Going Batty and More River Scenes

 It has been rather uneventful lately, and have no ambition to go any distance from home.  Luckily, the St. Clair River has kept me occupied.

This past Sunday, I did my usual run along the river in the morning.  In the afternoon, I was investigating the crawl space under part of the house.  Behind the insulation I found a bat!  Mind you, we have had them in the house before, but how they get in is a complete mystery since it is a sealed space.

Not one to kill anything, I carefully grabbed it with a bag, and put it outside.  A while later I went out to check on it, and found it clinging to the side of the house.  It eventually took flight.  It was fairly mild, so hopefully it found a spot to continue its hibernation.

It was fairly large, so I believe it is a Big Brown Bat.  The Little Brown Bat is around here as well, and they can be difficult to distinguish between.

Back to the river, I found a Ruddy Duck at Willow Park.  Quite uncommon here in the winter.

There was also a Gadwall here, but we get a few along the river during winter.

Monday was quite foggy, so I was out later.  Visibility was limited along the river, but there were thousands of ducks.

At Willow Park, the Ruddy Duck was still present, and there was quite a bit to look at.  The five Trumpeter Swans were present.  The three younger ones were  swimming, then I heard them trumpeting.  The adults were just flying in.

I noticed some flippers sticking up in the air.  Obviously a duck got caught on a fishing lure while diving and was unable to recover.  This remained stationary, so no doubt it was anchored to fishing line.

A fair number of gulls were at Cathcart Park, but nothing unusual again.

Tuesday was bright and sunny, but more ice on the river.  The open spots concentrated the waterfowl more.  I briefly stopped at Marshy Creek Park south of Sombra for a look.  The five Trumpeter Swans flew by southbound here!  No time for a photo though.

I did not take any photos this day.

Wednesday was another sunny morning, but more ice had moved in.  Most of the river all the way up to Mooretown was plugged with brash ice.  However, there were some open spots.

I took some random photos showing the concentration of ducks.  Once again, I found no rarities!  Ducks do a lot of sleeping on these cold sunny days.

There was a nice little open spot off Brander Park that attracted some waterfowl.

Note Ring-necked Duck

A Gadwall was fast asleep here.

Today, Thursday, was too icy to go out since we had freezing rain overnight.  

Nothing new at the feeder....just too many House Sparrows which hog all the seed.  Once in a while, an accipiter comes around such as this young Cooper's Hawk.  It needs to take a course in House Sparrow hunting, as it never gets anything!

Been passing time by reading a good book.  It is about the rise and fall of the Hudson Bay Company and fur trading and settlement of northern Canada.

Redhead Galore and More

 Since we are actually experiencing a real winter this year, I have spent quite a bit of time along the St. Clair River. There has not really been any other place to go lately.

Snoozers

On Monday, there was a large concentration of ducks at the Fawn Island area, most of which were Redhead.

I estimated well over 7000 Redhead there.  However, I could not find anything notable despite lots of scoping.  

The best spot for viewing has been the Fawn Island parking lot at the McKeough Floodway outlet.  There were lots to the north, and lots to the south!

At times, there were hundreds of ducks in the air, most being Redhead.

The river was still fairly open, but as of now, it is quite iced in due to the very cold weather.

The four Trumpeter Swans (along with a Tundra) were still at the mouth of Bowen Creek on Monday.

Menominee passing the Trumpeters

There was not much to see on Tuesday or Wednesday.  I took a quick look at Port Lambton yesterday afternoon during the high winds.  Ducks (Redhead and Canvasback) seemed to be flying around aimlessly!  There was not much in the way of open water.

A stop at private property later to check duck boxes revealed an intruder!

Today was a bit snowy, but I went out to the river anyway.  There were only three good open spots up to OC Industries.

Fawn Island was still good.  But again, no 'unusuals' !

Cans

The next open spot was north of Cundick Park at Stokes Point.  Some were too distant to get a good look.

View at Stokes Point

There was also a good concentration off OC Industries due to the warm water outlet.  I did not spend much time there, so hopefully there was not anything of note!  The Trumpeter Swans were in that area.

Common Goldeneye

Bufflehead

Mid January Jaunts

 With the recent cold and very windy weather, outdoor activities have been limited.  It was simply too cold to go for a long walk anywhere.

Feeder watching from home provided the main excitement, although just the usual birds were around.  Last year I had two White-throated Sparrows, but only one is hanging around this winter.

After the big blow, an American Tree Sparrow showed up for a day.  Not a usual visitor here, but for some reason one or two show up after a storm, then depart!

A couple of days ago, I decided to go to Rondeau Park.  It was still quite cold, so walking was limited.  I first checked the campground.  I came across the Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warbler at the north end.  It was quite active, and I was unable, once again, to get a decent photo.

There were lots of Fox Sparrows along Lakeshore Road, feeding in the roadside scrapes.  I counted at least 16.

Yesterday, I headed up to Sarnia for a change.  Things are getting more productive on the St. Clair River and at Sarnia with the more normal winter weather.

A Black-legged Kittiwake was found the day before off Canatara Park--an excellent January record.  I thought chances were slim for me to see it, but after some waiting, it showed off the lakewatch near the water plant!

It was quite distant though, but easily recognized.  It is one of very few January records in the area.  One was in Sarnia Bay December 2019, and just made it into January (I saw this one).  Another was off downtown Sarnia December 2010, and just into January 2011.  Indeed, the current bird was my latest sighting.

Also of note, was a large raft of Redhead ducks.  I really have no idea how many, but certainly over 5000.  There were some scaup mixed in, and perhaps something else, but it was 98% Redhead.

A Bald Eagle put them up a couple of times, creating quite a spectacle.  Note, the eagle in this photo:

Some would drift downstream then head back out.

Today, I did not do much, but we certainly got a lot more snow than what was forecast.  In the afternoon, I took a walk at Moore WMA.  Water levels were recently quite high, so there was ice under the snow.  I slipped and fell twice!  Some scenes:

We used to cross the river when the water is lower, but the large oak tree that fell and drifted down to the causeway, will make it impossible as seen in the above photos.

At one point, a Canadian Beaver swam downstream.

There were not many birds, although usually this is an excellent spot to find wintering birds, including Yellow-rumped Warblers.  Some American Tree Sparrows were working the weeds.

Staying indoors more the last few days, I took on a jigsaw puzzle.  It was a 1000-piece Sibley puzzle, but certainly the most difficult one I have ever done.  I was tempted to give up a couple of times, but true to my nature, I stuck it out.

No more Limpkin, as it was taken in by a rehabber a few days ago (not that I agree with that).  It would not have survived anyway with the recent weather.  Glad I went to see it when I did.  It was looking happy and healthy at that point.