Sunday, December 29, 2013

Solar Snowy on the Move?


Today I relaxed a bit and did not get out until afternoon.  Good thing we had the count yesterday in the ideal weather.  Today was even milder and the St. Clair River was cleared of ice.  Birds had dispersed!



Mute Swans were concentrated in Sombra Bay again, and I did not see any Tundras on the river to Cathcart Park.
I did find a bunch of Tundras in a field off Holt Line.  These were probably off the St. Clair.



Also here was a dark Snowy Owl.  It is likely the one previously seen at the Sombra solar farm two concessions north.  I had just checked a few minutes earlier and did not see it.  Although at times it has been difficult to find at the solar farm, the one today was likely on the move due to the nice weather.

It is interesting to follow accounts of Snowy Owl sightings.  It is certainly the biggest invasion in several decades.  Concentrations seem to be greater the farther east one goes.
Sarnia seems to have several which I may check out tomorrow.  I would say at least three are in the Wallaceburg area.

Yesterday we counted 169 Long-tailed Ducks on the river and the previous high was 16 last year.  We did not start finding any until 2008!
Red-breasted Mergs were in good supply with 143 counted.  Previous high was 25.  They are usually scarce on the river in winter.

Common Mergs

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