11 more Iceland Gulls and a surprise lifer!

Went down to Ashbridges Bay, and it was pretty great. 8 degrees Celsius, no wind, sunny... what a day nice day. Highlights include lifer #182 - Wood Duck, 5 White-winged Scoters, 11 Iceland Gulls, a possible Thayer's Gull, and 13 Common Mergansers.

I went back down to the bay today, Thursday, and finally saw the Snowy Owl and it was very cold and windy. It was -13 Celsius with 35km/k wind off the lake. Brrr.


Here's what I saw:

2 Mute Swan
80 Canada Goose
1 Wood Duck
60 Mallard
10 Common Goldeneye
13 Common Merganser
5 Red-breasted Merganser
30 Redhead
15 Bufflehead
5 White-winged Scoter
20 Greater Scaup
150 Ring-billed Gull
40 Herring Gull
11 Iceland Gull
4 Black-capped Chickadee
1 Northern Cardinal
15 American Tree Sparrow

Here are some shots!

Trip 1:

Mallard

Lifer #182! Wood Duck!

American Tree Sparrow

Redhead, Red-breasted Merganser, Greater Scaup, Bufflehead.

Red-breasted Merganser

Long-tailed Duck

Common Mergansers

Iceland Gull

Iceland Gulls

Iceland Gull

Long-tailed Duck going for a dive!

Common Mergansers

Wood Duck... in the parking lot?

Trip 2:

Icicles coming down from the sand.

White-winged Scoter

Snowy Owl!

This is the best shot I got of her!

Digiscoped headshot.

Northern Cardinal

Comments appreciated!

Happy birding!

-Owen