I slogged out to Colchester Causeway today before seeing Bruce's message and
so shared some of the same surprises. I risked a ticket next to the unplowed
lot but found that enough snow had melted on the trail that snowshoes
weren't necessary. Otter tracks were all over the causeway and I also saw an
otter pop up a couple times in holes in the ice on the south side not too
far from the start of the causeway; I even saw a fish tail sticking out its
muzzle. I saw mergansers comparable in number to Bruce's count, quite a few
more goldeneye, but no Ring-necked Ducks. Scaup rafts had re-coalesced
closer to shore; I believe they were mostly Greater but I'm not positive.
Most (hundreds) were a couple hundred yards past the first cut/bridge. No
sign of Redheads or Canvasbacks. However, 4 PINTAIL flew by. The only other
ducks I saw were scattered Mallards.Rounding out the sightings were about 25
SNOW BUNTINGS that I flushed from the causeway.

  -- Scott Schwenk
     South Burlington

On Fri, Mar 11, 2011 at 6:11 PM, Bruce MacPherson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> With some effort I snowshoed out on the Colchester-South Hero Causeway from
> the Colchester end this afternoon. The parking lot is not plowed, so I
> parked on the side of the road, risking a ticket or worse. This part of the
> lake is more or less open for business. The large Scaup raft has dispersed,
> but I did count 19 Greater Scaup, 17 Common Goldeneye, 7 Ring-neck Ducks,
> and 21 Common Mergansers. There was a larger flock of ducks way out in the
> middle of the lake that I could not identify (? duck sp.). My most
> interesting observation was a River Otter with its head poking up through a
> hole in the ice and munching on something. It promptly withdrew as I
> approached.
>
>
> Spring is coming-really.
>
>
> Bruce MacPherson
> South Burlington
>