End of March Birding

There has not been much to report lately, as the cold weather lingers.  This past weekend I was out and about, but as usual the weather went for a crap...big time.  (And of course Monday dawned rather nice).
Saturday I toured north Lambton.  First stop was Forest Lagoons where lots of ducks were present.  Highlight was a Gadwall X Northern Pintail hybrid.  This is one of the less common hybrids, and in fact I had never seen one. It had been reported a couple of days earlier.  Due to the usual weekend weather, quality of photos was less than ideal.

I went on up to Ausable River Cut CA for a brief walk (in the rain of course).  I saw the fewest number of birds since last fall.
I stopped at various spots in Lambton including Dow Wetlands.  Some Eastern Meadowlarks were present in the grasslands.

I went home via the St. Clair River, but there was not much to see.  This time of year most of the ducks have departed.

In the afternoon I spent some time at Stewart Wetland. A number of gulls were around, but nothing really rare.  Notables included a Glaucous and a Lesser Black-backed.  This time of year, you never know what may be around for rarities!

Overnight snow fell and I checked out Rondeau to look for unhappy birds.  Several Eastern Phoebes had arrived but most were in the interior of the park where it was a  little warmer.

Some Field Sparrows had arrived recently and they were not happy either.

I toured around the campground as well.  A couple of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers were in the south end.  Perhaps new arrivals.

Lots of Ring-billed Gulls were around, and some were frolicking in the snow.

Passerines have been slow to come in.  I have not seen an Eastern Phoebe in Lambton yet, and today I only saw the first Tree Swallows!
Hopefully the sun we have had ALL week will continue into the weekend for a change.