On Friday morning Oct. 16 2015 Ed Pike did a waterbird count at McGalpin Point from 8am till 10:40 am. The northwest winds blowing at 10 to 15 mph and 42 degrees made a wind chill of about 36 making it rather chilly even with a winter coat on. The waves were again 5 to 8 feet in the Straits, any bird that landed disappeared behind the waves except for occasional peeks; and Long-tailed ducks flying at water level would disappear behind the waves at times.
The count was very slow early and then in the third hour after sunrise several flocks of Long-tails and White-winged Scoters few by. Totals for the morning were Double-crested Cormorant 6 (the cormorants seem to be pretty well gone), C. Loon 2 (both flying slowly to the northwest), C. Merganser 12, Long-tailed Duck 187, Redhead 19, White-winged Scoter 63. Duck sp. 90. One group of C. Crows flew south across the Straits total 37. One adult and one immature Bald Eagle were seen. One Rusty Blackbird was seen feeding along the shoreline.
