Weekend Wanderings

We were finally blessed with beautiful weather the whole weekend. Saturday I went up the St. Clair River and to Point Edward. Nothing new to report on the river. At the mouth of Lake Huron, I counted 56 White-winged Scoters--a rather high number for this time of year. I then drove back roads home, stopping at a couple of places to walk. There were hardly any birds!

THE FROZEN TIP

On Sunday I went to Point Pelee. There were lots of birds to see, especially the wintering American Robins, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and White-throated Sparrows. Seems to be a large number of these around this winter. A couple of Hermit Thrushes were added to the mix near the visitor centre. These are likely the same ones I had on my last visit a month ago.

Highlights included a Ruby-crowned Kinglet near the Tip washroom. There was also a White-crowned Sparrow that seemed lost. I am told it likely ended up there after a storm a while back. A Common Grackle flying around the Tip was likely an early spring migrant. Speaking of blackbirds, a couple of Red-winged Blackbirds were already singing at Sanctuary Pond on my way in this morning.

A bunch of Purple Finches were between the road and the Anders Footpath near where the maintenance compound used to be. In fact there were quite a few birds in this particular area.
A group of Cedar Waxwings were in Pioneer parking lot, but alas, no Bohemian.
Birds seemed to be concentrated around the visitor centre, beginning of Shuster Trail, and farther down Anders Footpath south of DeLaurier.

On the way home, I drove through the old Dover Township, but did not come up with any Snowy Owls. I did catch sight of a Harrier (see photo). As well, a skunk was on the roadside!