Ducks and Ice in the St. Clair River

 Not too much happening in the last week, as some cold weather has set in.  

On Thursday, I took a long drive to eastern Lambton County and down into SW Middlesex to see what was around in the countryside.  Well.....very few birds!  Roads were not in the best of shape, but I was tired of waiting for the right day.

One of the target birds to find was a Golden Eagle, and I did so along McCready Road.  It was a bit distant and in dull light, so no photo.

Along Oilfield Road just into Middlesex, I found a nice mixed group of birds roadside.  Included was a Common Raven.

Every road I drove had some Dark-eyed Juncos.  They seem to be rather numerous this winter.

Virtually no hawks this winter.  Shrikes are obviously scarce too.  Saw none of those!

I headed towards Skunk's Misery and drove along Centreville and Trillium.  Another Common Raven was encountered, justifying how regular they are now getting.

It started to snow, so I thought I better head home.  The wind really picked up and it was quite nasty driving home along Lambton Line.

Things are iced in along the St. Clair River.  Last Wednesday I went out briefly, and stopped at Stoke's Point north of Sombra.  This was a small patch of open water where lots of Redhead were congregating. Unfortunately, an eagle flushed everything before I had a good look.

Then I noticed hundreds of ducks (mainly Redhead, but some Canvasback too) heading north, more towards the Michigan side.  Perhaps these were some iced out of Lake St. Clair.

Saturday was bitterly cold but sunny, so I drove out to the St. Clair River.  The river was virtually full of ice up to Stag Island, so very little to see in the way of waterfowl.  Some was at OC Industries though taking advantage of the warm water.

Guthrie Park, Corunna was the place to be, as it often is during winter.  I stayed over 1.5h looking at ducks, but nothing unusual.  I am sure BAGO is somewhere out there. I stayed in the car the whole time!

Ducks with Long Tails

It was rather steamy because of the cold air and warm water, so photos not the best.

Once again, gulls were essentially absent.  I saw a grand total of three Herring Gulls!  Later in the day is usually better though.

At home, nothing new (recurring theme this winter!).  The Fox Sparrow is quite regular now, being the only highlight.

January 26

January 24

In the history department, yesterday there was a photo on Boatnerd of the crane ship W. C. Richardson.  I remember this one when I was quite young while out in the boat off Port Lambton.  I often had a camera.

It was launched January 25, 1908.

A neat little ship!

A Barrow's at Corunna and the CASO at Courtright

 A wintery blast arrived yesterday with a bit of snow and strong winds.  I decided to stay home, as the country roads would have been iffy at times.  It was quite gusty, even in town!

Nothing new at the backyard feeder yesterday.  The star of the show has been quite regular.

Today was sunny and a bit calmer, so I ventured out to the St. Clair River.  I wanted some ice, and now there is no shortage of it!  In fact, there was practically no open water until I got to Courtright.  But, very little until north of Corunna.

Guthrie Park was the only place to watch waterfowl, and there was not a huge number.  Gulls are practically absent this winter.  Apparently they are all down in Ohio, looking at recent photos!

I sat at the north end for some time.  There was a mix of ducks, some not too visible because of the steam coming from the warm water of Talfourd Creek.  It was quite cold today, so some of the waterfowl had a frosted appearance.

After the better part of an hour, I turned south, but noticed a few ducks close to shore at the south end of Guthrie Park.  Had to take a look.  Good thing I did, as I immediately spotted a male Barrow's Goldeneye!

Barrow's with common counterparts

Made my day, as I cannot seem to find anything else...even notable birds that are around.

We probably get a Barrow's Goldeneye on the river every winter.  It is just a matter of finding it.  Quite likely a returning bird, like the one up at Owen Sound that appears every winter.  I went to see that one in 2020.

As I passed through Courtright, I stopped to read an interpretive sign about the railway that once terminated there.  

As railroads and trains is another interest of mine, just last night I wrote an article about the Canada Southern Railway.  One went through southern Chatham-Kent as a short cut for the Detroit to Buffalo route, but another line went from St. Thomas to Courtright.

