Spring Approaches....

 Not that we had much of a winter, but there have been signs of spring the last few days.  Weather has improved from the almost sunless winter, and on some days it has been very balmy.  Owls are on the move this month, so may not be in their usual winter spots.  Some waterfowl, as well as Red-winged Blackbirds have arrived in the last few days.

Recent clear nights have been good for movement, as the moon shines bright.

My Long-eared Owl near Wilkesport is still hanging in, well-hidden its favourite tree.

I managed to get photos with a long lens as to not disturb it too much.  Apparently, too much disturbance by certain owl seekers, in certain locations, have created early departures.

Other holdouts include the Barred Owl at Shrewsbury, where it seems content for the time being.  Still being seen today!  

Eastern Bluebirds are few and far between this winter, but some are still around Wilkesport.  They never co-operate for photos....

Friday afternoon was quite balmy, and I found this yellowjacket at the back of the house.  Unfortunately, it is a European import, a German Yellowjacket.

Some waterfowl has arrived in the warm weather, as they usually do this time of year.  Spring migrant Tundra Swans were collecting south of Sombra yesterday.

As alluded to before, the St. Clair River has been a complete and utter disappointment this winter.  There are very few ducks and gulls.  The other day there was a raft of 300+ Redhead Ducks at Sombra, which was nice to observe.  The hybrid Ring-necked X Redhead was among them, but I was not in a position to photograph it.  Glad to know it came back for another winter vacation.

As mentioned previously, a probable Barrow's Goldeneye was at Corunna.  On Friday I spotted a possible candidate, but then decided it was likely a hybrid.  Too distant to be sure though.  Then, the next day, a local birder was fairly certain there was a Barrow's Goldeneye. Still a bit distant, so it remains to be 100% confirmed!

Long-tailed Ducks are the most numerous this winter.  Thousands can be on the St. Clair River, where thirty years ago, they were a rarity!

Today was a stellar weather day, so I headed down to Rondeau Park.  I really needed a long walk more than anything, so headed out marsh trail to Long Pond.  A 10 km round trip.

There were not many birds, but some Red-winged Blackbirds were setting up territories already.

A few Northern Pintail were certainly spring migrants, as they flew over Long Pond.

There are still some extensive drifts on the trail left from the Christmas storm. It will still take some time before they disappear!  One can only imagine what it was like during the storm!

Feeders have been a bit quiet this week.  Too many accipiters around!

Warmer weather is on the way, so we will certainly see some more spring migrants in the coming weeks.  What will this year bring?

Mid March Birding

My first stop on this crisp but clear day was Rondeau Park.  I first checked out the campground where it was relatively quiet.  I did come across one of the wintering Yellow-rumped Warblers.

I also walked south point trail at the end of Lakeshore Road.  The lake was rather quiet today.
While on my way back, I received a message that a Eurasian Wigeon was on the Bay off the (old) Rondeau dock.
The Bay was mostly frozen over again due to the recent cold weather, but a few small open areas were packed with ducks.

Steve had picked out the duck earlier, but it was extremely difficult to find in the thick raft of ducks.
Certainly too far for a photo as well.

After getting a brief look at the duck, I moved down to the marsh trail.  I ended up walking to the half way point!  There were few birds, but hopefully I burned off some winter fat.
The marsh tower is being torn down, as high water and wind has taken its toll on the structure.

Last year it looked like it was doomed due to the water undermining the structure.  Unfortunately this expensive structure will be a thing of the past.  A pair of Canada Geese were standing vigil the whole time I was out the trail.

At one point I caught sight of an Eastern Meadowlark flying by.  It was one bird I was hoping to come across today.

There were thousands of swans on the Bay, but mostly on the far side.

A pair of Bald Eagles was in the distance.

On my way out of the park, I briefly stopped by Keith McLean's and saw the five Greater White-fronted Geese that were reported a bit earlier by Josh Pickering.

I moved on to Ridgetown Lagoons where it was packed with Tundra Swans.  Lots of geese were present in including at least ten Greater White-fronted.  They were a bit difficult to pick out at the back.  Good thing I took some record photos, as I originally thought I saw eight, but one photo revealed ten!

I was not done and headed over to Erieau.  The Lesser Black-backed Gull was still in the field across from McGeachy.

