Waterfowl Watching and Doomed Diver

Today my plan was to check the St. Clair River as I often do this time of year.  This is one of my favourite spots and I have been doing this since I started birding.Late January is prime time to get a good number of ducks, geese and swans on the river.
Unfortunately, we got an unexpected dumping of snow overnight, and the wind picked up.  It was not good early in the morning, but the sun did eventually came out.

I checked the Snye (Chenal Ecarte) as soon as it was light enough, including the Walpole bridge area.
There is not much to see until one gets to Sombra ferry(less) dock where there is a bit of open water.  Nothing of note was there.  On Friday, a Gadwall and Northern Pintail were present (I did not see the pintail myself) among the usual suspects.

The first open water is at Cathcart Park north of Sombra.  The outflow from OC Industries keeps some water from freezing, and waterfowl concentrates along this stretch.  It was jam-packed today.
When I arrived, a snow squall came in with the bitterly cold wind, hampering my efforts to get a good count.

I ended up with three species of swans!  Over 30 Mutes and the wintering Tundra Swans were mixed in, but I was certain I saw an immature Trumpeter (I also thought there was an adult).  Due to the conditions, I could not get decent photos.
The immature is the grayish swan, not seen well in this photo:

The last couple of days, an immature Trumpeter Swan was at Marysville on the Michigan side.  Perhaps it was the same bird, as it looked identical.

There was lots of stuff in front of OC, but difficult to see due to the trees. I recall (in the Ivory Gull era) when those trees were not there!  I did not try and check those out.

I moved on north and stopped by Guthrie Park where I spent some considerable time.  Most of the time was spent scoping from the car due to the cold wind.  There was lots to see here, but no rarities.

Ring-necked Ducks

Cans

Bluebills

Perhaps in the next little while, something of note will be see here.

I did go into Sarnia, which turned out to be a mistake as the Bay and government dock area was all iced in.  I left in quick order!

There were hardly any gulls on the river today.  I can onlly hope some more come in!

I took a detour inland to Moore Wildlife Management Area.  For a change, there were some birds there.  Usually this is a hotsot in winter, but the last couple winters have been quiet.  Most winters one can find Yellow-rumped Warblers here, but none yet this year.  We have not been able to cross the creek yet due to the high water.
I did have five species of woodpeckers here today.

I got word that a Common Loon was on the Snye near Wallaceburg.  I checked it out and there is a very small piece of open water along Walpole Island.  There were two Mute Swans (sleeping) and the loon partially hidden by reeds.  No wonder I missed it earlier.

Unfortunately, the open patch is extremely small (and will likelly freeze tonight).  Loons (called divers in Europe) need a long stretch of water to take off, so this individual is doomed.  There is no chance of rescue at this location.