (a male/female pair, with the male swallowing a
crayfish whole)
Great Blue Heron        1
Bald Eagle        2 (both sub-adults)
Northern Harrier    1
Red-tailed Hawk     2
Rough-legged Hawk    1
Horned Lark    7 (all fly-overs, heading E/NE)
Red-winged Blackbird    5 (all males, including one signing)
 
All the larids we found at both locales were either Herring or
Ring-billed, and we did not keep track of numbers for these.
 
Good birding,
 
James Cole
Lucas Co.

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