Here is the article as written (newspaper clippings from the Windsor Star, that my father had saved at the time):

 

There was once a busy railroad from St. Thomas to Courtright, with spurs to Oil Springs and Petrolia.  (The Oil springs spur actually extended to Edys Mills).  In 1871, the original land grant signed by Queen Victoria was given to Canada Southern Railway and financier Cornelius Vanderbilt of New York Central Railroad.  CASO was essentially the Canadian division of New York Central.

 

 

The original hope was that a ferry at Courtright would be established to connect to the St. Clair and Western Railway in Michigan.  That ferry operation never materialized.

The railroad paralleled highway 80 and went right to the river where the waterfront park now stands.

Early on (1874) the Canada Southern failed and was taken over by the Vanderbilts (owners of New York Central and other railways), and the right-of-way was leased to Michigan Central. By 1930, Michigan Central was taken over by its parent company New York Central Railroad.  The CASO name was retained throughout.

 

Oil Springs station

 

The establishment of the Canada Southern Railroad from St. Thomas led to the formation of several new villages including Courtright, which was named after Milton Courtright, president of the Canada Southern.

Some of the new places included Watford, Wyoming, Wanstead, Inwood, Mandaumin, Alvinston, Oil City and Brigden.

The railroad did well in its early years with passenger and freight, but the advent of the motor car, building of highways and the development of trucking led to a demise in business.  Passenger service was eliminated sometime in the 1930’s.

By the late 1950’s, the writing was on the wall.  The last trail pulled out of Courtright on April 30, 1960.

There are remnants of the old railway still visible such as concrete abutments and scars on the landscape as seen by satellite maps.

 

 

An interpretive sign can be found on the Courtright waterfront where the rail lines ended.

 

Mid January Report: Munson, Pesha and The Astronomer

 This past Monday was very windy...again!  I went out to Port Lambton and found another pair of Trumpeter Swans close to shore.

Not to be confused with the smaller Tundra Swan, of which I saw a pair yesterday off Cathcart Park.

I have spent quite a bit of time along the river, but still not much out there.  A couple of days ago, lots of ice was finally in the river, so that should help in concentrating waterfowl.  Especially with the cold weather we have now.

Yesterday, there was a good raft of mainly Redhead near Fawn Island.  The raft was too far out to do much with, but I bet one of those Ring-necked X Redhead was in there!

Many ships are now laid up for the winter, but some are running.  It was nice to see one of the last classic lakers passing Port Lambton on Friday.  It was bound for Toledo.

Wednesday I did a big tour, but of course did not see much of note (my usual luck).  I stopped by Wardsville Woods for a walk.  There were some birds, including a Hermit Thrush.

Scene along the creek

At one point, I notice this prickly thing, a remnant of last year's crop.  It was actually Wild Cucumber....not very edible!

Of course, there is not much going on there in winter, but it is a favourite hotspot with so many rare odonates in late spring and into summer.

The backyard feeders have been busy, and the Fox Sparrow has become quite regular.

Nice that it has stuck around.  Not complaining, but a Harris's Sparrow would be better!

There have been more Mourning Doves this winter (up to at least a dozen) compared to most winters.

I have been hoping one of their cousins with a white wing might stop in!

Today, I went down to Rondeau for a change in scenery.  Rather quiet, especially in the campground. It is always hit and miss in the campground!

Lots of Greater Scaup and Common Goldeneye were flying high past dog beach.  It was mostly ice out there, so not many lingering.

Outside the park, there were many flocks of Snow Buntings in the countryside.  Sparrows were collecting along roadside scrapes.  Included was Savannah Sparrow, which were seen by a few observers this morning.

Last evening, I was going through some old photographs and came across a moth photo I had forgotten about.  Turns out is was an Astronomer Moth (or The Astronomer).  Although not all that uncommon, it is not often reported.  I was looking at iNaturalist entries, and most around the province have remained unconfirmed.  Not sure why that is.  It is highly variable though, as many moths are.

I think it gets its name form the silvery speckles that can be seen on the wings, perhaps mimicking stars.

This one I found at Reid Conservation Lands back in June 2015.

