Prowls, Owls and Other Things

 It was a fairly quiet week, needless to say.  The weather has certainly been the talk of the town lately with the lack of sun and dismal conditions.  We finally saw some blue sky and sun this afternoon after an absence of 13 days!  

I prowled around to various spots this week, just to keep occupied.  

Robins seem to be everywhere.  A few were at Reid CA on a walk on Wednesday.

We always have some wintering, but seems to be more than usual this winter.

Not many birds, as usual, so one looks at other things.

Crowded Parchment

There are lots of Tundra Swans around (they never left!) and some are heading north already as spring migrants it seems.

Lone Tundra Swan at Ridgetown

After I visited Rondeau for a lakewatch (lots of White-winged Scoters and Red-throated Loons are around!), I swung around to Ridgetown lagoons.   An obvious wintering Green-winged Teal was on ice.

There was only a small open water section, where a few ducks were hanging out.

It was  dark and gloomy day, and only got worse as the  day wore on.  (Lots of snow in north Chatham-Kent!).

Wednesday I attended a meeting at Sarnia in the evening, so I headed out early in the afternoon to check out the St. Clair River.  Although a touch better than last year, it is terribly disappointing again.  With climate change upon us, I think it is something we have to get used to.  There is no need for waterfowl to congregate in the river when the lakes are open.

Not a Common Gull!

At dusk, I made an effort to look for Short-eared Owls at a known location.  I was not disappointed, but unable to get proper photos, after seeing three individuals.  This was the best I could do as it was getting too dark and the bird was distant.

There seems to be quite a few around in various locations this winter, but not like it used to be.  There is so little habitat left for feeding opportunities, they are difficult to find.  In the past it was not a problem in pastures north of Wallaceburg.  Try and find a pasture anymore!

Everybody likes owls, but we tend not to post locations anymore as there seems to be too many over-zealous birders/photographers anymore.

Here are some photos from the past.

Yesterday, I needed to check out a different area.  Near home, it was just the same-old, same-old!  I went into Elgin County, and went as far as Port Stanley.  There are lots of little areas to check out, but I stuck to the main roads.  It was a better day, with a couple very short bouts of sun.

I first stopped at Port Glasgow, then went to John E. Pearce Provincial Park for a walk.  The Storey Wetland is here, and I thought of World Wetlands Day (for this day, February 2).  I saw no groundhogs either!

I encountered Eastern Bluebirds in a couple of spots for the first time this year.

Near Port Stanley lagoons, I saw three Turkey Vultures.  For whatever reason, 'TV's' winter in the Port Stanley area (there was even a Black Vulture a few years ago!).

a quick photo from the car window

The Port was not too productive.  A pair of Ruddy Ducks are hanging out in the harbour.

A lone Bald Eagle was standing vigil on the breakwater.

I did quite a bit of driving around on the way home, but nothing of note came my way.  But after-all, it is a "quiet" winter.

Today, I was due for a long walk, so opted to do the marsh trail at Rondeau.  Although still cloudy (what's new?), it was dead calm and quite pleasant.  It was good for hearing things at long distances.

I walked all the way to Long Pond.  The marsh was still mostly frozen though, so waterfowl was limited.

Distant Tundra Swans in Long Pond

American Tree Sparrows were quite numerous, and a few Song and Swamp, as well as a couple of White-throated Sparrows rounded out the sparrow department.  A pair of Eastern Towhees was a highlight, but they stayed hidden in the underbrush after a brief view.

Perhaps more notable was a Common Raven that I could hear croaking all the way across the Bay!  I found out that another birding party, whom I had just met a bit earlier, heard it as well.  Goes to show how quiet the air was today.

Ravens have expanded their range south considerably in recent years.  One only has to look at the eBird or atlas data (which was shown on a Zoom meeting the other night).  They are still quite rare in Chatham-Kent, but it is not unusual to find one in Lambton County where there are now numerous nesting records.

Rondeau Raven from the past

After some good exercise out marsh trail, I briefly checked the north end of the campground which was very quiet.

It was then over to Keith McLean Conservation Lands where there was some activity.  Lots of Cedar Waxwings and American Robins were working the grounds back of the house.  They seemed to like the Bradford Pear tree (terribly aggressive non-native species) which was bearing fruit.

The waxwings also were around the pond where the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was last year.

I optimistically look for Bohemian in any waxwing flock, but to no avail during today's encounter.

While there, three Pine Siskins came in.  They have been scarce this winter around here, so nice to see.

Lots of blackbirds are around, many of which never left!  Today a male Red-winged Blackbird was in the neighbour's yard, which is likely a spring migrant at this point.

Rondeau Songs/Pelee Beaver Tails

It was a fairly good weekend for birding despite the usual crappy weekend weather.  On Saturday I checked out Rondeau Park where there was Song Sparrow galore.  About this time of year, the first big push of Song Sparrows occurs, but I am not sure if I have seen this many at once.  I saw well over 300.

Lots of juncos and American Tree Sparrows had come in as well.

The Song Sparrows were everywhere, and certainly there had to be close to 1000 in the park alone.
Along south point trail, I saw a good number of Eastern Phoebes for the first time this year.

Several Tree Swallows were moving along the lake.  Also a Common Loon or two was sighted.
Some Fox Sparrows and Eastern Towhees were new arrivals as well.

I only saw one Horned Grebe at Rondeau!

