Weekend Roundup

Saturday I started at Rondeau Park.  It was somewhat quiet, but birds are starting to more.  Hundreds of mergansers were moving on the lake.

A few Song Sparrows were in, a sign of things to come.

Lots of chipmunks were out and about.

A check of Erieau across from McGeachy Pond, revealed a number of spring migrant ducks.

However, there was no sign of the recent Greater White-fronted Geese.  But, they were back today, just my luck.

I moved on west to Hillman Marsh.  More migrant waterfowl was around, including FOY Green-winged Teal, etc.
Still, no sign of any recent Greater White-fronted Geese! 😢

Towards home, I stopped at St. Clair NWA.  There was still lots of ice in the area, but some waterfowl was present.

Northern Shovelers

There were also some FOY American Coots.

Up Heron Line, there was a bonanza of waterfowl in a corn field.  They stretched across the entire concession, so many were just too far away.  As well, what was there, blended in well with the corn stubble and mud.

Highlight were a few Greater White-fronted Geese, continuing from the last couple of days 😏 .

To boot, a pair of Sandhill Cranes made the FOY list.  Try and find them in this photo 😤 :

Today was sunny...finally.  However it was extremely windy.  I went out to the St. Clair River.  It was TOO windy to set up the scope, so I just used the window mount where I could.

A pair of  American Wigeon was at Cathcart Park.

There was not much else between there and Sarnia, but Sarnia Bay was attractive for the birder.

There were at least eight Glaucous Gulls working the Bay.

Lots of ducks were present, mostly towards the marina.

Some American Coots came in this week, but I could only find two!

The local contingent of Mallards and Blacks plus the crazy Wood Duck were near the parking lot.

The Wood Duck seems to favour a female Mallard, so who knows what will happen this spring.

After spending almost an hour at Sarnia Bay, I just headed east to Hiawatha Horse Park.  This spot favours geese.  I did see one Cackling Goose which stood out like a sore thumb among the regular Canada Geese.  I was too lazy to grab the camera!

I headed down Telfer Road all the way to Bickford.  Somewhere around Moore Line, I came across a very dark Red-tailed Hawk which I considered the abieticola type.  It was fairly close at first, but I was not quick enough with the camera.

At the end of Telfer, I turned on to Bickford Line and headed over to Moore WMA.  The river had receded quite a bit, but of course was still very high.