Double Whammy Today!

 For a change in scenery today, I went up to Sarnia for a lakewatch.  A decent NNE wind was ablowin'!

American Herring Gull

  

There were not large numbers of birds, and certainly not much variety.  Less than an hour after I started, a single Brant flew by heading west.  I was actually looking at a flock of mergansers, and this bird was tailing!  It went up the Michigan side and out of sight.

About twenty minutes later, I caught sight of it swimming in the channel.  Several times, it flew upstream, then floating down.

Eventually, it flew back east and past Canatara Park.  I wonder if it kept going, as James Holdsworth had one at Highland Glen CA a while later.  Timing would be about right if it kept flying, but we will never be sure.

Always nice to see a Brant since we do not get many in the area for the most part.

Things got quiet, and I headed towards home.  I stopped at Moore WMA, then McKellar Tract, but not much was at either place.  I have had White-winged Crossbills at McKellar during incursion years, but I did not hear any today.

That big tree is still in the way at Moore!

A few mussel shells were visible.  Deertoe was one of them.

I then stopped at Nichols Memorial Forest and Wetland.  Highlight was a Great-Horned Owl.  A Barred Owl would have been better!

When I pulled into the driveway at home, I got word that a Mountain Bluebird was at Keith McLean C. L.  I was not ready to head out and stayed around for an hour at home.  The urge was too much to resist, so I headed down towards Rondeau.

Mountain Bluebird has never been seen in the Rondeau circle.  The only other in C-K was at Wheatley P.P. if I remember correctly.  I had to go as it was certainly a very overdue bird!

The bird was still present upon arrival, but light for photos was not good.  However, I took some photos anyway.

The bluebird was constantly going down to the mud and finding dragonfly nymphs to eat.

This was certainly a nice way to end the day!

This past week was rather uneventful, again. There were a couple of trips to Rondeau and McLean's.

Friday though I went up to Ipperwash in hopes of getting White-winged Crossbills.  I picked the wrong day.....again!

Random Scene along the trail

Instead I did another lakewatch for a while.  Yet again it was boring!

On Saturday, I worked the north end of Rondeau Park only as it was quite windy.  I finally came across some White-winged Crossbills, but they were single flyovers.

As usual I stopped by Keith McLean C. L., but nothing really different.  There has been a good-sized flock of Dunlin hanging around.

And, lots of gulls, but no good ones!

With the warm weather, lots of Autumn Meadowhawks are still flying (even today).

Sunday was a bit rainy and I did not go far.

Monday, it was back to Rondeau Park.  This late in the season, birds are getting fewer, but there was enough to keep me interested.

Another Carolina Wren

dark American Herring Gull

It was quite windy, especially along the lake at south point trail.  That concrete structure is getting farther out!

A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher in the campground was of interest.  Seems we always get a late bird there!  However, lighting was absolutely horrible.

Nothing new at Keith McLean's that day.  Ironically, I was thinking of Mountain Bluebird while there, and that perhaps this will be the year that we will get one in the area.  Little did I know that this idea would become reality!

Friday in the Rondeau Area and Finch Mania at Ipperwash

 The weather has been quite balmy so far this weekend.  Often it can be quiet for birding under these conditions, however I found it fairly good!  I did Rondeau and area on Friday, and Ipperwash on Saturday.

The lakewatches have been a bust recently, so I went straight to south point trail on Friday morning.  Along the way, I heard Evening Grosbeaks beside the campground, and soon after getting on the trail, some flew over.

Lots of White-throated Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos and kinglets were still around, and Yellow-rumped Warblers were quite high in numbers.  Other warblers included a single Blackpoll and a Nashville.

After south point, I headed up to the campground and met up with Steve and Craig.  Along the way, American Robins littered Lakeshore Road and even more were in the campground.  A few more Evening Grosbeaks were heard around the campground.

This Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was working the campground, and perhaps it may stick around for the winter, as one or two usually do!

Many sparrows in the campground as usual, including Chippies.

Lots of Eastern Bluebirds were migrating.  (Still waiting for a Mountain!). 

After Rondeau, I stopped by Keith McLean C. L. and found the two Hudsonian Godwits.  As mentioned previously, it has been a good fall for sightings of this species.  I did not approach too closely as to not flush them.

A stop at Blenheim Lagoons was also in order where I found lots of gulls in the first pond.  Two adult Lesser Black-backed were among them, and certainly no Franklin's....

Shorebirds included lots of Dunlin, a number of Greater Yellowlegs, and a 'latish' Semipalmated Sandpiper.

