Sugar Bush Tour and Recent Sightings

 This past Saturday I went on a Lambton Wildlife outing for a tour on a property along Kimball Road.  It was a pleasant afternoon, so it was a good time for all.

The property owner gave us a tour of the grounds, starting with tree identification.  It was quite educational for all.

acorn caps of Swamp White Oak (note long stem)

After that, we went into the woodlot for a little tour of more tree identifications and observing the process of sap collection.

Observing a White Oak

Bitternut Hickory in the woods

The evaporator was in operation with the sweet smell of sap wafting through the woods

Just by coincidence, last week I bought a couple of books to read.  One book which came out last year, is about the history of maple syrup in Canada.

Friday I went to Rondeau Park and area.  Still not much happening with everything mostly frozen, and not many migrants.

Chickadee checking out a campground post

A walk at Erieau's marsh trail revealed a few birds, including a surprise in the form of a Gray Catbird.  There had been one wintering there, but it was not seen since early January.  It looked quite healthy and active, and certainly too fast for the camera!

Sunday I went to Point Pelee.  It was almost a waste of time since there were very few birds and everything was just still too frozen!

Of course, there have been a few trips out to the St. Clair River.  There are a lot of Ring-necked Ducks this winter along the river.  I have not been able to find any of those hybrids recently, though.

Today, was a cool but beautiful day along the river.  Lots of ducks close in today, but still nothing of note.

The only bright spot was a male Wood Duck!

Probably an early migrant.

Not much at the backyard feeders recently, but the Fox Sparrow is a daily visitor.  Looks like it is going to successfully make the winter!

Locally, I went for a walk at Peers Wetland the other day--the first time since December.  Two pairs of Mute Swans are already on the ice waiting for open water.  😞

Looking South

Looking North

Winter Walks and Wanderings

 A couple of days ago I took a drive along the St. Clair River up to Willow Park.  Slush ice has almost filled the river due to the recent cold weather.  We did not see much of this last year!

Port Lambton

Some ships are still working including the Algoma Compass.  One of the nicer-looking ones.

Near the brine barge at Seager Park, I noticed an odd duck swimming about.  Turned out to be a Surf Scoter.  Not the most classic-looking one, but apparently it has been around for some time.  Of all the times I have been out to the river, this was the first time I encountered the creature.

We rarely seen a Surf Scoter in the St. Clair River!

Afterwards, I went for a  walk at Reid CA.  Hardly any birds as usual, but I enjoyed the fresh air and exercise, and always enjoy walking through the woods.

View from my favourite spot

Saturday, I joined the annual OFO field trip along the Detroit River.  I always enjoy this one since I rarely get down that way.

This year, we had more seasonal weather for a change!  There was a good concentration of birds around Peche Island, including about 36 Great Blue Herons on the edge of the ice.  They looked like sentinels! 

Lots of Hooded Mergansers were here.

A Trumpeter Swan, not all that unusual for here, was also seen.  A pair was Wood Ducks was a decent sighting.

There was a good concentration of waterfowl along the shoreline of Peche Island, the majority of which were Canada Geese and Mallards.  There were about 800 geese, but we could not pick out a single other species!

Here is a link to the eBird list for this location:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S208884570

Of course, I noticed the Bob-Lo boat Ste. Claire slowly taking shape downriver.  Although it does not look much different than a year ago.

Summer Memories!

The tanker Iver Bright flushed a couple of hundred Common Mergansers a bit downriver.

Our next stop, per tradition, was the Little River Corridor Park and the pollution control plant area.  There is always a concentration of ducks in the canal.  Among the hundreds of Mallards, were four more Wood Ducks.

Other birds included the expected Belted Kingfisher and a couple of American Robins.  As well, Jeremy Hatt spotted a junco which appeared to be an Oregon.

Here is a link to our bird list for this location:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S208919641

We then moved to the park.  At the parking lot, I spotted a Sharp-shinned Hawk which all in the group were pleased to see.

There were lots of juncos and other birds in the park.  The highlight was probably the Hermit Thrush we saw.  Lots of Northern Cardinals as well.  One perched motionless right beside the trail.

There was no surprise like last year, when we found the Northern Waterthrush.  Things were quite frozen, unlike last year, so obviously any bird like that would be foolhardy to stick around.

Here is a link to the eBird list for this location:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S208901950

After this walk, I headed back home, as there was not much else that interested me further downriver.

I drove a few backroads on the way home.  There were hundred of Snow Buntings and Horned Larks as one would expect.

