Long-tailed Ducks! - 08 Mar 2015

With clear skies and temps to hit the 40's today Robin and I took a drive to Sarnia, Ontario to look for  Long-tailed Ducks. Had the skies remained cloudy we would've remained in Port Huron, but sunny skies required a trip over the Blue Water Bridge so that lighting would favor us.

The mouth of the St. Clair River was open with sporadic ice flows, but ducks were scarce. A few Red-breasted Mergansers were floating in the middle of the river but at a distance a bit too far for digiscoping. A few Long-tailed Ducks appeared, and I managed to grab a flight shot as one took off from the water. Out in Lake Huron a small raft of White-winged Scoters were floating among a dozen or so Long-tailed Ducks but were too far to digiscope, so I packed up and headed downstream of the bridge.

Most of the shoreline along the Sarnia side of the river was ice-choked, but I found a small pull-off where a patch of open water was available. As I sat in the car and saw small groups of Red-breasted Mergansers and Long-tailed Ducks working the Port Huron side of the river a group of female Common Mergansers appeared near shore.  Then, a male Bufflehead appeared next to shore. This prompted me to grab the camera and try to get some pics.  I waited until he dove before getting out of the car, then waited next to the railing waiting for him to surface. Unfortunately I was too slow and he took off the moment he hit the surface. I could only manage a flight shot as he flew past me and landed next to shore just upstream about 30 meters away.

I returned to the car to grab the scope and walked back to get some digiscoped images. The Bufflehead was swimming among the mergansers and a single drake Long-tailed Duck. Score!

I waited for the Long-tail to dive, then worked my way to within digiscoping distance (~10 meters) and got some images when he resurfaced. He paid me little attention and floated to within a few meters and allowed some nice closeups. A second Long-tailed flew in and joined him, and for the next 20 minutes or so I enjoyed some nice digiscoping with the sun behind me.

I don't know where the thousands of Long-tailed Ducks went. Perhaps they were farther downstream, or maybe they've flown north? I'll have to keep my eyes open for reports. I was hoping to see some pre-alternate plumages before they moved back north. Was I too late?

Sarnia--Point Edward Waterfront Park, Lambton, Ontario, CA
Mar 8, 2015 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     40's sunny.
5 species

White-winged Scoter (Melanitta deglandi)  3
Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis)  24
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)  1
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  5
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)  16

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S162250584

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