Back To Port Huron - 11 Feb 2026

I wanted to get back to Port Huron to see if I could photograph any more Long-tailed Ducks showing molt transition from Basic to Pre-Alternate. My last trip produced some ducks with this evidence. Skies were overcast this morning and temperature was hovering at about 30ºF so the drive to Port Huron was without incident.

My first stop was Lighthouse Park. Lake St. Clair was mostly frozen but a large channel next to the mouth of the St. Clair River was open with adjacent ice flows. Scoping from the beach produced hundreds of Long-tailed Ducks, 10 White-winged Scoters, and a number of gulls roosting on the far ice shelf including a pair of Glaucous Gulls and an Iceland Gull! Unfortunately lighting was poor and birds were too far away for anything of value.

Lighthouse Park, St. Clair, Michigan, US
Feb 11, 2026 9:36 AM - 9:55 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.082 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Cloudy, 30F, channel open near mouth.
12 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  16
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila)  240
White-winged Scoter (Melanitta deglandi)  10
Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis)  550
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  40
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  8
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  12
American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus)  14
Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus)  1
Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus)  2
Iceland Gull (Larus glaucoides)  1     Adult, white wings, round head, smaller than nearby Glaucous.
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S299536640

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

A stop at Edison Park under the Blue Water Bridge produced a few swim-by ducks, including a pair of Bufflehead that came close enough to reveal the iridescence in the drake's head.

Long-tailed Ducks were flying in from the lake near the middle of the channel, but a few were swimming relatively close enough to shore to photograph. I walked the riverwalk in search of a few subjects. This presumed 1st-winter female shows white scapulars that appear to be transitioning into Pre-Alternate plumage as evidenced by the brownish feathers mixed in.

A breeding male drake Long-tailed Duck was easily ID'd by its pink-banded bill and long tail streamer and bright-white scapulars. 

Compare with this non-breeding male that shows sparse gray feathering on the face and less-developed white scapulars.

Note the relatively short central retrix (tail feather/streamer).

Red-breasted Mergansers were also swimming nearby. I had to wait for this guy to dive before running over to get close enough with the 600/4.

Juvenile male Red-breasted Merganser shows start of a black face and red eye.

Compare with the female.

This adult American Herring Gull is starting to sport its breeding colors, but there is still a hint of the head-streaking from its winter Basic plumage.

Small rafts of Common Goldeneye were swimming out from the near shore, but difficult to approach.

This immature drake is starting to show its white cheek patch but still retains much of the coloration of a female Common Goldeneye.

We drove farther south along the park to look for more ducks. This non-breeding drake Long-tailed Duck was showing some gray in the head and brown in the scapulars, as well as a shorter central retrix.

Nearby a breeding male.

This presumed adult female shows dark scapulars with a hint of white but mostly brown edgings.

Compare with this 1st-winter female with her blue bill and white-edged scapulars.

Another small raft of Common Goldeneye (females) swam out from the shoreline as I walked.

As a large freighter was coming into the channel from the lake flocks of Long-tailed Ducks began to fly by. Here is a 1st-winter female (left) and adult female (right).

Suspected 2nd-winter / non-breeding female with dark neck and minimal white on scapulars (turning more chestnut).

1st-winter female (left) and adult male (right).

2nd-winter female (suspected; not sure).

Adult female.

Another adult-breeding drake.

Fly-by Common Goldeneye (females) in nice light.

As I walked back to the car a male Redhead appeared near shore and provided some nice portrait shots.

Edison Park, St. Clair, Michigan, US
Feb 11, 2026 10:12 AM - 10:34 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.518 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Cloudy, breezy, 29F.
5 species

Redhead (Aythya americana)  1
Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis)  145
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)  2
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  85
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)  4

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S299545529

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

We'd drive down to Desmond's Landing but the river was open and there were few ducks about (the freighter having just passed). So we headed home!