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I did make a stab at a few sites around the Western Basin marshes just to see what may be seen with winds gusting to 60+ mph ... short answer is not much.
Due to the very thick morning fog I got off to a late start at Nickel Plate Park at 10:00 am ... the place was virtually birdless and nothing to be seen offshore.
Cedar Point Chausee at 10:30 - only stayed long enough to note the adult Bald Eagle pair near their nest and below them on the flats of Putnam Marsh about 165 Tundra Swans remain. The flats were completely covered in water. Medusa Marsh at 11:00 - very little to see as visibility was down to a quarter mile and the rain horizontal. There were virtually no waterfowl within the usual pools nor were the cormorants resting on the pylons in Sandusky Bay. Marblehead Light at 11:15 - similar weather conditions; fierce wave action; a few mergansers on the move. Mazurik Boat Access at 11: 30 - up to 350 Red-breasted Mergansers resting on the lee side of Marblehead East Harbor State Park at 12:00 - in the same location as last week, 27 Tundra Swans were still present. - the water was so high on the beach as to completely inundate the flats here. I opted not to check out West Harbor nor was there much point in scoping out distant waterfowl given the poor visibility.
Port Clinton beach from 12:40 to 2:00 pm - I arrived at the tail end of the squall which had dominated the area for the previous 90 minutes or so. By the time I had finished lunch, the skies cleared and much of the rest of the day was dominated by sunshine, if still a little breezy. Earlier I had driven along the beach at Port Clinton and conspicuous even in the downpour was an adult white morph Snow Goose right up on the beach. It was still present when I returned for some pictures. Noting that the goose flock easily numbered 3000 birds, I thought to take a closer look for oddballs. Less than a minute later, I found myself looking at a couple of Cackling Geese ... and then there was the matter of a strange white-headed goose that on closer examination I feel represents a hybrid between Snow and Canada Goose (yes I know - very weird). I have posted further comments on these goose sightings at http://aves.net/birdnews/ including two photo salons depicting all these birds plus on the Birding page yet another odd goose is discussed and illustrated.
Feeling lucky, with geese anyway, I drove out to Maumee Bay State Park hoping to find the Greater White-fronted Geese that had been hanging out there (at least through 4 Dec). There were 340 Canada Geese foraging on the lush greens of the park but NO white-fronts. I did read 10 white collars, and saw (but could not read) a yellow tagged Canada (the rarest color we get in Ohio).
Very little else to mention on the day. In a field opposite the entrance of Maumee Bay S.P. there were 11 swan sp. There were 4 Snow Buntings along the beach, and on the Bay there were several thousand (in excess of 6000 got off the water at one point) Red-breasted Merganser but the rough chop likely hid a good many.
Several fields along Rt. 2 in Jerusalem Twp, Lucas Co. held 9000+ Ring-billed Gulls.
cheers
Vic Fazio
Shaker Hts, OH