Thursday, February 2, 2012

Lake Michigan Waterbirds - January Highlights

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Other obligations seriously limited the time I spent censusing Lake Michigan waterbirds in January. In six days of counts, I recorded 16 species. Peaks include 4 Surf Scoter (Jan. 8), 53 White-winged Scoter (Jan. 8), 715 Red-breasted Merganser (Jan. 6), 1 Red-necked Grebe (Jan. 5), 1 Glaucous Gull (two days), and 2 Great Black-backed Gull (Jan. 6). On January 12, a count of 17,420 Long-tailed Ducks was my best ever.
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Brian Johnson
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Brian, I was at Ft. Sheridan beach, Lake Michigan just today, when my friends and I witnessed a small flock of large,black, long necked Cormorant. type birds land in the shallow waters near the beach. I was unable to successfully photograph them, but I have seen these same birds in other areas of northern Illinois. Could you direct me to what these birds might be? Similar looking birds I have looked up seem only to bring up like birds of more tropical ranges. I find these creatures fascinating, but really need help identifying them. Their behavior is similar to that of pelicans, if that helps at all. I would appreciate any ideas you might have as to what these curious birds could be. Thank you so much.
Laura