Pintails and Iceland Gulls - 25 Feb 2023

Overnight brought an inch of snow along with falling temperatures. This morning, while driving back to Crosswinds Marsh I encountered solid ice along Willow Rd. in Wayne Co. I was actually happy to turn down Clark Rd and get into potholes to avoid sliding off the road.

A pair of Sandhill Cranes were far out in field just north of Ash Rd. 

I turned down Arkona Rd. to check the marsh and found dozens of Northern Pintail swimming in the half-frozen pond. Most took off when I stopped the car and Mark Schaller counted about 60 of them flying over Clark Rd. a few minutes later.

I scoped the pond a found a few more pair of Northern Pintail among the Mallard and Canada Geese and managed a few digiscoped images from maximum distance using EFL~2400mm.

I then drove over to Crosswinds Marsh and scoped the pond to look for more white-winged Gulls. A pair of Lesser Black-backed Gulls later I spotted an Iceland Gull swimming near the front of the gull raft, which was along the far banks of the pond. Again, maximum distance for digiscoping.