Early Waterfowl Tour

We had a great turnout on Saturday celebrating the second day of spring and our annual Early Waterfowl Tour.  The tour stated at Watkins Lake SP and visited other lakes in the Jackson area.

Before we got started we received a brief from Geoffrey from the Friends of Watkins Lake (FoWL) to let us know about the work this conservation and support group is doing for the property.  It's a great place and if you are interested in the work they're doing, check them out their social media and web.

After FoWL, Sybil with Irish Hills Concerned Citizens let the group know about the advocacy they are doing in regards to the proposed gravel mining operation that is being planned to the west and east of Watkins Lake.  They shared concerns about what effects a mining operation will have on the park.

The day was overcast and certainly colder, by just 30 degrees, from our spectacular first day of primavera.  After the requisite sighting of the park's Northern Mockingbirds, we walked the road into the lake.  We had some wildfowl but not the spectacular variety we usually get.  Trumper Swan, Bonaparte's Gull, and Gadwall were some of the 10 waterfowl we observed.  Other species highlights included mature Bald Eagle on next, Belted Kingfisher,  first Tree Swallows, and our mimic friend, mentioned above.  The beloved Ruddy Duck was absent.

From Watkins, we checked out Little Wolf Lake where we picked up Horned Grebe and Lesser Scaup.

Next we stopped and the Portage Lake County Park.  This verry accessible viewing spot added Common Goldeneye and Common Loon to our day's list.  Also spotted Great Blue Heron.

The last stop on the official tour was the always productive Cutler & Dunn Rds. wetland.  This place is great for Northern Pintail and we were not disappointed-estimated count was 200.  We also added Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, and Green-winged Teal

For our four checklists our total bird count was 46 including 20 goose, swan, duck, grebe, loon, and gull species.  See the list links below.

Final stop at Cutler Rd. (Steve Jerant)

eBird Checklists

Trip Report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/490652
Watkin's Lake:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S311375341
Little Wolf Lake: https://ebird.org/checklist/S311401320
Portage Lake CP: https://ebird.org/checklist/S311434475
Cutler rd. wetland: https://ebird.org/checklist/S311475360