More Thanksgiving Birding

Sunday I headed back down to Rondeau Park.  It was almost as "birdy" as the day before and was certainly enjoyable.  I spent most of the time with Steve Charbonneau and Keith and Jim Burk.
This time of year, we always start with a lakewatch at Dog Beach.  Certainly more gulls were on the move Sunday, but again no rarities.

Vireo with a blue head

A lone Black-bellied Plover was on the beach.  It later joined another farther up.

The flurry of birds at the start of south point trail we had Saturday, was long gone, but farther down the trail we found a multitude of birds.  A pretty good variety of warblers including a couple of shy Bay-breasted and several Tennessee.

Bay-breasted Warbler

Some Northern Parula were in the mix to add colour.

There was a cornucopia of Palm Warblers, but all the western type this day.

Pine Warbler (initially seen in a Pine tree!)

Thanksgiving Monday I did a change of pace and headed down to Hillman Marsh.  The shorebird cell is quite inviting to shorebirds and waterfowl right now.  I found quite a few shorebirds, but many were difficult to make out in the weeds.
I found at least ten Wilson's Snipe, but they certainly blended in well as you can see from the digiscoped view.

At least 20 Lesser Yellowlegs were present, which is a good number at this date.  Others included a few Greater Yellowlegs, a couple of Pectoral Sandpipers and many Least Sandpipers.

I walked back via the trail near the boardwalk.  From the boardwalk area to the parking lot I found a crazy number of Swamp Sparrows in the weeds.  They just kept popping up!

It was also evident that other sparrows and Ruby-crowned Kinglets came en masse overnight.  The Ruby-crowned were all over the place.

Lots of these today!

After Hillman, I decided to head to Point Pelee.  Along the way, I found this accipiter atop a hydro pole.

I stopped at De Laurier and met up with Mike Nelson and we took an hour to walk the trail.  Ruby-crowned Kinglets were littering the place and I certainly underestimated them in my list.
There were not many warblers, but a few Yellow-rumped, a Nashville, and 3 male Black-throated Blues.

While at the parking lot, a Tufted Titmouse made a brief appearance. Rare for Point Pelee, and probably only the third time I have seen one in the park.

I briefly stopped at Sanctuary trails area and found Ruby-crowned Kinglets all over once again.

By the way, Common Checkered-Skippers are all over the place again.They were at every stop, including the shore trail at Mitchell's Bay today.  Also one here in the yard.

Although no rarities this weekend, it was a good time sorting through all the birds.

Rondeau & Area Stuff

It looked like a good day to check out Rondeau.  Arriving around sunrise, the park was rather quiet with little wind.  Lots of White-tailed Deer were along Lakeshore Road, an indication of far too many in the park.  Just today a press release in the Chatham News described an upcoming cull.

I started walking on south point trail as usual and walked to the washout and back.  Warblers included a group of ten Yellow-rumped.  Nearby, a Nashville Warbler was working the dogwoods, but I was unable to get a photo of this bright yellow bird.

A few Golden-crowned Kinglets  were around as well as at least one Ruby-crowned.
Pine Siskins were flying overhead as always and a couple of Purple Finches were making rounds.
Several Fox Sparrows are still in the park as well.

The lake was rather quiet today.  A few ducks included a flyby of a lone Long-tailed.  Did not see a single loon today, so they have thinned out since last weekend.

Sign of the Times

Arriving back at the parking lots, a large flock of Juncos, etc. were there.  Field Sparrow was among them and of course American Tree.  Managed a full-framer!

Chipping Sparrows were around today too.

Next walk was the campground where I met Steve Charbonneau.  Two Turkey Vultures were circling the whole time.

Nothing much of note there, but there were many Brown Creepers today.  A few Eastern Bluebirds flew overhead, and a couple of American Robins represented the thrush department.

I walked Black Oak trail for a change and came across the elusive Pileated Woodpecker.  It was not co-operative for a photo!  Might as well get a look now, as it will not be seen December 14, LOL!

Viewing conditions were good for ducks behind Rondeau Joe's.  A good variety of ducks could be seen including lots of wigeon. I specifically looked for the Eurasian.....and found one!  It was not far off, mixing with its counterpart ducks.  Could be some American Wigeon genes in this one though as  am seeing a bit of green on the face.

I should have spent more time there, but there was a bitter wind coming in off the Bay.

After my usual sub sandwich in Blenheim, I headed over to the lagoons.  The only shorebirds were Dunlin as far as I could find.  Close to 50.  Sparrows were along the edges of the ponds including a Savannah (usual for there), Song, American Tree and a Swamp Sparrow.

Garry Sadler already had checked out the sprinkler cells where a few Dunlin were present. Two cells had too much water, the other two were frozen!

Down at Erieau, the marina and harbour hosted lots of Horned Grebes.  I counted around 70.  Alas, no Eared!

I saw about 6 Double-crested Cormorants in various spots.  No shorebirds, but the Spotted was seen again Thursday.

Along the R/R trail, several Swamp Sparrows, White-throated and this curious Winter Wren.

Wren of the Winter

A last-second decision put me driving down Lagoon Road.  I found a Snowy Owl out along the edge of a field, but it was much too far for a photo. A minute previous, a Peregrine Falcon flew over.

I checked Ridgetown as well, finding many Canada Geese.  A couple of Cackling were there, but I did not look too hard. No other goose species anyway.

Before getting home, I drove 'around the block' and found a Snowy Owl along Langstaff Line. However, it was markedly different than yesterday's bird!  This one was heavily-barred unlike the whiter one I saw late yesterday.  Once again, too far away to photograph.

So, there you have it!

Birds in the Field

American Tree Sparrow

Its the weekend, so out I went birding!  I decided to do some more local birding today.  I usually do that this time of year due to weather and road conditions.  We finally got some snow yesterday and evening, so birds became more visible it seems.  Photos not all that great as the sun did not appear.  As usual, the weather forecast was wrong....all week they predicted sun for Saturday!!

I checked out the St. Clair River to Courtright and found very little.  Usually it is peak time for ducks and other things, but this has been a strange year all around.  A few hundred ducks were off Courtright, mostly Redhead. Only saw one Long-tailed Duck.  A few Common and Red-breasted Mergansers were around.

Common Mergs

I drove through the countryside, stopping at a few spots to walk.  There was a notable presence of Snow Buntings today, as well as Horned Larks and a few Lapland Longspurs.  The spurs were in most of the sizable flocks.  Near the end of the afternoon, I encountered a huge cloud of Snow Buntings.  They were high and flying away, but I estimated about 1500 birds.



A spur and lark....

Snow Buntings, Horned Lark, Lapland Longspur

A Northern Shrike across from Bickford Oak Woods was making fun of a Rough-legged Hawk.  Not able to get a photo though.

At Moore WMA, not a bird to be found!  I could not go far as the river was still running high.  Down the road at McKellar I found a large flock of Tree Sparrow/Juncos, but just as I was getting on them, a Sharp-shinned Hawk did its thing.  Other than that, the Red-breasted Nuthatches were easily found.






A Song and a Swamp Sparrow were at one of the ponds.

Swamp Sparrow

At McKeough, more Tree Sparrows and a couple of Field Sparrows.

No owls today!

Some Wild Turkeys