Here and There January 14-16

 It was too cold to do long walks this weekend, but I got out to various places in search of birds.  Friday I started at Rondeau in dismal weather.  Some sun was forecast all week for Friday, but that never materialized till late in the day.

There was not much to be found, as some birds bailed or were laying low in the cold weather.

After some time at the Park, I headed east to John E. Pearce Provincial Park where I sometimes walk in the winter.  I actually found quite a few birds, including some wintering Long-eared Owls.  Difficult to get a clear view of the four though.

Along the treeline were several birds including a few Tufted Titmouse, Red- breasted Nuthatches, etc.

While there, 12 Sandhill Cranes flew over heading west.  The last couple of days many have been reported heading west.  They bail when the weather gets consistently cold!

On the way home, I toured many backroads but nothing of significance appeared.  It is a rather quiet winter for birds!  My last stop was a short walk at Wilkesport.  At least nine Eastern Bluebirds popped up--a nice surprise.

Saturday I had the notion to head up to north Lambton.  Ausable River Cut CA was birdless!  I moved on to Pinery PP.  P9 is the best area for birds in winter as many people come to feed the chickadees, titmice and nuthatches.

After Pinery, I headed south and stopped at Ipperwash.  It is always hit and miss there as one might hope for finches or Bohemian Waxwings.  Most common bird was American Robin around the MNR parking lot area.

I recorded a conservative 33, but I know many more were farther back in.

I decided to head to Sarnia and look for gulls and ducks there, and along the river.

Although there are lots of Herring Gulls, there are very few white-winged gulls this winter.  Only a couple Glaucous and a couple of Iceland Gulls are around.

More ducks are on the river now that ice is forming.  A Harlequin female has appeared at the south end of Courtright, but in a difficult location.  I did not see it on Saturday.  I suspect it is the long-staying Sarnia bird, since that one disappeared some time ago.

Today, I wanted to see the Greater White-fronted Geese on the Thames River. I arrived at the right time, just before all the geese took flight.  The numbers have varied in the area, but I counted 14.

I was not able to get good photos looking through phragmites, as I did not want to spook the birds.

Some Snow Geese were there as well, but I did not get a good look at the entire gathering of geese before they took off.

Since there was not much to see farther on due to the frozen landscape, I headed up to the St. Clair River.  It was just too nice of a day with clear skies and no wind to pass up.  Unusual for a weekend!  Conditions were perfect along the river today.

With ice now collecting in the river, there are more ducks to be seen, as well as gulls.  Geese are in the thousands.

Redhead is the most common, as we rarely get many Canvasback anymore.

Some Ring-necked Ducks were there as well, but like most of the ducks, they were sleeping.

At the old ferry dock in Sombra, one has to sort through all the Redhead to find the annual hybrid Redhead X Ring-necked.

We have seen up to three in past years.

I stopped by Cundick Park near Stoke's Point but did not see the Blue-winged Teal found by Lars Bouman the other day.  Blue-winged Teal are 'outta here' when cold weather comes, so it is a novelty in winter!

I stopped at various points along the river, and even made three passes for the Harlequin Duck on my way to Corunna.  A no-show, but I know it was there somewhere.

Guthrie Park at Corunna is good in winter, but on a day like this, the gulls were too far out and lighting was very harsh.  I did not linger there, so headed back south.

Lo and behold, I did catch a glimpse of the female Harlequin Duck on my last pass by the location!  There was no chance for a photo though.

One last walk was at Moore WMA.  A few birds were present, and I was finally able to cross the creek.  No Yellow-rumped Warblers this winter, I do believe.  I have been visiting this spot for almost thirty years and this is perhaps only the third winter I have not found those 'butterbutts'!

It is nice to see more seasonable weather, but with no snow.  It can stay cold, but I have no use for a lot of snow!

Waterfowl Wanderings on the St. Clair River

 Now that "spring has sprung" we are seeing a change with expected arrivals.  Waterfowl watching on the St. Clair River has been interesting of late and I checked that out.

However, Friday morning I decided to head up to Pinery since I had not been up there at all this winter.  There were no spring migrants there, and the snow was still quite deep.  Walking was limited due to the snow depth.  It was a nice day at least.  No finches evident except a single redpoll flyover.

