During yesterday's Bald Eagle Survey, Ron Payne and I also tabulate
waterfowl and other species from the mouth of Otter Creek to the
Champlain Bridge. It was all ice south of the vicinity of DAR State
Park. Elsewhere there was a mix of old ice, overnight ice, and open
water. We viewed the lake from 12 locations.
For waterfowl, given the very cold air temperatures, thermal
interference was wicked. Then add in glare from the sun, especially in
the afternoon. Also, in places the birds were either well mixed and
scattered, and/or quite distant. Not the best of counting conditions,
nor for determining species. Rarely could we see the New York waters.
Nonetheless we came up with some numbers. Larger counts were clicker
counts by ones or tens. Scaup and Common Goldeneye were by far the
dominant species. Scaup were farther out and the two species could not
be differentiated, nor the amount of intermingled goldeneyes. Some
Common Goldeneyes were closer and could be counted.
Total overall --- 6450 waterfowl
Duck sp. 4000
Common Goldeneye 1750
Mallard 344
Canada Goose 253
Common Merganser 72
Black Duck 15
Snow Goose 7
White-winged Scoter 1
For Bald Eagles there were five. Two at Hospital Creek, Two at Arnold
Bay, one at Field (Kellogg) Bay.
Ian
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