Spring??

The weather continues to be rather bizarre. Yesterday the temperatures were at least 12 celsius. With all the snow on the ground, it created a dense fog that lasted most of the day. The Wallaceburg Christmas Bird Count was held yesterday, so counting birds in dense fog was a challenging task. We did very well considering the weather, ending up with at least 83 species.
Today, I checked the St. Clair River and noted a Ruddy Duck at Sombra and a Horned Grebe at Port Lambton. These two species were not noted yesterday, but due to the dense fog, they were probably around. Also, I saw three small ducks flying low to the water that could have been Green-winged Teal. I noticed them a bit too late, and could not get a handle on them. I cannot imagine what else they could be.


A MallardXBlack Duck hybrid (I assume) was at Port Lambton dock. It has been around most of the fall.



Yesterday and today, a large number of puddle ducks were reported, especially around Hillman Marsh near Point Pelee. Northern Pintail topped the list.

A pure flock of 42 on Walpole Island yesterday was seen by Jim Burk. Today, Alan Wormington reported 320 in the Point Pelee area among other ducks. As well, I observed a pure flock of 18 southbound at Port Lambton.

Alan Wormington classifies these as "(ridiculously) early spring migrants" that were sparked by the unseasonably warm temperatures yesterday. As we know, it has been a rather cold winter since late November, and everything had frozen up long ago. These ducks could only have come from the southwest, thinking it was spring already!

In Michigan yesterday, a flock of about 29 Tree Swallows was observed at Point Mouillee. Perhaps that had something to do with the warm weather as well.

Today, Jim Burk reported 8 Greater White-fronted Geese near Erieau, along with 120 Northern Pintail, 8 Green-winged Teal, and some others.

These birds will have to head south again, as winter has only just begun!