East Side Birding

 While we have had some calm days, there have been many with brisk westerly winds, especially of late.

This past Saturday, I decided to head to Point Pelee for a change.  I wanted to see the long "Tip".  With the low water levels, the sand has been exposed at the Tip of Point Pelee and extends well over 1 km.  It is certainly the longest I have ever seen it, but one must take into consideration the erosion of the land mass as well.  Trees used to extend quite a bit farther out as I recall, since I have been visiting Point Pelee.

The winds were very brisk  out of the west upon my arrival, so I opted to head out Shuster Trail and walk down the east beach.  Just as well, since the road to the Tip was gated, when it is usually open this time of year.

It was an easy walk along the wide beach, except for one area where many trees were down.

There were lots of ducks on the lake.  A large number were Common Goldeneye.

A Killdeer was along the water's edge early on.  It eventually ended up working its way down to near the Tip.

Killdeer heading south near the "pilings"

One spot along the beach was quite eroded.

Upon arriving at Tip, an immature Iceland Gull was huddled up at the edge.  Obviously in some distress.

A couple of American Pipits were playing around on the beach.

I would have liked to walk out the sand spit, but it would have been rather risky to do so.  Though a friend of mine did!

He was interested in seeing if the White-rumped Sandpiper was still present at the very end.  It was....record late for Essex.  It is unknown why this bird has stuck around, never mind the harsh environment way out the sand spit!  

This photo turned out a bit blurry and does not give the situation justice.

Yesterday was the Blenheim/Rondeau Christmas Bird Count.  It was sunny and quite cold, but not really unusual for this time of year.  The big thing was the brisk west wind, making it feel even colder.  At least it was not heavy rain and high winds like the last two years!

I have been doing this count since the late 1980's, and have seen almost every type of weather.

I always start with a lakewatch at dog beach.  One is a bit exposed there to the winds, so it was quite uncomfortable this time around.  I could only handle it for about twenty minutes!  There was not a lot moving on the lake anyway, so I had to move on.

The lake was not all that rough, as seen in the photos, but it sure was cold!

I changed my route a bit this year, cutting out to the beach at the light beacon, and walking down to the trail washout, and back the trail.  It was just to try and get out of the brisk WNW wind first thing.

Interesting to look at the layers of sand deposited over the years. Almost like counting tree rings.

Of course, I came across that tree that is stuck in the sand.  One can only wonder when this tree fell.

Another exposed fallen tree buried long ago:

There were not many birds to count on this walk.

I arrived back at the car for a break, and beside me, was a Pileated Woodpecker!  (see header photo as well).

I was up for more walking, but there was hardly a bird to be found.  I walked back the old Dillon trail to the big slough.

The once-drivable road is getting more and more difficult to discern anymore.

Then it was up Harrison to the VC.  Unbelievably, there was not a single bird on that stretch!

Along the way I found this fallen nest.  Not yet quite sure what bird made this, but it is well made.

Walking back the road, it was nicely out of the wind, and there were a few birds, but not many.

I ended up with 32 species, below average indeed.

The entire count is at 101 species last I heard.  I do not think there was anything spectacular found, but there were some nice finds though.

Birds have resorted to eating snow!

Out With Winter! I Hope

 From a birding standpoint, the winter season has ended.  Yesterday, March 1, was quite balmy and lots of common birds arrived (blackbirds, Robins, etc.).  It was nice enough to walk out Rondeau's marsh trail to Long Pond.  I was due for a good long walk (10 km round trip).  The only thing really of note was a Wilson's Snipe at Long Pond.  Unfortunately, I did not realize the camera was not set right!

It was most likely an early spring migrant.

This week, I managed a couple of long walks at Reid CA.  I cannot get enough of the place, as I love walking through the mature forest.  Some of the impressive old trees include six species of oak.

Chinquapin Oak

I think this one is a Swamp White Oak. The species is present anyway.

Along the 2.5 km of Sydenham River shoreline I can look for river mussels.  Today, among other things, I found a Pink Heelsplitter.  It was a new one for here, and considered vulnerable in Ontario.

Giant Floater seems to be the most common one, and Mapleleaf is numerous as well.

Giant Floater

Mapleleaf

This morning I went for my morning walk at Brander Park, Port Lambton.  I found a new bird for my list there....a Pileated Woodpecker!

Wonder where it came from, as there is no suitable habitat nearby, except Walpole Island.  And, we have only seen them there at Public Bush at the south end.

