Another Look at the Sage Mockingbird

 Days are getting too short and I have little to report this week.  With the time change, there is some light at the start of the day before I head into the workplace so I take advantage of that.

We have had up and down weather this week, but mostly warm.  South winds are dominant anymore, unlike in the past when this time of year north winds were standard!

One morning this week was quite foggy so I went for a walk at Roberta Stewart Wetland.  The rising sun created an interesting scene.

I could hear the usual Sandhill Cranes calling nearby overhead.

Today it was down to Rondeau again for mainly a lakewatch at dog beach on a strong SW wind.  Still nothing of note!  A good variety of ducks was seen and a fair number of gulls.

Very few landbirds today, so nothing to report on that front.

I wanted to get another look at the 'celebrity' bird at Mitchell's Bay.  Perhaps a couple hundred or more people have seen the bird by now.  Many of those tallied it as a 'lifer'.  It frequents a small area along the trail, and usually patience is required as it hides well.

It took a while to see the bird today, but it did pop up.

At one point the "Sage Mockingbird" stretched its wings.

There are lots of berry-type foods for it along this trail, including multi-flora rose, olive, bittersweet and others.  In its native habitat it prefers ants and beetles but will eat berries and grapes when available.

The Sage Thrasher is generally a solitary bird, more wary than other thrashers.  Our thrasher is certainly solitary!

The "Mountain Mockingbird" is a partial migrant from its breeding range in the west.  Its habitat is predominately where Big Sagebrush is found.  It is a regular vagrant over much of eastern North America with records around the Great Lakes area and the eastern seaboard and down to Florida and Texas.

As mentioned before, Ontario has had at least 19 records, with a remarkable three in Chatham-Kent.  One in Wallaceburg, while Rondeau has had two documented records!

It will be interesting to see how long the Mitchell's Bay bird persists, and hopefully it survives to move on.  However, these out-of-place birds sometimes perish.

Birthday Bird!

 Today turned out to be a decent day.  Yesterday and today I was ecstatic that we had sunny days!

This morning I went to Pelee in hopes of finding something good.  Today is my birthday (age undetermined) and I had hoped to find something decent in the avian world.  There was lots of action at the Tip first thing, but then it dropped off quickly.

I then walked to Sparrow Field and stood there with Michael M. as many birds were passing over.  An Eastern Bluebird perched nearby in the morning sun.

After some time at De Laurier, I headed over to Hillman Marsh shorebird cell.  Fewer birds than yesterday and nothing note.

On the way home, I stopped by Mitchell's Bay south shore trail as I often do.  I almost bypassed it, but decided, what the heck.

Well, after being lost at sea for a long time, my ship finally came in.  Early on I spotted a bird that had me baffled.  Not sure why, as I should have recognized it since I found one of these before!  It struck me as a thrasher, and Sage certainly crossed my mind.  After some discussion with others, it was indeed a Sage Thrasher!

Birthday bird found!!

I snapped some quick photos before it disappeared.  I stuck it out for at least an hour and Steve Charbonneau arrived.  We looked for some time, then I spotted it in a tangle.

Hopefully it can be seen by others.

March 16, 1997 is etched in my mind, as I spotted a Sage Thrasher out my bedroom window here in Wallaceburg!  That bird stayed at least a month to be seen by countless birders.

Some Cedar Waxwings perched nicely nearby as we were looking for the thrasher.