Back to the River!

The St. Clair river is opening up and just north of the Bluewater Bridges is a good location to find bird life!

A female Hooded Merganser is dwarfed by the much larger Mallard Drake.

Hooded Mergansers are small ducks with a thin bill and a fan-shaped, collapsible crest that makes the head look oversized and oblong. In the summer months, they can be found on smaller lakes but in winter, they move to larger bodies of water. They have an extra eyelid, called a "nictitating membrane" which is transparent and helps protect the eye during swimming, like a pair of goggles.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hooded_Merganser/overview

Iceland Gulls breed on coastal cliffs in the high Arctic and forage in open water among pack ice. In winter, they occur along coasts and the Great Lakes, foraging close to shore and on beaches. This individual has been hanging around for a few weeks.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Iceland_Gull/id

A lone Long-tailed Duck in the river.

Many of the Long-tailed Ducks headed back to Lake Huron.

Nice "hair-do" on this male Red-breasted Merganser!!

It was fun to find 2 Male American Wigeons at the Sarnia Bay. They have a green eye patch and a conspicuous white crown. They are nicknamed "baldpate" because the white stripe resembles a bald man's head.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_wigeon/overview

American Wigeons eat a higher proportion of plant material than any other dabbling duck thanks to their short, goose-like bill. The shortness of the bill helps exert more force at the plant tip so they can pluck vegetation.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_wigeon/overview

A few remaining "ice donuts" that form in the water currents.

Bald Eagles don't typically have the full white head and white tail feathers until they reach 5 years of age. In the first 4 years, there can be a lot of variation in the mottled colouring of the juveniles. This individual had a distinctive pattern on the underwing!