Wind Influx!

 Sorry, I could not think of another title, lol.  But we did have some brutal winds this week.  Friday, and into Friday night was crazy with winds.  Gusts up to 80 km/h at least.  We were lucky there was not much damage, but hydro did go out in a few places.

Last Monday, it got quite balmy.  In the morning, I went out to the St. Clair River, but most of the ducks have cleared out (they are elsewhere such as Lake St. Clair and Rondeau Bay!).  So, not much to look at.

During a short walk, I looked at an old Bitternut Hickory tree in Brander Park.  Not in the best of shape.

In the afternoon, it was really warm,  and I went for a walk at Reid Conservation Lands.  I suspected butterflies would be out, namely Eastern Comma and Mourning Cloak.  I only saw one cloak, but likely commas were around.

It was a nice walk and here are some scenes.

Pileated activity!

At one point, which is one in a million chance, I saw this lying on the forest floor.  I assume it is a baby squirrel.

The next day, I went to Rondeau Park for a lakewatch.  It was really active, but nothing of note at dog beach.

Eventually it got really foggy and drizzly outside the park.  I was going to check out Erieau, but I could not see a thing!  It was a bit better inland.

A couple days previous, a Brewer's Blackbird was seen in the picnic area near the park store within a group of blackbirds.  I actually found the same flock (assumingly), and looked for the subject bird.  I am quite certain I saw it, but I did not get really long looks at it.  Being cautious, I left it as blackbird sp.  Not often we see Brewer's at Rondeau, but no doubt some pass through.

Next couple of days were uneventful, but Friday the 13th I went out to the Lake St. Clair area.  It was too windy to get out of the car, but I spent some time at Mitchell's Bay, then drove around the old Dover Township.  Did not go all the way to Port Dover....lol.

There are thousands of Canvasback on the Bay, which is normal for this time of year.

These two Tundra Swans were all alone in one field.

A couple of spots harboured hundreds of puddle ducks.  Northern Pintail seemed to be the most numerous, with hundreds around.  I was hoping to spot a Eurasian Wigeon, but to no avail!

A Sandhill Crane was nearby as well.

Nearer home, I stopped by the Bear Creek Unit of St. Clair NWA.  Not often I go to this neat little place.  Lots of Ring-necked Ducks there.  I finally saw a Pied-billed Grebe for the year.   Usually I see them on the Snye in early winter, but not this year.

Saturday was a nice day, but cold.  And little wind!  For a change in scenery, I went up to Sarnia.  I first walked the Blackwell Trails park, which was once an old landfill.   

Just after I started walking, I spotted a Fox Sparrow, which was certainly an early migrant I would think.

During my over 3 km walk, notable were a couple of Pine Siskins flying overhead.  First for the year, which seemed overdue.  I have had a difficult time finding them in the last fifteen months!  All have been flyovers since then!

Next walk was at Dow Wetlands.  Nothing of note there.  Some meadowlarks were singing already, while a Turkey Vulture soared overhead.

Today I checked out Mitchell's Bay area again.  Unfortunately, it was cold and very windy.  Where does all that wind come from?  I brought my scope out to the south shore nature trail.  Nothing of note, but I could only stand less than an hour there.

I then went to the village waterfront.  Mostly Canvasback seen.  There are well over 15,000 visible on the Bay right now.

Three early Double-crested Cormorants flew by me as well.

While I was there, a Greater White-fronted Goose was reported near Hillman Marsh in Essex County.  I decided to head that way, as there was not anything else to do.

The goose was not in the reported location upon my arrival, so I went into Hillman marsh to look at the shorebird cell.

Just after my arrival, I spotted the subject goose in flight!  Lucky break since it was not seen again.

By this time it was warming up a little and I could find a spot out of the wind to scope the waterfowl.  There were at least a thousand ducks in the east end of the cell.  Most were Mallard, but lots of Gadwall and wigeon and even more Green-winged Teal.

I searched in vain for a Eurasian Wigeon, but struck out again.  While thinking about the Eurasian types, I also looked for Common Teal.  Probably one around, but I could not look at everything!

Other first-of-years included Blue-winged Teal and some early Tree Swallows.

There is a swallow in this photo!

All-in-all it was  decent birding day.

By the way, my wintering Fox Sparrow left on the night of March 6 when we had that warm front come in.  It was nice to have it all winter!

Roller Coaster Weather

We have experienced a variety of weather the last few days.  Christmas Day was the best of those, but Boxing Day we had freezing rain off and on all day (I stayed in!).  It was worse the farther north one went.

Today was heavy rain and even a thunderstorm!  Tomorrow a 'bomb cyclone' will be centred on Lake Huron with very high winds.  Barometric pressure will drop and the winds will pick up quite quickly.

The last few days I have mainly been driving along the St. Clair River.  Not many ducks yet, but Long-tailed seem to be the most numerous.

Saginaw upbound at Mooretown among scattered Long-tailed Ducks

More ships!

A couple of White-winged Scoters are hanging out just south of Fawn Island.  We do not get many on the river, so nice to see.

With the rain today, I went out to the St. Clair River where I can stay in the car while looking for birds.  First stop was Port Lambton where a group of Mute Swans was swimming by.  I assumed they were all Mute, but as they got closer, one was different.  It was a Trumpeter Swan!

Trumpeter in the rain

There are way too many Mute Swans on the river anymore, and one just assumes they are all as such.  A few Tundra now winter along the river too, so one must look closely.

Christmas Day was our nicest day, so I went down to Rondeau Park for a long walk.  Needed that since I had a big dinner the day before!

I finally had a chance to walk out marsh trail.  Geese were the birds of the day with over 1000, congregating around open water areas.  

