Port Huron Long-tailed Ducks, Pt 1 - 14 Jan 2026

Robin and I decided to work on our marriage today, so I made her come with me to Port Huron to look for Long-tailed Ducks (Clangula hyemalis). Skies were gray with forecasts calling for intermittent rain/snow flurries and falling temperatures (currently 35ºF at 8 am); tonight temps would drop to near 0º w/ windchill.

Driving I-94 East toward Port Huron we did run into some scattered showers, but nothing was freezing (yet). My plan was to check out Lighthouse Beach, the mouth of the St. Clair River, and Desmond's Landing a mile or two downstream.

We arrived at Lighthouse Beach at about 8:45 am. I walked down to the beach as a massive freighter moved into the river from Lake St. Clair, and hundreds of Long-tailed Ducks were scattering in its wake. The lake was free of ice so birds were scattered.

As I set up the scope on the beach I realized I had left my binoculars at home, so I'd have to rely on the Sony a1 + 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens as my bins. Despite only being 35ºF I was able to comfortably view the ducks under calm skies without gloves.

Long-tailed Ducks were scattered across the lake in rafts of 50 - 150 birds at a time. I did manage to see a White-winged Scoter among one raft, but otherwise only a few Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Goldeneye and a raft of Greater/Lesser Scaup were seen. Photo opps were few, so I took a few record shots of the closest ducks.

 

Lighthouse Beach, St. Clair, Michigan, US
Jan 14, 2026 8:46 AM - 9:04 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.083 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Cloudy, calm, 35F. Lake St Clair open. No ice.
6 species (+1 other taxa)

Greater/Lesser Scaup (Aythya marila/affinis)  150
White-winged Scoter (Melanitta deglandi)  1
Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis)  650     Rafts of 50-200 chasing freighters
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)  16
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) (Columba livia (Feral Pigeon))  45
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  4
American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus)  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S294177486

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

We then drove over to the Bluewater Bridge and parked at the mouth of the St. Clair River. Things remained quiet as few ducks were on the river in this area. I stood along the rocks for about 30 minutes photographing fly-by Long-tailed Ducks as they (mostly) headed down river. But everything was flying along the far shore or middle of the channel so photos were long-distance and required heavy cropping.

At a distance the LTDU can be confusing to ID down to age and sex. Males in their definitive basic plumage are easy to spot (white head, gray face, black cheeks and chest, pink bill, and long central tail streamer). Juvenile/sub-adult males will show some pink on the bill and may show many of the characteristics of the adult male with the exception of shorter or missing long, central tail streamer. Females are darker overall with blue bills. Juvenile and adult females can be difficult to distinguish but generally juvenile females tend to show more gray scapulars while adults show more brown. Long-tailed Ducks are unique in that they have 3 plumages (Alternate, Supplemental, and Basic) compared to other ducks, and the presence of Supplemental plumages means that there are variations in feather coloration most of the year due to their constant molt process.

All images are cropped in an attempt to show some of the plumage characteristics of males and females.

Bluewater Bridge / Edison Park, Port Huron, MI
Jan 14, 2026 9:10 AM - 9:43 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Checklist Comments:     Cloudy, calm, 35F
5 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  5
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)  5
Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis)  140     Fly-by flocks
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  6
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)  6

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S294183810

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

Our next stop is Desmond's Landing at Desmond Marina a few miles downriver.