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December 2009

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From:
Nathaniel Nye <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Nathaniel Nye <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 31 Dec 2009 23:53:44 -0500
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Hello,

I finally had the chance to make the trip up to Lake Erie to get a taste of
the winter birding up there.  Briefly, the highlight of the morning was, by
my standards, a HUGE movement of mergansers.  I got there at dawn (around
7:15am) and until I left at 9:30am, there was an almost constant flow of
Red-breasted Mergansers from west to east.  At any time during that window,
I could look with my binoculars from the west horizon and pan all the way to
the east horizon and almost always have mergansers in my field of view, as
far as the eye could see in both directions.  Incredible!  I don't know how
to estimate numbers that large very well, but I would say it was many tens
of thousands.  The only other time I've seen such a concentration of a
single species were the Wilson's Phalaropes out on the Great Salt Lake in
July (at the time I estimated 100K - 150K phalaropes!)  There were Common
Mergansers mixed in as well, probably about 50 that I was able to see, but I
would have seen more if I constantly kept binoculars on the flocks moving
east.  Other birds included a RED-THROATED LOON swimming out near the
lighthouse, as well as a flyby female Black Scoter.  Gulls were in there in
the hundreds: Ring-billed (300ish?), Herring (100ish), Great Black-backed (7
or 8), Bonapartes (30ish).  There were tons of gulls flying and stooping far
offshore, but out of range of both my binoculars and (rather cheap) spotting
scope for identification.  No white-winged species.  Several Ruddy Ducks and
a pair of Scaup also showed up.

There was a large concentration of gulls at the warm-water discharge of the
(electric company?) with the two huge smokestacks along the shore about 4-5
miles west of Headlands Beach Park.  This site was near the north end of Hwy
91.  I have relatively little experience with gull identification, but I
know enough to say there was nothing that really stood out from the numerous
Ring-billed, Herring, Bonapartes, and a few Great Black-backed.  There might
have been a Thayers or two hiding in there among the Herrings, but I'm not
good enough to pick one out and know 100% sure it's not a Herring, and there
were none that even TEMPTED me to call Iceland.  Very cool to see these
species in such numbers.  There was a small flock of Interior Canada Geese
on the water too.

E 72nd Street just had more of the same gulls but in smaller numbers than at
the "two smokestacks" place.  2 Bufflehead and a Peregrine Falcon (carrying
a sparrow of some sort) did spice things up a little bit.  A couple Turkey
Vultures were soaring just east of I-71 as I was heading south out of
Cleveland!

Good birding!

Nate Nye
Hilliard, OH

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