It was an exciting couple of days for waterbird counting this weekend. We had more diversity than has been typical. Saturday morning started out with a flock of twenty-nine Snow Geese on the first scan! This was soon followed by six Trumpeter Swans that flew off the water at close range. These were later relocated in Cecil Bay. American Crows came across in waves. Ducks and Loons moved through the Straits in good numbers throughout the count. Here is the breakdown.
| Species | East | West |
|---|---|---|
| Double-crested Cormorant | 7 | 16 |
| Snow Goose | 0 | 29 |
| Long-tailed Duck | 7 | 44 |
| Redhead | 55 | 57 |
| Green-winged Teal | 0 | 2 |
| Common Loon | 16 | 5 |
| Greater Scaup | 0 | 3 |
| Aythya sp. | 110 | 25 |
| Red-necked Grebe | 2 | 0 |
| White-winged Scoter | 9 | 54 |
| Mallard | 0 | 7 |
| Horned Grebe | 0 | 2 |
| American Wigeon | 0 | 15 |
| Duck sp. | 12 | 0 |
| Surf Scoter | 0 | 5 |
Sunday morning continued the good diversity and added the first Bonaparte’s Gull of the season. The highlight, however, were the twelve Northern Harriers that flew across the straits. Here is the list followed by some photos from both days.
| Species | East | West |
|---|---|---|
| White-winged Scoter | 14 | 24 |
| Double-crested Cormorant | 10 | 5 |
| Mallard | 0 | 2 |
| Redhead | 14 | 148 |
| Red-breasted/Common Merganser | 2 | 0 |
| Common Loon | 12 | 2 |
| Long-tailed Duck | 0 | 12 |
| Surf/Black Scoter | 0 | 6 |
| Suck sp. | 10 | 2 |
| Gadwall | 3 | 0 |
| Red-throated Loon | 1 | 1 |
| American Wigeon | 0 | 4 |
| Greater Scaup | 1 | 0 |
