Garth Riley led our January 11th walk at Humber Bay Park West. Overnight flurries gave way to blue skies and near-zero temperatures by mid-morning, making for pleasant conditions. Recent cold temperatures and light winds left the bay frozen over to about Superior Avenue. While there were no large flocks of waterfowl in the bay, there was a nice variety of birds including four species of gull and several Lesser Scaup - the less common of the two Scaup Species. A flyby Peregrine Falcon, a chorus of crows and a pair of Trumpeter Swans added to the mix.
When we reached Norris Crescent, we could see a large raft of Greater Scaup to the west. About half of the group continued west in the hope of finding the reported Tufted Duck, a rare visitor from Europe. We walked over to Lake Crescent where a few lucky people were able to pick out the Tufted Duck among the hundreds of (very similar) Greater Scaup.
By the time we left Lake Crescent, we had tallied 34 species, a total boosted by some very active feeders on Lake Crescent. Here’s the full list:
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