Grebes, loons, ducks, gulls and more are showing up across Ohio and Indiana

  • By Bruce Glick
  • November 5, 2013
  • 396
                        
Grebes, loons, ducks, gulls and more are showing up across Ohio and Indiana Columnist Bruce Glick summarizes happenings in the local birding world. This week Bruce reports on some lake-watch activity. You can read more in the "Gone Birding" column. During the last week I've had the opportunity to join a Lake Michigan lake-watch as well as checking three local lakes/ponds on a daily basis. It feels good to go birding this time of year, when the weather can be cold and windy, or mild and pleasant. The peak color of many hardwoods seems to be happening here in northern Indiana during the first week of November, much later than normal. On Saturday, November 2, at least 35 birders spent the day scanning Lake Michigan from Miller Beach. Almost all of the top birders in Indiana were there, as well as some from Illinois and Michigan. It was a good introduction to Indiana birding. I was part of a group of eight from the Goshen area, most of whom I hadn't even met before. It was a good day for waterfowl migration, with nice looks at all three species of scoters and lots of other ducks. Some of the flocks were too far out to identify but others came by quite close to the shore. In the morning there were a number of small groups of Common Loons, but for some reason they were flying northwest, out over Lake Michigan. Perhaps they overflew the shore in the night and were heading back out to the lake for a place to land and rest. More than 300 were counted, plus there were several Red-throated Loons which didn't give us very close looks. The best find of the day was a cooperative Sabine's Gull which was first sighted in the east, giving all of us time to watch as it flew by in front of us and on to the west. An adult Little Gull, on the other hand, wasn't noticed until it was almost out of sight to the west. Most of us never did see that rarity. One of my favorite memories of the day came from the appearance of a local Peregrine Falcon. This amazing bird dove straight down from high in the sky, aiming for a lone Bonaparte's Gull, which saw the falcon and took evasive action. The gull managed to escape, or perhaps the Peregrine was only having some fun. Locally here in Goshen, we enjoyed a one-day appearance of a Long-tailed Duck. I was biking at the time that I found the bird and had to quickly bike home (only two miles) to get my spotting scope and camera. There have also been a number of other diving ducks, including three Canvasbacks. Pied-billed Grebes have been around for a few weeks but the first two Horned Grebes showed up here in Goshen. They have been fairly common along Lake Michigan. I also saw an Eared Grebe on November 4 at the Michigan City harbor. A Short-eared Owl was flying around the harbor for 10 minutes or so - that seemed a bit out of place. At least two Harlequin Ducks had been sighted the day before but we couldn't find them, at least while I was there. Ohio reports have been similar, with several Sabine's Gulls, an Eared Grebe and some scoters and other good early November birds. It's actually late for the Sabine's Gulls, which are more likely to be found from mid-September to mid-October. The next few weeks should provide some more excellent birding. Enjoy! Bruce Glick birderbruce@yahoo.com 330-317-7798


Loading next article...

End of content

No more pages to load