Monday, April 7, 2014

Recent Sightings

Yesterday was a fine day weatherwise, but I actually came up with fewer birds that the day before.  the temperature had dropped below zero overnight and some water refroze!  The lookout spot on Rondeau's south point trail revealed lots of ice unlike the day before, so nothing was close.  No movement of gulls either.
Ducks were flying around.  Common Loons were on the move with quite a few moving west.
I did quite a bit of walking around but did not see many birds.  Turkey Vultures were roosting around the old pony barn as usual.
"wrong kind of vulture"

Thousands of ducks are on Rondeau Bay as expected, but this year they seem to be staying farther out.  Some were in close at Shrewsbury dock though, including some American Coots, Pied-billed Grebes, and Ruddy ducks.



I went for a walk along Erieau's marsh trail (aka R/R tracks) for the first time this year.  Most of the snow had finally melted.  This Eastern Towhee was skulking in the underbrush.
"wrong kind of towhee"

McGeachy Pond dike is another story!  There is still several feet of snow on the trail and will certainly be some time before that disappears.  Lots of ducks were on the pond though.
Across the road there is some water in the corn stubble.  Here a flock of Pectoral Sandpipers stopped briefly in the morning.  No shorebirds were present around mid-day when I arrived.



This morning I did my usual watch at Port Lambton and there are still lots of Long-tailed Ducks in the river.  A single Forster's Tern moving with Bonaparte's Gulls was the first I have seen there this year.  It is close to the annual arrival date.  I usually see a Forster's at the marina around April 10, but there is still thick ice in the cuts.
Buffleheads joined a Common Merganser

Brander Park had a couple of Winter Wrens and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker among a few Golden-crowned Kinglets.

Looks like Thursday could bring a good influx of birds with the warm and strong SW wind.  Sunday looks good too, but that remains to be seen.  Long-range forecasts are usually wrong, so we will see!
Looking forward to the weekend since my year list is a far cry from the last couple of years!

Large chunk of ice showing buildup of layers

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