Sights and Scenes of This Past Week

We finally had a string of sunny days this week!  Although I was out and about each day, I could not find much of interest.  Any owl is always nice to see.

Ice has finally shown up in the St. Clair River, so things were more interesting out there.

Lots of gulls and ducks at Corunna, but nothing of note.  Long-tailed Ducks used to be rare on the river, but in recent years, one can find thousands this time of year.

The other day, I found an odd group of waterbirds on the Chenal Ecarte.  Three American Coots, a Pied-billed Grebe and a Long-tailed Duck.  The duck was certainly out of place there!  A bit distant though.

While roaming the countryside, I noticed a few Red-tailed Hawks soaking up some sun.

I finally saw a Rough-legged Hawk at one point.  They do not seem to be a plentiful as they used to be.  Too distant for a photo.

Lots of Horned Larks and Snow Buntings recently, of course.

A short walk through Reid CA was pleasant one afternoon.

The feeders in the backyard have been quite busy.  One of these days, I hope something of interest will show up!  

An American Tree Sparrow, uncommone here, stopped by for one day.  (They never stay here!).

Several Black-capped Chickadees are visiting this winter.

Today's Photos

Just toured around again today.  Perhaps the highlight was a large flock of Lapland Longspurs west of Ridgetown.  Could have been close to 100 birds!
A flock of 8 Eastern Bluebirds was nice near Clear Creek Forest.
Lots of stuff at Erieau too.  That weird Red-headed Woodpecker was on post #2 today.  It refuses to let me take a photo!

'spurs were camouflaged in this field (I had no hope of getting an accurate count!)

Juncos everywhere today (plus a few white-throats)

Very Windy Today!

Lots 'o Bonies at Erieau lately

Duck Mixture at Erieau

Pelee Birding

Sunrise at Pelee Tip

A decent SW wind was forecast for Saturday, so I ventured to the Tip of Point Pelee.  The wind turned out to be more westerly, as usual, but there was lots of bird activity.
I ended up doing a lot more walking than expected!  There is some serious construction at Pelee park and the road to the Tip was closed at the visitor centre.  The VC parking lot is even closed.  It will only get worse as I heard next week one will not be able to go south of De Laurier for quite some time.  As things usually go, I bet it is several weeks!  I guess if this has to happen, it is the only time of year to do it (much to the chagrin of birders and some others who like to go to the Tip).
Anyway I arrived early and lots of gulls were around.  Bonies were in good numbers, continuously streaming down the east side.  In the less common department, a juv Lesser Black-backed Gull was at the Tip. No Sabine's, and strangely there has only been one at Pelee this fall.
Various duck species were flying by as well.  (Bufflehead, Long-tailed, Ruddy, Black, Green-winged Teal, Surf and White-winged Scoter, etc.). 

gull feeding frenzy off Tip

Less than a half hour after I started watching, the gulls got up just off the Tip and I spotted a jaeger.  It appeared to be a Parasitic.  It never came in close though, and headed straight back out.
The only other birders were Alan Wormington and Steve Pike, and we watched the gulls, a few Common Loons and many Horned Grebes.  Several Dunlin also.
Various groups of Black-capped Chickadees appeared at the Tip and headed back into the park.  Expectedly, there were lots of chickadees in the park.  I kept an eye out for Boreal, but no luck.

Chickadee with Spider

De Laurier and Anders were hopping with birds.  Continuous streams of Yellow-rumped Warblers, Chickadees and kinglets were moving through.  The only different warbler was a Pine at the parking lot.  Blue-headed Vireo was around too.

Tons of Dogwood berries at De Laurier!

I saw a couple of groups of Cedar Waxwings, but no Bohemians.

Butterflies are just about done for this year. I saw three Monarchs, a Buckeye and an Eastern Comma.