22 October 2007

Highlights: CANVASBACK (3), BLACK SCOTER (27), HOODED MERGANSER (1), BALD EAGLE (swimming 1/2 mile)

WEATHER: The weather today was very consistently cloudy with moderate NW winds. The temperature ranged from 11-12 Celsius. Visibility was decent.

OVERALL MOVEMENT: The movement this morning was, at times, overwhelming! The winds from the NW helped a lot of birds along (like the Red-necked Grebes). Like yesterday, over 4000 waterbirds migrated by. Most notable was the impressive Long-tailed Duck flight (1200+) and "Aythya" flight (1000+). Four species of migrants were seen every hour: Red-breasted Merganser, Common Loon, White-winged Scoter and Red-necked Grebe. Long-tailed Duck was the most numerous species (excluding the giant categories of "aythya").

DUCKS & GEESE: The variety today was rather high. Some species seen today included WOOD DUCK (1), GADWALL, AMERICAN WIGEON (20+), AMERICAN BLACK DUCK, MALLARD, NORTHERN PINTAIL, and GREEN-WINGED TEAL. Over 1000 Aythya were seen including a mix of SCAUP species and CANVASBACK (3). Over 300 scoters were seen today including about 200 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, 40+ SURF SCOTERS, 20+ BLACK SCOTERS, and several "dark-winged" scoters. It was an impressive LONG-TAILED DUCK day with over 1200 seen. Also counted were COMMON GOLDENEYE, BUFFLEHEAD (200+), HOODED MERGANSER (1), and almost 1000 RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS.

LOONS & GREBES: Less than 50 COMMON LOONS were seen along with 6 RED-THROATED LOONS. There was good movement of grebes though, over 500 RED-NECKED GREBES passed by in addition to 6 HORNED GREBES.

SHOREBIRDS: No shorebirds were seen today.

GULLS: Some small flocks of BONAPARTE'S GULLS passed by late in the count. About 40 were seen.

No swallows were seen today.

Speaking of things you don't see every day, a BALD EAGLE was seen swimming close to 1/2 mile! First seen flying low over the bay with a huge fish, the eagle slowly lost strength until it landed on the water. Obviously giving up on the fish, the eagle then started rowing with its wings until it finally made it back to shore. The whole ordeal probably took better part of an hour.

Some of the other species seen from the waterbird shack included LAPLAND LONGSPUR, SNOW BUNTING, HORNED LARK, AMERICAN PIPIT, MOURNING DOVE, SAVANNAH SPARROW, and AMERICAN TREE SPARROW.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR TOMORROW: Moderate west winds along with a chance of showers later in the day. High of 51.

Good Birding,
Cory Gregory
arcticory@gmail.com