More of the St. Clair

It was a fine day to be out, but a snowstorm hit while I was at Corunna!  I guess there may be nothing new on the river as I saw most of the same stuff.  Another Nelson's Gull was at Corunna.  It was an adult, but different than the one from January 27 it appears.  I have seen at least three Nelson's recently!

Lots of activity at LGS as usual.

The most interesting spot was at the head of Stag Island where there were lots of Glaucous Gulls. In fact, there were about 15 here of various ages.

I counted 31 Glaucous Gulls up to Corunna, but that is only an estimate of course.  Still a significant number!

Ducks were plentiful too.

The various rafts of ducks along the river were in tight groups for the most part.  Most being Redhead of course.

Going through some old photos this afternoon, I remembered this gull at LGS back in 2007.  Just an odd-looking Herring Gull.

More St. Clair River Scenes and Owls

No wind and clear skies today!  The river was jammed with ice all the way to the south end of Sombra this morning, but later in the day the ice was moving and some clear areas were found.  Not many ducks were to be seen early this morning even though I went as far as Shell.

The busiest spot as usual was at LGS, so I sat there for some time.  Nothing new except yet another apparent "Nelson's" Gull.  This time a first cycle, so now we have had an adult, a second cycle and this one today.

I only picked out two Lesser Black-backed Gulls today, but there were fewer gulls to choose from.

Still lots of Glaucous of course in the area--up to 20 perhaps.

And no Kumlien's Iceland today that I could find.
A couple of male Gadwall swam by at one point, and a White-winged Scoter drifted dowriver later.

Lots of swans in the area of Cathcart Park including the two Trumpeters.

Inland, I went for a walk at McKellar on Bickford Line and found 7 Long-eared Owls. All were bunched in one pine tree, but flushed before I got anywhere near them!

Later I flushed another owl unexpectedly, and I have no idea what it was.  It was fairly large though so it may well have been a Great-Horned.
In the vicinity I found a pile of Wild Turkey feathers!  There were signs of a struggle, but obviously some big raptor took it down.  Maybe the Great-Horned?  Marks in the snow were fresh so it could have happened during the night.

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!

Like Night and Day

The weather that is.  Good Friday was one of the most miserable weather days yet.  Obviously it was a holiday, otherwise the weather would have been decent.  Strong east winds with rain and the temp did not get above 3 degrees celcius at Rondeau.  I went out anyway.  What's new?

Today, Saturday, was the nicest day of the year.  Temp got up to 23 degrees in Wallaceburg and the sun was out.  Finally a SW wind switching to west.  Not as strong as predicted.  I went down to Point Pelee and it was nice.  Not a lot of birds yet, but the weather was enjoyable for a change.

On Friday, I spent 5 hours at Rondeau and had little to show for it.  The birds were just not there.  Had only 12 Yellow-rumped Warblers, and that was it for warblers!  More White-throated Sparrows were in as well as Ruby-crowned Kinglets. 

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (note concealed crown in photo below)

New for the year was House Wren and Green Heron.  I also had Henslow's Sparrow (most likely!).  It was one of those things you know what it was, but never got a definitive look.  I saw it pop out of the grass a couple of times.  First time I walked to the spot, couldn't see it, then it popped up right in front of me.  It was lurking down in the grass like a mouse, but I never could properly see it each time.

Sapsuckers were numerous.  They were late coming in this year like many birds.a

sapsucker

Shortly after that sparrow thing, I sighted a "Nelson's Gull" (Glaucous X Herring) on the lake.  It was close, but then moved out.  A first basic bird.  Jim Burk had one at Erieau March 20, so likely the same bird.

Blenheim Lagoons was full of ducks and the Horned Grebe (Been there a month) was still in pond 3.  No shorebirds.  There were lots there Thursday evening according to Jim Burk, but as usual with my luck, they had gone.

Point Pelee looked inviting for Saturday, so I headed down early.  Nice to meet many old friends again.  Not a heck of a lot of birds, but some had gotten through.  The Tip area was probably the best.  Besides Yellow-rumped, a few Yellow Warblers were around, a Black-throated Green, Pine, Palm (I didn't see this one), and I heard a Black-and-White.

Ian Richards reported a Yellow-throated at Sparrow Field, but we could not locate it a half hour later.  By the way, Sparrow Field has been opened up and looks interesting.

Field Sparrow on log in Sparrow Field

At the Tip, an early Veery was hopping around on the sand.

Veery all alone

Woodland Trail was almost devoid of warblers, except for a couple of Yellow-rumped and a Black-throated Green.  I heard a waterthrush chipping.  Perhaps it was the Northern that was reported.

Some butterflies came out later on including Eastern Comma and Spring Azure.

Even though there were not many birds, the nice weather made it an enjoyable day.