Teal to Tip

The relentless cold weather has slowed things down, but at least we have had clear skies to be out and about.  This morning I travelled down to Essex County with the first stop being Hillman Marsh.
A couple of days ago, a Eurasian Green-winged Teal (or Common Teal) was found at the shorebird cell.
I arrived just after sunrise and found lots of waterfowl in the cell plus a half dozen Sandhill Cranes.

It did not take long to pick out the European version of our Green-winged Teal.  Among other things, the lack of a vertical stripe is a key feature.

It moved around quite a bit in the early morning sun.

This species has been found here and in the vicinity a few times before in the past.  Whether it is a separate species all together, is up to speculation.

Intergrades have been seen as well.  I saw one of those a few years ago nearby, but I think this is the first Common Teal I have seen.

I soon moved on to Point Pelee and headed straight to the Tip.

The Eroded Tip

There were lots of ducks off the west side and I spent a couple of hours with Kory Renaud sorting through the rafts.  The "afternoon shift" joined us for a while as well.

Mississagi in Pelee Passage

Much to our disappointment, we did not find anything of note.  A few Horned Grebes were around, but we did not spot the recent Eared Grebe.  However, it was fun looking through the mass of ducks.

Lots of scoters were mixed in as well.

A few Common Loons were seen today, so obviously they had just come in.  I had not yet seen one this calendar year.  I saw around seven today.

Minnie the Mink

Land birds were rather scarce, but I did walk De Laurier trail before exiting the park.

A quick stop at Wheatley Harbour revealed a Glaucous Gull among the other gulls.  A few Glaucous are still kicking around.

On the way home, I saw a few Snowy Owls, including this one along Mallard Line.

They are no doubt on their way north, as I did not see one around Wallaceburg this past week.

I stopped at Mitchell's Bay.  A huge iceberg can be seen out in the lake.  It is a mystery how this formed!

Sarnia Gullerama

With all the gulls around, the St. Clair River was the choice today.  Thousands of gulls are along the river and certainly the most I have seen on a consistent basis.  Unfortunately, with the brutally cold west to northwest wind, most were on the Michigan side in the lee of the shoreline. However, the Cathcart Park and Sarnia Bay area had many up close for perusal.
I got out at Cathcart Park, but ten minutes outside was all one could stand!

Ring-billed Gulls on the lawn

I saw nothing of note there, but lighting was harsh with the bright morning sun.

I continued on up to Sarnia and spent some time at Sarnia Bay at the south end of Centennial Park.  Again, ten minutes outside was all I could stand in the wind.

There was a good concentration of gulls, including white-winged gulls.  It was difficult to get a good count, but there were at least 23 Glaucous and 4 Iceland.

An adult Lesser Black-backed was also in the mix.
The hybrid Herring X Great Black-backed that has been around all winter was stirring things up.

It is a rather attractive gull, just as big as a Great Black-backed, but a dark gray mantle and clean head.

At one point, five Glaucous gulls were hassling it for a fish.

I checked other areas of the Sarnia waterfront.  A number of gulls were in the north slip until a Bald Eagle came along to flush them.
A White-winged Scoter was in the harbour, but in the very NE corner with some Mallards.  An odd spot for it!  I never got a photo though.
At the bridge, I spotted one of the Peregrine Falcons, and at the mouth of Lake Huron were only Long-tailed ducks.

I went back to Sarnia Bay and sat in the car for almost an hour.  Mike Bouman came along to look things over, but we kept to the cars, as the cold wind was unbearable.

This area sure has changed since the old days!  Here the Imperial Oil tankers used to tie up for winter.

Just though I would add a little history.

Lots of gulls were at the mouth of Talfourd Creek off Shell Oil as well, including a couple of white-winged.

Most of the ducks have left the river, so you will not find many!
Not much was at Sombra.  The ferry has been sidelined for a couple of days due to a massive power outage over in Marine City, Michigan.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a little better for getting out for a walk!

Cathcart Mink on the Run!

Upriver Ducks (and gulls) 2017

Today was a decent day along the St. Clair River.  Viewing conditions were good and some areas had lots of activity.  The hotspot was at the head of Stag Island and the area near the Shell Refinery at Corunna.

A large number of Canada Geese were at Cathcart Park, but I did not see anything of note.  There could have been some Cackling Geese, but the sheer number of geese made things difficult.

I went up to Guthrie Park at Corunna where most of the ducks and gulls on the river were congregated.  There was a large number of Common Goldeneye as well as Bufflehead.

This curiosity was in close off Guthrie Park.

I went farther up as I waited for the Lambton Wildlife field trip to arrive downriver from Sarnia.  The first weekend in February is the annual Downriver Ducks trip for LWI.  It is the most popular outing for the group each year that attracts many people.  There were perhaps 35 people in the group ably led by "Uncle Paul".

Off the First Nation's territory, there was an insane number of gulls riding the ice floes.  Around 09:00, probably over 1000 gulls were present.  Most were Herring of course, and I think many of these headed back upriver even though there were still lots off Guthrie Park later. No doubt many more were along the Chemical Valley where we cannot see.

I went back to Guthrie Park just before the group arrived.  While there, I picked out 3 Iceland Gulls and a couple of Glaucous.

An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was also seen in mid-river.

In the "cove" at the head of Stag Island there was a mass of ducks, mostly Redhead.  At one point they all got up.  It was a cloud of ducks!  There were probably over 5000.

Sameul Risley stirring things up!

Portion of the Cloud!

Long-tailed Ducks were in good numbers today, with several hundred.  A large number were also off Courtright.

Later, I cut inland and stopped by Moore WMA.  It was dead again!  Where are the birds??  This is usually a hotspot during winter.  While there, a mink scurried by the crossing.

Moore Mink

Later this afternoon, a Trumpeter Swan was noted on the Chenal Ecarte (Snye).

It must have just shown up as I go by that spot twice a day during the week!  In fact, there was quite a number of Mallards there today as well.  Also a drake Northern Pintail, Ring-necked Duck and a few Hooded Mergansers.
Two swans were sleeping and facing away from me.  Perhaps these were also Trumpeter, which Sean Jenniskens listed today.
These were at the usual spot on Walpole Island which always attracts lots of things.

Friday Outing

I was off work early this afternoon and decided to stop at Reid CA.  I had hopes in finding Dukes' Skippers, but they were not present.  Usually they have been out for a week by this time, but hopefully a few will show soon.

Hairstreaks are on the downswing, but I found a few.   Right off the bat I found a Southern (Oak) Hairstreak.  It is getting very late for them, so it was nice to see.

Latest I have seen one is July 10 (2009) at Reid, other than the one at Walpole Island last year on July 11.


A few Banded and Edwards' were seen today as well.

Edwards' Hairstreak

I found this Banded being predated by a spider.  Often we see this. I have seen the Southerns in this scenario as well!

It has been a horrible year for finding dragonflies.  Late yesterday I went for a walk up at McKeough CA.  The only one I saw was an Eastern Amberwing!

Flag-tailed Spinylegs should be out, but I have not seen one yet.  Perhaps tomorrow.

Regarding other butterflies, Great-spangled Fritillaries are doing very well this year, as are Appalachian Browns.  Today I saw many of each at Reid.

No Bear Here!

Bears are on the loose!  Apparently one was seen around McKeough earlier this week, assuming it is valid.  (I find it amazing how some people can describe things that really do not exist!).

A while back, I found this family of mink at St. Clair NWA scurrying around.