Veteran's Day Duck Observation at Trustom Pond

 While I do not normally blog about walks I lead or are lead by the OSBC I almost feel like I have to today. By far, I had more people show up to this "outing" than I ever have. Today, Tim Metcalf and I stationed ourselves at the observation deck at Osprey Point from 2:30-4 pm. We had scopes and the goal was to find ducks (and other birds) on Trustom Pond. It wasn't a "walk" because we were in one place and people could come and go as they pleased.

    When we pulled into the lot it was full. I found the last available place to park (it wasn't a space, just an opening between cars parked along the edge). We walked out and got to the observation deck at exactly 2:30. There was already a dozen people out there. Many of them were waiting for us! We quickly set up our scopes and looked for birds. 

   Unfortunately, the pond did not have thousands of ducks. There weren't any rarities. At first this bummed me out a little bit because I wanted everyone to be happy. But... I was reminded why we do bird walks in the first place. First off, the people there were thrilled at how nice it was out. They were right because we lucked out. I was down to shorts and a t-shirt. The weather alone made most of the participants happy.

    There were some Common Goldeneyes directly in front of us and I had multiple people see them in  the scope. Tim found some Coots way out but they were very clear with the afternoon sun shining on them. Tim also spotted a Horned Grebe which proved difficult to get everyone on thanks to their desire to dive for food. 

   An hour in, one participant said she had gotten five lifers! It turned out she was from Indians and just moved here. Also, this was her first year of birding. When she told me that I perked up! Now I had this new goal to find her some more lifers. I ended up getting the grebe in my scope and she got it as a lifer. Another woman also needed it for a lifer and Tim got it in his scope. We also got good, if not distant, looks at another lifer for her, a Northern Harrier. 

   All in all it was a great afternoon. Our ninety minutes flew by. We had conversations about everything from the Steller's Sea Eagle to snakes in Illinois ( I may have started that conversation). I talked with a seasoned pro about BioBlitz's from the past and future. People got lifers, and oh yeah, it was really beautiful day