Upriver Ducks and More Finches

Sycamore Tree

Today was a rather leisurely day and I took in the annual Lambton Wildlife Downriver Ducks tour (upriver for me!).  As expected there was not a lot to look at as birds are so spread out this winter.
We started at Point Edward and admired the impressive 800+ Long-tailed Ducks out on the lake.  About 20 White-winged Scoters were out there including a "line" of 15 together.  Among the few gulls was a single adult Glaucous.

A few Long-tailed Ducks

We took a quick look at the Peregrine Falcon sitting underneath the newer Bluewater Bridge.

Sarnia Bay was rather quiet, but a Ring-necked Duck, Hooded Merganser (resting on a rock), and an American Coot caught our attention.



South of Sarnia, the Hooded Mergansers were in their usual hangouts amongst the dock pilings off Suncour and Shell Oil.

At LGS, a Great Blue Heron was at the water outlet, and farther down, some keen-eyed observers spotted a Belted Kingfisher on a deadhead.

 

Lots of geese and gulls were off Cathcart Park, but not as many as I saw on the way up.  A smaller goose, likely a Cackling was amongst the Canada Geese.

I broke away from the group at this point and headed inland along Bickford Line.  It was a nice day to do some walking so I stopped at my usual spots.  First was Moore WMA, but as usual, the river was running high.  I noted at least four Northern Flickers (par for winter there) plus 3 other common species of woodpeckers.

Down the road I walked McKellar Tract and found the two Red-breasted Nuthatches quietly working the pines.  Later on they got noisy for some reason!
Little else there except when I was out in the open field to the west, I heard the familiar flight calls of White-winged Crossbills.  Although this is strictly a pine plantation, I always thought I would encounter crossbills there at some point this winter.  I saw about a dozen come in and alight in a tree in where I could not see them.  I went closer, but never did find them.

Red-breasted Nut

I checked out McKeough for owls.  Although none had been there previously, I finally found evidence in two spots of Long-eared Owls (whitewash and pellets).  No owls to be found after extensive searching!



This afternoon I just relaxed at home, and while looking out the window just before 5 p.m., a small bird came into the birdbath.  I thought I might as well check this out since since nothing (like most of the winter!) was at the feeder all afternoon.  I was surprised to find a single Common Redpoll.  It went to the ground and started feeding, obviously not familiar with nyjer feeders.  I found this last winter when a flock of redpolls came in for the first time.  They fed on the ground until they discovered the feeders.