Nine intrepid birders, including thee who braved these same locations last month, decided to drive up to Lake Erie searching for gulls and waterfowl on any open water. A newcomer to our group received chauffeured presidential treatment — we welcome new people. The weather cooperated with very mild winds and no precipitation.
After a stop for breakfast in Medina, we headed to the Eastlake power plant. The power plant is scheduled to close in the fall. Its standby status was evident by a smaller amount of open water than in past years, but we found 10 species of waterfowl and a couple of glaucous gulls. We then headed to East 72nd street, where there was even less open water. FirstEnergy Corp. will close its Eastlake and downtown Lake Shore power plants this fall rather than next year as planned. This will be a loss to the birding community as the plants discharge warm water into the lake providing habitat for gulls and ducks when the lake freezes. Temperatures were in the singe digits, the port a potty here had a large snow drift inside the unit and a snow covered seat.
Our next stop was Wendy Park with its heated restrooms. Although some old timers mumbled about “wimps”, the facilities were appreciated by most. With no open water on the river or lake, the highlight was a close flyover Peregrine falcon. A kestrel was observed on a utility wire as we drove into the park
We then headed to the Avon Lake power plant, which is fully functioning and provided a large area of open water with large numbers of waterfowl and gulls. We saw the same 10 species of ducks, and added an Iceland gull and more glaucous gulls to our day list. A horned grebe was diving under the ice right off the observation area, providing stunning views. After about an hour checking the gulls, we took a break for lunch, enjoying hot food and beverages inside a restaurant. Warmed up, we headed back to the power plant for more observation. We located a lesser black backed gull, along with the greater black backed and glaucous gulls. A bald eagle flew overhead. We also had a very close look at a juvenile black crowned night heron as we were returning to our vehicles.
Like last month, our attempt to find the snowy owl at the Lorain Impoundment was unsuccessful, although we did find evidence of a recent kill, with an apparently feathered talon print in the snow and fresh blood. The owl was observed by others shortly after we left. We did see two coyotes walking on the snow and ice covered distant break wall.
A red shouldered hawk was observed at close range, perched near the road on the drive back.
We ended the trip at a farm near Delaware, where we were able to observe numerous snow buntings, horned larks and Lapland longspurs right outside our vehicle windows. Special thanks to our three drivers and navigators for a safe and comfortable trip.
Total species for the day: 42
Weather: Clear, temperatures from 1 to 21 degrees, winds 3 to 8 MPH.
Observers: Bill Heck, Donna Kuhn, Dan Sanders, Doreene Linzell, Bill Kinkead, Gretchen Fluke , Steve Schafer , Judy Duerr, Sydney Penner
Our bird list:
Canada Goose
Mallard
Canvasback
Redhead
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
White-winged Scoter
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Horned Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Black-crowned Night-heron
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Bald Eagle
American Coot
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Iceland Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Glaucous Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
American Crow
Horned Lark
Black-capped Chickadee
White-throated Sparrow
American Robin
European Starling
Lapland longspur
Snow bunting
American tree sparrow
Dark eyed junco
Northern Cardinal
House Sparrow