Greetings all - 
NOTE to inland birders: Erie is (very quickly) frozen from shore to horizon as of today the 16th. A small amount of open water is present at East 72nd Street, as the powerplant has yet to shut down. A much larger amount of open water is present at Avon Lake Powerplant. Open leads are in fair number, from Cleveland west, with many slim leads of open water visible at Huntington. If you are planning a lakefront visit this weekend, be aware of the freeze-over in your itinerary and that gulls and waterfowl are now greatly scattered. Many birds will move off onto the distant edge of the ice shelf, barely if at all visible on the horizon. Red-breasted Mergansers, at least from Avon to Cleveland, have very significantly dropped off in numbers, and Common Mergansers are increasing. Goldeneye are moving in, in good numbers, and Redhead, Canvasback, Lesser Scaup, and Bufflehead are on the rise. 
Led a Cleveland Metroparks birding trip along the lakefront this morning, with a stop at Huntington Reservation and Avon Lake Powerplant. At Huntington Reservation, in some of the open leads, a handful of Common Mergansers, Common Goldeneye and Bufflehead were present. A trio of Bald Eagles put on a show just overhead. A couple of Great Black-backed Gulls, and a few dozen Ring-billed and Herring Gulls were loafing on the ice. Several passing (heading east) flocks of Common Goldeneye held 20 to 30 birds each. 
Avon Lake Powerplant had 40+ Lesser Scaup and a few Redhead, Common Goldeneye, Red-breasted Mergansers, Ruddy Ducks, Bufflehead, and American Coots. Gulls were very limited in number and most were loafing far out on the ice. Only a dozen Great Black-backs were present. A single adult Peregrine Falcon was perched up in a cottonwood along the east breakwall running out from the power plant. 
Numbers of gulls have dropped significantly at East 55th marina and East 72nd street. Today's count: 40 Great Black-backs, 4 Lesser Black-backed, 1 Glaucous, 2,000 Ring-billed, 500 Herring Gulls, and a lack of Bonaparte's. Gadwall, American Black Duck, Red-breasted Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Redhead, Bufflehead, and Mallards all in low numbers at East 72nd. 
best of birding - Jen
CLE, Ohio
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