St. Clair River, Sarnia, Siskins, Snow

Long-tailed Ducks at Point Edward

I travelled up the St. Clair River this morning before the snow came. The river is mostly iced in now--not surprisingly with the extreme cold weather lately. A few open patches of water held some ducks, but not many. A number of Canvasback and a few others were at Fawn Island. A pair of Hooded Mergansers were at Sombra dock among the local Mallards.

Lots of Long-tailed Ducks were off Point Edward of course. It is a gull-less winter. I probably only saw 4 Herring Gulls on the whole river!

I also checked some of the ships laid up for winter in Sarnia Harbour. Most were of the Lower Lakes Towing, including Mississagi, Manistee, Manitowoc, Ojibway. The Algoway was alongside the Sidney Smith dock.

bow of Algoway in the distance

I took a few photos, as I usually do each winter.

I also scanned a couple of photos from many years ago that I took when I was young. I have always had a camera, and have hundreds of photos from years past.

The first is from January 1973. Those were the old days when the ships were packed like sardines at Sarnia! All of these have long since been scrapped.

SARNIA HARBOUR JANUARY 1973

1. Lakeshell; 2. Arctic Trader; 3. Beavercliffe Hall; 4. Cape Transport; 5. V. W. Scully; 6. Red Wing; 7. Cove Transport.

The second is from March 1974. These too are long gone.

The North Slip March 1974

Ottercliffe Hall, Cardinal (ex Imperial Windsor), Cove Transport, Hochelaga.

At the feeder today, it was a bonanza of finches. Lots of Pine Siskins and Goldfinches, but I could only detect one Common Redpoll. A Sharp-shinned Hawk buzzed through at one point.