The cold front that came in yesterday afternoon brought cooler weather, patchy rain, and strong northwest winds throughout the count today. Way more ducks today than we’ve had so far this season, and a good deal of Loon activity as well, including a Red-throated. Most of the ducks were flying east in small flocks of 10-30, and appeared to be primarily Redheads when they were close enough to identify. White-winged Scoters were also moving through today, and there seemed to be several groups of Common Mergansers that were migrating in addition to the Mergansers that have been foraging by the beach for the past several weeks. Also had the highest number of Canada Geese so far this season, with large flocks that were coming over throughout the morning.
A couple of harriers, a Kestrel, and a large group of Turkey Vultures came over this morning as well, which surprised me given the strong winds.
Canada Goose – 520
Redhead – 42
Aythya sp – 40
White-winged Scoter – 5
Scoter sp – 6
Hooded Merganser – 1
Common Merganser – 26
Duck sp – 166
Red-throated Loon – 1
Common Loon – 62
Red-necked Grebe – 2
Double-crested Cormorant – 14
Ring-billed Gull – 11
Herring Gull – 9
Other species:
Turkey Vulture – 30
Northern Harrier – 2
Bald Eagle – 1
American Kestrel – 1
