Easter at the Cove - 05 Apr 2026

Happy Easter!

This afternoon while napping I got an alert that a Baikal Teal had been seen at Hillman Marsh in Leamington, ON. Had it not flow off it might have been my first trip to Canada since shortly after 9/11.

But, later this afternoon Justin Labadie reported a Pacific Loon and Red-necked Grebe at Cove Point, Lake Erie Metropark. Since I had missed the RNGR at Pt. Mouillee last week I thought I'd go after them. After a quick dinner at home I took off for the marina at Lake Erie Metropark.

I arrived a bit after 5:30 pm and saw Amber and Greg Piotter, Jared Matthews, and later Isaac Polanski. Together we scoped the choppy waters of Lake Erie out from Cove Point hoping to find the Pacific Loon and Red-necked Grebe.

Seeing was difficult with winds, cold (44F) and choppy waters. We spotted a number (7) of Common Loons on the water amongst rafts of Red-breasted Mergansers, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Canvasback, and Double-crested Cormorants but could not find the PALO. Jared would eventually spot the Red-necked Grebe and we all managed to get our scopes on it as it swam near dozens of Horned Grebes that were moving through the area.

Amber and Greg had to leave so Jared and I continued scanning. Eventually I spotted a possible candidate; a loon with silvery nape and white patch on face. We watched it for a good 20 minutes and suspected that it might be Justin's bird.

After reviewing photos of PALO from the Macauley Library (Cornell Birds of the World) I feel uneasy about calling it. The bird could easily be a molting Common Loon that only has a partial black cap. The bill appeared straight, not slightly decurved, and not thinner than the nearby Common Loon. So I didn't record seeing it. Hopefully someone gets photos of the bird (it was far out of camera range and my digiscoping lens just broke).

It was still nice to see all of the Horned Grebes and Common Loons on the water. Caspian Terns 

and Forster's Terns have returned and were flying out over the water. I was too slow to get good pics of them.

Isaac alerted me to a half-dozen Horned Grebes swimming near the boat docks back at the parking lot so I stopped and got a few photos on the way out.

Cove Point, Lake Erie Metropark, Wayne, Michigan, US
Apr 5, 2026 7:32 PM - 8:17 PM
Protocol: Stationary
Checklist Comments:     Cloudy, cool , 42F, windy, chop on Lake Erie.
19 species (+1 other taxa)

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)  2
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  6
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)  12
Redhead (Aythya americana)  14
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)  65
Greater/Lesser Scaup (Aythya marila/affinis)  250
White-winged Scoter (Melanitta deglandi)  1
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)  16
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  14
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  6
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)  32
Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia)  2
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  7
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)  6
Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus)  36
Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena)  1     Reported earlier, and continuing out from point at 60x scope distance. Larger than nearby Horned Grebes and with dark neck and bright white chin stripe.
Common Loon (Gavia immer)  7
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum)  6
Great Egret (Ardea alba)  1
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S317590620

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