Ducks and Ice in the St. Clair River

 Not too much happening in the last week, as some cold weather has set in.  

On Thursday, I took a long drive to eastern Lambton County and down into SW Middlesex to see what was around in the countryside.  Well.....very few birds!  Roads were not in the best of shape, but I was tired of waiting for the right day.

One of the target birds to find was a Golden Eagle, and I did so along McCready Road.  It was a bit distant and in dull light, so no photo.

Along Oilfield Road just into Middlesex, I found a nice mixed group of birds roadside.  Included was a Common Raven.

Every road I drove had some Dark-eyed Juncos.  They seem to be rather numerous this winter.

Virtually no hawks this winter.  Shrikes are obviously scarce too.  Saw none of those!

I headed towards Skunk's Misery and drove along Centreville and Trillium.  Another Common Raven was encountered, justifying how regular they are now getting.

It started to snow, so I thought I better head home.  The wind really picked up and it was quite nasty driving home along Lambton Line.

Things are iced in along the St. Clair River.  Last Wednesday I went out briefly, and stopped at Stoke's Point north of Sombra.  This was a small patch of open water where lots of Redhead were congregating. Unfortunately, an eagle flushed everything before I had a good look.

Then I noticed hundreds of ducks (mainly Redhead, but some Canvasback too) heading north, more towards the Michigan side.  Perhaps these were some iced out of Lake St. Clair.

Saturday was bitterly cold but sunny, so I drove out to the St. Clair River.  The river was virtually full of ice up to Stag Island, so very little to see in the way of waterfowl.  Some was at OC Industries though taking advantage of the warm water.

Guthrie Park, Corunna was the place to be, as it often is during winter.  I stayed over 1.5h looking at ducks, but nothing unusual.  I am sure BAGO is somewhere out there. I stayed in the car the whole time!

Ducks with Long Tails

It was rather steamy because of the cold air and warm water, so photos not the best.

Once again, gulls were essentially absent.  I saw a grand total of three Herring Gulls!  Later in the day is usually better though.

At home, nothing new (recurring theme this winter!).  The Fox Sparrow is quite regular now, being the only highlight.

January 26

January 24

In the history department, yesterday there was a photo on Boatnerd of the crane ship W. C. Richardson.  I remember this one when I was quite young while out in the boat off Port Lambton.  I often had a camera.

It was launched January 25, 1908.

A neat little ship!