Today's Birding

Frosty Morning

Today was one of the nicest days to be out. It was very clear and everything had frost on it from the cold and clear night. It was calm first thing in the morning, but the wind did get a little unbearable in the open areas later.
Lots of birds were out today as well.

American Tree Sparrow on Truck

Driving down Kent Bridge Road, I did notice that lots of birds were along the roadside.

Most of the birds at Rondeau Park are in the north end, so I walked the campground and maintenance areas. The campground had the usual Yellow-rumped Warblers, Brown Creepers and Golden-crowned Kinglets. The White-breated Nuthatches and Red-bellied Woodpeckers were quite vocal. There was no shortage of them.

I met Jim Burk part way through the grounds, then we headed towards the maintenance yard area. Around the buildings and trucks were quite a few birds. We found out that some feed was behind the building attracting them.

Dark-eyed Junco

There were several Song Sparrows, White-throated Sparrows, Tree Sparrows, Juncos, Cardinals, House Sparrows, and surprisingly a Swamp Sparrow. Even a Rusty Blackbird made a brief appearance.

At one point were distinctly heard a finch, which was undoubtedly the Evening Grosbeak. We never saw it though. I had no doubt it was still around.
Many of the birds were playing around the back of the trucks and I tried to get photos through the fence. Not much luck with that!

At Erieau, a number of ducks were in the open water to the east. A couple of Coots were in the harbour.

The Railroad Track Trail was too exposed to the wind to reveal many birds.

Gore Road had lots of birds at the compost pile. Several sparrows (who knows what) were there, but they scattered upon the arrival of a Northern Harrier just as I arrived. Lots of Red-winged Blackbirds are hanging out there as well.

As I drove up the road from there, I caught sight of a Savannah Sparrow in a scrape beside the road.