Today, the flight of waterbirds was as steady as the people walking across the bridge throughout the five hour count. Loons put in good numbers throughout with 44 counted total. The best part, for me anyway, was that two of those were Red-throated. These were the first Red-throated Loons of the count. Grebes were also well represented with Horned Grebes putting on a good flight early. Fourteen Horned Grebes were counted in all, while 40 Red-necked Grebes flew by to the west.
This was also our biggest day for duck diversity. The species counted were Red-breasted Merganser, Mallard, Common Goldeneye, American Wigeon, Gadwall, Redhead, White-winged Scoter, Green-winged Teal, and many more that could not be identified in the early morning fog. Two flocks of Canada Geese also flew by, one early in the count and one in the last half hour.
One Great Egret flew to the west. Raptors could be seen kettling over in the Upper Peninsula once the sun came out, but Bald Eagles were the only ones to actually cross. Eight of them did so.
No songbirds or Monarch Butterflies flew over today in the strong winds.
Here is a chart of the migrants followed by a few photos.
| Species | East | West |
|---|---|---|
| Horned Grebe | 0 | 14 |
| Red-necked Grebe | 0 | 44 |
| Duck sp. | 32 | 0 |
| Canada Goose | 27 | 12 |
| Red-breasted Merganser | 2 | 0 |
| Mallard | 8 | 1 |
| 22 | 20 | |
| Common Goldeneye | 3 | 0 |
| American Wigeon | 1 | 0 |
| Gadwall | 1 | 0 |
| Red-throated Loon | 0 | 2 |
| Redhead | 9 | 0 |
| White-winged Scoter | 2 | 1 |
| Green-winged Teal | 17 | 0 |
