Rondeau's LAUGHING GULL MAY 6 Photo by Alfred H. RiderI have been away birding the last few days, so it is time for an update. It has been interesting, and I managed to get two more life birds! I got wonderful views of the Mottled Duck at Hillman Marsh on Sunday afternoon. Although nothing exciting to look at, that was one life bird. The next day I birded Point Pelee and finally saw a Black Vulture. For those of you who know me, that has been my nemesis bird forever. Even if I was in the same vicinity as a Black Vulture, I would never see it. Birding was on the slow side at Pelee, but that life bird made up for it by a long shot.
Back to the weekend at Rondeau... I did my annual Baillie Birdathon and came up with 142 species. Highlights included two American White Pelicans, two Marbled Godwits, and a Worm-eating Warbler. Actually, the warbler was my last bird! Rather nice to end a Big Day with an uncommon bird.
Of course, lots of year birds were added to my list, including a number of warblers.
Other notables included a Cooper's Hawk on nest. I mentioned this nest in a post a while back, with a photo. Pileated Woodpecker in two spots was nice--not always a guarantee on a Big Day. Great Horned Owls were not difficult. We heard one from the marsh trail Saturday evening. However, early Sunday I came across one accidentally. One was directly over my head on a branch and I didn't even know it. It knocked a piece of bark down that nearly hit me on the head. I looked up to see what it was, and there was an owl! Clay-colored Sparrow was another good one that is not always encountered. It was heard only.
A walk out marsh trail Saturday evening is a traditional thing. We got the usual marsh things including Sora and Virginia Rails, Sedge Wrens, some ducks, and Whip-poor-wills.
It seems like there are a lot more birds to come. Nobody has seen large numbers yets.
Back to the weekend at Rondeau... I did my annual Baillie Birdathon and came up with 142 species. Highlights included two American White Pelicans, two Marbled Godwits, and a Worm-eating Warbler. Actually, the warbler was my last bird! Rather nice to end a Big Day with an uncommon bird.
Of course, lots of year birds were added to my list, including a number of warblers.
Other notables included a Cooper's Hawk on nest. I mentioned this nest in a post a while back, with a photo. Pileated Woodpecker in two spots was nice--not always a guarantee on a Big Day. Great Horned Owls were not difficult. We heard one from the marsh trail Saturday evening. However, early Sunday I came across one accidentally. One was directly over my head on a branch and I didn't even know it. It knocked a piece of bark down that nearly hit me on the head. I looked up to see what it was, and there was an owl! Clay-colored Sparrow was another good one that is not always encountered. It was heard only.
A walk out marsh trail Saturday evening is a traditional thing. We got the usual marsh things including Sora and Virginia Rails, Sedge Wrens, some ducks, and Whip-poor-wills.
It seems like there are a lot more birds to come. Nobody has seen large numbers yets.
I did not see the Laughing Gull depicted in the above photo, but Alf Rider was kind enough to send it out to me.