Friday Fling: A River Run

I took off from work after lunch today.  Weather was decent so I had to make up for lost time!
With the mild weather yesterday, the St. Clair River cleared out fairly well of ice.  However, there was a brisk NW wind which pushed ice towards the Ontario side.
There were quite a few ducks around Sombra, which I never took much time to sort through.  I probably missed something good!
Gulls were on the move today with lots all along the river.  A few Glaucous were seen.
I drove straight up to Sarnia Bay and spent some time there.  Unfortunately, most of the ducks and gulls were on the far side towards the rocks.

The male Wood Duck was easy to pick out.  I think it is pretending to be a Mallard, as it hangs out with them and comes to the parking lot for handouts (which seems to be bread, unfortunately).
There has been an American Wigeon around, but I could not pick it out.

There have been many hybrid ducks (and gulls) found on the river this winter.  One such uncommon one is a Redhead X Canvasback.  It was too far away for any good photo today.
Several Glaucous Gulls were on the ice in the Bay.

I moved downriver to Corunna and sat at Guthrie Park for some time.  There was not a heck of a lot there today, but a good number of gulls at least.

White-winged Gulls were scarce as I only saw one Iceland and one Glaucous here.

Iceland (Kumlien's) Gull

I did pick out a likely Glaucous X Herring gull in the mix.  There have been several of these of various ages on the river this winter.

On to another weekend.....

Rock Glen Falls to Sarnia Bay

Today I headed up to Arkona for the first Canadian Br  Christmas Bird Count (CBC).  Road were bad on the way due to WAY too much snow, but that was the trend all week as the weather forecasts for amounts were WAY  off.  It actually snowed all morning (was not supposed to!) making conditions less than ideal.
Rock Glen and Arkona village is always my area and I started at the CA before 08:30.  This spot is well-known for fossils.

A number of birds greeted me at the parking area, including a Song Sparrow (any sparrow other than American Tree, is good on this count!).

I headed past the falls, then down the stairs to the river valley.

frozen falls

I often get a number of birds in the valley, but it was slim pickings all over today.  I did  find a group of birds farther along, but nothing too noteworthy.  A couple of Golden-crowned Kinglets were mixed in and I heard a flicker.  I used to go quite a ways downriver, but have not done that in several years.

old dam along river

Although it was uphill to get out of the valley, it was downhill for birds from there.  There was hardly anything throughout the CA and I did too much walking in deep snow for no birds.
Looking out over the field to the north, there was nothing to see.  In the past I have seen hawks, shrikes and Golden Eagles, but not a single bird today.
Back at the parking lot, there was one small highlight in the form of a Winter Wren.  There seems to be one here almost every year so it was no surprise.

A check of Arkona village was a birdless adventure, save for a Sharp-shinned Hawk and some Horned Larks south of the village.
I was done by 11:00, so turned in my list and headed towards Sarnia.
I wanted to check out the gulls in Sarnia Bay.

There were oodles of them!  They came in this week with the weather.

Herring Gulls were impossible to count, but numbered over 1500.  There were almost 100 Great Black-backed Gulls, an Iceland, and Glaucous (7) Gulls.  A Lesser Black-backed was among them. I probably would have seen more things, but I did not stay too long.  We are certainly due for an Ivory Gull in these parts!

dirty Glaucous in mid photo

No special ducks were seen, but I did not get out a scope.

A Double-crested Cormorant was on the dock in the marina.  There always seems to be at least one here each winter.

Sunday I will be at Rondeau with Quinten to turn up some good birds. (I hope!)

Gull Mania on the St. Clair River

It has been a good winter for viewing lots of gulls on the St. Clair River.  More recently, and especially this week, there have been thousands of gulls on the river!  With the arrival of Ring-billed Gulls and northbound gulls, the river has been littered with gulls in various locations.
Yesterday at Port Lambton on my morning watch before work, there were about 700 Ring-billed Gulls as well as a few others.
There were not as many today, but I added an Iceland.

Sarnia Bay and the north end of Corunna have been hotspots, so I headed up that way after getting off work a bit early.
It was mayhem at Guthrie Park and the outlet of Talfourd Creek off Shell Oil! My photos do not do the situation justice as I only had the Canon G16.

Thousands of Herring Gulls were on the river (mostly floating/swimming), while many Ring-billed were closer to shore.

I picked out a couple of Lesser Black-backed and a few Iceland and Glaucous.

Thayer's-type gulls have been around too.
Even the Herring X Great Black-backed was out today.  Strangely, only a couple of Great Black-backed Gulls were here during my hour stay.  There were lots of gulls on the US side as well.

One would think an Ivory Gull would be around....oh.....there was, but it was in Essex County!  It is a beauty (a photo is on eBird by James Frith).

After an hour at Guthrie Park, I headed up to Sarnia Bay.  There were lots of gulls there too including more Iceland and Glaucous, as well as many Great Black-backed.  I did not have a scope with me and many gulls were on the docks in the marina. That coupled with the fading light made for an inaccurate count.
Now is the time to get your fill of gulls!