Spring Waterbird Count 5/6-5/12 Week 4: Scoter Season

Week 4 of the Waterbird Count was very much a boom or bust week, with a few days of remarkable migration and a few days of calm and quiet.

Red-throated Loon by Martina Nordstrand

May 6th continued our theme from last week- lots of loons! With 588 loons counted, this day is likely the peak Common Loon day for the season. Like the other high loon days, loon activity peaked in the 2nd hour of the count, with dozens winging their way north past the shack or cutting over the Point to take a shortcut over land.

Common Loon by Martina Nordstrand

Besides the loons, the following days were rather quiet. May 7th had 331 loons, May 8th had 141, May 9th had 193, May 10th had 187, and the 11th broke our streak of triple-digit loon days with only 46 counted. Most of these days, besides the 9th, had unfavorable northerly winds which really stifled migration.

Yellow-rumped Warbler in flight by Martina Nordstrand

That being said, there were still several highlights. May 9th was a calm morning with light winds that switched throughout the day. These conditions allowed for excellent landbird migration, and the morning flight of songbirds included Cape May, Nashville, Blackburnian, Black-throated Green, Black-and-white, Palm, Pine, and Yellow-rumped Warblers. I also had an Eurasian Tree Sparrow fly over the shack! This day also saw some of the better scoter movement I had seen so far, with all three species represented! I had 51 White-winged Scoter, 24 Surf, and a lone Black Scoter. Aside from the Black Scoter, a Least Sandpiper calling over the lake was the only new addition for the count this season. Another highlight from this day was a dark morph Red-tailed Hawk, likely of the Northern subspecies, that flew directly overhead of the shack and went straight to Canada!

Dark morph Red-tailed Hawk by Martina Nordstrand

The 10th and 11th were also pretty quiet, with maybe the only notable movements being a large count of Red-breasted Mergansers (215) on the 10th. The 11th was an especially disappointing day, as while the winds were southerly, there was very little waterbird movement to make up for it.

Immature Bald Eagle by Martina Nordstrand

This all changed on the 12th, which had excellent southeast winds overnight. So far, this day was my favorite of the count. It started with a large line of White-winged Scoters, followed by another and another- distant blobs of birds materialized into 15, 20, 30 scoters winging their way north. It was almost non-stop, with the majority of birds flying over the water but a few flying overhead and over the point. The total count for the day was a whopping 1,086 White-winged Scoters, the highest single-day waterbird count count record that I can find- spring and fall! The slow days of north winds had apparently kept the scoters at bay and waiting for the perfect conditions to migrate.

White-winged Scoter flock in flight by Martina Nordstrand

It was almost difficult to look at anything that wasn’t a scoter that morning, but 271 Red-breasted Mergansers were also counted, currently the highest day total of the season. Long-tailed Ducks were moving some too, but their peak should come this coming week. There was also an incredible raptor flight and by the second half of my day, I turned my attention to counting Sharp-shinned Hawks and counted over 1000. It was the kind of day counters live for! Enjoy some photos from the day!

White-winged Scoters with a Northern Pintail by Martina Nordstrand

White-winged Scoter line. Can you spot the other species in this photo? By Martina Nordstrand

This coming week has some interesting weather in the forecast. Wednesday and Thursday as of this writing look very intriguing with fog and rain mixed with southerly winds, so it may create some conditions ideal for rarities or large numbers of birds. Regardless, the next few days of south winds should be exciting for the count! Hope to see you out there!