The Waning Winter

I was out and about the last few days as the end of february draws near.  Even though it has not been a harsh winter, I have had enough!
Signs of spring were here this weekend as expected spring migrants arrived.  I did not see much on Friday and Saturday despite a lot of travelling in the area!  Quite disappointing actually.
A brisk SW wind blew in on Sunday bringing lots of Red-winged Blackbirds, right on schedule.  More puddle ducks have arrived, and the odd Killdeer has been reported, although I have not yet seen one.

Friday I went up to north Lambton and started at Ausable River Cut CA.  I think it is a neat place.  Nothing new, but a wintering Hermit Thrush revealed its presence.  A large number of geese was in the distance.  Perhaps one of the Greater White-fronted was among them!  Too distant though.

I next moved over to Pinery Provincial Park.  It was much quieter for birds than on my previous visit a couple of weeks ago.  Trails were treacherous with ice, so I did not do much walking.  Winter decided to finally arrive this week so it was cold.
There was one small open spot on the river where three mergansers took advantage.

The only highlight was the wintering Eastern Towhee at the visitor centre.

After Pinery, I decided to go down to Rock Glen CA at Arkona.  It was a nice walk, but very quiet for birds, as it has been all winter.

Rock Glen Falls

Old Dam Site at Rock Glen

Ravens have been reported in north Lambton recently, but strangely (oh, maybe not with my usual luck), I did not come across any.  A pair was reported on Sylvan Road last weekend, but several people have looked to no avail.  I can only guess they moved on!

Ausable River Valley

I did quite a bit more driving around inland but found virtually nothing.  A boring waste of gas!

Saturday I checked the St. Clair River to Sarnia, then walked a bit in Perch Creek WMA.  There was nothing new and certainly fewer birds to look at than in previous weeks.  Just nothing to report!

Sunday I went to Rondeau.  Nothing new again except Red-winged Blackbirds all around.

I found the Chipping Sparrows in the campground, as well as one Yellow-rumped Warbler.  First one I have seen there since December!

Some of the wintering birds were seen, including White-throated Sparrows.

This time of year is a good one to check Ridgetown Lagoons for waterfowl.  Today, thousands of Tundra Swans were milling about.

I though maybe a Bewick's would be present, but I did not find one!  Too many to look through.

The four Snow Geese, present for several weeks, were in the back almost out of sight. The juvenile is showing more white now! Also, a Greater White-fronted Goose was with them trying to hide.  Try and find its head in this photo:

Several Cackling Geese were in the mix.  Perhaps fifteen or more were there.  Some other geese were slightly larger, but probably not cacklers.  For whatever reason, Ridgetown is good for cacklers.

The only ducks visible were three Mallards, a pair of Redheads, and a single Gadwall.  I did not check the south cell though, but it may have been frozen.

Things will be on the move in the coming days and weeks, so stay tuned!

Lambton Birding February 8

With colder temps the last couple of days, we finally have some ice in the St. Clair River, albeit slush ice.  It helps to concentrate gulls and ducks, which birders like.  It is good for looking at gulls, as they are lazy creatures that like to ride the floes!

I did a river run early this morning, then went to the east end of Lambton County through the countryside.  There appeared to be more birds today than I have been seeing of late.  Lots of hawks, Snow Buntings and Horned Larks were along the roads.

Back to the river, there were lots of gulls all along the river, but nothing new.

More ducks were at Stag Island, namely Common Goldeneye and Long-tailed.  Seems more Long-tailed have moved in there and off Sarnia on Lake Huron.

While heading upriver, I got word that four Harlequin Ducks were close to shore near the Bluewater Bridges.  I was going to check there anyway, so upon arrival, I found the four ducks were right there!

There was a brief bout of sun when I arrived, so lighting was not the best overall.  But, one has to remember it is the weekend afterall.  Nice to have them in close though!

Smile!

These were found today by Darrell Parsons.  Earlier in the week, Matt Parsons had four fly be Kettle Point.  No doubt these are the very same ducks!

I next headed down to the harbour area and Sarnia Bay.  There was lots to look at!  The ice certainly helps. 
In the harbour, a beauty of an adult Greater Black-backed X Glaucous Gull was swimming.  I spotted it at the last moment while looking through a fence, so no good photo.

Just south of the marina, I spotted the Greater White-fronted Goose on the ice hidden among Canada Geese.  It must have had a hard day yesterday as it slept the whole time.  Find it in this photo!

While there, five Cackling Geese flew in nearby.

Lots of gulls to look at, including one distant Lesser Black-backed.

As I was heading to the south end of downtown Sarnia, I got word that there was lots to look at off Canatara Park, including Black Scoters and Horned Grebes.  So, I did an about-face and headed to that location.

I spent a good hour at the beach coming up with one Black Scoter (FOY), one Horned Grebe (FOY), four White-winged Scoters, and hundreds of Long-tailed Ducks and Redhead among a few incidentals.

Next mission was to go through the countryside. On my way, I spotted a Common Raven along #79.  They are indeed becoming more regular in Lambton.

I ended up at the Middlesex border.  I had hoped to see a Golden Eagle, but my bad luck persisted and I did not find one despite a very thorough search.  Everyone else finds them right away, but not me!  Baffling to say the least.

Consolation prize was a Red-shouldered Hawk, always nice to see in winter.

