Yesterday while walking The Nature Conservancy's Great Egret Marsh Preserve on West Harbor there were approximately 200 ring-billed and herring gulls and 30 or more crows feeding in a small area of the (soon-to-be reforested) 55-acre agriculture field. It's likely that they were feeding on earthworms brought to the surface by saturated soils (snow melt and recent rains) and boy did they make a ruckus when two bald eagles repeatedly flew overhead. Bald eagles are almost as common a site as Canada geese in the coastal marshes and I have seldom walked the preserve without seeing at least one (nature.org/greategretmarsh).

Also at the preserve were a pair each of mute swans and trumpeter swans in the large marsh unit. It was a great side-by-side comparison of their physical differences and I was surprised to see them within 50 yards of one another on the eve of breeding season. Some other notables observed were: common mergansers, bufflehead, mallard, Canada geese, and several great egrets on the West Harbor. There are still nice groups of diving ducks in the vicinity, with a report of several hundred red heads on Middle Harbor earlier this week. The marshes are ice-free so viewing opportunities are plentiful!

Tara B.
Ottawa County

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