Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Loons Keep Moving

I must admit I am slightly disappointed with how the day turned out, but the common loons continued migrating in solid, if unspectacular numbers.

Weather: Turned out to be cloudy most of the day, with occasional sun and strong SE wind which made the day feel colder than the upper 50s.

Waterbird Count: 192 common loons, 6 red-throated loons. Also thrown in the mix were 49 RB mergansers, 32 scaup sp, 18 double-crested cormorants, 17 greater scaup, 9 RN grebes, 6 common mergansers, 4 red-headed ducks (my first of the season), 3 gadwall, 3 WW scoters, 3 sandhill cranes, 2 common goldeneye.

Shorebirds: The piping plover was on the beach again in the morning.

Gulls: Finally something new! 4 Bonaparte's gulls

Other Sightings: Raptors raptors and more raptors! We had sharpies around the beach all day, spotted some harriers, rough-leggeds, red-tail, and bald eagles. Turkey vulutres were out kettling again.

I am reluctantly taking a day off tomorrow, and I'm not even going to check the weather forcast for fear that I'll see good conditions and end up at the shack at 7am when I should be sleeping. The count is in excellent hands though, I'll pass along the results tomorrow.

Andy N
Waterbird Counter

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