13 October 2007

Highlights: JAEGER SP. (1), BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER (1), THAYERS/ICELAND GULL (1)

WEATHER: Light to moderate winds were out of the NW all day giving a chilly, cloudy day. Visibility was good though and the temperatures ranged from 8-10 Celsius.

DUCKS & GEESE: No geese were tallied. Otherwise, MALLARD (10), GREEN-WINGED TEAL, REDHEAD, RING-NECKED DUCK, both GREATER and LESSER SCAUP, RED-BREASTED MERGANSER (220), and COMMON MERGANSER were tallied. It was a good day for scoters, especially BLACK SCOTER with 43 birds tallied through 5 hours of the count. Over 100 SURF SCOTERS and over 130 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS were also tallied. There was a considerable movement of LONG-TAILED DUCKS with over 1600 seen. Last but not least, a single COMMON GOLDENEYE was also seen.

LOONS & GREBES: Once again, it was rather slow in the loon category. Less than 40 COMMON LOONS and only 3 RED-THROATED LOONS were counted. Over 180 RED-NECKED GREBES passed the point though along with a handful of HORNED GREBES.

SHOREBIRDS: The only shorebirds tallied were 3 SANDERLINGS and a single WILSON'S SNIPE.

GULLS/JAEGERS: In the second hour of the count, a very distant JAEGER was seen chasing a gull (and being chased by a gull) to the north but the jaeger never came any closer. A probable ICELAND GULL was seen in the 7th hour. However, it shared a couple characteristics with Thayer's Gull so the exact species was not determined. The gull flew and landed near the harbor but later efforts to relocate the bird came up empty. A single BONAPARTE'S GULL was seen today as well.

RAPTORS: Some species seen today included PEREGRINE FALCON (1), MERLIN, BALD EAGLE, RED-TAILED HAWK (5), and ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK.

Some of the other birds seen from the waterbird shack included SNOW BUNTING, COMMON REDPOLL, LAPLAND LONGSPUR, HORNED LARK, and AMERICAN TREE SPARROW. A definite crowd-pleaser, a male BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER visited the point briefly this morning. First perched on the "Merlin Pole", it later flew down around the beach and then back to one of the "Sharpie Sticks".

The weather forecast for tomorrow is calling for sunny skies and a light north wind.

Thanks for checking in!

Cory Gregory
arcticory@gmail.com
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