With winter waning (what winter?), some winter visitors are still hanging in there.  The Long-eared Owl at Wilkesport refuses to budge.

Feeder activity has slowed down now.

Gimpy

The young Cooper's Hawk shows up everyday, but never seems to get those House Sparrows, unfortunately.

Prowls and Owls

Been doing lots of prowling around lately.  Normally I would spend time along the St. Clair River, but there is virtually nothing out there to see.  In the 35 years I have been looking at the river, it is the deadist for birds I have ever seen it!  Everything is still out on the lakes, as there is no reason to leave the lakes.

A few days ago I travelled along Lake St. Clair to Belle River.  The Belle River pier and marina area is always a good spot in winter for gulls and waterfowl.  Better though, when we have a "normal" winter!

A pair of Ross's Geese had been hanging around along the beach in recent days, but I struck out on this occasion!  Things are quite fluid there, and obviously I picked the wrong day.....again.

A number of Ruddy Ducks, among others have been sticking around here.

On the way back home, I checked geese near St. Clair NWA.  About twenty Snow Geese were present in a a field, but no Ross's.

Some Snowy Owls finally came in!  Three were close together along Winter Line, while another was not far away.  Two seemed content on a rooftop.

Every winter, one Snowy Owl seems to feel safe  in a fenced-in area!

I also walked the south shore trail at Mitchell's Bay.  Lots of Tundra Swans were on the ice (what little ice there was!).

Saturday was a very nice day with clear skies.  Something we have seen little of since November, and certainly a rarity on a weekend!  I went for a walk at Rondeau Park.  It was quiet for birds, but just nice to see the sun.

Several Pileated Woodpeckers were out and about doing their thing.

Lots of American Tree Sparrows seem to be around this winter, if nothing else.

In the afternoon I went for a walk north of Wallaceburg and popped in to check on the Long-eared Owl.

Sunday was another fine day, but try and find some birds!  It is indeed a quiet winter for birds in the countryside, and I ended up doing too much driving, not finding anything.

The Ross's Geese were reported at Belle River again, so there was no choice but to try for them.  I could only find one (distant) upon arrival, walking around on the ice, then eventually resting.

There were oodles of Canada geese along the beaches, but no other types of geese.

Recent Chilly Birding

 Been slim pickings lately as the "winter" weather continues!  Just like clockwork, the bottom fell out of the thermometer for the weekend, but least we had quite a bit of sun.

Some decent birds have been showing up in the province, but not near me!

It was Rondeau and area on Friday, Point Pelee on Saturday and Rondeau again on Sunday.

Warblers were virtually absent on Friday at Rondeau, but numerous any place else it seemed.  Before going home, I swung around to Mitchell's Bay to walk the trail and a few Yellow-rumped were there.

Saturday was cold but the sun was out at Point Pelee.  Most bird activity was on the east side in the Tip area.  The gale force winds of the previous day probably had the birds retreat to the east side.  Quite a few Yellow-rumped were flitting around, a few Pine Warblers.

An Eastern Bluebird was also soaking up some sun.

I missed a Black-throated Green that had earlier been seen near Sparrow Field.

The novelty for me in the park was a Pileated Woodpecker.  I just happened to be in the right place at the right time (Dunes).  I had just pulled in to eat my lunch, and it flew over!  It was the second one I have seen in the park, the other was in late April 2019.

Pileated Woodpeckers are very rare in the park, and in Essex County in general, so it is always a decent sighting.

I stopped by Hillman shorebird cell as well.  Numerous Dunlin (well over 100) were in, plus some yellowlegs and Pectoral Sandpipers.  Some early Black-bellied Plover were there as well.

At one point, I saw three teal fly in.  One was a Eurasian Green-winged!

This Old World version of our Green-winged Teal is seen in Ontario every year.  I think it is only the second record for Hillman.  I did see the previous one which had been found by Jeremy Bensette in April 2018.

I stopped by Mitchell's Bay once again before going home, but there seemed to be more turtles than birds this time around.

Today was bitterly cold at Rondeau, but the sun was out for the first part of the morning.  I did a long walk.  More Yellow-rumped were in, as well as Hermit Thrushes and kinglets, but nothing of note for me.

I managed to catch sight of the mockingbird which has been frequenting the maintenance yard.

I did not do much else after leaving Rondeau, since I needed to go home and thaw out!

This afternoon I went out to Port Lambton's Brander Park.  Several Yellow-rumped there, and some Cedar Waxwings.  It has been quite some time since I have seen some waxwings.