A check of Ridgetown Sewage Lagoons was later, but it was too late to see the swans.  Earlier, a Trumpeter Swan was among many Tundras.  I met John Lamey there and he indicated that a Trumpeter was present earlier in the day.

Bluebird at Rondeau

Today, Sunday, I headed down to Point Pelee knowing there would likely be a good movement of birds.  As I walked to the Tip, a fat rodent caught my eye.  It was a beaver!

It was there several hours, so I am not sure if something was wrong with it.

Upon arrival at the Tip, it was evident that Horned Grebes and Common Loons were on the move.

I estimated around 120 Horned Grebes while I was there.  Some were swimming while others were on the move.  At one point I thought I had an Eared Grebe, and I am still not certain that it was not one.

Horny Grebe

Common Loons numbered at least two dozen, all heading east.  One was swimming off the west side for some time though.

Lots of ducks (mainly scaup) were off the west side out of the east wind.  Some Surf and White-winged Scoters were among them.

Greater Scaup

There were blackbirds, Tree Swallows, American Robins and meadowlarks on the move.

I met up with Jeremy Bensette and we walked around for a bit talking about bird related stuff!

The park had very few sparrows, as compared to Rondeau the previous day.

Around noon, I headed over to Hillman Marsh shorebird cell.  I was there quite some time as there was lots of waterfowl. I had hopes of seeing some early shorebirds, and eventually some Dunlin came into view.  At first I had 13, but before I left, the number rose to 17.
I was more expecting Pectoral Sandpipers, some early Dunlin can be expected this time of year.

Green-winged Teal was the dominant duck, and I counted over 700!  There was probably a Eurasian Teal among them, but I was not going to try and pick it out!

Eventually I spotted two Greater White-fronted Geese in the distance.  Not surprising really.

Some Horned Grebes were in the cell as well, and one came in quite close.

After over an hour there, it was pouring rain, so it was time to leave.

On the way home, at least 3 Snowy Owls were still seen from Winter Line, between Mallard and Marsh.  They have been there most of the winter.

Things will be happening quickly from now on!

A Morning at St. Clair NWA

I arrived at St. Clair National Wildlife Area before sunrise this morning.  It turned out to be a beautiful day weather-wise.  Certainly the best since..... I do not know when! (And it was still the weekend!).

The occasion was the CBC in the area, and I was just interested in doing the wildlife area.  I spent five hours there on the main dike and bit along Balmoral Line.  Pete Read and Donald Pye joined me around 09:30 as part of their section in the CBC.

It was quite active first thing in the morning and I am glad I headed out.  Birds were chipping in the marsh and waterfowl by the hundreds flying over and landing in the small bits of open water.

Right off I heard the characteristic chips of a Marsh Wren. In fact there were two not far from the parking lot.

Turns out I came across five of them along the main dike trail!  Marsh Wrens are somewhat expected in these parts during winter, so one wonders how many are really out there.

Conversely, I did not come across a Common Yellowthroat.  They are occasionally found this time of year in these parts.

My main target was to find that Nelson's Sparrow, but it was not to be.  I think it is still around though.  I spent quiet a bit of time in the target area before the other counters arrived.
Along with Donald and Pete, we certainly tried.

A couple of Bald Eagles were around in the early morning.

We did not get decent looks at the ducks and geese until we were over on Balmoral Line.  The lighting was perfect from that vantage point but we were looking through trees on the dike.

We found a good variety of ducks including 3 male Wood, a male American Wigeon, 2 male Northern Pintail, a female Common Goldeneye and 5 Ruddy Ducks among countless Mallards and some Black.

Also present were two American Coots and at least 4 Cackling Geese.

After Pete and Don left I went back to look at the waterfowl and saw a male Green-winged Teal fly in.  Allen Woodliffe was present at that time as well.

On the way home, I made a slight detour to look for the Snowy Owl along Meadowvale Line south of Wallaceburg.  It was there at its usual perch, but just up the road and on the south side was yet another.
One of the better photo ops I had of a Snowy Owl!

St. Clair River Gulling and Ducking

Today I accomplished what I originally set out to do yesterday!  That is check out the big river from Port Lambton to Sarnia.
Seems there are fewer gulls today than Friday, but still enough to sort through.  It was a nice day with the sun shining, at least in the morning.
The ice is packed tight off Port Lambton but it opens up just north of the village where I saw three Bald Eagles to start with.
It is interesting to stop at various points and watch the gulls ride ice floes downriver.  They are quite often in bunches.
Busiest spot for gulls was off LGS on my return trip.  There I met Allen Woodliffe and we had hundreds of gulls to look at.  At one point a specific gull caught my attention.  It was as large as a Glaucous, but had dark gray primary tips.  Well, Glaucous-winged ran through my mind, but obviously it had to be the hybrid "Nelson's Gull", or at least I assume.  A very nice adult bird!

The head of Stag Island was interesting with lots of gulls and especially ducks.  There was a large raft of Redhead with others mixed in.  A large number of Common Goldeneye was there as well.  A few Canvasback are finally on river now.  They were distant, but lighting was excellent and I managed to scope most of the birds.  Nothing rare, although I did spot an adult Herring X Great Black-backed.

Redheads in flight!

In Sarnia Harbour which is mostly frozen, I finally managed to find that wintering Green-winged Teal.  It was napping with all the Mallards, but there it was.

Many have asked about that Harlequin Duck, but it was only seen that one day.  I am certain it still has to be out there somewhere....

Red-breasted Merg

Hooded Merg from behind!