I did come across a shrike from the north, but the weekend lighting was not good where it was perched.

I saw lots of hawks, including a couple of Rough-legged, which I had not seen all winter believe it or not.

Several harriers were out and about, including one male on the ground that I saw out of the corner of my eye.  I had to turn around to take another look as I had visions of a Gyrfalcon!  I guess I would not be that lucky since I cannot even find a Golden Eagle.

One more day on the weekend.  Who knows what the weather will be....the forecasts continously change.

Waterfowl Wanderings

I was due for some birding in Essex County, so that is where I went today!  My first stop was Point Pelee National Park (remember, you can renew your annual pass for a discount this month!).
Just before getting into the park, three Sandhill Cranes caught my eye on concession D. Obviously spring migrants.

As expected, the park was very quiet for birds, as it has been most of the winter.  I walked Shuster, Tilden's and Cactus Trails.  A few White-throated Sparrows were kicking around, but nothing of note.

I wanted to check Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary as well today, so that was the next stop.  Upon arrival, local birder Jeremy L. Hatt was already scanning the geese.  We had a nice chat about various things, and while there, five Ross's Geese appeared for us.

They continuously circled around, unsure of what to do.  Two of them briefly landed, but then they started circling again.  Apparently, they did come back later for other birders to see.

Hybrids have been increasing in recent years, but these seemed good for Ross's.
I had this species on my mind today, especially when four were reported on Rondeau Bay earlier this morning!

Geese

At least 36 Greater White-fronted Geese were there at Miner's as well.

The "white-fronts" are common this time of year anymore.  Hundreds have been reported in the province in the last ten days or so.

Needless to say, a few Cackling Geese were in the mix today. They are expected this time of year also.  They are easier to pick out in flight.  Higher-pitched calls are quite obvious.

Some Common Redpolls have been reported farther west at the intersection of Concession Road 9 and Coulter Sideroad.  This species is rather difficult to find in Essex County even in invasion winters.  I got directions from Jeremy, so I went that way and found the redpolls right away.  No photo attempts.

I headed back towards home via Comber (no blackbirds!) and along the Thames up to St. Clair NWA.  I did see a Great Blue Heron west of Jeannette's Creek, so some are still around.

I walked the dike at the NWA to the tower and observed lots of Tundra Swans, Canada Geese and a handful of ducks.  Also see were two Greater White-fronted Geese and two Snow Geese from the tower.

I decided to head down Balmoral Line later to get a better view.  It was a good choice as I could see more things.  Included were nine Snow Geese in total, an American Coot, a Ruddy Duck and about 18 Northern Shovelers in a tight group.  The shovelers must be spring migrants as that number had not been around since at least New Year's.
No doubt more things were there, but I did not spend too much time looking.

On the way home, a Snowy Owl was perched along Marsh Line.

The Meadowvale Snowy Owl south of Wallaceburg was also showing nicely as I headed out first thing this morning. At least three are regular in the Wallaceburg vicinity this winter.

Sombra Scoters to Cathcart Cacklers

Today was a fine day for checking out the St. Clair River.  It was calm and overcast which is good.  Most of the avian activity was around Sombra where one could have spent hours.  Much of the stuff was out in the middle of the river, but with a scope one could pick out various things of interest.

Most notable was the number of White-winged Scoters.  It seems to be a good year for them in these parts as I saw at least 30 at Sombra-certainly the most I have ever seen on the river.  I even picked out a Surf Scoter at Cundick Park!  Rather distant for a photo though.

I have also seen White-winged Scoters at Port Lambton each morning in the past week, as they head upriver.

There are still hundreds of gulls from Sombra to Cathcart Park, but most were of course, Herring.  I did pick out one adult Lesser Black-backed way out from Cundick Park.  Most of the white-winged gulls must have left as I never saw one today.  Some are likely at Sarnia though.


At the village of Sombra, a notable duck has been hanging out.  Some time ago, Mike Bouman (the hybrid specialist !), found an apparent Ring-necked X Redhead.

Photo by Mike Bouman

In sunlight, the colour shows well.

Photo by Mike Bouman

Thanks to Mike Bouman for sending me photos.

I finally saw it today, but I could not get very close.  It was getting close, but as my luck would have it, a Bald Eagle came along and the ducks flushed.

There is also an apparent scaup hybrid hiding among the rafts.

Photo by Mike Bouman

Cathcart Park is another good spot this time of year to check things out.  Today, the bulk of the swans (Mute of course) were there.  Some Tundra Swans were around too, and a flock of about 40 flew over while I was there.
I tried to make one pair into Trumpeters, but it would just not work.  We did have a pair here a few winters ago.  Trumpeter Swans are becoming more regular, so one needs to keep an eye out for them!

Canada Geese also like this spot.  This weekend, up to 8 Cackling have been swimming about.

A drake Northern Pintail was hanging around with some Mallards at Cathcart.

Cathcart Park is where Clay Creek flows out to the St. Clair River.  It has always been a popular spot and was once a Provincial Park.  My father worked there for a couple of summers back in the 1950's!

Pesha photo from early 1900's

Long-tailed Ducks are in good numbers as well all along the river.  For whatever reason, they have become very common in the last many years.  We never used to see them much south of Sarnia/Corunna many years ago.

I checked some spots inland on the way home, but they were virtually devoid of birds.  I guess I will stick to the river!