Tis the Season

Here we are in the midst of Christmas Bird Counts (CBC's) already. Difficult to get in the mood as we have had mild temperatures, virtually no snow and record amounts of rain.  A year ago there was a record amount of snow east of Sarnia and up Arkona way.  I suppose Hamilton birders are excited though with the unbelievable sightings there lately!

The first count I participate in is the Kettle Point.  I always join Pete Chapman in his home area around Arkona.  Last year we had limited walking due to the tremendous amount of snow, but we did find some birds.
Rock Glen CA, known for fossils, is at Arkona and in the past I did that in morning.  It is an interesting place and I recorded some interesting birds.  The trusty Ruffed Grouse was always there, but in recent years has vanished.  Quite often I would see a Golden Eagle soaring over the Ausable River.
Nearby one year, we found a couple of Savannah Sparrows at a roadside scrape (Seems to be a reliable habitat for that species in winter!)along with an "Oregon" Junco.
Last year Pete had the male Rose-breasted Grosbeak at his feeder.  It finally vanished December 30.

The Kettle Point count is always followed by the Rondeau/Blenheim, so it is a tiring weekend.  At Rondeau I am on my feet all day, doing the south half of the park and looking for species that others missed at the north end (!).  We always seem to find something.  There used to be Ruffed Grouse in Rondeau, but not sure if that is true now.
I never had anything really spectacular there, but some things like Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Towhee, Brown Thrasher, American Pipit, Eastern Bluebird were notables in the past.





The windy year!

Hopefully wind will not be an issue on the Rondeau count.  Some years in the past we have had brutal winds!  One year I had to cover the south beach, and I could only go so far due to lack of beach and gale force winds.

Ruddy Ducks on St. Clair River

(rare for this area in winter!)

Wallaceburg CBC seems to like the 27th.  Colder weather is always better for this one.  I have been doing this one since I got into this birdwatching nonsense back in 1987.  I did not know what the heck I was doing, but came up with some pretty good birds I do recall.

Happy Counters at Duthill (1987)

(My photo was too horrible to post here)

The next couple of years I had some excellent birds in the yard.  In 1988 a Yellow-headed Blackbird came to the feeder.  The next year, as bizarre as this was, a Northern Shrike was hanging around the neighbourhood.  Unusual for within town.  Also in 1988 an American Coot was on the Sydenham within town (first for the count) and it hung around for a month.

This year, it will be interesting to see what we get.  Snowy Owls should be in the mix.  There have been at least three within the Wallaceburg circle lately.  We have only had one Sandhill Crane (2009).  The recent ones I have been reporting on, I have not seen since Monday.  Maybe they will show up on Walpole Island.

Speaking of that place, what about Northern Bobwhite?  We have not seen them in years.  the one year I did Walpole, I recall that Steve and I found a covey of them, not far from that Saw-whet Owl we almost walked by in open deciduous woods!  I heard that there are still some Bobwhite towards the south end of the island, but difficult to find.  Walpole is really the only spot left in Ontario that "wild" Northern Bobwhite still exist.  Occasionally I used to see them off the island as well, but not in many years.

Rondeau South Point

Weather looks fairly decent for this weekend.  A little breezy perhaps, but it has been windy all fall!