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.