I had a drake Long-tailed Duck at the mouth of Montrose Harbor this morning, December 10. This looks like the same bird that was at Loyola recently. My other good bird for the morning was a flyover Common (I assume) Redpoll while looking at the Long-tailed Duck. Also, 2 lingering Ruddy Ducks and all 3 mergansers. Video of the Long-tailed below.
Tag Archives: Long-tailed Duck
Long-tailed Duck, December 3, 2014
I walked around Montrose for a little while this morning, December 3. My best find was the continuing female Long-tailed Duck in Lake Michigan near the tower at the southeast corner of the point. I haven’t seen her in a couple of days but I assume this is the same bird.
Other birds seen at Montrose this a.m. include 3 Ruddy Ducks in the lake outside of the harbor, 2 Horned Grebes inside the harbor, and a flyover Pine Siskin.
Long-tailed Duck, November 26, 2014
Long-tailed Duck (click to see the larger version)
I walked around Montrose for a little while this morning, November 26. My best find was a female Long-tailed Duck in Lake Michigan near the tower at the southeast corner of the point. I’m guessing this is the same Long-tailed Duck that was seen at Loyola a couple of days ago.
Other birds seen at Montrose this a.m. include good numbers of Red-breasted Mergansers, both on the water and migrating south, the continuing Ruddy Duck inside the fishing pier, a small loon that was probably a Red-throated, flyover American Pipit and Snow Bunting, and a lingering Fox Sparrow at the Magic Hedge.
March 29, 2014
I spent about an hour and a half at Montrose this morning, mostly looking at the lake and checking the harbor. I thought there might be migrating waterfowl, loons, and grebes, but there was very little movement on the lake. Migrant passerines were almost non-existent. I did see a few interesting birds though. Here’s my partial list:
White-winged Scoter – ~12, most in the lake off the end of the fishhook pier
Long-tailed Duck – 3 moving north
Northern Pintail – 7 migrating north
Lesser Scaup – ~250, almost all in or just outside the harbor
Greater Scaup – ~10, in or just outside the harbor
Redhead – ~25
Hooded Merganser – 2 moving north
Common Merganser – Still a few around
Red-throated Loon – 1 in basic type plumage off the end of the fishhook pier
Common Loon – 4 moving north, my first of the year
Horned Grebe – ~10, in various stages of molt and plumages
Great Black-backed Gull – 1 adult flying north close to shore
Red-throated Loon, White-winged Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, and Snow Bunting, March 7, 2014
Red-throated Loon (click to see the larger version)
This is beginning to sound like a broken record. Lake Michigan was ice covered from horizon to horizon but there were a few areas of open water and these open areas had birds. Best was probably the Red-throated Loon at the harbor mouth. Unfortunately the bird flushed when a fisherman walked onto the north pier. This must have been one desperate fisherman as there was barely enough water to fish in. There were also a dozen or so White-winged Scoters and a drake Long-tailed Duck here.
A larger group of ducks (100-150 birds) were in the lake a couple hundred yards north of the end of the fishhook pier. I didn’t have my scope but most appeared to be scaup, White-winged Scoters, and mergansers. Another small pool of water south of here held more White-winged Scoters and 2 Long-tailed Ducks.
A few ducks are hanging on in the ever decreasing water hole near the bend of the point. It’s really a sad sight. There were probably more birds standing on the ice around the hole than actually in the water, and there were multiple dead ducks scattered around.
Finally, I heard a Snow Bunting flying over the beach.
Red-throated Loon, White-winged Scoters, and Long-tailed Duck, February 1, 2014
Waterfowl at Montrose Harbor (click to see the larger version)
Karen and I walked around Montrose for a little while this morning. The lake was covered in ice for as far as we could see but there were a few open areas of water, and these open areas of water had birds.
Our biggest surprise was a juvenile Red-throated Loon off the end of the fishing pier. We actually heard the bird calling when we were walking on the beach but we didn’t know what it was. We thought it might be a person yelling for help since it sounded like a cry or a wail. When we got to the edge of the beach we could see the loon on the water and see and hear it calling. Mystery solved, and I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a Red-throated Loon call before. Unfortunately the bird flew off to the south before I could get my camera on it. There were also a lot of waterfowl here, including 40+ White-winged Scoters, a female type Long-tailed Duck, 5 Greater Scaup, Common and Red-breasted Mergansers, and Common Goldeneye.
The other area of open water was at the harbor mouth. We had 15 more White-winged Scoters here, as well as 35 or so Greater Scaup and a few Common Goldeneye and Red-breasted Mergansers (see the photo above). Not a bad start to February.