A pretty active morning turned into a slower day with activity dropping off around the third hour of observation. Wind was reasonably calm and temperatures were cool. There was much less raptor diversity today and very few land birds were heard in the forest behind me at McGulpin Point. But waterbird numbers were fairly good — a lot more Long-tailed Ducks were on the move today and we have now surpassed last fall’s waterbird count total for Red-breasted Mergansers.
Canada Goose – 6
Redhead – 31
Unidentified Aythya sp. – 1020 (probably Redheads — briefly took flight and then resettled on the NE side of Mackinac Bridge)
Common Goldeneye – 5
Common Merganser – 36
Red-breasted Merganser – 115
Common/Red-breasted Merganser – 2
Long-tailed Duck – 21
White-winged Scoter – 31
Unidentified duck sp. – 176
Other notables:
Turkey Vulture – 15
Bald Eagle – 8