Sunday, December 9, 2007

Winter Birds at Sarnia

The weather was less than ideal today, but the farther north one went, the better it became. I headed to Sarnia today for a change. Good choice. I came across some decent birds.

First stop was Point Edward. I have not been up there much this fall because we hardly ever had a decent north wind. However, this time of year is good for ducks.

Upon arrival, I immediately spotted a Harlequin Duck close to shore. I had my camera, so I got some decent shots.

There were not a lot of gulls around, but I did pick out a couple of Glaucous. Once winter sets in, more gulls will be around.

After picking up some sunflower seed for the feeders, I went over to Perch Creek CA. It can be good for birds there, and certainly good for butterflies in the summer. I saw two birds fly by, and I knew by their sound that they were Bohemian Waxwings. The only other places I have seen this species is at Pinery/Ipperwash, Algonquin Park (once in late September--record early!), Point Pelee, and Rondeau Park. Never around Sarnia though!

On the way home I stopped at Moore Wildlife Area (I mentioned this place in my butterfly posting a couple of days ago). Along the road I saw a huge flock of Common Redpolls in a field feeding on weed seeds. There could have been up to 200 there!

At the CA parking lot, I did not have to go far to see several birds. There were numerous Chickadees, nuthatches, Tree Sparrows, a couple of Tufted Titmouse, and at least two Yellow-rumped Warblers. These warblers always winter here! There is a heavy crop of Poison Ivy berries in the valley.

Moore is a good birding place in the winter as there are lots of birds, including woodpeckers like the flicker. I think I counted five flickers one day last winter. Today I had Downy, Hairy, and Red-bellied right away.

I will probably have more postings on Sarnia birds throughout the winter.

3 comments:

  1. Did you check all 200 Redpolls for Hoary? :P

    I STILL haven't got Bohemian Waxwing this year even though reports are everywhere. I've been getting out every weekend to try but still no luck! Oh well, gives me something to look forward to at least.

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  2. Regarding the redpolls, I didn't spend much time looking. They went into a weedy field, and most disappeared out of sight!
    The Harlequin was a nice surprise. We get a couple there every year. Last year there were 3 together for a couple of weeks or more.

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