Walk In The Woods, Hybrid Ducks and McGeachy Mocker

 Tuesday was a fine day to go for a walk in the woods.  With sunny skies and no wind for a change, it was quite pleasant at Reid CA.

Not many birds of course, but Wild Turkey tracks were everywhere throughout the property.

Here is another tree that took an abrupt turn earlier in life.

Nearby, another tree had some fungus called Silky Parchment.

Not sure what this fungus was, but part of the tree was on the ground.

Common Hackberry trees are rare at Reid, but here is another one.

I found some oak galls at one point, which are quite neat.

Wednesday, I made a good run along the St. Clair River.  It was still iced-in to north of Sombra, but had opened up quite a bit northward.  I suspect there is an ice bridge somewhere up Sarnia way keeping ice from flowing downstream.

It was a day of hybrid ducks.  Upon arrival at Cathcart Park, I spotted a Canvasback X Redhead male (females are more difficult to pick out!).  Another observer saw several more upriver later in the afternoon.  Too distant for the camera though.

As well, a Ring-necked X Redhead was here.  The open water was farther offshore, so it was not too close.

The male Ruddy Duck was also here.

I went as far as Guthrie Park, Corunna this day.  There was not much at Corunna this time around.  

The local Trumpeter Swan was in close.

Wednesday night we received quite a bit of snow, so I stayed home until afternoon.  Although a sunny day for the most part, there was not much to see along the river.  I cut in on Pointe Line, and came across some of the Sandhill Cranes that have been spending the winter in the area.

Today, I did not get going until late morning, but headed in the southerly direction for a change.  There is a lot less snow along Lake Erie!

I went for a walk at McGeachy Pond, where the lake was mostly ice.  

However, a few Redhead ducks were in an open spot.

Eight Sandhill Cranes were circling to the north, but out of range for the camera.

Mounds of ice along the shoreline as one would expect, but there was one spot that formed a mini grotto.

The local Northern Mockingbird was right near the tower today.

It must be getting desperate, trying to consume those non-native berries!

I then headed through Shrewsbury and got a glimpse of the wintering Virginia Rail.  There is a perpetual open water spot where it likes to hang out.

I did walk the campground in Rondeau Park, but it was virtually birdless!  I saw a flock of a dozen House Finches, and that was it!

There was lots of Horned Larks and Snow Buntings along the paved roads today as I worked my way home.

More Tourin'

 Lots of ice in the St. Clair River these days.  Been a few years since we have seen this much ice.  One has to go well north of Sombra to find significant open water.

Friday was a nice sunny day as I drove up to Mooretown.  Nothing new though.  

There is a bit of open water on the Chenal Ecarte that ducks occasionally stop at.

Saturday I felt like taking a long drive and went into Middlesex County.  With the freezing rain last week, it has been virtually impossible to walk anywhere with so much ice.  I managed to walk Wardsville Woods, but it was very dangerous.

Scene at Wardsville Woods

I went as far as Melbourne, then headed back up towards Glencoe, then over to Skunk's Misery.  I saw various raptors along the way, a very large flock of Snow Buntings and even a Common Raven (hwy 2 east of Taits Road).

The Misery was almost birdless as it usually is this time of year, but I did encounter some birds at the north end of Sassafras Road, including some American Robins.

I then headed up Limerick along the county line and found a nice patch of birds by the old pasture.  Among others, a Northern Flicker was here (lighting horrible as usual!).

The oddest bird was a male Red-winged Blackbird.  Seemed out of place.

I then turned down Fansher Road which goes quite a ways to Florence.  It has some interesting areas.  At one point, I noticed a couple of Golden Eagles soaring back and forth.

It was interesting to seem them interacting at one point, as seen above.

Seems to be quite a few Golden Eagles wintering over a wide area from here well into Middlesex and down to Elgin County.

I did not do much on Sunday except watch the yard.

I did get out to Port Lambton briefly in the afternoon.  Stopped by the Snye again, and some ducks were in the open areas.

Today, I went out to the river.  The only two good spots were at CF Industries outlet and at Guthrie Park, Corunna.

Lots of Greater Scaup were at CF, and at least eight Ring-necked Ducks.

At Stag Island off Guthrie, there was a good variety of waterfowl.

There are fewer Redhead on the river due to the ice.  One wonders where they have gone.

A single Lesser Scaup was fairly close. Lessers are quite uncommon here in winter.

Highlight was a Horned Grebe which was continually moving just offshore.  It spent most of its time diving, so difficult to keep track!

And of course, lots of Bald Eagles along the river.

Going Batty and More River Scenes

 It has been rather uneventful lately, and have no ambition to go any distance from home.  Luckily, the St. Clair River has kept me occupied.

This past Sunday, I did my usual run along the river in the morning.  In the afternoon, I was investigating the crawl space under part of the house.  Behind the insulation I found a bat!  Mind you, we have had them in the house before, but how they get in is a complete mystery since it is a sealed space.

Not one to kill anything, I carefully grabbed it with a bag, and put it outside.  A while later I went out to check on it, and found it clinging to the side of the house.  It eventually took flight.  It was fairly mild, so hopefully it found a spot to continue its hibernation.

It was fairly large, so I believe it is a Big Brown Bat.  The Little Brown Bat is around here as well, and they can be difficult to distinguish between.

Back to the river, I found a Ruddy Duck at Willow Park.  Quite uncommon here in the winter.

There was also a Gadwall here, but we get a few along the river during winter.

Monday was quite foggy, so I was out later.  Visibility was limited along the river, but there were thousands of ducks.

At Willow Park, the Ruddy Duck was still present, and there was quite a bit to look at.  The five Trumpeter Swans were present.  The three younger ones were  swimming, then I heard them trumpeting.  The adults were just flying in.

I noticed some flippers sticking up in the air.  Obviously a duck got caught on a fishing lure while diving and was unable to recover.  This remained stationary, so no doubt it was anchored to fishing line.

A fair number of gulls were at Cathcart Park, but nothing unusual again.

Tuesday was bright and sunny, but more ice on the river.  The open spots concentrated the waterfowl more.  I briefly stopped at Marshy Creek Park south of Sombra for a look.  The five Trumpeter Swans flew by southbound here!  No time for a photo though.

I did not take any photos this day.

Wednesday was another sunny morning, but more ice had moved in.  Most of the river all the way up to Mooretown was plugged with brash ice.  However, there were some open spots.

I took some random photos showing the concentration of ducks.  Once again, I found no rarities!  Ducks do a lot of sleeping on these cold sunny days.

There was a nice little open spot off Brander Park that attracted some waterfowl.

Note Ring-necked Duck

A Gadwall was fast asleep here.

Today, Thursday, was too icy to go out since we had freezing rain overnight.  

Nothing new at the feeder....just too many House Sparrows which hog all the seed.  Once in a while, an accipiter comes around such as this young Cooper's Hawk.  It needs to take a course in House Sparrow hunting, as it never gets anything!

Been passing time by reading a good book.  It is about the rise and fall of the Hudson Bay Company and fur trading and settlement of northern Canada.