Ah, the good old days. Back when the Avid Birders group was formed, January trips were so simple: give people a few weeks to recover from the holidays and Christmas Bird Counts, then head for eastern Lake Erie. By mid to late January, the near-shore areas of the Lake would be frozen solid but open pools would be found wherever power plants discharged hot water, and those open leads meant gulls – lots of gulls. Of course, we all knew where those plants were: Eastlake, downtown Cleveland at E 72nd St., Avon Lake, Lorain. The only decision was whether to start from the east and work west or the other way around.
Times have changed. Winters seem not so harsh as they once were, meaning that ice is not so reliable. (Global warming, anyone?) More importantly, those old power plants along the lakeshore have been shutting down. The Lorain plant was torn down a few years ago, and the one in Cleveland hardly runs at all now. The fate of the Avon Lake plant is questionable and its operation is sporadic. Only Eastlake seems consistent at this time. And it’s a long way from Eastlake to Avon Lake.
For this trip, the weather was in our favor: several weeks of cold temperatures had solidified the near shore ice, but our trip day promised clear skies and temperatures reaching up to about 40°. Would we find open water?
First, we detoured to Canton, Ohio, where a White-wing Crossbill had been reliably visiting a feeder. The homeowners graciously invited us inside, where we waited in comfort for an hour, but alas – no crossbill. Oh well, that’s how birding goes sometimes.
Then it was on to Eastlake. We quickly found a previously-reported Black Scoter and a Read-necked Grebe (remarkable for January), but were unable to locate the Harlequin or Long-tailed Ducks that had been hanging out at this location. Still, we were treated to lovely views of several species of waterfowl, including often hard-to-find Common Mergansers. Most of the gulls in sight were loafing on the ice, and we quickly spotted the usual species: Ring-billed, Herring, and Great Black-backed.
A breaking report of two Long-tailed Ducks at Edgewater Park in Cleveland sent us scurrying in that direction, where we found some waterfowl well offshore beyond the ice, but nothing unusual. Then the Ohio Birds listserv notified us that the Harlequin Duck was being seen again at Eastlake, so we retraced our route. This time our luck was better: we soon spotted our target duck snoozing near a pier. Other birders spotted the Long-tailed Duck; it played hard to get for some time, but eventually all of us got a peek. And a bonus – shortly before we left, the Harlequin Duck swam into the open, showing off its remarkable plumage.
So it was back to Cleveland – again – where we headed into the Flats, an area we had never explored previously. We quickly found a flock of several thousand gulls on the Cuyahoga River and were scanning for rarities when a gigantic lake freighter appeared making its way upstream. To our astonishment, the ship made a right angle turn to follow the channel immediately in front of us. This was an impressive sight! Meanwhile, a few members of our group had spotted a Thayer’s Gull, but as they tried to help the rest of us, the moving boat crushed through the slushy ice on which gulls had been standing. This not only dispersed the gulls but also prompted many of these opportunistic birds to follow in the wake of the ship, perhaps hoping that the crew would jettison something edible. We drove a few blocks to Merwin’s Wharf, only to be greeted by the very same ship continuing upstream! This time, though, we all found several interesting birds before the excitement, including a Belted Kingfisher, several American Coots, and a beautifully-lit flyover Glaucous Gull.
It was time to head south toward home, but on the way we swung by Cleveland Hopkins Airport where a Snowy Owl had been reported the day before. We spotted a Red-tailed Hawk and an American Kestrel, then commenced scanning the airport grounds from a nearby parking lot. Just as we were giving up, one of our group spotted the owl flying near a runway, although the owl disappeared into a depression before any of the rest of us could find it.
Despite this last minor disappointment, and despite all the running around, we were pleased with our day, which produced a total of 43 species and yielded most of our critical target birds.
You can see more photos from this trip by Lisa Phelps at her galleryby Lisa Phelps at her gallery.
List of species seen:
Canada Goose
Mallard
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Harlequin Duck
Black Scoter
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Red-necked Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Cooper’s Hawk
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
American Coot
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Thayer’s Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Glaucous Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Snowy Owl (seen by Jason)
Belted Kingfisher
Blue Jay
American Crow
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow