Today (the 29th) was a busy day at McGulpin! The weather was finally clear throughout the count, with light NW winds and the first spattering of snow into the afternoon. Large flocks of ducks were moving on the horizon, and Red-breasted and Common Mergansers were loafing in rafts with Horned Grebes throughout the day. Long-tails were also active in good numbers, but the highlight of the day by far was the appearance of a Harlequin Duck (likely the same bird from St. Ignace last weekend) right off the beach. It looked like a young bird, and was foraging near the shore for about three hours in the morning before I lost track of it. I think it either took off or drifted around the west point of the beach, so perhaps it will be back tomorrow as well.
I’ve added the numbers from the short count on the 27th to the bottom of this post as well – I cut it short due to poor visibility conditions.
