Looking For Wintering Birds

Friday was one of the nicer days of this month with clear skies and warmer temps.  I took advantage of that in the afternoon and went for a long drive.  However, there were not many birds to see!  My main objective was to see a Golden Eagle at the east edge of Lambton County.

I went to the usual area west of Watterworth Road and did quite a bit of driving.  It took a while, but I did finally see a Golden Eagle on Mosside Line.  I had good views, but was unable to get a photo due to the trees in the way.  Here is a photo from the past of a similarly-aged bird, on a similar day.

There are seemingly lots of wintering Golden Eagles, but they are hit and miss.  Sometimes one can see several right away, but other times it takes forever to see one, if at all.

I then headed towards Sarnia, as I wanted to see some Short-eared Owls in the evening.  Along the way, I got word that the roaming Ross's Goose was seen at the Bluewater Bridges.  That would certainly be a bonus if I could see that one!

Heading towards Sarnia, I did see a Common Raven, an increasingly common species in Lambton.

Upon arrival at the Bluewater Bridges, there was a mass of Canada Geese on the lawns.  It took a while to spot the tiny white goose.

I had difficulty getting a clear view with all the Canada's moving about!

This goose is widely-travelled!  We would assume it was the one first seen up Port Franks way, then Bright's Grove, then the Blackwell Landfill area.  It was still present at the mouth of Lake Huron this morning.

After grabbing a bite to eat, I headed towards the solar farm area.  It is well-known that we get Short-eared Owls here every winter.  

It was extremely windy that evening, so I think some owls were kept down.  I saw probably four, one of which perched on a solar panel for the whole time.

While there, lots of Canada Geese were flying about.  In fact, coming down Blackwell Road, I saw a flock of close to 500 heading in a westerly direction.  Many were flying over, or nearby while I was along Blackwell Road.

To my surprise, a little white goose was obvious in the distance.  Seems that little Ross's Goose spends the night in this area!

Saturday, I spent some of the morning along the St. Clair River.  We finally have a good number of ducks, especially Redhead.  Nothing like the "old days", but they were in the thousands.  Lots of Canvasbacks too, although most of those spend the winter on the Detroit River.

I did scope through some of the rafts, but did not find anything of note.

There was nothing special that I could see along the river, but four Trumpeter Swans have been hanging around south of Seager Park.

Today, I went back out to the river for lack of anything else to do.  Most Redhead were at Sombra.  

I did not spend much time scanning the big raft, so hopefully I did not miss anything cool.

There were lots of ducks all along the river up to Corunna, but I did not spend much time looking closely.  We are certainly due for a Tufted Duck along the river!  Last one I saw on the river was at Sombra in the winter of 1994.  Good grief, that was a long time ago!

I did however, find a Red-necked Grebe at Willow Park.

Possibly the same one I found at Cathcart Park a couple of days ago, but I suspect there is more than one on the river.  This species is always rare in area at any time, but good to see in mid January.

The four Trumpeter Swans were still at the mouth of Bowen Creek south of Seager Park.

Inland, it was virtually birdless.  I walked Nicholl's at Wilkesport and did not find a single bird!  This is certainly a first!

Sunset along Blackwell Road

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.

Weekend Waterfowl and Other Birds February 22-24

I made my rounds to some usual haunts this weekend. Friday was a nice day (obviously not a weekend day) and after work I headed up along the St. Clair River.

There was a lot of waterfowl to look at, but nothing of note stood out.

Canada Geese are in big numbers along the river this winter (most I have ever seen!).  This past week a couple of Ross's Geese were in the vicinity of CF Industries.  I thought perhaps I would come across them on Friday, but it was not to be.

Saturday, I did some running around Rondeau campground.

I spent quite a bit of time there, but just the usual wintering birds were seen, especially around the north washroom.
Lots of White-throated Sparrows this year.

The "good" birds seen earlier in the winter are likely long-since dead! The Barred Owl did not reveal itself this day, but was nicely seen the day before.