There was a good variety of ducks, including a female Long-tailed, somewhat unusual for the lagoons.

Butterflies were out in the balmy weather including both sulphurs, Eastern Comma, and Common Checkered-Skipper.

Today, a change in scenery was in order.  Recently, there has been finch mania at Ipperwash, along with some Bohemian Waxwings.  Yesterday a Lark Sparrow was seen as well!  I had not been up this way much in a long time, so it was nice to do some birding up that way.

Birds, especially finches, follow the Lake Huron shoreline during fall migration and Ipperwash has always been a hotspot.  I remember Alf Rider telling me years ago how productive this area is during fall migration, especially during finch irruptive years.

I was the first to arrive at the now-famed MNR parking lot area.  (Actually I have always known it as a good birding location).  Off the bat, a flock of Evening Grosbeaks went by.  I took a quick look at the lake (which was dead!), then headed back to the parking lot.  In short order, one of my target birds of the day flew over.  Hearing it first, I recognized it as a Pine Grosbeak, then this male flew directly overhead at close range.

Soon, flock after flock of Evening Grosbeaks, siskins, redpolls flew over, and even a few Red Crossbills.  All easily recognized by their flight calls.

I was joined by several other birders.

Evening Grosbeaks (in the morning)

Not many waxwings today, and unfortunately no Bohemians.

While there, we got word that Mike Bouman had found a Townsend's Solitaire way down at beach 4 area.  He soon lost sight of it, so we waited it out at the north location.

Oddly, it seemed, we heard a whistle note several times towards the beach side.  James Holdsworth suggested Townsend's Solitaire.  Seemed right to me!  Josh Bouman played an audio of a solitaire which matched what we were hearing.  We heard it a few more times and walked towards the sound, but could not get a visual.  It was soon quiet, but as a bit of time passed, we got word that the Townsend's Solitaire was again found at the same location near beach 4.

Needless to say, we rushed down there and eventually saw it after some searching.

This whole area is good for Townsend's Solitaire, including Pinery P.P.  Back on 9 November 2003, we found one in Pinery after an excellent day of birding along the lakeshore starting in Sarnia.  It was late afternoon, so it was a nice way to end that day!  

Pinery has had several solitaires (not all listed in eBird) in early November.  They are mostly in the tight window of November 5-9!  So, the sighting today was right on schedule and was not totally surprising to me.

I am sure there had to be two different solitaires today at Ipperwash, as the locations were over 1 km apart and timing seemed to overlap.  The bird at beach 4 did not go anywhere in my opinion--it just was out of sight for some time.

Just before I left beach 4 area, a flock of White-winged Crossbills flew over to complete the finch tally.

Here is today's eBird list:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S75951048

Certainly turned out to be a good day, even though I did not find a Bohemian Waxwing (a target of the day), but the Townsend's Solitaire Trumped (no pun intented) that.  

Eastern Comma

Nightjar Today

I went back to Rondeau today to meet up with Steve and Jim at south point trail.  It was a dreary day (and yes, the weather forecast was totally wrong AGAIN!).  Despite the weather it was a decent day of birding with some good finds.
Not too far along south point, we were startled as a "nightjar" flushed off the side of the trail.  Any member of this family in November is a good find so we started looking for it.  Shortly, I managed to find it again (not sure how I ever spotted it in the underbrush!).  We tried to get a little closer, but it flushed again and flew to perch high in a Pine tree.

It was obviously not a Nighthawk, and bit too small for a Chuck.  We assumed Whip-poor-will!  We checked books upon arrival at the parking lot and concluded it was a male Whip.  Nothing else seemed to fit even though we tried to make it so.
The last latest record for Rondeau is October 26, 1972 (Paul D. Pratt)!
I noticed that one was found in Michigan today as well and brought in for rehabilitation somewhere.

Walking back on the trail we heard a Red Crossbill fly over.
Up at the campground some White-winged Crossbills flew over (they sure have been on the move this week!).  A Common Redpoll flew over at one point.
No sign of the owl from yesterday.  Some geese flying over included a few Cackling.

We separated for a while then later met up on Craford Road west of Cedar Springs.  This is an excellent location for all kinds of birds.  When I arrived, a flock of about ten Evening Grosbeaks flew over and lots of "dickie" birds were around.  Brown Creepers were creeping over the gravestones in the cemetery!
There is a good overlook of the lake at the end of the road and lots of gulls, ducks, loons and grebes were present.

Next was a walk through the old McKeough estate grounds.  There is a pathway along the bluff that the locals use.  I have been there several times before as my uncle lives next to the property.
On our walk back I spotted a Saw-whet Owl sitting rather open!

