Winter Walks and Wanderings

 A couple of days ago I took a drive along the St. Clair River up to Willow Park.  Slush ice has almost filled the river due to the recent cold weather.  We did not see much of this last year!

Port Lambton

Some ships are still working including the Algoma Compass.  One of the nicer-looking ones.

Near the brine barge at Seager Park, I noticed an odd duck swimming about.  Turned out to be a Surf Scoter.  Not the most classic-looking one, but apparently it has been around for some time.  Of all the times I have been out to the river, this was the first time I encountered the creature.

We rarely seen a Surf Scoter in the St. Clair River!

Afterwards, I went for a  walk at Reid CA.  Hardly any birds as usual, but I enjoyed the fresh air and exercise, and always enjoy walking through the woods.

View from my favourite spot

Saturday, I joined the annual OFO field trip along the Detroit River.  I always enjoy this one since I rarely get down that way.

This year, we had more seasonal weather for a change!  There was a good concentration of birds around Peche Island, including about 36 Great Blue Herons on the edge of the ice.  They looked like sentinels! 

Lots of Hooded Mergansers were here.

A Trumpeter Swan, not all that unusual for here, was also seen.  A pair was Wood Ducks was a decent sighting.

There was a good concentration of waterfowl along the shoreline of Peche Island, the majority of which were Canada Geese and Mallards.  There were about 800 geese, but we could not pick out a single other species!

Here is a link to the eBird list for this location:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S208884570

Of course, I noticed the Bob-Lo boat Ste. Claire slowly taking shape downriver.  Although it does not look much different than a year ago.

Summer Memories!

The tanker Iver Bright flushed a couple of hundred Common Mergansers a bit downriver.

Our next stop, per tradition, was the Little River Corridor Park and the pollution control plant area.  There is always a concentration of ducks in the canal.  Among the hundreds of Mallards, were four more Wood Ducks.

Other birds included the expected Belted Kingfisher and a couple of American Robins.  As well, Jeremy Hatt spotted a junco which appeared to be an Oregon.

Here is a link to our bird list for this location:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S208919641

We then moved to the park.  At the parking lot, I spotted a Sharp-shinned Hawk which all in the group were pleased to see.

There were lots of juncos and other birds in the park.  The highlight was probably the Hermit Thrush we saw.  Lots of Northern Cardinals as well.  One perched motionless right beside the trail.

There was no surprise like last year, when we found the Northern Waterthrush.  Things were quite frozen, unlike last year, so obviously any bird like that would be foolhardy to stick around.

Here is a link to the eBird list for this location:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S208901950

After this walk, I headed back home, as there was not much else that interested me further downriver.

I drove a few backroads on the way home.  There were hundred of Snow Buntings and Horned Larks as one would expect.

Today, I aimed my car towards Rondeau.  I first went towards Stefina Line.  Along Mull Road, I encountered a couple of Eastern Meadowlarks.  A couple have been seen further along Stefina, so not sure if these are the same ones.  There are bound to be more out there!  Unfortunately, I could not obtain proper photos.

It is always nice to see these in winter.  We have seen them along Stefina before in the past.

The Harris's Sparrow was still present as expected.

I had been itching to get out Rondeau's marsh trail for a long walk for quite some time.  The cold north winds of late were too unbearable to do this walk, but the winds switched to the south for a change.  It was actually quite pleasant as I walked out to the half way point.

View at the half-way boardwalk

The Ruby-crowned Kinglet was still in the cottage area tirelessly looking for morsels of food.  Lots of Swamp Sparrows were encountered.  Nothing special seen during my walk, but it was just nice to get out there.

I decided to head homeward after this walk.  I thought of going to Erieau since there are now three Harlequin Ducks (!), but I bypassed that.