Sandy Tkach and I conducted the March monthly survey on Friday
(3/20/2015).  This was the 18th year for the March survey.  After two
months of below average surveys, this one hit the charts!  The 18 year
average for species was 54 but is now 55 with the 68 species we observed.
The 18 year average for number of individuals is 5628 and we had 8767.  Two
new species were added to the March list bring it to 108 species observed.
Those two species were an adult Thayer's Gull and first-year Glaucous
Gull.  Much of the ice that had surrounded the island on the east. south,
and southwest was gone.  The NW and north were still frozen as far as we
could see.  In the early morning there were large ice flows moving along
the south side with large numbers of gulls sitting on them.  We probably
missed some more of the white-winged gulls.  But the 155 Great Black-backed
Gull was a record number and there were probably more of them as well.
There also appeared to be the beginning of a hawk movement as we had a
small kettle with Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Cooper's Hawk,
Red-shouldered Hawk, and American Kestrel moving north over the middle of
the island together.

112     Canada Goose
2         Wood Duck
1         Gadwall
2         American Wigeon
3         American Black Duck
42       Mallard
6         Northern Pintail
1         Canvasback
119      Redhead
1         Ring-necked Duck
204      Greater Scaup
16        Lesser Scaup
122      Bufflehead
2164    Common Goldeneye
3         Hooded Merganser
123      Common Merganser
1115     Red-breasted Merganser
1          Ruddy Duck
900      Duck species?
*          Wild Turkey
1         Horned Grebe
1         Great Blue Heron
*          Turkey Vulture
16        Bald Eagle
1          Northern Harrier
2          Cooper's Hawk
1          Red-shouldered Hawk
1          Red-tailed Hawk
4          Killdeer
1          American Woodcock
14        Ring-billed Gull
1158     Herring Gull
1          Thayer's Gull (adult)
1          Iceland Gull (1st year)
2          Lesser Black-backed Gull (both adults)
1          Glaucous Gull (1st year)
155       Great Black-backed Gull
125       Gull species
4          Mourning Dove
3          Eastern Screech-Owl
3          Belted Kingfisher
1          Red-bellied Woodpecker
2          Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
36        Downy Woodpecker
5          Northern Flicker
1          American Kestrel
4          Blue Jay
79        American Crow
79        Black-capped Chickadee
5          White-breasted Nuthatch
2          Brown Creeper
2          Carolina Wren
1          Golden-crowned Kinglet
2          Eastern Bluebird
5          Hermit Thrush
126      American Robin
12        European Starling
1          Yellow-rumped Warbler
34        American Tree Sparrow
4          Fox Sparrow
24        Song Sparrow
8          White-throated Sparrow
45        Dark-eyed Junco
77        Northern Cardinal
1205     Red-winged Blackbird
28        Rusty Blackbird
391      Common Grackle
51        Brown-headed Cowbird
20        House Finch
2          Purple Finch
1          American Goldfinch
82        House Sparrow

68 species plus two not observed on route
8767 individuals

* = species observed on island but not on route

Tom

--
H. Thomas Bartlett
Tiffin, Ohio
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