More Tourin'

 Lots of ice in the St. Clair River these days.  Been a few years since we have seen this much ice.  One has to go well north of Sombra to find significant open water.

Friday was a nice sunny day as I drove up to Mooretown.  Nothing new though.  

There is a bit of open water on the Chenal Ecarte that ducks occasionally stop at.

Saturday I felt like taking a long drive and went into Middlesex County.  With the freezing rain last week, it has been virtually impossible to walk anywhere with so much ice.  I managed to walk Wardsville Woods, but it was very dangerous.

Scene at Wardsville Woods

I went as far as Melbourne, then headed back up towards Glencoe, then over to Skunk's Misery.  I saw various raptors along the way, a very large flock of Snow Buntings and even a Common Raven (hwy 2 east of Taits Road).

The Misery was almost birdless as it usually is this time of year, but I did encounter some birds at the north end of Sassafras Road, including some American Robins.

I then headed up Limerick along the county line and found a nice patch of birds by the old pasture.  Among others, a Northern Flicker was here (lighting horrible as usual!).

The oddest bird was a male Red-winged Blackbird.  Seemed out of place.

I then turned down Fansher Road which goes quite a ways to Florence.  It has some interesting areas.  At one point, I noticed a couple of Golden Eagles soaring back and forth.

It was interesting to seem them interacting at one point, as seen above.

Seems to be quite a few Golden Eagles wintering over a wide area from here well into Middlesex and down to Elgin County.

I did not do much on Sunday except watch the yard.

I did get out to Port Lambton briefly in the afternoon.  Stopped by the Snye again, and some ducks were in the open areas.

Today, I went out to the river.  The only two good spots were at CF Industries outlet and at Guthrie Park, Corunna.

Lots of Greater Scaup were at CF, and at least eight Ring-necked Ducks.

At Stag Island off Guthrie, there was a good variety of waterfowl.

There are fewer Redhead on the river due to the ice.  One wonders where they have gone.

A single Lesser Scaup was fairly close. Lessers are quite uncommon here in winter.

Highlight was a Horned Grebe which was continually moving just offshore.  It spent most of its time diving, so difficult to keep track!

And of course, lots of Bald Eagles along the river.