Crackers to Quackers

Most of us have almost gone crackers from this winter weather, but yesterday and today were milder and viewing some quackers (ducks) along the St. Clair River was in order.  There are thousands of ducks close along the shorelines affording good opportunities for viewing.  A large number is Canvasback.

Hoardes of Long-tailed Ducks are still on the river, but these are usually mid-river ducks that float downstream, then fly back and repeat the process.  I did see one Long-tailed in distress on ice near the shore today.

Today I went along the entire river, stopping at various points.  Some spots are still inaccessible due to piled up snow, but things are getting better.  I found there was not much in the Sarnia area though.  This American Wigeon at Port Lambton was working the ice floes. Perhaps it is one of the ones I had on Thursday at the McKeough Outlet.

I was finally able to park in one of my favourite parks, Seager Park, for the first time this winter.  Two Horned Grebes flew by then drifted downriver.  One was almost in breeding plumage, while the other was just losing winter plumage. Record shots only! No Red-necked Grebes today, but likely some are out there.

I stopped at the Talfourd Creek bridge at Guthrie Park and noted one American Coot in the creek.  There were several dead Canvasbacks here. In fact, most of the carcasses I saw today were Canvasback.

A Common Scene

Canvasback on Log

There was also a dead swan and some mergansers here.

Back at Seager Park, a couple of Herring Gulls stopped by to investigate a Canvasback.

Gulls are still very scarce on the river this year.

While I  headed towards home at Port Lambton, a Turkey Vulture came across the river. (FOY migrant)

For mid March, the number of ducks on the St. Clair River was good.  Usually by this time, they start dispersing, but with lots of ice still on the lakes, they are using the river. No doubt many are too weak to migrate anyway, as I noted countless ducks today in obvious weakened condition.

Redhead and Canvasback on Ice

Mallard on Ice

As a final note, I would like to mention that Allen Woodliffe has started a blog called Nature Nuggets.  Allen is always out and about and will have some excellent information to share, especially in the Rondeau area.  Here is a link (or check the sidebar on this blog)
http://pawsnaturenuggets.blogspot.ca/

Duck Notes

Port Lambton at noon today

After yesterday's depressing weather, things were settling down today.  The sun was out and the wind had mostly died.  It was a slow start today as I had difficulty getting out of bed!  Everyone is getting sick and tired of this weather as it has been the harshest winter in many decades and it is taking its toll on everyone and everything.

Waterfowl around the Great Lakes has suffered, and much has been in the News lately.  Stories from all over  are coming out of dead and dying ducks and I would like to touch on it very briefly.  I already mentioned the situation almost a month ago as we were finding many dead ducks along the St. Clair River.  Many were Red-breasted and Common Mergansers, and lately Canvasback and Redhead (more Canvasback).

Many canvasbacks wandering the road and getting hit

The simple fact is that they have not been getting enough food.  Open water has been at a premium this winter and sources are limited. One might even speculate that there is less food available than there used to be for whatever reasons.  Many duck populations are not as high as in the past, so an increase in the number of ducks is not a real factor.

Also a month ago we were seeing ducks wandering far inland where we would not normally see them at this time of year.  I think the lack of nourishment had left them delirious.

Recently, ducks have been highly concentrated along the shorelines where it is shallower. Hence more available food.

In any case, studies have been done showing how malnourished the ducks have been.  Here is a good article brought to my attention today (thanks Alan!):
http://fieldmuseum.org/users/josh-engel/blog/sitting-ducks-starving-waterfowl-and-freeze-2014
It gives actual figures of weight.

Another news article for the New York state area is here:
http://www.wgrz.com/story/news/local/2014/03/09/duck-die-off/6241985/

In the past, the winter of 2008 was particularly cold around here and many dead ducks were found on the St. Clair River as well.  Studies on collected specimens determined that the ducks had starved.  That winter there was a rather high number of ducks wintering on the St. Clair River, so competition for food was high.

One can also expand into the phenomena of wandering grebes and loons which has already been mentioned on this blog and elsewhere.  Red-necked Grebes in particular have shown up in unusual locations and in unusual numbers at places they normally have not in the past.  They need food every day and when their wintering spots freeze over, they start wandering!

One of two wigeon I saw this evening at McKeough Outlet Park

Those were spring migrants as none were on the river this winter

It looks like a cold spring, so ice will be around for a while.  Hopefully, though, the weather will get more reasonable from now on!  It has been a costly winter.