Saturday, January 15, 2011

Lake St Clair Winter Birding & Life list for 2010

After work Friday (and Thursday) I stopped by Lakeview Marina where Lake St Clair funnels into the Detroit River. Visiting this area has become a January tradition. This posting shows a few selected photos of various ducks and waterfowl.

Common Goldeneye is Common!

 The ducks (and swans, geese, mergansers) weren't as skittish as they normally were. I guess they are more confident when more are around.

 Redhead ducks (lifer #220), Canvasback & Greater Scaup are blog lifers.

 
Above, you can see  some Great Blue Herons in the distance (on the snow-bank to the left). I wish I had a scope, because there were huge rafts of ducks in the distance. I'm not really identifying gulls yet, but I did see a Black-backed in the photo below ... probably a Greater Black Backed Gull.
 
It would be awesome to have a scope and spend some time sifting through all these ducks. I would love to list out all the species but I feel the few I can identify just with my camera are probably a fraction of what is out there. Besides, along the Windsor shore, it seems there are different birds that further out, or along the shore of Peche Island.
 This is a highly cropped photo of the Peche island shore. Can you find a hooded merganser in this group?


Life List

Last January (Jan 2010), I compiled my life list which was at 81 birds! This was after about seven months of birding, and without binoculars and a field guide (I was only using allaboutbirds.org).  In 2010, I've seen 218 bird species! I don't want to list too much, so I will make this a January-only tradition.

This year, I am hoping to go to BC for the first time in my life, and plan to pick up a few western goodies. I will also try to make it out to Florida, possibly in March.
Black Skimmers in Florida... Florida, I miss you!


2010
1
Bittern, Least
2
Blackbird, Red-winged
3
Blackbird, Rusty
4
Blackbird, Yellow-headed (MI)
5
Bluebird, Eastern
6
Bobolink
7
Brown Pelican (FL)
8
Bufflehead
9
Bunting, Indigo
10
Bunting, Snow
11
Canvasback
12
Cardinal, Northern
13
Catbird, Gray
14
Chickadee, Black-capped
15
Coot, American
16
Cormorant, Double-crested
17
Cowbird, Brown-headed
18
Crane, Sandhill (FL, MI)
19
Creeper, Brown
20
Crow, American
21
Cuckoo, Black-billed
22
Cuckoo, Yellow-billed
23
Dove, Eurasian Collared (FL)
24
Dove, Mourning
25
Dowitcher, Short-billed
26
Duck, American Black
27
Duck, Ring-necked
28
Duck, Ruddy
29
Duck, Wood
30
Dunlin
31
Eagle, Bald
32
Eagle, Golden
33
Egret, Cattle (FL)
34
Egret, Great
35
Egret, Snowy (FL)
36
Falcon, Peregrine
37
Finch, House
38
Finch, Purple
39
Flicker, Northern
40
Flycatcher, Alder
41
Flycatcher, Great Crested
42
Flycatcher, Least
43
Gadwall
44
Gallinule, Purple (FL)
45
Gnatcatcher, Blue-grey
46
Godwit, Marbled (MI)
47
Goldeneye, Common
48
Goldfinch, American
49
Goose, Canada
50
Grebe, Pied-billed
51
Grosbeak, Rose-breasted
52
Gull, Bonaparte's
53
Gull, Great Black-backed
54
Gull, Herring
55
Gull, Laughing (FL)
56
Gull, Ring-billed
57
Harrier, Northern
58
Hawk, Broad-winged
59
Hawk, Cooper's
60
Hawk, Red-shouldered
61
Hawk, Red-tailed
62
Hawk, Rough-legged
63
Hawk, Sharp-shinned
64
Heron, Great Blue
65
Heron, Green
66
Heron, Little Blue (FL)
67
Heron, Tricolored (FL)
68
Hummingbird, Ruby-throated
69
Ibis, Glossy (FL)
70
Ibis, White (FL)
71
Ibis, White-faced (Big creek)
72
Jay, Blue


74
Junco, Dark-eyed
75
Kestrel, American
76
Killdeer
77
Kingbird, Eastern
78
Kingfisher, Belted
79
Kinglet, Golden-crowned
80
Kinglet, Ruby-crowned
81
Knot, red
82
Lark, Horned
83
Longspur, Lapland
84
Loon, Common
85
Mallard
86
Martin, Purple
87
Meadowlark, Eastern (FL)
88
Merganser, Common
89
Merganser, Hooded
90
Merganser, Red-breasted
91
Merlin
92
Mockingbird, Northern
93
Moorhen, Common
94
Nighthawk, Common
95
Night-heron, Black-crowned
96
Nuthatch, Red-breasted
97
Nuthatch, White-breasted
98
Oriole, Baltimore
99
Oriole, Orchard
100
Osprey
101
Ovenbird
102
Owl, Eastern Screech
103
Owl, Great Horned
104
Parula, Northern
105
Pelican, American White (FL)
106
Phalarope, Red-necked (MI)
107
Phalarope, Wilson's (MI)
108
Phoebe, Eastern
109
Pigeon, Rock
110
Pintail, Northern
111
Plover, Black-bellied
112
Redhead
113
Redstart, American
114
Robin, American
115
Sanderling
116
Sandpiper, Baird's
117
Sandpiper, Buff-breasted
118
Sandpiper, Least
119
Sandpiper, Pectoral
120
Sandpiper, Semipalmated
121
Sandpiper, Solitary
122
Sandpiper, Spotted
123
Sandpiper, Stilt
124
Sapsucker, Yellow-bellied
125
Scaup, Greater
126
Scaup, Lesser
127
Scoter, Surf
128
Shoveler, Northern
129
Shrike, Loggerhead (FL)
130
Shrike, Northern
131
Siskin, Pine
132
Skimmer, Black (FL)
133
Snipe, Wilson's
134
Sora
135
Sparrow, American Tree
136
Sparrow, Chipping
137
Sparrow, Clay-coloured
138
Sparrow, Field
139
Sparrow, Fox
140
Sparrow, House
141

142
Sparrow, Lincoln's
143
Sparrow, Savannah
144
Sparrow, Song
145
Sparrow, Swamp
146
Sparrow, White-crowned
147
Sparrow, White-throated
148
Starling, European
149
Swallow, Barn
150
Swallow, Northern Rough-winged
151
Swallow, Tree
152
Swan, Mute
153
Swan, Tundra
154
Tanager, Scarlet
155
Tanager, Summer
156
Teal, Blue-winged (FL)
157
Teal, Green-winged (MI)
158
Tern, Black
159
Tern, Caspian
160
Tern, Common
161
Thrasher, Brown
162
Thrush, Hermit
163
Thrush, Swainson's (FL)
164
Thrush, Wood
165
Titmouse, Tufted
166
Towhee, Eastern
167
Turkey, Wild (Local Rarety)
168
Turnstone, Ruddy (FL)
169
Vireo, Blue-headed
170
Vireo, Red-eyed
171
Vireo, Warbling
172
Vireo, White-eyed
173
Vulture, Black (FL)
174
Vulture, Turkey
175
Warbler, Bay-breasted
176
Warbler, Black-and-white
177
Warbler, Blackburnian
178
Warbler, Blackpoll
179
Warbler, Black-throated Blue
180
Warbler, Black-throated Green
181
Warbler, Blue-winged
182
Warbler, Canada
183
Warbler, Cape May
184
Warbler, Chestnut-sided
185
Warbler, Connecticut
186
Warbler, Hooded
187
Warbler, Magnolia
188
Warbler, Mourning
189
Warbler, Nashville
190
Warbler, Orange-crowned
191
Warbler, Palm
192
Warbler, Pine
193
Warbler, Tennessee
194
Warbler, Wilson's
195
Warbler, Yellow
196
Warbler, Yellow-rumped
197
Waterthrush, Northern
198
Waxwing, Cedar
199
Wigeon, American
200
Willet
201
Woodpecker, Downy
202
Woodpecker, Hairy
203
Woodpecker, Pileated
204
Woodpecker, Red-bellied
205
Woodpecker, Red-headed
206
Wood-pewee, Eastern
207
Wren, Carolina
208
Wren, House
209
Wren, Marsh
210
Wren, Winter
211
Yellowlegs, Greater
212
Yellowlegs, Lesser
213
Yellowthroat, Common
214
Wood Stork (FL)
215
Roseate Spoonbill (FL)
216
Redish Egret (FL)
217
Anahinga (FL)
218
Boat Tailed Grackle (FL)
219
Yellow Throated Warbler (FL)


I bought a suet feeder for the Red breasted Nuthatch and it seems to be well received by the BC Chickadees, Downy Woodpeckers and of course, the guest of honour! I see a White breasted Nuthatch around on occasion, but its funny, I have never seen him at a feeder. He seems more interested in foraging the trees.

Good birding,
Dwayne

5 comments:

  1. Yes, I think I see a Hooded Merganser over on the far left of the photo (I clicked to enlarge). Also, I think the "different" duck Sylvain saw yesterday was a female Greater Scaup, judging by your photos and the description he gave me. Impressive list for 2010! I remember the first time I saw a Black Skimmer. It was in St. Pete's, Fla. Florida and Texas are both so exciting for birding, eh?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kikipotamus - I was a little confused by the female Scaup myself. I'm still not sure if was greater or lesser Scaup. I'll say greater based on a quick reference to my field guide, but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. You're lucky to live near the marina!

    ReplyDelete
  3. After seeing your photos this morning I headed out that way this afternoon. I couldn't even begin to count for my Ebird account, as there were way too many ducks! It was awesome!

    I'm still a bit confused over the two Scaups I saw. I'm leaning towards greater. I could have stayed out there all afternoon watching the action if it weren't so cold!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Interesting post.
    Maybe that is a "Medium" Scaup. (had to say that!).

    ReplyDelete
  5. We just found a pair of common maganzers in the river that runs in our back yard. We are hoping it not ro late to put up a nesting box!

    ReplyDelete

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