Trumpeting Along the St. Clair River and Recent Rambles

 This past week was quite mild.....and windy!  I spent more time along the St. Clair River than anything.  Not sure why because there is not much out there!  Unless we get cold weather and some ice, there never will be.

Tuesday, a couple of Trumpeter Swans were at Cathcart Park.  Likely the same ones from earlier in teh winter

More Tundra Swans were around as well, probably due to the incoming mild weather.

Wednesday I went to Rondeau Park.  I started with a lakewatch at dog beach.  Over 500 White-winged Scoters were counted during my short stay.  A couple of Horned Grebes were new for the year for me.

As always, I checked the campground.  There were puddles due to the rain and melting ice.  At one point I heard some swishing behind me.  I had walked right by a bathing Cooper's Hawk!  It showed no fear.

Thursday was actually a very nice day.  I went for a walk at Wilkesport first thing.  Three or four Northern Flickers were working the area.  I only managed to get a photo of one from a distance.

I then went for a walk at Reid C. L.  It was just too nice of a day not to!  There were lots of Blue Jays feeding on acorns.  Another member of the corvids was a Common Raven that flew by  in the distance.

Some scenes:

Back Field

An adult Sharp-shinned Hawk stopped by the neighbourhood later in the morning.  It spent some time preening.

Friday there was very little in the way of birds, and I did not even do a bird list!

Saturday, it was back to Rondeau.  I did a lakewatch at dog beach with Steve.  It was not an ideal wind, but White-winged Scoters were the talk of the day.

Over 1500 were tallied.  No doubt conservative because many were way out.  At least three Surf Scoters were mixed in.

Today, I checked out the entire St. Clair River.  Not much to see.  Been too mild.  More hunters and decoys than birds!

This afternoon, I finally went to see some of the Sandhill Cranes east of Port Lambton.  Up to 144 were seen on the Wallaceburg CBC January 4, but every day sees different numbers.  I counted 42.

These creatures come over from Michigan each day.

The Fox Sparrow shows up occasionally here at home.  I have never had one spend the winter here, so it is nice to have!

Wallaceburg Area Bird Count January 4

 Yesterday, a number of area birders scoured the Wallaceburg area conducting a Christmas Bird Count.  Last year it did not run, but this year it was nice to get back in the groove.  It was a rather successful day!

It was clear all night, but around 06:45 the clouds rolled in for a gloomy day.  No significant wind either.  That did not deter the effort though.  Nor did it affect the birds!

The count stands at 81 species.  Some good birds on Walpole Island were found, as they often are.  Included was a Yellow-headed Blackbird, some Eastern Towhees, Iceland Gull, among other species.

I toured my usual area around Wallaceburg, and ended up with 32 species.  Ice had moved into the Chenal Ecarte the day before (gone today!), so that did not help my area since nothing can swim in ice.

View towards Walpole Island

I started at Roberta Stewart Wetland first light.  

Clouds not yet hiding the sun!

Not much there since it has been frozen for some time.  A Great Blue Heron flushed from the riverbank and headed over to Walpole Island.  That and another I saw later, were the only two on the count!

In the past, the Sandhill Crane flock would usually fly over at some point here.  However, this year they are feeding farther north towards Lambton Line.  More suitable fields there this year.  A group of 140 were seen near Port Lambton....an impressive number!

Not far from Stewart at one of my usual walking locations, I encountered a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.  Ended up being my best bird.  Another was seen on Walpole Island.  A tied-high count (2006) for those, and not surprising this year.  This woodpecker has only been recorded four times before on the count.  They seem to be everywhere this winter in southwestern Ontario.

There was not anything special during the rest of the survey for me, although I got the only Winter Wren for the count at Peers Wetland.  Around mid afternoon I was basically finished my area, so stayed at home to watch the feeder.  It is well within the circle anyway!

Good thing I did, because that elusive Fox Sparrow showed up.  Only one for the count.

As well, the local Merlin even made an appearance.  I had only seen it once last week, the first time in at least five weeks.  Turns out several Merlins were recorded for the count.  They certainly have been more regular in winter in recent years.

Link to Wallaceburg CBC eBird list (all participants were able to use eBird and link to the overall list):

https://ebird.org/tripreport/458031

Yesterday was the last day of the Christmas Bird Count period for this year.  Most counts were reporting lower than usual numbers.  Not unexpected this year.

On to some winter birding........

More Running Around, and Some Halloween Birding

 

Sunday I had the notion to go up to Ipperwash and check the lake.  The wind was not right for a good lake passage of birds.  In other words, I should not have looked at the forecast!

Views from my vantage point:

Kettle Point in the distant background

After some lakewatching, I headed down to Forest lagoons.  There were lots of ducks there, but very skittish.  I had to count most of them in the air, since they flushed.  There was good variety, including two Blue-winged Teal.

