More Red-necked Birding (and Red-shouldered) !

It was a good day to spend some time along the St. Clair River.  There is still lots of ice and some spots are not possible to pull into, but there were tens of thousands of ducks to look at.  Many Long-tailed Ducks still working the river as well.

In particular, I wanted to see if there were more Red-necked Grebes.  I only came up with four, but no doubt more are out there.  Since it is the weekend, the weather deteriorated overnight and the water was choppy.  Lots of stuff was on the US side of things and too far to try and scope.
The individual at Cathcart Park was in close today.

Up at Guthrie Park, I found three.  Two were at the south end and one at the mouth of Talfourd Creek.  I did not know the two were seen yesterday though.
The ones I saw today had some colour and at this point would consider early spring migrants.

Also at Guthrie was a Horned Grebe, and I found another off Cundick Park north of Sombra.

A nice surprise was this Red-shouldered Hawk at Cathcart Park.  It was seen yesterday a bit north of there by Josh Bouman, but today it was perched in the park for some nice shots.

Two Great Blue Herons were at the OC outfall area.  I thought there was only one there this winter!  This one was having much difficulty with its morning snack.

Some mergs up close....

There were ducks all along to look at and the ravages of this very harsh winter were evident.  I saw quite a few dead ducks, and countless others in obvious distress. Many single ducks were just sitting on the ice.

This Canvasback was quite approachable, so I would think it was not in best of health.

Birding at the Cove

The sun finally came out today for a very nice day.  I decided to check along the Lake St. Clair shoreline for a change.  First stop was the Jeannette's Creek lookout on the Thames.  Lots of gulls and ducks were visible downriver, as well as 12 Great Blue Herons!
I knew Lighthouse Cove would be good so I headed down there.  Thousands of birds to look at!  Mostly gulls of course.  The lake was mostly ice, but this time of year it can be good for birds, especially gulls.

I sat there for over an hour scoping the forever changing scenery.  For gulls, I think there were over 2000, most of which were Herring.  Scanning several times, I counted as many as 15 Glaucous, 3 Iceland, 1 Lesser Black-backed (first cycle), over 50 Great Black-backed.  No rarities, but I tried!

Three Double-crested Cormorants were sitting on a dead-head.  Various ducks included mostly Common Mergansers, Common Goldeneye, White-winged Scoter (2), Ring-necked (only one!), Redhead, Hooded Merganser, Black and Mallard.  There were a lot of freaky mallards here.  There have always been those here, but they have multiplied exponentially.  At least over 50 of various colour combinations!

freaky Mallards!

I saw only one American Coot, two Bald Eagles, and another Great Blue Heron.  I looked for Black-crowned Night-Heron, but to no avail.  I would not be surprised if one was around!

Graylag-type goose! (closest I could get to White-fronted)

There is an endless network of canals at Lighthouse Cove, and they were all frozen.  Gulls were all over these as well but I did not check those too carefully.  Most were Ring-billed.

While in the area, I checked Tilbury Lagoon.  It is opening up and geese and ducks were taking advantage.  Notable ducks included several Northern Pintail and American Wigeon.

I stopped at Jeannette's Creek again and got the Belted Kingfisher, a White-throated Sparrow and a Carolina Wren.

Also I stopped at St. Clair NWA and walked the entire centre dike--first time in years!  There is finally a new viewing tower, not quite as high as the old one, but it is very good.

Not much here except a few Red-winged Blackbirds, a couple of Common Grackles and a Swamp Sparrow.  A couple of Golden-crowned Kinglets as well.  In my early years, I came here quite often and was never disappointed.  Things have changed though as the marsh has closed in and Yellow-headed Blackbirds no longer breed.  My first real rarity was the two Tri-colored Herons that were here back in the late 1980's!

Yesterday I birded the Rondeau area in gloomy conditions (it was supposed to be all sun yesterday!!), and came up with a few birds.  The park was quiet, but while scoping the Bay at the ramp on my way out, some birds suddenly appeared.  Included were the five Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Carolina Wren and two Song Sparrows.  The sparrows could possibly be new arrivals.

Northeast of Blenheim at an old pasture, I managed to spot a roosting Short-eared Owl.  While there, a Northern Shrike flew over.  Further down the road, the bird of the day made an appearance-- a Merlin sitting in a corn field.  Just a while earlier, Steve called me to say that they saw a Merlin near Ridgetown.  I assume it to be a different bird due to distance, so two were in the area this day!  Everyone seems to have seen a Merlin or two this winter.  They are becoming more and more common each winter and is not unusual to see one at some point.

Birding Point Pelee

I spent the morning in Point Pelee park. It was a gloomy day, and yes it was supposed to be sunny, but the weather forecast was wrong yet again. They just cannot get it right!
I started at the Tip, and was surprised by the number of gulls.

Large gulls at Tip

Richard Carr was already there scanning the birds. It was actually quite active with lots of ducks moving (mostly Common Mergansers) and the gulls. The gulls were a bit distant, so it was difficult to make out some of them.

I estimated upwards of 3000 gulls. At least 800 were Bonaparte's, but probably 1000, as I tend to underestimate.

Bonaparte's Gulls off Tip (Little Gull in there!)

After a while, we headed back to the parking lot. I stayed to look around the Tip area and only found a few White-throated Sparrows and Cardinals. A Sharp-shinned and a Cooper's Hawk (both mature birds) were patrolling the area.

I went back to the Tip and scanned the gulls again. Many had settled onto the ice, but the Bonaparte's were still active. I managed to pick out at least one adult Little Gull in the mix. I also saw what appeared to be an adult Lesser-Black-backed Gull on the ice.

Strangely, there were no white-winged gulls at all. It seems like there are not many around this winter. Quite a few Greater black-backed Gulls were out there as well.
I could have stood there for hours, as things were always changing. There must have been some rarity out there!
Next stop was Shuster Trail. More White-throated Sparrows and Cardinals were here. (Actually I noticed that there were large numbers of Cardinals in the park. They were all over the place!)

Also along this trail was a Flicker and a Carolina Wren. All of these birds were farther down the trail around the Sumac trees. I did not come across the Gray Catbird.

Around the cemetery, I came across two Chickadees (the only two of the day in the park!) and some Golden-crowned Kinglets.

I walked the Ander's loop up to De Laurier and back, but did not get anything. On the lake off White Pine, I saw about six White-winged Scoters flying by.

Brown Creeper (camouflaged)

By Hillman Marsh I saw some Chickadees and a Brown Creeper among some Tree Sparrows.

At Wheatley Harbour, a number of Ring-billed Gulls were standing on the slush ice. Not a Mew Gull in the bunch! The only Mew Gull I have ever seen was here at Wheatley, coincidentally.

Great Blue Herons at Muddy Creek

At Muddy Creek I saw a total of six Great Blue Herons huddled up. Obviously these are wintering birds, too lazy to head south.

Ring-billed Gulls on Slush Ice at Wheatley

I decided to check out Wheatley Provincial Park for a change. Turned out to be an exercise in futility. Or at least it was an opportunity for some exercise. Once again I met up with Richard Carr and we walked around the park counting squirrels (!). There were virtually no birds! Some years there are lots of birds in the park.

We talked about owls and I recalled one time that I found a Northern Saw-whet Owl (dead) there. It was still clinging to a tree, but upside down. It must have died while perched and its talons held tight.

Entrance to Wheatley Harbour