It was a sunny day with strong winds out of the north. It was an interesting day being slow overall but with a few brief periods of excitement.
Waterfowl: 139 Red-necked Grebes, 13 Common Loons, a White-winged Scoter and a few unidentified dark-winged Scoters. Dabblers put in a weak showing with a handful of Blue-winged Teal, Gadwall, and Wigeon.
Gulls/Terns/Jaegers: The highlight of the day was a jaeger that came in off the lake from the NE during the first hour. It was in the glare of the rising sun during almost all of the observation so there was no way I could ID it to species. It looked like a juvenile intermediate color morph but even the shade of brown was very hard to determine in the sun. There were two more sightings later in the day of possible jaegers (the same bird?) far off in the distance but views were always frustratingly distant and brief.
Shorebirds: A flyover Whimbrel early in the count was the highlight. Other than that just standard peeps, Sanderlings, and Semipalmated Plovers.
Other: The highlight was a young Northern Goshawk that gave amazing views by passing a few yards from the waterbird shack while hunting the beach.
Looks like a nice week of weather ahead. Hopefully the birding will be too!
Tom Prestby
Waterbird Counter
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