Today, I aimed my car towards Rondeau.  I first went towards Stefina Line.  Along Mull Road, I encountered a couple of Eastern Meadowlarks.  A couple have been seen further along Stefina, so not sure if these are the same ones.  There are bound to be more out there!  Unfortunately, I could not obtain proper photos.

It is always nice to see these in winter.  We have seen them along Stefina before in the past.

The Harris's Sparrow was still present as expected.

I had been itching to get out Rondeau's marsh trail for a long walk for quite some time.  The cold north winds of late were too unbearable to do this walk, but the winds switched to the south for a change.  It was actually quite pleasant as I walked out to the half way point.

View at the half-way boardwalk

The Ruby-crowned Kinglet was still in the cottage area tirelessly looking for morsels of food.  Lots of Swamp Sparrows were encountered.  Nothing special seen during my walk, but it was just nice to get out there.

I decided to head homeward after this walk.  I thought of going to Erieau since there are now three Harlequin Ducks (!), but I bypassed that.

Scenery Change and Weekend Washout

I did quite a bit of driving around the past three days, mainly due to the weather.  Just like clockwork, the weather went into the toilet on Friday after a nice week.  Saturday was even worse!  Sunday turned out much better once the sun came out and things settled down.

Friday, I wanted to go into Elgin County but with the crappy weather I mostly did some endless driving around.  A first stop was at Ernie Warwick CA.  This place is getting smaller with the eroding shoreline!  There used to be a viewing tower here, but the location is now in the rubble that has eroded into the lake.
A couple of Eastern Towhees were the highlight here.

Next stop was John E Pearce PP where I walked the Storey Wetland trail.  No owl this day!

I continued on to Port Stanley, where I spent some time at the pier looking at gulls.  There were a lot!  Visibility was limited due to the dense fog, but well over 1000 Herring Gulls were present.

I also picked out four Glaucous and one Lesser Black-backed.  Possibly something else was here, but conditons were horrible.  I recall once going to look for a Slaty-backed Gulls here.

There was no point in going any farther and I had to get away from the lakeshore due to the dense fog.  I worked my way back and ended up on the St. Clair River!  I seem to have no luck in finding anything with all that driving.  One would think a Mountain Bluebird is out there somewhere!

I looked at the gulls at Corunna.  Highlight was a "Nelson's Gull", I guess!

Saturday was just driving due to the endless rain.  Not good!  We are in a bad situation with water levels now.
I went to Sarnia on a hunch that the north wind might produce something at the mouth of Lake Huron lakewatch.  Many gulls were present at first light.  Lighting was horrible, but at least eight Glaucous Gulls and an Iceland were visible.  Probably more present, but the lighting was brutal.

I could not see the 3 Harlequin Ducks from that vantage point, so I went under the bridge to spot them.

Lots of gulls were along the Sarnia waterfront, but nothing stood out. Nothing new at Corunna either!

Today, Sunday, promised better weather and I wanted to take in the OFO outing on the Detroit River led by Jeremy Hatt and Kory Renaud. I rarely get down that way, so it was a good opportunity for a change of scenery.

Lots of gulls were at Lakeview Marina, and many ducks along Peche Island.

The best gull was an Iceland that many got to see.

A male Wood Duck is once again hanging around.

Nearby was a Mallard X Black hybrid.

While there, something caught my eye.  It was the remains of the Bob-Lo steamer Ste. Claire!  If you boatnerds recall, it burned a couple of years ago, and I wrote about it.

We next walked the Little River Corridor park, a place I have never been to.  A good variety of birds were here by the sewage treatment plant.
We also went up to the big pond at the north side.

At one point, we noticed many large flocks of Canvasback heading downriver off the lake.  Well over 3000 were counted at that point.

The Detroit River is a prime wintering area for Canvasback, just like the St. Clair River used (?) to be.  We do not seem to get many Canvasbacks anymore on the St. Clair.

After lunch, we headed to the base of the Ambassador Bridge to look for Peregrine Falcons.  After some time, I managed to spot one way over on the US side tower!

We thought that was it until one came zooming in with lunch in its talons.  We had good long looks at this one.

Next stop was the west end of Sprucewood Road where some White-crowned Sparrows were hanging out.  Quite a few were here.  They are scarce this winter, like many other birds.
While here, I spotted another Peregrine Falcon atop a nearby building.  It eventually chased some Mourning Doves, but unsuccessfully.
A few Wild Turkeys were here as well.

Last stop was Ojibway nature area to observe feeder birds.  Several Tufted Titmice were here.  These, along with White-breated Nuthatches, and Black-capped Chickadees were not afraid to snatch seeds out of our hands.

Today was a nice outing after a nasty two days.  Looks like good weather tomorrow as well, but yes, the weekend is over.

Nuthatch in a Hole