I birded the Milwaukee lakefront this morning and it was pretty much the winter ducks with mostly Common Goldeneye and Greater Scaups. I had hoped to find a couple of Red-throated Loons since some are being reported in Port Washington. One never knows what shows up at the lakefront here from hour to hour. Some open water in a few locations on the lakefront. Some of those locations were the Lighthouse at the Milwaukee River mouth, and Lakeshore State Park. These locations had nice numbers of Common Goldeneye and Greater Scaup, with a few Common Mergansers. South Shore Yacht Club had just a little bit of open water, just a few ducks were present there. I ran into Mike W and he showed me some of his hot birding locations along the Menomonee River downtown. They were slow today with a American Coot and Common Mergansers and the typical winter ducks. They have been great spots for Mike over the years and I’ll have to get them on my list of places to hit in the future. Best views for ducks today was Lakeshore State Park. It was very cold day today with a stiff wind right out of the NW in the big open park, sun felt good when you were out of the wind. Images were taken on February 22, 2015.
Greater Scaup, female chasing a Greater Scaup, male for a mussel.
Greater Scaup, female chasing a Greater Scaup, male for a mussel.
Pair of Greater Scaups, males on the run.
Greater Scaup, male adult
Great Scaup, female adult with a small stretch
Great Scaup, female adult with a small stretch
Common Goldeneye, male adult
Common Goldeneye, female adult
Common Goldeneye, female interacting with a Common Goldeneye, male 1st year
Common Goldeneye, female interacting with a Common Goldeneye, male, 1st year. Love the face of the Common Goldeneye male!
Greater Scaup, male adult
Greater Scaup, male adult just up from a dive but with no mussel.
Common Goldeneye, male 1st year, it appears the brown is starting to turn green on the head.
Common Goldeneye, male 1st year, it appears the brown is starting to turn green on the head.
Common Goldeneye, male 1st year, it appears the brown is starting to turn green on the head.
Greater Scaup, female preening
Pair of Greater Scaups, females just hanging out
Greater Scaup, female
Common Goldeneye, male 1st year
Great Scaup, male, preening
Common Goldeneye, male, adult
Common Goldeneye, male 1st year, it appears the brown is starting to turn green on the head 3/20/15
Common Goldeneye, male 1st year, it appears the brown is starting to turn green on the head 3/20/15
Common Goldeneye, male 1st year, it appears the brown is starting to turn green on the head 3/20/15
Common Goldeneye, male 1st year, it appears the brown is starting to turn green on the head 3/20/15
More great shots, Jim. Thanks for sharing!