Even Sunnier Saturday

Divers on the St. Clair

I did quite a bit of travelling today. The sun was bright and the sky was clear for a change, making for a nice day to be out and about. I did not see a lot of birds, but that is the way it has been all winter. There just are not many birds around this year. For example, where are the hawks? I have not seen a Northern Shrike yet either.
I started along the St. Clair River at Port Lambton and went all the way to Sarnia. There was lots of ice in the river, so ducks were spread out moving with the ice.
At Port Lambton, I was surprised to see 50+ Long-tailed Ducks right off the dock. An excellent number for the location. A couple of Gadwall were near Fawn Island.
There was nothing of interest all the way to Sarnia, just the usual ducks. In fact, not many ducks at all, but one could not check out every duck on the river. Not sure where the bulk have gone, as Lake Huron had lots of ice as well.
I decided to go up to Pinery since I had not been there yet this winter. I used to go there quite often, but lately it seems that I always head south!

Red-bellied Woodpecker

There were lots of Chickadees and Tufted Titmouse in the park. Pinery is probably the best spot in Ontario to find a Titmouse. Walpole Island has likely the next biggest concentration.

Curious Chickadee

The visitor centre has several feeders to which they are attracted. Woodpeckers come in as well, including the above Red-bellied. While there, I heard a White-throated Sparrow, but did not see it.

Tufted Titmouse

At P9 parking lot, people feed the birds, so there is a large concentration of them there. Chickadees come right to your hand looking for food. I saw several Chickadees and Titmouses here, plus a very co-operative Red-tailed Hawk. It just sat there posing for a photo, while the birds fed below it.

Red-tailed Hawk

I also encountered Golden-crowned Kinglets, and a couple of Brown Creepers. The creepers seem to be plentiful everywhere this year at least.

Out on the beach, one could look at lots of ice. Nothing of note flying around out there.

Kettle Point in the Distance

On the way home, I stopped at Moore WMA and found lots of Chickadees and Nuthatches, but the Yellow-rumped Warblers were not to be found. They are there every winter, but were today they were out and about somewhere. Earlier in the winter, I counted ten Yellow-rumped Warblers in the valley.

White-breasted Nuthatch