Glaucous Gull - 11 Feb 2008

Bitter cold today, but sunny! I headed down to the river at lunchtime and found a single male Canvasback swimming out front of the Seaway Boat Club at the foot of Perry Pl. A few pics later, I moved on to the boat ramp at the foot of St. John's. 

The river was completely iced over here, but a patch of open water in the canals hosted a handfull of Mallard and a single American Coot. 

Seaway Boat Club, Wyandotte, Wayne, Michigan, US
Feb 11, 2008 12:00 PM - 12:10 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.1 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     River completely iced over except for open water next to boad docks
3 species

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  6
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)  1
American Coot (Fulica americana)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S168164433

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

Otherwise, there was little action here. I then headed down to the foot of Southfield and managed a few flight shots of a male Common Goldeneye that flushed from below the pier. 

A large raft of several hundred Canvasback were out in the middle of the river but they were too far to photograph without the scope. Other ducks seen among them included Ring-necked, Black, Mallard, Coot, Ruddy, Common and Hooded Mergansers, and Redhead.

Dingell Park (formally Ecorse Park), Wayne, Michigan, US
Feb 11, 2008 12:10 PM - 12:20 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.1 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     River open but iced over w/ flows
10 species

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  12
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)  2
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)  200
Redhead (Aythya americana)  25
Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)  16
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  1
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)  6
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  23
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)  6
American Coot (Fulica americana)  10

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S168164919

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

Returning after work I stopped at the foot of St. John's and spent a few minutes watching a handfull of Mallard swimming below me in a small patch of open water. An adult Ring-billed Gull flew in to join them, and I caught this shot just before it touched down. 

I attempted some flight shots of gulls as they made their way south along the shoreline, including a 1st-winter Glaucous Gull. 

No sooner did it fly by that I began to shoot a sequence of a second gull that turned out to be another 2nd-winter Glaucous Gull! I managed enough sharp images to create this composite as it passed by. Pretty bird!

Wyandotte Boat Ramp, Wayne, Michigan, US
Feb 11, 2008 2:30 PM - 2:40 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.1 mile(s)
2 species

Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  1
Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus)  2     1st winter and 2nd-winter birds. White-winged gulls w/ large head and bicolored bill.

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S168165705

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

After stopping at the foot of Southfield (and not finding anything of interest) I headed back south toward Bishop Park. 

Ice was out in the middle of the river, but a large stretch of open water was found near shore so I decided to walk down to the pier. A group of Redhead were swimming below the pier, and I spotted a female Greater Scaup among them. As they swam away I spotted a male Greater Scaup next to shore and got a few pics of it next to a male Black Duck. Walking out to the shoreline I photographed a pair of Mute Swans flying by and spotted a pair of Great Black-backed Gulls out on the ice. A fly-by Herring Gull nodded to me as it passed by.

Bishop Park, Wayne, Michigan, US
Feb 11, 2008 4:00 PM - 4:15 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.1 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Open water near shore
6 species

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)  2
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)  1
Redhead (Aythya americana)  6
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila)  2
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)  1
Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus)  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S168166244

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)