This morning the winds had died down and reversed their direction, and to start the day was a lake that looked like glass- and peppered with almost two hundred Red-breasted Mergansers. A family of four came by to look for wildlife along the edge of the lake around 10:00 AM, which marks the first time I’ve had non-MSRW employees/volunteers visit me while I’m at work. Unfortunately there were not too many waterbirds that were stationary and near my observation post to show them through my scope, but I did manage to show them some mergansers and Long-tailed Ducks. Although there was a spike in waterfowl movement and diversity today, gull activity had declined significantly- including around Point La Barbe. A Merlin was moving west at around 11:00 AM, and there was a confirmed sighting of a Horned Grebe in the middle of the lake around 3:00 PM. There was dense fog covering the straits all day, resulting in visibility as low as four miles and high as nine miles. The wind speed climbed up to seven miles per hour by midday, after which it plateaued.
Canada Goose – 47
Mallard – 4
Redhead – 5
Greater Scaup – 3
Long-tailed Duck – 65
Common Goldeneye – 22
Hooded Merganser – 2
Common Merganser – 23
Red-breasted Merganser – 367
duck sp. – 37
Horned Grebe – 1
Others Species:
Bald Eagle – 2
Merlin – 1
