20,000+ Long-tailed Ducks today: ongoing waterfowl & waterbird surveys: Lake Michigan

The Western Great Lakes Bird and Bat Observatory is conducting an ongoing series of waterfowl and waterbird surveys in the offshore waters of Lake Michigan, from northern Door County to the WI-IL border. These surveys are part of a  coordinated effort involving a group of partner entities surveying the Great Lakes for waterfowl and waterbirds. Surveys conducted today covered survey blocks offshore from northern  Manitowoc, Kewaunee, and Door counties. Our transects parallel the lakeshore, and are done at distances of 1 mile, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 miles from shore. Today was an exceptionally productive day. We tallied over 20,000 Long-tailed Ducks, more than 5,000 Red-breasted Mergansers, 30+ Common Loons, a single jaeger (not identified to species), a Red-necked Grebe, moderate-sized flocks and/or small groups of all 3 scoter species, Horned Grebes, a single large flock of Redheads, several

Ph by Wolfgang Wander, Wikim. Commons

Glaucous Gulls, many Herring Gulls, and about a dozen flocks of Tundra Swans with from 4 to 65 birds in each flock.