There was a lot of waterfowl to look at on Rondeau Bay, so I grabbed my scope to scan the area.  Most of the stuff was over near Rondeau Estates, so it was a challenge to pick out things.  A smaller open patch of water is closer to Rondeau, and I checked that as well.  Among the hundreds of Tundra Swans, I managed to pick out a pair of Trumpeter Swans.  I left my camera in the car, so I tried digiscoping.  Not sure I got them.  (I am no good at digiscoping!).

The pair eventually took off making their "trumpet" calls.  Earlier, while in the campground, I am certain I heard a Trumpeter Swan.

Across the Bay, the Greater White-fronted Geese and Snow Geese were in the mass of waterfowl.  It was difficult to get a number.  At one point I saw two small white geese, which were no doubt Ross's.  Later, Jim Burk managed to see five of the rascals.  I erred on the cautious side, so did not list them.

I moved on west and took a quick check of Blenheim Lagoons.  Two Snow Geese were there.

Farther west, I ended up at Hillman Marsh!  A Northern Shoveler and some other waterfowl were early spring migrants in the shorebird cell.  The resident Trumpeter Swan pair was in the cell as well.

They eventually took off trumpeting!

To the east there was a mass of geese.  I went down the dead-end road and I picked out two Snow Geese (certain due to size).  Other birders had many Greater White-fronted Geese and some Ross's Geese in the area.
As usual, lots of trash at this end of the road.  A strange collection of dolls too!

Sunday, I headed up along the St. Clair River noting all the ducks and geese.  Things started out well with a Greater White-fronted Goose at Brander Park, Port Lambton.

This was a new bird for my list there!
By the way, the 30 Sandhill Cranes are still being seen nearby, so they obviously wintered!

The wintering Tundra Swans were downstream, mid-river, of Fawn Island today, and not as much to see at Sombra.
Not much was at Cathcart Park today.

In front of Lambton Generating Station, a Ross's Goose stood out.

Who knows if it was one of the two seen earlier in the week farther downstream.

Very little was off Guthrie Park, Corunna today.

I headed east and north and ended up at Ausable River Cut CA!  I find this place rather intriguing.

Half way through the walk, the high winds kicked in, so I hurried back.  Before that at one point, I heard an Evening Grosbeak calling across the cut.
The usual chickadees and nuthatches were working the area.  No Hermit Thrush today!

On the way home I saw lots of Red-winged Blackbirds, expected this time of year.

I went for a walk at McKeough CA, but was cut short due to the wind and a snow squall.  I did see a couple of Long-eared Owls.  These birds are not really approachable.

Now that March is approaching, we will be outdoors more often to see what has arrived!

Friday Frolicks at Rondeau

Today looked like a nice weather day.  Couple that with the fact I needed an extra off, and the fact the weekend weather was coming, I went down to Rondeau today.  The forecast for Saturday looked typical for a weekend, so there was no way I was playing that game again!

I started at dog beach with a lakewatch along with Steve Charbonneau.  There was virtually no wind, so the lake was rather calm.  However, viewing conditions were superb and there were lots of ducks and loons moving.
Not long after our arrival, a large white bird came in off the lake, which turned out to be the season's first Snowy Owl!  I attempted a record photo.

Looks like the Snowy Owls are finally appearing, as two were at Erieau today as well.

At least 40 Common Loons were seen during our watch, along with at least 8 Red-throated Loons.  In the past, we always thought Red-throated Loons were very rare at Rondeau, but then we never did lakewatches like we do now.

A good number of ducks were moving, including a few thousand Red-breasted Mergansers.

Some migrant passerines came in off the lake which are always neat to watch.  Once they hit land, they dive into the shrubbery!

We soon moved on to south point trail where the sun eventually came out.  Best bird was perhaps the Orange-crowned Warbler.

Lots of Pine Siskins and American Goldfinches were flying today, but no sign of any redpolls yet.