The only different one was a Greater White-fronted.

I missed it at first, but there it was.....

I went to the half way point not seeing many birds along the way.

Before leaving the park, I made a quick check of the north end of the campground.  There was one main flock of birds with a good variety, which only took a few minutes to locate.  Three Yellow-rumped Warblers included.

As well, one I was hoping to see, was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.  It was in this flock as well!

More history.....!

On this day in 2011, the restaurant ship Normac was set on fire by an arsonist at Port Dalhousie.  Although highly modified from its original appearance, it was better known in Toronto harbour near the foot of Yonge Street.  It was operated as a seafood restaurant by John Letnik for many years.

The Normac was bought locally in 1968, and wintered in Wallaceburg.  My father and grandfather were among the passengers that travelled from Wallaceburg to Toronto in July 1969.

Prior to departing Wallaceburg
(Al Mann, Stan Townsend, Frank Mann, Lloyd Dawdy, Wilf Lowe)

Port Colborne

In the Welland Canal

I remember the day it passed through Lake Erie.  I was with my mother who was filling in as cook at Camp Kenesserie.  Unfortunately, it was too far out to see!

This vessel had a storied history.  It was originally a fire boat at Detroit, then later rebuilt for use as one of the ferries at Tobermory alongside Norisle and Norgoma before the Chi-Cheemaun came along.

Observations, Ice, and an Interesting Book

 This past week has been somewhat uneventful except for today.  Yesterday we had a dose of freezing rain which slowed things down.  It ended up not too bad here in Wallaceburg, but places further south received more ice!  Made for some nice scenery today.

I went out yesterday morning along the St. Clair River up to Mooretown, before the precipitation started.  The river was almost duckless, as it has been all winter.

Long-tailed Ducks are the most dominant this winter, unlike the "old days".

I stopped by Wilkesport for a short walk, and my Long-eared Owl is still hanging on in its favourite tree.

This morning I only ventured as far as Port Lambton.  Everything is coated in ice, but the roads were not too bad.

Just before going home, I stopped by Roberta Stewart Wetland for a quick look as I usually do.  Normally there is not much there this time of year, but I came across a decent sighting!  A Greater White-fronted Goose was among the waterfowl.

Some migrant American Wigeon were present as well.

The goose was a first for there!  At times this place can attract decent birds. Over the years,, among other things, I have found a couple of Snowy Egrets, a couple of Cattle Egrets, a pair of Hudsonian Godwits  and in the first year of the wetland I found a female Ruff.

On Family Day, I went as far as Port Stanley for a different place to go.  The lagoons there can be productive at times, but not much was there on this visit.  Some Gadwall and American Wigeon were present.

Also, up to a dozen Turkey Vultures made an appearance.  Seems several winter in the area every year. 

 One year, there was a Black Vulture among them!

One time there was a pair of Whooper swans there (August 2002).  I mention this because recently one was at Erieau.  A very attractive species!  They are always considered escapees though.  The one at Erieau was apparently from Greenview Aviaries near Morpeth.

I stopped at various places on the way home, but some areas I wanted were too crowded with people to visit since it was Family Day.  A walk through Sitler Woods in Skunk's Misery was quite pleasant, athough no birds.

Feeders have been busy except when some local accipters arrive.  This young Cooper's Hawk was comical to watch as it tried to go after House Sparrows in the hedge.  However it was never successful, perhaps due to inexperience?

On another note, I just finished reading the biography of Louise de Kiriline Lawrence by Merilyn Simonds.  (Merilyn was the keynote speaker at the OFO conference last September, presenting the story of Louise).

It is a very interesting read!  Louise led a fascinating life, originally born in Sweden.  Trained as a nurse, she spent some years in Russian during the revolution, losing here husband there.  She eventually came to Canada and was the nurse for the Dionne quintuplets in northern Ontario.  She settled near North Bay and built a log cabin to live in.  She became interested in birds and studied them.  Louise wrote many papers and books and became well known in ornithological circles.  She died in 1992 at the age of 98.

Along Lake St. Clair

 This morning I stayed fairly close to home and visited Mitchell's Bay and St. Clair NWA.  The weather was finally getting better but the sun struggled to come out first thing in the morning.  Eventually it finally did!  I had almost forgotten what a sunny day was....

I walked the "south shore nature trail" off Angler Line.  Most of the birds were waterfowl, and all the geese were in the adjacent field.  

There were several hundred Canada Geese and one would think something different would be in the group.  Sure enough, I spotted a single Greater White-fronted Goose.

There was a good raft of ducks beyond the edge of the ice on the Bay.  A good scope was needed, but I was too lazy to bring one along.  I could tell that most were Redhead though.

After this walk, I ventured on to the wildlife area.  Lots of  Tundra Swans and Canada Geese were on the move and very few within the area.  I could tell most of the geese were in the field off Balmoral Line.

As many swans were going over  throughout my visit, I was not paying too much attention.  However, at one point I heard a different sound--that of a Trumpeter Swan!  I looked up and within a group of swans there was a larger one. It all happened very quickly, so there was no time for a good photo as it flew off.

I highly doubt this was the same bird I saw on January 1.  

I walked the entire cross dike and back.  On the way back, all the geese got up on the adjacent field for some unknown reason.  It was an impressive sight.  

All I could pick out were the continuing eight Snow Geese.

Six of 'em

Looking to the north, I could see hundreds of ducks in the air, likely most were Mallards.

Within the wildlife area, there were around 30 Northern Shovelers.

I had no Marsh Wrens or Common Yellowthroats on this visit.

On the way home, I went along Heron Line and found four Snowy Owls.  One was fairly close, offering a half decent photo op.