(notice pine needle on face!)

It was a good hawk day so we stood in front of the cemetery there and watched dozens of Red-tailed Hawks among others head west.
At one point a flock of about 15 Red Crossbills flew by heading west!  Their distinctive flight calls alerted us to their presence.

Grosbeaks of the Evening

Actually of the morning.  I went down to Rondeau today in anticipation of seeing several finch type birds.
Target was Evening Grosbeak which was rather easy thanks to Ric and Anne McArthur's feeders.
On our first stop, we did not see them but no doubt they were quietly sitting nearby.  I went back a little later and met Dwayne Murphy who had just seen them. The grosbeaks were not visible at first, but looking around I found them sitting quietly at the top of a tree next to the house!  Eventually they came down to feed and got some good photos.

I met up with Steve Charbonneau at first light and we checked out south point trail.  Not many birds around except lots of (big) gulls on the lake.  Only saw a couple of Yellow-rumped Warblers.  Lots of Pine Siskins flying over as usual.  We heard one Evening Grosbeak flying over later on.
A latish Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was nice to see and the only Northern Flicker we saw was a pile of feathers.

Lots of these today!

Coming back on the trail, we met up with Dwayne Murphy and just before we got back to the parking lot, a couple of White-winged Crossbills flew over (first of many for the day).
We stopped at the McArthur feeders, but did not see the grosbeaks, so we headed up to the campground.

 A number of birds were there as expected.  This is an excellent time of year to check the campground.  A couple of sizeable flocks of White-winged Crossbills flew over at break-neck speed.  The only warblers were a couple of Yellow-rumped, one Nashville and one Palm.  I heard Greater Yellowlegs over on the Bay for the only shorebirds of the day.

White-breasted Nuthatch

Near the south end of the campground, I heard a couple of Carolina Wrens making a ruckus.  I suspected an owl, and sure enough a Northern Saw-whet was sitting proudly....

I checked various places including Erieau later in the day.  No sign of Cave Swallows at Erieau (yet).

Look at that beak!

Upriver Ducks and More Finches

Sycamore Tree

Today was a rather leisurely day and I took in the annual Lambton Wildlife Downriver Ducks tour (upriver for me!).  As expected there was not a lot to look at as birds are so spread out this winter.
We started at Point Edward and admired the impressive 800+ Long-tailed Ducks out on the lake.  About 20 White-winged Scoters were out there including a "line" of 15 together.  Among the few gulls was a single adult Glaucous.

A few Long-tailed Ducks

We took a quick look at the Peregrine Falcon sitting underneath the newer Bluewater Bridge.

Sarnia Bay was rather quiet, but a Ring-necked Duck, Hooded Merganser (resting on a rock), and an American Coot caught our attention.



South of Sarnia, the Hooded Mergansers were in their usual hangouts amongst the dock pilings off Suncour and Shell Oil.

At LGS, a Great Blue Heron was at the water outlet, and farther down, some keen-eyed observers spotted a Belted Kingfisher on a deadhead.

 

Lots of geese and gulls were off Cathcart Park, but not as many as I saw on the way up.  A smaller goose, likely a Cackling was amongst the Canada Geese.

I broke away from the group at this point and headed inland along Bickford Line.  It was a nice day to do some walking so I stopped at my usual spots.  First was Moore WMA, but as usual, the river was running high.  I noted at least four Northern Flickers (par for winter there) plus 3 other common species of woodpeckers.

Down the road I walked McKellar Tract and found the two Red-breasted Nuthatches quietly working the pines.  Later on they got noisy for some reason!
Little else there except when I was out in the open field to the west, I heard the familiar flight calls of White-winged Crossbills.  Although this is strictly a pine plantation, I always thought I would encounter crossbills there at some point this winter.  I saw about a dozen come in and alight in a tree in where I could not see them.  I went closer, but never did find them.

Red-breasted Nut

I checked out McKeough for owls.  Although none had been there previously, I finally found evidence in two spots of Long-eared Owls (whitewash and pellets).  No owls to be found after extensive searching!



This afternoon I just relaxed at home, and while looking out the window just before 5 p.m., a small bird came into the birdbath.  I thought I might as well check this out since since nothing (like most of the winter!) was at the feeder all afternoon.  I was surprised to find a single Common Redpoll.  It went to the ground and started feeding, obviously not familiar with nyjer feeders.  I found this last winter when a flock of redpolls came in for the first time.  They fed on the ground until they discovered the feeders.