I used to help in the area at Blenheim and north of Blenheim, but eventually took over the area south of the visitor centre, including south point trail. It is a lot of walking, but I enjoy being on foot for hours!
This year, I was once again joined by Quinten Wiegersma, starting with a lakewatch at 'dog beach'. It is a good way to start the day as many species can be seen on the lake from there. The weather was less than ideal to start the day and it was certainly a far cry from the lakewatch on Friday.
We managed to scrape up four Red-throated Loons, a bit short of the 174 from Friday! Not many ducks were moving either.
After getting chilled to the bone, we continued our usual routine of moving to the south point trail. Needless to say, birds were scarce. Probably the best bird was a lonely Ruby-crowned Kinglet farther down the trail. I did not take the big camera this day, so no photos of birds! Only scenery shots.
The lake was a bit rough with the brisk westerly winds.
After a break, we started walking up Lakeshore Road. It started fairly good with an Eastern Towhee calling in the underbrush, and a lone Common Grackle flying over. From there to the VC, and back down Harrison was practically birdless!
After getting back in the car, we headed north to take advantage of the warmth of the VC and have our lunch. A lone Tufted Titmouse (among other birds) at the feeders turned out to be a decent bird for the count.
From there, we headed up to the campground to see if we could find anything the morning crew missed. We did find an American Robin (or at least hear one) which was not seen earlier. There were not many birds there, unlike previous years.
From there we parted ways and I headed back to south point trail as usual. Along the way, I saw the wintering Turkey Vulture soaring overhead.
The sun was out by this time, and it was enjoyable along the trail. I find it quite nice this time of day, and it was a good walk as I added about six species we did not encounter earlier in the day.
I started by walking along the forest edge on the lakeside. Another Eastern Towhee and a Winter Wren were among the birds seen.
At one point I decided to jaunt out to the beach. A lone Horned Grebe was swimming right there. What are the chances of me picking that spot for a quick look at the beach?
There were actually more birds than earlier in my walk.
I encountered a couple of Virginia Opossums on my walk.
Later, I decided to walk back the old Dillon Trail (a road that was once drivable until the early 1970's). In past counts, I often walked this back to the 'big' slough and even further to the other side of south point trail. However, I could only get so far where I encountered deep water. It sometimes is surprising the number of birds back there.
It was quite pleasant along the old Dillon. I added a couple of Swamp Sparrows and another Winter Wren.
After checking out that area, I stopped by dog beach and sat on the bench for a while. Another Red-throated Loon was swimming offshore, and several Canada Geese were swimming nearby.
All told, 42 species were tallied in my area, not bad for a winter without a lot of birds.
We had a good time at the dinner/compilation. Total species for the count was 102 which I think is quite respectable for a "slow" winter. Among the more notable birds, a couple of Eastern Phoebes were tallied and in the warbler section, only a couple of Yellow-rumped. Belted Kingfishers were quite plentiful on this year's count.
My next count will be Skunk's Misery on December 21.
It felt strange for me being in the area and not checking out Rondeau. Sounds like it was a decent day for you, even if birds were scarce.
ReplyDeleteHopefully one of these times we'll cross paths again.
Thanks for the comment. One of these days we will meet up!
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