Christmas Post

As the balmy weather continues, it sure does not seem like Christmas.  This morning, there was dense fog in Chatham-Kent and Lambton, at least in my area.
As I cannot stay in the house any length of time, I headed out this morning for my usual look along the St. Clair River for Christmas Day.

Fawn Island Area

There was not much to see with reagrds to birds, and one could not see any distance.  Certainly a far cry from the 'old' days when there was lots to find.  Frankly, I have never seen anything like this.  Few birds anyplace.
Feeders are totally devoid of birds here.  I have not had anything since October!  Has me baffled.  More squirrels than birds.

As I got home today, a flock of Tundra Swans flew noisily overhead on their southward journey.

Yesterday I went down to Rondeau for one last look before the end of the year.  There was a stiff east wind, the worst kind for there, but I still looked around.  Later, I went over to marsh trail where it was out of the wind.  An Eastern Phoebe was hanging around the last cottage.  A number of these creatures are around so far this year.  Certainly warm enough for insects!

I encountered a decent 'flock' of birds just past the closed gate at the curve.  There was a number of species, but the highlight was an Orange-crowned Warbler.  A decent bird for this time of year!  I never got a photo, as the camera decided to malfunction at that very time.  It hung around the area for a couple of other birders to see.  No doubt it was lurking somewhere nearby during the CBC....

A couple of noisy Carolina Wrens were in the vicinity as well.

At the VC feeder setup, the lone Tufted Titmouse was still present.

The Wallaceburg CBC is this coming Saturday, so we are gearing up for that.  There have been lots of Snowy Owls around lately, which seems to be an annual event anymore.
Hopefully there will be decent weather, but we have no idea since forecasts seems to completely change about every 24h.

Happy Holidays to all readers!