***********************************************************************************

With lack of subject matter lately, I have been delving into local history.  During the winter months, I probably would come up with more ideas on historical things.  There is no end to it around Wallaceburg!  I always though I should start a history blog.  Recently, I have been writing articles for the Wallaceburg Museum's newsletter.

Although I have brought up this subject before, the photography of Louis Pesha is interesting from the early 1900's.  The writing below will appear in a future issue.

One of the most prolific photographers of our area in the early 1900’s was Louis Pesha.  Born in 1868 near Shetland, Ontario Pesha perfected the art of photography and opened several studios in the area.  He photographed buildings and scenes of small towns and of the surrounding countryside.

Eventually he realized that he could make a living on producing post cards of his work.  Pesha produced thousands of images that are now highly sought after by collectors and historians.  Great Lakes ships were a popular subject matter, for example.

Louis Pesha later opened a shop in Marine City, Michigan where he could essentially photograph ships from his doorstep on the St. Clair River.  It was also centrally-located to photograph scenes in various small towns not far away.

Wallaceburg was one of them where he produced many photos of buildings, industries and daily life. 

Included here are a couple from the Alan Mann post card collection.

 

railroad bridge near glass factory

 

a scene probably east of Courtright

 

His post cards always had a number, probably in sequence.  Historians have tried to make sense of this numbering system, but have not come to any conclusions. Pesha’s post cards were never copyrighted.

 Louis Pesha became so successful that he was able to purchase a luxury automobile in the form of a steam car.  Unfortunately, this car was the product of his untimely death.  On October 1, 1912 while visiting the family farm near Shetland an accident occurred where the car rolled over him and crushed his skull.  He had hit the wrong pedal, and the car jerked backwards over an embankment.

 Pesha’s wife continued to operate the business until about 1920, but his post cards still remained popular especially to collectors.

 I have an extensive collection of Pesha post cards depicting scenes in Wallaceburg, surrounding towns and ships along the St. Clair River.  My grandfather Frank recalled seeing Louis Pesha in Wallaceburg on many occasions.

I always liked this one of Clay Creek outlet at what is now Cathcart Park.

 

 

Trumpeting Along the St. Clair River and Recent Rambles

 This past week was quite mild.....and windy!  I spent more time along the St. Clair River than anything.  Not sure why because there is not much out there!  Unless we get cold weather and some ice, there never will be.

Tuesday, a couple of Trumpeter Swans were at Cathcart Park.  Likely the same ones from earlier in teh winter

More Tundra Swans were around as well, probably due to the incoming mild weather.

Wednesday I went to Rondeau Park.  I started with a lakewatch at dog beach.  Over 500 White-winged Scoters were counted during my short stay.  A couple of Horned Grebes were new for the year for me.

As always, I checked the campground.  There were puddles due to the rain and melting ice.  At one point I heard some swishing behind me.  I had walked right by a bathing Cooper's Hawk!  It showed no fear.

Thursday was actually a very nice day.  I went for a walk at Wilkesport first thing.  Three or four Northern Flickers were working the area.  I only managed to get a photo of one from a distance.

I then went for a walk at Reid C. L.  It was just too nice of a day not to!  There were lots of Blue Jays feeding on acorns.  Another member of the corvids was a Common Raven that flew by  in the distance.

Some scenes:

Back Field

An adult Sharp-shinned Hawk stopped by the neighbourhood later in the morning.  It spent some time preening.

Friday there was very little in the way of birds, and I did not even do a bird list!

Saturday, it was back to Rondeau.  I did a lakewatch at dog beach with Steve.  It was not an ideal wind, but White-winged Scoters were the talk of the day.

Over 1500 were tallied.  No doubt conservative because many were way out.  At least three Surf Scoters were mixed in.

Today, I checked out the entire St. Clair River.  Not much to see.  Been too mild.  More hunters and decoys than birds!

This afternoon, I finally went to see some of the Sandhill Cranes east of Port Lambton.  Up to 144 were seen on the Wallaceburg CBC January 4, but every day sees different numbers.  I counted 42.

These creatures come over from Michigan each day.

The Fox Sparrow shows up occasionally here at home.  I have never had one spend the winter here, so it is nice to have!