Late this afternoon, Saturday, I decided to visit one of my past local waterfowl hotspots, the old railroad grade over Berlin Lake. It is now the developed Berlin Lake Trail. Over the years this has always been my best spot for finding good numbers of Canvasbacks and Goldeneyes, today did not disappoint. From 4:15PM to 6:00PM I birded the area from The Berlin Lake Trailhead at SR224, to the old railroad bridge over the lake and return, totaling a 2.5 mile walk. The 1.25 mile trek to the four hundred foot plus long bridge, is worth the walk, just for the view. The numbers and species I found off both sides of the trail was pretty remarkable. The following is a list of what I saw and what I believe to be a conservative estimate of each species seen. The numbers can represent a comparison of what was there. Here is what I saw: Canada Goose ~ 200+, Gadwall ~ 100+, American Wigeon ~ 200+, American Black Duck ~ 350+, Mallard ~ 1200+, Northern Pintail ~ 600+, Green-winged Teal ~ 50+, Canvasback ~ 150+, Redhead ~ 250+, Ring-necked Duck ~ 150+, Lesser Scaup ~ 300+, Common Goldeneye ~ 120+, Hooded Merganser ~ 200+, Common Merganser ~ 50+, Red-breasted Merganser ~ 20+, and Horned Grebe ~ 1. To reach the site, follow SR224 1.5 miles east of the town of Deerfield in eastern Portage County, to the well marked trailhead parking lot, on the southside of the road. A scope is necessary for viewing. Additional viewing can be achieved another 1.1 miles farther to the east, from the SR224 Causeway. At this Causeway location on March 23, 2010 there were 33 Long-tailed Ducks; always worth checking out! Bob Lane / Mahoning County  


                                          
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