We recently took a cruise on four of the Great Lakes, all but Lake Superior, visiting both Ontario and United States port cities. In the course of this cruise, we observed many of the birds common at our cottage on White Lake but we also saw some other Great Lake birds that we have never seen or photographed at the cottage.
We seldom see swallows of any kind at the cottage, only a barn swallow twice and then only when we were on a long walk. The cliff swallow, we saw at Mackinac Island, Michigan, is a social land bird that can be found nesting in large colonies. They build their nests from mud which they collect along shorelines. Adults grow to 13 centimeters in length. They mainly feed on flying insects which they catch on the wing but they can occasionally be seen foraging for insects on the ground. Notable features include their slightly notched tails, rusty brown necks, and white patches on their foreheads.
While we occasionally see trumpeter swans at our cottage, we have never seen a mute swan. Mute swans are large birds that can grow to a length of 1.2 to 1.5 meters, similar in size to trumpeter swans. Mute swans have a conspicuous black knob at the base of their orange bills whereas the trumpeter swan lacks a knob and the bill is black. Mute swans feed mainly on underwater plants. Mute swans were originally introduced to North America from Europe. We saw this individual in Parry Sound, Ontario.
The northern rough-winged swallow’s name derives from the stiff barbs on the leading edge of its outer wing feathers. Adults can grow to a length of 12 to 15 centimeters. They feed on flying insects which they catch in flight, including flies, bees, wasps, damselflies, and beetles. Northern rough-winged swallows are most frequently observed feeding over water. This individual was photographed on a mooring line in a Welland Canal lock at Port Colbourne, Ontario when it was taking a short rest from feeding.
The rudy duck is a small-sized member of the duck family, growing to a length of 35 to 43 centimeters. Distinguishing markings of this species include its long, “stiff” tail feathers and white patch on the cheek of the males. They are excellent swimmers, using their relatively large feet which they use to dive for aquatic insects, crustaceans, and other aquatic invertebrates. We encountered this pair while we were on a walk in Milwaukee, Michigan in a lovely shoreside park along Lake Michigan.
Our field guides indicate that all of these Great Lake birds might be spotted at White Lake but thus far we have only seen them elsewhere. The joys of going on great trips!
For this article we relied primarily on the field guide by David M. Bird Birds of Eastern Canada.
