Waterfowl on Rt. 2

A large flooded field on the south side of Route 2, immediately east of SR 590 in Ottawa County, has been hosting numbers of Canada Geese for at least the last five days, and today (Saturday March 3) the field held an impressive variety of other waterfowl.  Canada Geese were still the most numerous, with well over 1000 present (mostly appearing to be migrant birds, not the resident "Giant Canadas") but there were at least 11 other species there.  I checked the area once around 1:30 pm and again around 3 pm and there had been substantial turnover during that time; these are the highest counts that I had between these two stops:  Tundra Swan 109, Canada Goose about 1,200, Snow Goose 2 (one each of white morph and blue morph), Mallard 60, American Black Duck 20, Gadwall 40, Northern Pintail 30, American Wigeon 70, Redhead 140, Canvasback 2, Ring-necked Duck 7, Lesser Scaup 9.  I was most impressed with the large number of Redheads: they're known to frequent shallow waters more than most other diving ducks, but this seemed like the extreme for shallowness!  Traffic is fast and sometimes heavy on this stretch of Rt 2, so anyone who wants to look for these birds should make a point of getting far off the road.