Upriver Ducks

Looking Upriver

I went out to the St. Clair River this morning for some upriver ducks. If I lived in Sarnia, it would be downriver ducks! Lambton Wildlife has a February outing called Downriver Ducks, but to me it is Upriver Ducks.
Lately, the river has been choked with ice, but with the mild temperatures the last couple of days, it has opened up. There are a couple of open spots near Port Lambton, but it is tight with brash ice.
The first ducks I looked at were Ruddy. Three were near the shore at the Coast Guard dock in downtown Port Lambton. One almost never sees a Ruddy on the St. Clair River during the winter, so this is quite significant. Last year (2008) I had one on December 28 at Sombra.

Trio of Ruddy Ducks at Port Lambton!

Later in the day, I found another female Ruddy Duck on the Chenal Ecarte (Snye) along with a Pied-billed Grebe west of Wallaceburg. The grebe was in the same spot I had one Christmas Day.
Near the Ruddy Ducks, a bunch of divers were in a small open spot. In it was a very nice male Long-tailed Duck. Once again, there are a number of Long-tailed on the river this winter just like last year. In previous years, you were lucky to see one south of Sarnia in the middle of winter. Things are changing.

Long-tailed Duck (male) with Canvasback and Redhead

North of Sombra, the river opened up quite a bit, and lots of ducks were to be seen. At Courtright, large rafts of mostly Redhead were visible midriver. You can see part of a raft in the below photo. The Algosteel was downbound with salt from Goderich.

Algosteel

I did not see anything other than common ducks here. There were probably 4-5 thousand here, with most being Redhead.

At Sarnia, the usual contingent of Long-tailed Ducks was around. I had hoped for a Harlequin, but I did not find one. Usually this time of year there is one or two around. Perhaps there is somewhere....

At Point Edward, a few gulls were flying around, including a very nice adult Kumlien's. Perhaps there were two, as the second time I saw one, it looked "cleaner".

Not many gulls are on the river this winter, AGAIN, but at least there were more than last week.

One of the better spots for viewing ducks is Cathcart Park north of Sombra. Lots were here today, including at least six Gadwall (two females and four males). This is a usual spot to find the handful that winter on the river each year.

Gadwall (male) Duck

Lots of ducks are out there, but just the common ones. Nice to see, but it would be a treat to find a rare one for a change!