A beautiful day to walk the Spit, with some nice birds thrown in for good measure. The morning started with two Trumpeter Swans flying overhead, and on the ice in Cell 3 there was a flock of about 60 Tundra Swans, which all took off with a great honking around 9:00 a.m. In the raptor department, I saw the usual Red Tails and Kestrels but also watched a Red-Shouldered Hawk harassing one of the RTs. Between the Lighthouse and Pipit Point, two light-phase Rough-Legged Hawks were hunting over the grasslands. At Pipit Point itself, there was a Red-Necked Grebe, a Red-Throated Loon, a Surf Scoter, and late in the afternoon the Western Grebe paid a visit. All these birds were pretty far out on the water, so a scope would be useful, should you want to lug one all the way out. Other notables included a Northern Shrike, four American Wigeon at the Red Bridge, several Killdeer, adult and juvenile Great Black-Backed Gulls, and a flock of Red Polls in the Owl Woods that included at least one Hoary. Many thanks to the other birders I met who very generously shared their time and sightings.
