Big Duck Species Day in Lake Calumet Area Sunday 3-8-26

[Al Stokie]

Hello Bird People,

After yesterday's land bird adventure it was back to a duck search
today at several Lake Calumet locations. I'll just mention the ducks
seen in the order I saw them & then add in some other highlights.

Wolf Lake/Powers C.A. (8:30-10:20 am)

It was so windy here I had to use the car to try & block the wind
which only helped a little.
Only had 9 duck species whereas I usually get more than that. Duck
numbers were high but had hardly any dabbling ducks.

Mallard (8) & Gadwall (15)
Greater (6) & Lesser (18) Scaup
Redhead (~500-600), Canvasback (~75) & Ring Necked Duck (~20)
Goldeneye (8)
Red Breasted Merganser (~40)

Also saw all three Swan species with one sort of late TUNDRA SWAN, 4
Trumpeters & 6 Mutes.
Heard a flock of Cranes flying by & saw 10 Coots. Within a flock of
Red Wings were 3 Cowbirds.

Eggers Grove Woods (10:50-11:50 am)

I knew this would be my best chance for puddle/dabbling ducks & that's
what I found.
Wood Duck (1-M), Mallard (16), Gadwall (6), Shoveler (28) & Black Duck (5)
Green Winged Teal (2-M & 1-F) & Wigeon (2-M)
Ring Necked Duck (12), Lesser Scaup (2-M), Bufflehead (1-PR) & Hooded
Merganser (5)

Also a young Bald Eagle flew by & reshuffled the ducks which helped me
see stuff I had not seen. And here I had wave after wave of Sandhill
Cranes totaling about 400 & heard even more but saw no white ones.

Made a brief stop at the Monk Parakeet place by the Skyway & Ave M &
saw 31 Parakeets
& heard many more. I do enjoy seeing these green creatures & hearing
them squawk.

Steelworkers Park (12:55-1:15 pm)

Greater & Lesser Scaup (Total 22) & Redhead (4)
Common (3-F) & Red Breasted (8) Mergansers
And a surprise WHITE WINGED SCOTER.
Also saw a Horned Grebe going into breeding plumage.

Harborside Golf Course (1:45-2:15 pm)

Here the numbers were very high but I was getting a little sick of
counting ducks so I only counted a portion of what I saw. Here I was
helped by Woody G but try as we might we could not find a Ruddy Duck
which I hoped would be here.

So I ended my day with 18 species of ducks which included 17 of the
regular 20 species possible, missing Blue Winged Teal (too early),
Pintail (I never find one in this area) &
Ruddy Duck (should not have missed this one). But I did add one bonus
duck with the White Winged Scoter. I'll try again next week in the
Palos area & see if I can beat 18 species.

I had a good total of 45 species including 2 roadside additions.
Bird-Of-The-Day to the Tundra Swan & Runners-Up to the White Winged Scoter &
the Trumpeter Swans.

Al Stokie
In the Calumet Area of Cook County today having a good time chasing ducks