We Made it to the Beach

As we approached the beach, Guinness went bonkers with excitement. It was a challenge to keep him on a sit/stay while I hooked up his long lead, as a dog-friendly man walked by egging Guinness on to be crazy. No sooner had he passed, and I was trying to get the car locked and mittens on, when another dog-friendly man came along encouraging Guinness to be overly friendly. Here he is posing in the seagrass.

I was determined to do my part in the Great Backyard Bird Count. Two Ring-billed Seagulls flew past us over the edge of the lake. There was a phenomenal build-up of ice flows blocking my view of the birds that might be on the lake. The normal gatherings along the beach of Mallards, Canada Geese, and Trumpeter Swans were nowhere in sight. As we approached the ship channel, I could see hundreds of black birds huddled floating on the lake. I tied Guinness to a tree so that I could try to get a good look with my binoculars to identify them. I am quite sure that they were Lesser Scaups, but I cannot be positive. While watching them, a black duck suddenly popped up out of the ice flows about 50 feet from us. I cannot be sure if it was an American Black Duck or a Gadwall. It was very dark in color and had a bright white wing patch on its side. In trying to get closer to the duck, we encountered this sight. (Click on the picture to get the full effect!)

In the ship channel, there was the usual sight of hundreds of Longtails. Eighteen Trumpeter Swans were hovering at the edge of the channel singly or in twos. I tied Guinness to a tree as it was way too slippery on the pier to be safe. He managed to come loose, but did not try to run away. Thank goodness!


Our walk ended with a bad omen. A black bird with white under its tail fell from the sky into the ice flows. It was not large enough to have been electrocuted by the high power lines overhead, but perhaps it accidentally ran into a wire and fell to its death. We did not get close enough to identify it, as I didn’t want Guinness to find it.

Here is my exhausted boy: