Sunday, March 6, 2016

St. Clair River Sunday

It was a calm day, good for checking out the St. Clair River.  The sun came out after the fog lifted.
Many of the ducks have dispersed, as I did not see any big rafts.




I only went as far as the Shell Dock, Corunna where the wintering Double-crested Cormorant was roosting.  It has successfully stayed all winter, but this was the first time I managed to see the bird.

Cormorant playing the Shell Game


There was hardly anything close in at Guthrie Park, but I scoped out the ducks farther out.  Nothing of note was found.
A number of gulls were floating on ice floes on the Michigan side.  I picked out a couple of Glaucous, while a young Iceland Gull was swimming mid-river.

Earlier I came across some Red-breasted Mergansers at the south end of Fawn Island.  One was doing some sort of display.



Lots of Canada Geese were at Cath'scart Park but not even a Cackler.  The Cackling Goose is just plain rare in these parts.  Cathcart Park is one of the better spots for viewing waterfowl.

I stopped at Willow Park in front of the Lambton Generating Station, but not much shows up here anymore since the station was closed.  This was one of the best spots in winter when there was warm water outflow.
I did see a White-winged Scoter in the distance though.



Some Canada Geese were present including this one which was very slightly smaller than the rest.



After Guthrie Park, I headed inland and had no luck in finding anything.  Just plain quiet in the good spots this winter!



On another note, my three Trumpeter Swans at Hillman yesterday were apparently not seen again.  I though for sure they would have shown up again, but they must have been on a mission!


2 comments:

  1. Saw them on Sunday am at the inner cell of Hillman near the tower on the loop

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    1. Yes, I saw your ebird list this morning. One would think that they would stick around!

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