Weekend Outings-Nothing New

I did get out to some places this weekend despite the typical weekend weather.  Just like clockwork, the weather went for a crap after some nice weekdays.  I bet you my life savings the sun is back out Monday!  Same old, same old.....

Saturday morning I just had over two hours to do some birding, so I went out to Mitchell's Bay and St. Clair NWA.  Despite some ice that formed this week, lots of waterfowl is still around.  Normally we would not see much out that way this time of year, but it is just the opposite.  Of course, not much is on the St. Clair River, when usually there are thousands of ducks, etc. there.

Ducks!

I saw a few Snowy Owls along the way, and upon arrival at St. Clair, there was lots to see.  A large flock of blackbirds was at the entrance and along Balmoral Line.

There certainly were not around during the CBC just over a week ago.  It was a good mixed flock, with the majority of birds being Red-winged Blackbirds.
The marsh was mostly frozen, but still lots of waterfowl was about.

I walked the dike to the viewing tower as I could hear and see lots of ducks.  99% were Mallards and I did pick out a few Northern Shovelers.  I did not have a scope, so there could have been other species mixed in.

Along the way, a Marsh Wren was making some noise. There are usually some around attempting to winter.

Just before I left, a Peregrine Falcon came in along the driveway.  Thoughts of Gyrfalcon were quickly dashed.  It would be a good place for one though.

Today, Sunday, the weather was horrible, but what is new?  I did the St. Clair River and the first notable duck was the hermaphrodite Mallard at Port Lambton.  I had not seen it for some time, but obviously it survived another hunting season.  Quality of photos is due to the ridiculous weather.

At Sombra ferry dock, I spotted a Northern Shoveler.  These are rare in Lambton, but not in C-K!

The Harlequin went flippers up a week ago and was found emaciated on the shore.  Pretending to be a Mallard did not help its situation.

Sombra Bay had a good group of over 50 Tundra Swans.

At the north end of Guthrie Park and the south end of the Shell Dock, were over 20 Hooded Mergansers.  They commonly winter here at the dock.

Algomarine coming in for fuel

A single American Coot was there as well.

At Sarnia Bay and Marina, there were quite a few ducks, mostly Redhead.  It was blowing and snowing like there was no tomorrow, so who knows what all was there.  A Double-crested Cormorant has been around, and was probably still there.

At the lakewatch spot, some gulls were circling around, including an adult Iceland Gull.

The afternoon was spent watching feeders at home, but nothing new showed except a flyover Pine Siskin.

Year-End Birding

Yesterday I went to Rondeau Park.  It was rather quiet as one would expect, but quieter than normal. Recently we have lost much of the sand that was built up from early October.  That mysterious concrete foundation at south point trail is well-exposed again!

Another tree succumbs

This morning I headed south of town and started at Bear Creek Marsh where I usually start my CBC. Yesterday, the blackbird flock was reported near there along with three Yellow-headed Blackbirds. They were just on the edge of the Wallaceburg CBC circle, so they made count week!  Wallaceburg CBC has recorded Yellow-headed Blackbird five times since its inception.

Upon my arrival, a massive flock came off St. Anne's Island, but kept going.  There were 5000+ birds.  At the Snye (Chenal Ecarte), some were still moving by and I could hear quite a few in the reeds/phragmites.  I believe they roost there during the night.

I headed back out and at the start of the marsh and the very end of Bear Line, was a very large flock!

record photo

It was predominately Brown-headed Cowbirds, but lots of starlings, grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds mixed in.  The flock was constantly moving, but I eventually did pick out two male Yellow-headed Blackbirds.



It was once again a very gloomy day and photography was useless.  Even with ISO at 4000+ (!) it was a challenge.  It was supposed be a sunny day, just like yesterday (ya right), but as usual the weather forecast was wrong yet again.

Find the yellow head in this photo:

I followed the flock down the road for almost a half hour, but that is all I could find.

I went on towards Mitchell's Bay and around Lake St. Clair to Lighthouse Cove.  I saw only 5 Snowy Owls on the roads I took, but a couple were fairly close.

It was generally quiet just like every place else.  CBC's farther north and east seem to be getting good numbers of birds, but in this part of the province there are very few birds inland as everyone has noted.  At least there have been some decent birds!

Lots of swans still around

Arriving back home, I stopped by the Vermilion Flycatcher stakeout. It took a while to spot the bird, but it was finally seen working the weedy field.  It came close, but with the ever-present gloomy skies I still could not get sharp photos.

Tomorrow is a new year, so I expect some birders to be looking for this fine bird to start off 2016 birding.

Happy New Year to all!