Prowls and Owls

Wednesday was just not a good day.   Among other things, the weather was just plain dismal--drizzle, fog and and rather dark.  I went on a prowl up Sarnia way, but could not come up with anything new.  I did see the long-staying Harlequin Duck and King Eider at the lakewatch spot near the water plant on the mouth of Lake Huron.

Some people have mis-labeled this spot! The strip of shoreline is part of Sarnia, not Point Edward.  As well, it is the mouth of Lake Huron, not the mouth of the St. Clair River.  The mouth is where the body of water spills out!  I guess I am too fussy....lol.

I stopped by Guthrie Park on the way back.  Lots of gulls, but mostly one species.  Lighting was horrible and one could not see any distance.

Today was dismal as well, but fairly clear and no wind.  I decided to check out St. Clair NWA in anticipation of the CBC on Saturday.  Too bad today was not the count, as the weather will leave a lot to be desired on Saturday!

As soon as I got out of the car, a Yellow-rumped Warbler greeted me.  A bit of a surprise there!

I doubt I have ever seen the place so open with no ice at all for this time of year.  It was packed with waterfowl!

A mass of ducks came in at one point, mostly Mallards and Blacks, but lighting was horrible so they were more silhouettes than anything.

From the tower I could see lots of Ring-necked Ducks.  I put down 135 on my list, but I know there were much more than that since I could not see everything.

Along the walk, I came up with a total of 14 Marsh Wrens.  I guess that is to be expected there especially with this mild weather so far.  They were too difficult to photograph since there is too much phragmites.

I then moved on to Lighthouse Cove.  We need ice there to concentrate things and attract gulls, as it can be a hopping place!  Not too many gulls today.

In view were 20 Double-crested Cormorants, somewhat expected there given the unseasonable weather.  They were really on the C-K side though.

There are always some novelty ducks there!

After some business in Chatham, I swung out Mitchell's Bay way before going home.  Snowy Owls are usually abundant there.  Passing by, I noticed five between Marsh and Mallard Lines along Winter Line.

The south shore trail was extremely quiet, but must be checked, especially after the Sage Thrasher incident!

Just south of Wallaceburg, I came by a couple of co-operative Snowy Owls along Meadowvale Line.  (They were missed on the Wallaceburg CBC, but maybe we can blame that on the crappy weather...again).  One dark, one light!

Wanderings For FOY Birds

As the wacky weather continues, I have been doing some wandering.  I would like to go farther afield some weekend, but every single weekend the weather goes inot the dumps.  I would rather have sunny weather for travelling, so I guess I should schedule for a weekday!

Friday, I decided to check out Fanshawe CA at the NE corner of London.  Seeds are always put out at the start of Tamarack trail and that attracts many birds.

A year ago, we had the Evening Grosbeak there as a highlight.  Nothing like that this winter, but a Chipping Sparrow decided stick around.  I saw it for a FOY (first of year), among other birds as soon as I got out of the car.

A White-crowned Sparrow was also in the mix, along with numerous American Tree Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos.

The Black-capped Chickadees are quite used to people and they will even attempt to land on you.  So, you better have some sunflower seeds on hand!

I walked around a bit after observing the "feeder" birds, including through the Tamarack tree area.  I was reminded of the Black-backed Woodpecker that was somewhere around these parts back in the early 1990's.

Red Squirrel

Scene at Fanshawe

At least the rain held off by this time, but as I headed back west of London, it started up, signalling the start of the weekend.

I had the intention of touring around Skunk's Misery and north of Newbury looking for raptors, especially Golden Eagles, but it was too miserable to do much.  I did, however, encounter one eagle in the Misery, FOY.

By this time, fuel was getting low (lol), so I stopped by Thamesville to fill up, then headed towards Rondeau.  Some decent wintering birds have been in the area recently, including the annual Wilson's Snipe on Stefina, and a couple of Double-crested Cormorants at the 'Eau.

The snipe was barely visible in the pouring rain.  At Erieau, it was downright nasty, but I did see one cormorant on the rocks.  Both FOY.

At one point, I caught sight of a White-winged Scoter in the channel, a FOY.

A male Canvasback was looking lonely in the Marina.

Today, the weather was a little better, but it did rain a bit as I headed down to Wheatley and Hillman Marsh.
Five Bonaparte's Gulls were FOY at the harbour.

Hillman Marsh turned out to be fairly interesting.  The sun even came out for a while, which was certainly a novelty for a Saturday.
I ended up seeing about six Great Blue Herons, FOY.

More bonies were around, totalling about 25. Lots of Ring-billed Gulls were around today.

