While birding the Park Point recreation area in Duluth this evening, Jane Hosking and I attempted to count the large number of Common Goldeneyes which have been staging on the bay side of the point for the last several weeks, and came up with a grand total of 1859, the highest count I am aware of for Duluth. Also with the goldeneyes tonight were single Black and White-winged Scoters, 4 Buffleheads, and 17 Redheads. On the lake side of Park Point from the dune bridge near Skyharbor airport, a Pacific Loon was also seen. This is probably the same bird which has been present along Park Point for the last few weeks. Once the bay freezes, many of the goldeneyes will hopefully move into Canal Park to forage, where they can be studied at much closer range. Although the male Barrow's Goldeneye which had been seen in Duluth the last four winters has not been reported, the hybrid male Hooded Merganser x Common Goldeneye which wintered here last year was seen at Park Point on 25 November 2012 by Jane Hosking, Andrew Longtin, and myself.
Karl Bardon Duluth, MN ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
