Belfast Bay census of Sun., Jan. 11

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Ronald Harrell

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Jan 12, 2015, 12:22:36 PM1/12/15

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The temperatures ranged from 9 to 19 F. with sunny to partly cloudy skies that morning. Sea smoke and heat shimmer hampered observations. In one instance a group of diving ducks about 300 yards away could not be identified because of the combination of smoke and shimmer. In any case it was a good day of birding. The highlights were a female N. Pintail and a male Barrow's Goldeneye, both seen in the vicinity of the footbridge over Belfast Harbor. This is first Pintail for our study and the first Barrow's Goldeneye for the season.

As has been the case in other years, large numbers of Herring Gulls (337) and Mallards (311) are now using Belfast Bay for feeding and loafing. Until now, these kinds of numbers have not appeared on any of this season's counts. They seem to occur only in the dead of winter.

The complete count can be found on ebird at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S21315893