Tufted Titmouse is found in abundance here and they were quite numerous on my visit.

Some White-breasted Nuthatches were co-operative.

Working my way back towards home, I veered out to the St. Clair River and started at Guthrie Park.  I walked a bit along the riverbank and found a pair of Ruddy Ducks.

While there, I thought I was hearing a Killdeer, and sure enough one flew over as the first migrant of the year.  Certainly expected by this date!  I just caught the tail end of it.

Farther down river, some American Wigeon were evident in the distance, as well as more Ruddy Ducks.

The Sombra area is currently a hotbed of activity for ducks, especially Redhead and kin.

Gull activity has subsided a bit on the river.

I found one of the hybrid Redhead X Ring-necked Ducks south of Sombra.  There has been more than one.

Today, I decided to head back out to see what I could find.  Once again, thousands of ducks were in the Sombra area, especially "Sombra Bay".

I managed to pick out two of the hybrids together in the Bay.  

M.B. was also out duck hunting with a camera and saw the hybrids as well.  There was also an apparent Redhead X Greater Scaup amongst the mass of ducks.

South of Sombra, there were two other Redhead X Ring-necked ducks, so there are at least four out there!

Some White-winged Scoters were evident at Sombra.

More wigeon and gadwall were also noted today.  

I was hoping to find Greater White-fronted Geese, but perhaps we will see some soon out there.

We are finally off to the races of spring birding!

Mid-February Frolicks

 Been doing some touring around not far from home lately.  Friday, I needed a long walk so I went down to Rondeau Park.  Strong NE winds were a-blowin so that limited places to walk.  I wanted to get out marsh trail (the most interesting walk in the park at present), but this time of year when there is snow, we get large drifts along that side.  That was out of the question for a good walk!

I opted to park at the VC and walk down Harrison then onto south point trail to the washout, and back.  It was actually not bad for wind, and the temp was only -4C.

Very few birds as expected, but the walk was needed.  Quite a few Hermit Thrushes are around this winter.  I saw a couple on my walk.

Afterwards, I toured around and seeked out a couple of wintering shorebirds.  A Killdeer was looking out of place on Rose Beach Line.  In a mild winter, we might get some returning around this time, but this individual stayed the winter.

I noticed lots of Snow Buntings, Horned Larks and some Lapland Longspurs in my travels this day.

longspur

The Wilson's Snipe(s) finally made an appearance along Stefina Line near Blenheim in the last week.  They are here every winter in this never-frozen creek.  I only spotted one on my stop.

A number of Virginia Rails have been found this winter in various locations.  Perhaps due to the mild start to the winter, they decided to stay.  I would think they regret their decision now!  One was found in Shrewsbury recently.  I was not able to get a photo, and did not linger to try for one.

Saturday I decided to check out the St. Clair River.  There is a lot of ice now, but some open spots are attracting ducks.  Thousands of ducks have finally arrived on the river, but no rarities....yet!  The bulk are Redhead, but good numbers of Canvasback have come in.

There is some open water just along the shoreline from OC Industries downstream to almost Sombra.  The warm water outflow no doubt has some bearing on this.  I could see ducks all along this stretch, but most of it is inaccessible to the public.

Lots of Bald Eagles are now along the river.  Many were frozen out of their inland stations, so they moved to the St. Clair River.

I checked out Corunna at the popular Guthrie Park.  Gulls have thinned out to some extent here, but there are lots of ducks to look at.  Common Goldeneye have finally arrived numbering a few hundred.  There must be a Barrow's in there somewhere!

Today, I went back out to the river.  The skies were clear for a nice sunny day making for excellent viewing early morning.

Gulls were not that numerous today.

Glaucous Gull

I tried to find something of interest in all the ducks.  The only notable was a Black Scoter which few by me at one point, so no chance for a photo!

A good assortment of ducks was out there.

At home, I had a decent day of feeder activity.  With all the accipiters around this winter, feeders have been on the dead side.  Blackbirds are still roaming around the town, but I have not seen the Yellow-headed for some time.

Pine Siskin

Looks like some significant snow tomorrow, not that we need it.  But who knows with the weather anymore.....