Some Reflections As A New Year Begins

 2026 started off today crisp and clear and no wind!  It was a nice day to be out and about, but personally I decided to stay home and relax.

2025 was certainly an interesting and challenging year in many respects.  Birding was mediocre from my standpoint--I missed a lot of birds I usually get.  And, there was only one good "fallout" day last May.

Certainly there were some excellent birds to make the year interesting such as the Tufted Duck at Erieau, Lark Bunting near Blenheim and the Gray Kingbird near St. Clair NWA, among others. All were new additions to my Chatham-Kent bird list!  However, I found there were fewer birds around this year in general.

Insects were not all that plentiful either.  It was generally a poor year for butterflies, and certainly was for odonates.  The Zabulon Skippers and a single Northern Oak Hairstreak at Reid Conservation Lands were indeed my highlights.

I found a few of the uncommon to rare odonates at the usual locations, but there was no standout that I can think of.

It was indeed a tough year with people passing away.  Starting with my mother last February, then throughout the year several friends and relatives left us for greener pastures.

Mom with younger sister Carol (1944)

Hopefully 2026 will be much better in all respects!

In more recent events, this past Tuesday I headed up to Sarnia to watch the lake.  The wind was a bit too much west for a good passage, but stiff out of the WNW.  There was not a huge number of gulls, but a few "white-winged" gulls were finally around.

A myriad of Iceland Gulls were flying about.  I tallied at least eight, but it was difficult to keep track.

I observed five Glaucous Gulls, but those were further out beyond camera range.

Most of the close ducks were Long-tailed, but way out there were over 1000 Redhead.  Every once in a while, rafts of them would get up, giving one a chance to estimate numbers.  No doubt other species were mixed in, but they were too distant to get any detail.

The feeders have been busy the last couple of days with an influx of common birds.

American Goldfinch on that windy day!

The Fox Sparrow showed up again a couple of days ago.  It must spend time elsewhere since I do not see it very often.

I never had one winter here before, so hopefully it sticks around.