Later this afternoon I was bored, so I drove out to the St. Clair River, first stopping at Stewart Wetland.  A Tundra Swan has been present there all week.  I think it believes that it is a Mute Swan the way it hangs out with the Mutes.

I drove all the way up to Lambton Generating Station and just downriver I did find the young male King Eider that everyone has been seeing this week.  It was just under a kilometer south of Seager Park.

Christmas Birding Along the River

I am not one to sit around, so I headed out this morning along the St. Clair River.  It was actually a nice day with no wind and the river was very calm first thing.  It was cloudy of course, but no matter, it would have made for a good day for the upcoming Wallaceburg CBC.
There were more waterfowl and gulls along the river, at least in the circle area which extends up just past the end of Stanley Line.

The usual Mallards were at the Sombra ferry dock, but also an American Coot.  They are certainly uncommon this time of year in these parts, but not entirely unusual.

Crazy Coot

A number of Tundra Swans were in Sombra Bay--the wintering type.  In recent years, several have stuck around all winter along with their unwanted Mute Swan counterparts.

At the south end of Cundick Park, I caught sight of a Common Loon.  Sort of.  It was belly-up floating downriver.  A Common Loon is always a good bird this time of year.  Alive is always better!

A few more Tundra Swans were at Cath's Cart Park (lol), but nothing else.  Usually there are lots of things to look at here.

A Great Blue Heron flew over at OC Industries--a decent but expected bird for this time of year.

A good raft of Redhead with some scaup mixed in was off Courtright but that is far out of the Wallaceburg circle.
I went as far as Guthrie Park to check on the gulls.  It was about the same as Friday.

The Lesser Black-backed was showing well.  And, still no white-winged gulls!

On the way back, I met up with Steve Charbonneau and Jim Burk who had some decent finds (if one was doing a CBC).

A Pied-billed Grebe was on Marshy Creek north of Port Lambton. Three Mallards and a Great Blue Heron were there as well.

Marshy-Creek cuts in by French Line and goes all the way south to the Snye south of the marinas. Port Lambton and environs is actually on an island which many people do not realize.

Along the Snye, I caught sight of another Pied-billed Grebe--no doubt one of the continuing waterbirds I have seen in the area recently.

Along Langstaff Line, I was pleased to see a group of Sandhill Cranes on the wing.  They set down in a field.  I think the bulk of them bailed over a week ago, but no doubt some are still around Walpole and area.

Gashawk

Shrewsbury Show

The waterfowl show at Shrewsbury in south Chatham-Kent has continued into this week.  Late afternoon seems to be the time to count Snow/Ross's Geese in the fields east of Shrewsbury or Raglan.  I am never there at that time of day, so cannot experience the show!  A large number of swans have still been on the Bay as well.

The numbers always fluctuate due to various reasons, but yesterday up to 175 Snow Geese were present according to Allen Woodliffe's observation.  As well, up to 6 Ross's Geese were picked out.
There was no doubt some Ross's Geese were present, but getting good looks was essential.
In recent years we have been seeing more of these geese, and more hybrids are becoming apparent. There are some hybrids among this flock, undoubtedly.
It is certainly an unprecedented number of Snow Geese for this part of the province.

Snow Geese Mid-day Saturday

The finding of apparent "Bewick's" Swans has been another highlight.  It was a strange event on Saturday which I will not get into detail here.  I had picked out a leucistic swan which otherwise struck me as a "Bewick's".  On the way home, I saw Reuven Martin's post about finding a "Bewick's" Swan.  I wondered what was going on!
In the end, there turned out to be two swans, both of which were still being seen on Tuesday.

As we know, "Bewick's" is the Eurasian version of the Tundra Swan, sometimes seen in North America.  Just last year, one was seen at Point Pelee in the Onion Fields area.
The yellow blob on the bill is variable and has been seen in several forms.  They are given names according to shape.
Here is  a link to a website/blog that Alan Wormington provided:
https://ousewasheslps.wordpress.com/tag/swans/

I copied one of the photos here for detail where you can see the different types.

Unique bill patterns of Bewick’s swans. Information panel at WWT Welney. Photograph: Cambridgeshire ACRE.

