Today started out pretty quiet. I counted 1,000 mergansers early and then
things quieted down. Around 9:30 all hell broke loose with huge flocks of
waterfowl and streams of gulls. From 9:30-10:30 I counted about 11,000
red-breasted mergansers. There were lots of other waterfowl passing by
also. Of note was a female/immature EIDER. It was too far to get a
positive ID. It was with a group of 6 surf scoters. All three species of
scoters were seen. All of the birds were heading east. the largest
merganser flock consisted of close to 3,000 birds. This is the most
mergansers I have seen here since 2004. It is still way below the flocks of
20,000+ I had in the late 1990's
Bonaparte's gulls were almost nonexistent. the lone good gull was a lesser
black-backed. Also of note over the lake was a rough-legged hawk.
Undoubtedly the best day of the season.
Lakeshore Waterbird Survey
Lakeshore Reservation, North Perry
December 6, 2009, 7:15-10:30
Weather- cloudy,
Winds- SW 5-10 increasing to 10-15,
Temp- 30-32 F, Barometer- 30.32-30.35,
Humidity-71-74, Dew point- 21-20
Waves- 1-3 feet increasing to 2-4 feet,
Flight direction- east
Canada goose 129
Tundra swan 67
American black duck 4
Mallard 61
Mallard x American black duck 1
Canvasback 127
Redhead 6
Greater scaup 9
Lesser scaup 58
EIDER spp. 1
SURF SCOTER 8
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER 3
BLACK SCOTER 4
Common goldeneye 37
Common merganser 143
Red-breasted merganser 12,739
Common loon 3
Rough-legged hawk 1
Bonaparte's gull 16
Ring-billed gull 946
Herring gull 82
Lesser black-backed gull 1
Great black-backed gull 6
John Pogacnik
4765 Lockwood Road
Perry, OH 44081
(440) 259-2751
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