No Gannet - 30 Nov 2021


I decided to drive to Port Huron to look for Long-tailed Ducks and an earlier reported Harlequin Duck. It was cold this morning, but temps were high enough to generate fog over Lake St. Claire.

At the mouth of the St. Claire River the action was quiet. My only sighting was a single Long-tailed Duck flying down the river. 

After about 30 minutes I drove up the road to Lighthouse Park and ran into Adam Byrne and Vikki Jones. Both were camped out on the beach waiting for the Northern Gannet that was reported the previous couple of days. I asked to join them and spent then next couple of hours staring into the fog waiting for the bird to (hopefully) appear. 

Toes were numb, but the company was great. After about an hour the fog began to lift. But, in the meantime we had fly-over Common Redpolls and Snow Buntings. At one point a Peregrine Falcon flew out over the lake.




Out on the lake small flocks of Long-tailed Ducks were moving along the channel and floating on the choppy water. A pair of Common Loons also made brief appearances.

At one point a dark bird appeared across the border at the point and started moving toward the mouth of the river. As we followed it through the scope Adam mentioned that the flight pattern was a bit off, and he was right. It turned out to be a Double-crested Cormorant. For a moment, though, it was exciting.

A White-winged Scoter was a nice consolation.


I would leave around 12:30 pm. The gannet hadn't shown, and I don't know if it ever did. But I enjoyed the company.

Lighthouse Beach, St. Clair, Michigan, US
Nov 30, 2021 10:20 AM - 12:20 PM
Protocol: Traveling
4.0 mile(s)
7 species

White-winged Scoter (Melanitta deglandi)  1
Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis)  21
Common Loon (Gavia immer)  2
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum)  1
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)  1
Common Redpoll (Acanthis flammea)  10
Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis)  7

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S159673600

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