Fox Sparrows certainly have moved in, as I counted around 30 today.  We even had one White-crowned Sparrow, a species that has been rather scarce this fall.
Some Red-breasted Nuthatches were around today.

After Steve moved on up to Townsend's Warbler headquarters, I checked out the campground and the north end of Harrison Trail.
A number of Fox Sparrows were in the campground as a well as a Yellow-rumped Warbler or two (we had two on SPT).
A couple dozen Cedar Waxwings were working the Red Cedars in the grounds.  One can always hope for a Bohemian.

I also walked to the pony barn area where I had a good look at a Pileated Woodpecker.  These impressive creatures become elusive in the winter months (especially on CBC's!).

Along the beach at the north end of the park, I found 8 Sanderlings, the only shorebird type of the day.

A few Sanderlings

Lots of geese were along the shoreline, including two Snows and the continuing Ross's Goose.

Two Snow Geese

Ross's Goose in the distance

On the way out, I checked the Townsend's Warbler area where a number of birders were looking.  Most had seen it, but it was very flighty today and difficult to get good looks.

Also on the agenda today, was to check McGeachy Pond.  Upon arrival, two Snowy Owls were visible in the field across the road.

There was not much along the dike, but a Gray Catbird was in the tangles, barely visible.  Perhaps it will stay into winter, as one usually does there.

Yes, it is a catbird

I also got a couple of glimpses of a Yellow Warbler.  There was one there a few days ago spotted by Jim Burk, who seems adept at finding warblers!

I soon headed back north, but after getting a bite to eat in Chatham, I veered over to Mitchell's Bay.  There was not much along the south shore trail, but lots of Canada Geese were around.
I did not see any Snowy Owls on the way, but there are likely some now.

The rain comes in tonight, signalling the start of yet another weekend!

C-K Birding Tour: Rondeau, Erieau, Dover Township

I had not been to Rondeau Park for some time, so I headed there first thing today.  I walked the campground and found some of the usuals, including the two Yellow-rumped Warblers and the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

There is at least one sapsucker here every winter!

Also of interest was a Great-Horned Owl carrying a squirrel!

The VC feeders were active but nothing unusual.  No sign of the Eastern Towhee that was there earlier in the winter.

Seven male Ring-necked Ducks were notable near the old Rondeau pier.  The Bay is completely open which is unusual for this time of year.  Some various ducks, geese and swans were coming and going.

Next stop was Erieau where I was interested in the long-staying Harlequin Duck.  I did find it in the surf in its usual area, but it was difficult to see most of the time.  the scene usually looked like this:

While looking at that, I glanced into the channel, and another stunning male Harlequin Duck caught my eye!

This must be a new arrival as it was quite co-operative.
There was an assortment of ducks at Erieau.

A brief check of McGeachy Pond dike revealed very little, but it was too windy.

After that I headed straight for the old Dover Township, specifically Heron Line near St. Clair NWA where recently an incredible assortment of geese was reported.  A few days ago, Jeremy L. Hatt ("L" stands for lucky!) found quite a flock of geese which included Cackling, Greater White-fronted, Snow and Ross's among the hundreds of Canada Geese.
Yesterday a pair of Trumpeter Swans was also reported in the area.

Upon arrival at the site, I found at least 70 Snow Geese.  It was difficult to pick out the Ross's, but after reviewing various photos here at home, I think there were 7.  That is the number that has been reported.

I did not find and Greater White-fronted, but some geese were too distant.
Unfortunately, just after I arrived, the geese had a desire to take off for the most part, so I did not get an accurate count of everything.

In an adjacent field, I saw a large, lone swan which was most decidedly a Trumpeter.  It was just too far away for a suitable photo, but I did get a decent look in the scope.



A number of Tundra Swans were around as well.


On the way home, I counted 8 Snowy Owls.  Four were in the Marsh/Winter Line area, and four were along or near Angler Line.

Along W. Lewis Line SW of Wallaceburg, I found 3 Snow Geese with some Canada Geese.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a decent day along the St. Clair River....