Rainy Day Local Birding at Seven Small Lakes Friday 3-6-26

[Al Stokie]

Hello Bird People,

Tried to get to Techny North before the rain but it started just as I
arrived. But it stopped briefly so I had a few minutes to look. Next
to Skokie Lagoons where it rained so hard I had to sit in the car.
Slowed down enough that I could view from inside the car but probably
missed some ducks.
Then to Heritage Park after lunch where I saw my only new "year bird".
Then to Beck Lake where it rained so hard I could hardly see what was
there. Then to Big Bend Lake & after a while it stopped raining long
enough that I could walk out far enough to see the whole lake. Next to
Lake Opeka where it once again started to rain but here you can hide
under the shelter with a roof so I was ok. Finally to Axehead Lake
where it rained again so I viewed from the car.

All things considered I did very well in spite of the rain & ended up
with 15 species of ducks, a new "year bird" & a rare Gull at Skokie
Lagoons. I'll just tell you about where all the ducks were & also
throw in some of the other highlights.

At Techny North ducks were Mallards (14), Green Winged Teal (2-M),
Black Ducks (2) & a pair of Shovelers. Also two Killdeer.

At Skokie Lagoons ducks were Mallard (12), Wood Duck (1-M), Lesser
Scaup (25), Ring Necked Duck (33), Goldeneye (6), Hooded (1-PR),
Common (3) & Red Breasted (577) Mergansers.
Also 2 Great Blues, two more Killdeer & in with the Herring Gulls was
one adult GLAUCOUS GULL. I don't think I've ever had one here before.

At Heritage Park there was a white SNOW GOOSE among 38 Canada Geese.
Also 4 more Killdeer & 7 Mallards. Called Bob Erickson & he saw the
Goose & David Johnson saw it about 1 pm but it was gone for Joe Lill
at about 2 pm.

At Beck Lake were Lesser Scaup (1-PR), Common (1-PR) & Red Breasted
(82) Mergansers.

At Big Bend Lake were Mallard (12), Wood Duck (1-PR), Gadwall (1-M),
Shoveler (1-M), Lesser Scaup (12) & Red Breasted Mergansers (31). Also
another Killdeer.

Next to Lake Opeka where the numbers were even higher than yesterday.
Mallards (65), Gadwall (1-M), Lesser Scaup (132), Greater Scaup (2),
Redhead (18), Ring Necked Duck (14),
CANVASBACK (1-M), Goldeneye (24), Common (1-M & 1-F) & Red Breasted
(15) Mergansers.

Lastly to Axehead Lake where the ducks were Ring Necked Duck (4),
Greater (2) & Lesser (21) Scaup, Goldeneye (3) & Red Breasted (1-M)
Merganser.

I had an amazing total of 706 Red Breasted Merganser, 171 Lesser Scaup
& 51 Ring Necks.
I hadn't seen a single Killdeer in March until today when I had 7 of
them. Guess they are in.

So 28 species for the day at my 7 locations plus roadside Mourning
Doves for a final total of 29. Of the 28 species 15 were ducks which
considering the rain was a very good total.
Somehow I managed to miss Bufflehead for the day!
Bird-Of-The-Day will be a tie between the Snow Goose & the Glaucous Gull.
Runners-Up to the Canvasback & all the returning Killdeer.

Al Stokie
In the rain in Cook County today getting ready to clean up my binos & scope