The Point Pelee bird, first seen by Richard P. Carr, was of the Pennyface type.  Maybe the "P" stands for pennyface!  lol. Kudos to Richard for picking out the swan, as I had just been at the spot 15 minutes earlier and then saw Richard just after, as I was heading towards Wheatley!

I am not sure if anyone got a good look at bill pattern of the Shrewsbury swans, but it would be interesting to know what type they are.

With rather cold weather upon us, Rondeau Bay will be refreezing and many of these waterfowl will depart after an early "spring" migration.

Spring in January (?)

I started at Rondeau Park this morning on a cold south wind.  The day actually turned out to be quite balmy.  At times it seemed like March.  Given the weather tomorrow, we may see some "spring" migrants in the waterfowl department.
Many waterfowl never left!  At Shrewsbury this morning, it certainly seemed like March with 300-400 Tundra Swans and twice that in Canada Geese taking advantage of the many spots of open water on Rondeau Bay.

I looked at all the geese I could, but nothing different was with them.  The Trumpeter Swans were probably still present, but they were certainly not close like they were yesterday.

Swans of the Tundra

At Erieau, there are still over 30 American Coots trying to stick out the winter.

Lawn Coots

A nice male Long-tailed Duck was in the marina near the coots. Sun was in the wrong direction though.

Lots of gulls are near the Blenheim Landfill, but I could not pick out anything other than Herring, Ring-billed and Great Black-backed.  They were quite spread out though.

Earlier at Rondeau Park, it was rather quiet.  Some Pine Siskins are still around, as well as Purple Finches.

After lunch in Chatham, I headed up Bear Line to its very end.  It turned out to be a good choice as there were quite a few birds along the Snye.  I found more coots!  At least 15 were there along St. Anne's Island.

Also present were a few different ducks and a Great Blue Heron.

Some blackbirds/starlings were in the trees, but I never got a good look at all of them.  Rusty and Red-winged Blackbirds were present.  It was near here that we also had the Yellow-headed Blackbirds around New Year's.
I could hear lots of geese and swans over on St. Anne's.

Too bad it was not a CBC day.  Bear Creek is where I start my sector of the Wallaceburg CBC!

Summer At Rondeau

It was a clear and crisp morning at Rondeau today.  There was more snow at Wallaceburg than Rondeau! Dressed for the weather, Steve and I did a lakewatch at Beach 'O Dogs first thing as usual. Lots of gulls were moving today and few more Common Loons.

Early on, a Franklin's Gull made an appearance to the east with Ring-billed.  So, some are still around!  This one was too far away from us though for any photo.

Herring Gull feeding on dead fish

South point trail was certainly a little more active than yesterday.  There were more kinglets (inc. 3 Ruby-crowned) and a few Purple Finches.  Fox Sparrows put in a good showing today on south point and at the campground.  Still no warblers though, so we are basically done with those!

More American Tree Sparrows appeared today, with a large group at the end of Lakeshore Road.

The campground was stirred up by a Great-Horned Owl. It was the second one I saw today, as I had one fly over the road just outside the gate first thing.

Campground View

A huge group of juncos was at the traffic circle area again today.

Off beach access 8, an adult Red-throated Loon was swimming. True to form, it suddenly disappeared, never to be seen by us again.
It was calm there and hopes of one last Cave Swallow never came to be.  We did not have a place to sit down and relax though.All the benches along that side are half buried, lol.

Large numbers of Tundra Swans were on the move today.  Massive 'V's' were seen.

After Steve left, I did my usual thing to find something good down Lakeshore Road.  A tanager was on my mind, and just as soon as I pulled up to the spot where I had it yesterday, it was feeding on the lawn!

Garry Sadler arrived at the same time from the other direction, but he could not see it from his vantage point.  I got out of the car and pointed out the Summer Tanager.

I informed Ric and Anne McArthur and they came out to get some good looks.  Steve Charbonneau came shortly afterwards.

At home, I looked at the photos closer and noticed red staining on the bill.  I thought the bill looked reddish in the field and that had me wondering.  It did pick out a worm and some insects while actively feeding beside the shed.

Who knows if this is the same bird we had a month ago. I thought that one had more red on it.

The only other late fall record in the Rondeau birding area is one that came to a feeder in Blenheim 27 December 1993--8 January 1994.  (Thanks to Jim Burk for digging out that info).