Prowls, Owls and Other Things

 It was a fairly quiet week, needless to say.  The weather has certainly been the talk of the town lately with the lack of sun and dismal conditions.  We finally saw some blue sky and sun this afternoon after an absence of 13 days!  

I prowled around to various spots this week, just to keep occupied.  

Robins seem to be everywhere.  A few were at Reid CA on a walk on Wednesday.

We always have some wintering, but seems to be more than usual this winter.

Not many birds, as usual, so one looks at other things.

Crowded Parchment

There are lots of Tundra Swans around (they never left!) and some are heading north already as spring migrants it seems.

Lone Tundra Swan at Ridgetown

After I visited Rondeau for a lakewatch (lots of White-winged Scoters and Red-throated Loons are around!), I swung around to Ridgetown lagoons.   An obvious wintering Green-winged Teal was on ice.

There was only a small open water section, where a few ducks were hanging out.

It was  dark and gloomy day, and only got worse as the  day wore on.  (Lots of snow in north Chatham-Kent!).

Wednesday I attended a meeting at Sarnia in the evening, so I headed out early in the afternoon to check out the St. Clair River.  Although a touch better than last year, it is terribly disappointing again.  With climate change upon us, I think it is something we have to get used to.  There is no need for waterfowl to congregate in the river when the lakes are open.

Not a Common Gull!

At dusk, I made an effort to look for Short-eared Owls at a known location.  I was not disappointed, but unable to get proper photos, after seeing three individuals.  This was the best I could do as it was getting too dark and the bird was distant.

There seems to be quite a few around in various locations this winter, but not like it used to be.  There is so little habitat left for feeding opportunities, they are difficult to find.  In the past it was not a problem in pastures north of Wallaceburg.  Try and find a pasture anymore!

Everybody likes owls, but we tend not to post locations anymore as there seems to be too many over-zealous birders/photographers anymore.

Here are some photos from the past.

Yesterday, I needed to check out a different area.  Near home, it was just the same-old, same-old!  I went into Elgin County, and went as far as Port Stanley.  There are lots of little areas to check out, but I stuck to the main roads.  It was a better day, with a couple very short bouts of sun.

I first stopped at Port Glasgow, then went to John E. Pearce Provincial Park for a walk.  The Storey Wetland is here, and I thought of World Wetlands Day (for this day, February 2).  I saw no groundhogs either!

I encountered Eastern Bluebirds in a couple of spots for the first time this year.

Near Port Stanley lagoons, I saw three Turkey Vultures.  For whatever reason, 'TV's' winter in the Port Stanley area (there was even a Black Vulture a few years ago!).

a quick photo from the car window

The Port was not too productive.  A pair of Ruddy Ducks are hanging out in the harbour.

A lone Bald Eagle was standing vigil on the breakwater.

I did quite a bit of driving around on the way home, but nothing of note came my way.  But after-all, it is a "quiet" winter.

Today, I was due for a long walk, so opted to do the marsh trail at Rondeau.  Although still cloudy (what's new?), it was dead calm and quite pleasant.  It was good for hearing things at long distances.

I walked all the way to Long Pond.  The marsh was still mostly frozen though, so waterfowl was limited.

Distant Tundra Swans in Long Pond

American Tree Sparrows were quite numerous, and a few Song and Swamp, as well as a couple of White-throated Sparrows rounded out the sparrow department.  A pair of Eastern Towhees was a highlight, but they stayed hidden in the underbrush after a brief view.

Perhaps more notable was a Common Raven that I could hear croaking all the way across the Bay!  I found out that another birding party, whom I had just met a bit earlier, heard it as well.  Goes to show how quiet the air was today.

Ravens have expanded their range south considerably in recent years.  One only has to look at the eBird or atlas data (which was shown on a Zoom meeting the other night).  They are still quite rare in Chatham-Kent, but it is not unusual to find one in Lambton County where there are now numerous nesting records.

Rondeau Raven from the past

After some good exercise out marsh trail, I briefly checked the north end of the campground which was very quiet.

It was then over to Keith McLean Conservation Lands where there was some activity.  Lots of Cedar Waxwings and American Robins were working the grounds back of the house.  They seemed to like the Bradford Pear tree (terribly aggressive non-native species) which was bearing fruit.

The waxwings also were around the pond where the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was last year.

I optimistically look for Bohemian in any waxwing flock, but to no avail during today's encounter.

While there, three Pine Siskins came in.  They have been scarce this winter around here, so nice to see.

Lots of blackbirds are around, many of which never left!  Today a male Red-winged Blackbird was in the neighbour's yard, which is likely a spring migrant at this point.