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Field Trip Report 

 
Event: ​Gulls and Wintering Birds Hotspots Field Trip 
Date: ​Saturday, January 26, 2019 
Time: ​8:00 a.m. – 11:30 p.m. 
Location:​ ​Wendy Park Beach, Scranton Flats, and Merwin's Wharf 
Leader:​ Liz McQuaid 
Target Species:​ Gulls and Wintering Birds 
Results: ​6 Birders and 25 Species 

It started out as a chilly, slightly snowy morning. 6 hearty birders headed out from the North Olmsted
RTA Park and Ride​ to our first stop, Wendy Park beach. It was quiet near there, but we could see a large
number of birds near the mouth of the Cuyahoga, so we moved to the river.

The pier to the old Coast Guard Station had been damaged in the recent storms, so we could not go too
far out. Still, we had good numbers of gulls and ducks we could scope out.

We decided we were going to head to Scranton Flats, but on a whim I took the group to the western
edge of the Edgewater parking lot near the pier to look for the Merlin that had been reported there off
and on. As we were pulling up 2 other birders were walking toward the parking area, so I asked if they
had seen the Merlin and they had. So our group jumped out of our cars and walked to the pine trees
where we had great views of the the Merlin for several minutes before we left for Scranton Flats.

We arrived by the overlook pier, but the river was fairly quiet. There were a large number of birds by the
fire station, so we parked by the old bridge and walked down to the water. There were plenty of ducks
and gulls there, plus we found 4 Black-crowned Night Herons.

Copyright 2019 Western Cuyahoga Audubon.

Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works.
Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society, 4310 Bush Ave., Cleveland, OH 44109
Email: ​info@wcaudubon.org​ Web: ​www.wcaudubon.org
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From there we went to Merwin's Wharf. It was pretty quiet, but we did add some to our list for the day.
All in all, a great day of birding! ​ ​- Liz McQuaid, Bird Walk Leader

Bird Li​s​t 

# Species Count

1. Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  120

2. Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 22

3. Canvasback (Aythya valisineria) 7

4. Redhead (Aythya americana) 6

5. Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)  2

6. Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)  12

7. Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)  1

8. Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 24

9. Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)  3

10. Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 10

11. Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) 54

12. Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) 1

13. Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) 112

14. American Coot (Fulica americana) 5

15. Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  1,750

16. Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)  230

17. Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) 32

18. gull sp. (Larinae sp.)  5000

19. Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) 4

20. Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) 4

21. Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 1

Copyright 2019 Western Cuyahoga Audubon.

Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works.
Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society, 4310 Bush Ave., Cleveland, OH 44109
Email: ​info@wcaudubon.org​ Web: ​www.wcaudubon.org
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22. Merlin (Falco columbarius) 1

23. American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 1

24. Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 1

25. House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 3

Photos 
 

Photo: Merlin ​(​Falco columbarius)​ ​by Craig Caldwell, Gulls and Wintering Birds Hotspots Field Trip
Saturday, January 26, 2019, ​Wendy Park, 2​ 800 Whiskey Island Drive, Cleveland, OH 44102​​.
 
 
 
 
 

Copyright 2019 Western Cuyahoga Audubon.

Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works.
Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society, 4310 Bush Ave., Cleveland, OH 44109
Email: ​info@wcaudubon.org​ Web: ​www.wcaudubon.org
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Copyright 2019 Western Cuyahoga Audubon.

Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works.
Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society, 4310 Bush Ave., Cleveland, OH 44109
Email: ​info@wcaudubon.org​ Web: ​www.wcaudubon.org