Dateline: 3 January 2022
Still going through the 31 December 2021 “Gull Point Survey Part 2” pics – lots of great stuff – hence a delay on the weekend update.
Saturday and Sunday were out of commission due to bad weather. Monday (official BirdingPI.com New Year’s Day holiday) was partly cloudy but brutally cold in the wind – big downturn in temps into the low 20’s (deg F). Still, for us Presque Isle birding stalwarts, not a bad day for being out.
On a preliminary note, all trails remain muddy/icy/flooded, where applicable. The loop road (Thompson Drive/Peninsula Drive) has been closed all week, just past the Lagoon boat launch if you’re heading counter-clockwise.
Generally, lots of waterfowl activity, as expected for this time of year – Mallards, Mergansers, Scaups, Ring-necked Ducks, Swans, Geese, and a guest star or two.
The amazing birding tidbit of the day involved sighting a huge number of GBH in coordinated flight around the Long Pond area. We’ve seen loose groups of 6-8 GBH flying in concert, generally south, apparently migrating or otherwise relocating. This, however, might have been 18-24 birds, unprecedented in our experience, taking flight from Long Pond heading north, presumably to a different spot on Presque Isle. Due to tree coverage on the Long Pond Trail, unable to get any pictures showing the full scope of this event, but here’s one showing six of the birds in question. Really amazing.
Back to ducks:
Later, back on Lake Erie, the first confirmed BirdingPI.com sighting of Common Goldeneye this season:
