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With the rain and thunder beating against the windows this morning I had to relieve the cabin fever with a quick trip to Lorain this afternoon.
Initially the wind was 15 gusting 20mph out of the SW and no rain at 1:15 pm but shortly after 3:00pm the front passed and the wind switched out of the NW abruptly and soon rain was driven head on behind a 30 mph breeze - not much point after that.
Veteran's Memorial Park, Lorain Co. - 1:15 to 1:30pm
Red-breasted Merganser - 450
Long-tailed Duck - 1 female (flying east unlike every other bird)
Common Loon - 1
Great Black-backed Gull - 1
Avon Lake - 1:45 to 2:45
Greater Scaup - 1 (oddly the only bay duck for the day)
Red-breasted Merganser - 1800
(was 550 when I arrived but birds began pouring in
from well offshore immediately before the front's
arrival).
Common Loon - 26
Red-throated Loon - 1 (very pale bird, wholly white face)
Double-crested Cormorant - 10
Great Blue Heron - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 1 hunting the beach
Bonaparte's Gull - 450
Ring-billed Gull - 100
Herring Gull - 250 (almost all adults; clearly outnumbered Ring-billeds)
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 2 (both 3rd winter; noticeable size discrepancy between
the two suggests they were m & f; these birds
were no where to be seen for nearly the entire
hour then suddenly they were on the water
within the hoard of mergansers just offshore)
Great Blacked Gull - 3 (2 ad, 1 1st w.)
Lorain Harbor - Lakeside Marina -- 3:10 pm rain hits
the bulk of the 2500 gulls on the docks were adult Herring Gulls
three Great Black-backed Gulls
Lorain Harbor - Hotwaters -- 3:30 pm
almost all the 6000 gulls within the basin and along the river were adult Ring-billeds
about 600 Bonaparte's Gulls were playing about the harbor entrance
cheers
Vic Fazio
Shaker Hts, OH