As I walked towards the shorebird cell, a Northern Shrike caught my eye...a FOY.

At the boardwalk, I managed to hear the Marsh Wren for a FOY.  One seems to be in this area each winter.  One cannot get close as the area is too flooded.

The main area of the marsh is totally open to the lake now.  There were lots of geese and gulls.  I half expected a white-fronted goose, but they were all regular Canadas.

Point Pelee park was open today, for the first time since the deer cull.  It was quite busy with people.
I walked Shuster Trail first thing.  Over 1000 Common Goldeneye were out on the lake.  So that is where they all are!

I did not have a scope on hand, so likely I missed a Barrow's.

While walking back the trail, an Amerian Pipit flew over, a FOY.
At the VC, a Common Grackle flew overhead, not a FOY.

I next headed to the Tip and met up with Jeremy Bensette.  There was not much activity, but a couple of White-winged Scoters flew by (SOY...lol).  Another single bonie flew by, so I suspect some have come in lately.

We headed to Sparrow Field, and along the way, a flock of kinglets and creepers was seen.  A single Ruby was among them, not a FOY,

Sparrow Field had a number of Northern Cardinals, and singing Song Sparrow.

Later, I checked Cactus Field and came across the only three Black-capped Chickadees of the day.

On the way home, I checked out Lighthouse Cove.  A number of gulls were way out on the lake.  The strange Mallard-type ducks were still around.  Some nice colour combinations!

Through Dover Township, there were well over 1000 Tundra Swans.

Mitchell's Bay revealed nothing of note. 

River Rambles and Weekend Woes

Although the appearance of winter (finally) was somewhat welcome, the timing was off.  Hopefully we are not starting this nonsense again when the weather goes for a crap each weekend!
Anticipating the approach of a 'typical' weekend, I headed upriver late Friday afternoon as far a Corunna before it got too dark.
Canada Geese were the popular bird this day, as hundreds were all along the river.  I stopped by Cath's Cart park where there were too many to sort through. I did pick out some small ones on the distant grass, but when they got up to fly, their higher-toned honks were obvious.  There were at least three Cackling Geese flying away.
Lots of ducks were in the area as well.

On the way to Corunna, I slid over to Greenway Line where I came across a Northern Shrike.  Just a few minutes earlier, I said to myself that it might be a good time for a shrike!  Sure enough....

Off Guthrie Park, there was enough light to see the wintering wigeon.

Saturday morning, before too much snow came down, I headed to Sarnia.  There was not a much to see as on the previous day.  Little was at the Sombra dock and certainly nothing new.

I did see some Tundra Swans at Cathcart Park which I had missed the previous evening, but I could not pick out any small geese in the poor light.  They were there somewhere.....

Cans

Not much was off Guthrie Park on Saturday.

I spent quite a bit of time at Sarnia Bay, where there was a variety of ducks and hundreds of gulls.

At least four Glaucous Gulls represented the white-winged variety, and there were lots of Great Black-backed.
At one point, I picked out two adult "Great Lakes" Gulls--hybrid of Herring and Great Black-backed.  Too distant and poor visibility prevented any photo attempt.

Note, duck on right is a hybrid

Many geese were at the entrance to the government dock area, but I could not find anything different.  The wintering Common Loon was taking a nap well offshore.

The north slip was mostly frozen, but some gulls were present.  Perhaps I missed a Horned Grebe which was seen there today!

On the way home, I took back roads as all the snow was making things dicey.  There were lots of Horned Larks, Snow Buntings, etc., and at one point I came across a nice flock of Lapland Longspurs.  It was a pure flock of at least 30.

Today, travels were limited with the howling wind and bitter cold.  Roads were dicey with the blowing snow, so my activities were curtailed.  No doubt it will be nice when Monday dawns.

I had been wanting to check the mouth of the Thames River for some time, but things have completely frozen up now.  At the Jeannette's Creek boat launch, one could see a thick mass of waterfowl downriver.

It was too distant to get much detail, but most were Mallards.  I did pick out four Double-crested Cormorants which had been wintering in the area.  Perhaps the Great Blue Herons had the common sense to leave, as I did not see any!

One has to wonder what all was in that mass.

A crazy number of Bald Eagles have been in the area this winter--I could see fifteen from this vantage point.

I wonder what that Common Merganser was thinking?

In the afternoon I watched the yard feeders, but nothing new showed up.  Feeders have been virtually dead so far this winter.  I am going to have lots of seed left at the end of the season I think!
I had three Red-breasted Nuthatches at one point earlier in the winter, but only saw one today.  It was looking a little worse for the wear.