Sunday, February 16, 2020

Valentine's Weekend Birding

I did quite a bit of running around this weekend.  Friday I started the day along the St. Clair River.  Much ice has moved into the river, so birds were concentrated.
Sombra waterfront was busy, but the only thing of note was the female American Wigeon at the ferry dock.  Lighting was not good and the camera was out of whack, so this is all you get...



At good 'ole Corunna, gulls numbered over 2000.  There was nothing new, and I could not even find a white-winged gull!




It is a good winter for gulls in the general area, but nothing spectacular is being found....yet.  Lake St. Clair south shoreline is littered with thousands of gulls.  Worth a trip there!



After the river run, I went inland and found practically nothing despite much driving.  A final stop was at Moore WMA.  It was such a nice day, with the sun being out (for a change).
Three Yellow-rumped Warblers were the highlight there.  Every winter one may find some here.




Saturday, I decided to go into Essex County.  First stop was Point Pelee (time to renew one's park pass at a discount!).  The park was somewhat quiet, but it was quite windy.  At least the sun was out, highly unusual for a Saturday!

Hundreds of Common Goldeneye are still off the east side at Shuster Trail.

Continuing on, I decided to go further west and stop by Jack Miner's.  Nothing of note was there.

Some wintering Eastern Meadowlarks were not too much farther west, so I headed over to Coulter Road.  There are some nice natural areas along that road and in the general area.  Some meadowlarks were present upon my arrival.  Been a while since I have seen one in winter.  They seemed to be more regular in the past.

On the way back, near the Transportation Museum, I spotted a couple of Eastern Bluebirds.



My next stop was Hillman Marsh.  Not too much was evident, but the pair of Trumpeter Swans was present.  Quite distant though.  They have been around for at least a couple of years.



I spent some time at Wheatley Harbour where lots of gulls were flying about.  Most were Ring-billed, but my hopes for a Mew Gull never materialized (LOL).  Only a matter of time. I saw one there once many years ago.

Today (Sunday) I went down to Rondeau Park.  I wanted to take the long walk out marsh trail.  Seems that is the most interesting spot in the park right now.



I once again went as far as Long Pond.  It was somewhat quiet on the way out, but things came alive on the way back!



I did pick up on at least five Marsh Wrens, most on the way out.  One at the old parking area boardwalk was actually seen.
The trail used to be driveable but that is a thing of the past.  Park visitors used to be able to drive out half way to the "parking area" decades ago.



At Long Pond trail, two Sandhill Cranes suddenly got up while I was standing there.  They noisily circled about.



On the return walk, things started happening just north of the old half way parking area.  Firstly, a Fox Sparrow popped up.  Steve had that one there earlier in the week.  Fox Sparrows are virtually absent this winter, so this one was a nice treat.




I eventually came across a flock of birds including Black-capped Chickadees and kinglets.  There was no Ruby-crowned this time, but I bet it was somewhere nearby.
I knew that this had to be the area for the Orange-crowned Warbler, so I stuck around for some time.  The flock was moving though, but I did get a brief glimpse (and heard chips) of the the warbler.
Back in late December I found one near the start of the marsh trail.  Given the rarity, one might speculate it is the same bird, but one can never know.
Chickadees seemed to be plentiful today. I tallied 15 for the day, which seemed good since not many are around this winter.



After doing the marsh trail, I had enough energy to walk around the campground.  It was somewhat quiet at first, but the south end had a flurry of activity.  A number of different birds were making a ruckous near the SW corner. It was just like they found an owl.  For the life of me I could not find anything!  There was a hollow tree nearby, so perhaps something was in there.



Just after that event, I came across a flock of Dark-eyed Juncos (first for the day, lol!).  With them were two Chipping Sparrows.  I thought there was just one around here this winter!  I had not seen it since December.




Before I left the park, I decided to drive Lakeshore Road on the east side of the campground.  Near the north end, I heard the distinctive calls of an Eastern Phoebe.  It was back in a bit and I could not spot it.  I eventually got out of the car, but could not relocate it. 
Just last week or so, one was here in this location.  A few are around this generally mild winter!

It was a decent day with lots of exercise.  It was tiring, but after a bit one feels good with all the fresh air, and losing some winter fat!



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