A young Northern Shrike was making some rounds on this dismal day.

A couple of ravens went by at one point.  They are fairly regular in north Lambton anymore, as they have expanded their range southward.

In the shrubbery, a few Fox Sparrows were evident.  My favourite sparrow type!

Monday, I wanted to stay close to home, but early in the day I got word of three Purple Sandpipers at Erieau pier.  So much for that idea!

Long story short, I was about a half hour too late in arriving, as they were nowhere to be found.  I likely would have seen them if I had left right away, but I delayed my departure about a half hour. Still lots of chance to see one this year.

For consolation, I checked out the Erieau marsh trail.  

There were loads of birds, especially sparrows.  Warblers included the usual Yellow-rumped, a Blackpoll, a Nashville, a Palm and a Common Yellowthroat.  The one I saw was a dull female.

It was nice to see a lot of birds, so the day was not lost.

Today, I headed down to Rondeau and area for some Halloween thrills.  

The weather forecast was useless.  Sunday, they said it was to be a decent day, then Monday they said mostly rain for Tuesday.  But, the skies were mostly clear today, and little wind!  It was actually a pleasant day, so a word of advice, do not have much faith in weather forecasts!

I started with a lakewatch at dog beach.  Lots of ducks, grebes (Horned) and loons.

Coming back to the parking lot, Steve and I found a multitude of passerines.  Right away, I spotted a yellowish bird, which turned out to be an Eastern Palm Warbler (or "Yellow" Palm Warbler).  

I usually see one of these each year.

I moved on to south point trail, which was fairly birdy in some spots.  A couple of 'latish' Blackpoll Warblers were hanging out together, but I failed to get decent photos.

There were lots of Eastern Bluebirds at one point.

I did the usual walk to the Washout".

Site of the old campground office!

I walked back along the beach.  The sun had come back out at this point.

I found a Fatmucket mussel shell at one point.  It looked remarkably similar to one I photographed a few weeks ago.  I do not see how it could be the same one!

After the park, I stopped by Keith McLean Conservation Lands.  It was quite pleasant there, and I was looking forward to some decent birding.

Vesper Sparrow

Not long after arriving, I received word of a Cattle Egret on Lagoon Road north.  Well, I had to go see that since I missed the others this year!  In typical fashion, it was with cattle.

After getting a glimpse of the stocky little egret, I went back down the road to the lagoons.  Bonaparte's Gulls were the bird of the day here.  Over 1000 were there, but nothing else was with with, surprisingly.

There were lots of ducks to sort through.

Shorebirds included a single Least Sandpiper at the back.

Others included three Greater Yellowlegs, a couple of Dunlin, lots of Killdeer, and the surprise of the day, a Sanderling.  It was in the sprinklers cells!

A Sanderling is not usually found at a sewage lagoon.  Occasionally, some birders report them at lagoons, but I think mis-ID's are involved in some cases.  They are almost always along the beaches.

It was first here for both Steve and I.

Greater Yellowlegs

On to some November birding......

Another Guthrie Watch and Rondeau Area Birding

 Once again on Sunday I went up to Guthrie Park along the St. Clair River.  I first stopped at Cathcart Park, where one could find lots of waterfowl.  Some open water exists here and upriver to the OC outfall.  Much of it is inaccessible so who knows what lurks there.  The female Harlequin Duck was somewhere along there!

There was a cold SW wind on Sunday, so I spent much of the time in the car.  Lots of ducks were in close.

I found that there were more gulls this day.  I saw up to seven Glaucous Gulls.  

A nice adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was far offshore.

Soon after arrival, I spotted the Barrow's Goldeneye.  It moved around quite a bit during the morning, but most people were able to get a view of the bird.  At one point it came in really close!  I was not able to get any photos of it though.

Lots of Redhead and Canvasback were in close.

The Harlequin Duck I found on Friday has not been seen, but it is on the Michigan side!  That is where it hides from us.  It is actually a young male, so nice to have a couple of Harlequin Ducks on the river this winter.

Today, I had an extra free day, so went down Rondeau way.  I wanted to see the Wilson's Snipe, which I did first thing.

There is one guaranteed here every winter.  I think I remember the first Christmas Bird Count I did in the area, and it was one I remember seeing.  The creek never freezes even in the coldest times, as some underground spring feeds it.

Down the road, the three meadowlarks were showing well.

In the park, I did quite a bit of walking just for some fresh air and exercise.  Some Pine Siskins were at maintenance, but they were very high.

I encountered three Fox Sparrows in different locations.

Outside the park, some blackbirds and a Killdeer were found yesterday.  The Killdeer was quite obliging in another spot that never freezes.

I did see the Yellow-headed Blackbird, but some cowbirds, grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds were around.  At least I already saw a Yellow-headed Blackbird this year a couple of weeks ago!

Spring will be here in a few weeks!