Detroit River Ducks

Today was  a gorgeous, sunny mild winter day. I left work today thinking I might drive up to Rondeau to look for a Pileated..., Then maybe to Wheatley to look for a Red Breasted Nuthatch, then maybe Point Pelee to look for a Carolina Wren (All three birds are NOT on my life list yet...shame).

But... pessimism set in and I figured I would get my birding fix by visiting some riverside parks in Windsor.

I dropped into the Lakeview Marina parking lot and tried to suprise a new duck species... and it worked. I got a really close shot of a common merganser, The photographs above are actually my first decent shots of this bird. Thus, a  new species on my life list!

 

St Alexander Park afforded me some distant views of a male common goldeneye.  The ducks were far from the edge of the water. This is a cropped photo taken at 500mm on a cropped (1.6) Canon ASP-C sensor.

 

Mallard ducks near lakeshore marina.  These are so common, I sometimes do not bother to stop and photograph them. This was a nice shot even though the green head of the male is not really showing.

 Some of my lifers for 2010 include:

Eastern Bluebird (Jan 7th)

Hooded Merganser (Dec-Jan )

Common Goldeneye Jan 2010

Bufflehead Jan 2010

Common Merganser (Today Feb 19, 2010)

Lesser Scaup

Ring-Necked Duck (Jan 2010)

Birds I`m really trying to find are:

Red Breasted Nuthatch

Pileated Woodpecker

Red Headed Woodpecker

Carolina Wren