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!

Rondeau to Hillman, 25 February

Early this morning I headed down to Rondeau Park.  I met up with Jim Burk and we checked out south point trail and the campground.  There was not much to be seen on south point, but some waterfowl was on the move.
Of note, a Surf Scoter was seen and up to 18 White-winged Scoters.  It continues to be a decent winter for scoters in the area.
The campground had a decent flock of birds at the south end, but it was fast-moving and we never got a look at all of the birds.  At one point I heard a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, so that one has made it through the winter!
A couple of Purple Finches, scarce this winter, were also on the move.
At the north end, I caught sight of the Yellow-rumped Warbler.  There were two at one point in the winter.
On the Bay, a number of Canvasback were at the north end.

After leaving the park, I decided to keep going all the way to Hillman Marsh.  The last few days there has been a good number of waterfowl at the shorebird cell.  Today was no exception!

Three Ross's and five Snow geese were among the Canada Geese.  (three Ross's were present yesterday as well).

I checked the gulls for a Mew.  It is a good time for one!  The last one was at this time of year in 2002.
There was an exceptional number of Gadwall in the cell.  I estimated at least 250.

A good number of American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, and Green-winged Teal were also around.

Even the 50 Ring-necked Ducks was a good number for the cell.
A Pied-billed Grebe was the only member of that family present.

It was very windy and cold there, so after well over an hour there, I headed out.
On the way home I drove by St. Clair NWA.  This croaker was on the road!

As I headed up Heron Line, I came aross a large flock of gulls.  Among the Herring was a Glaucous, Lesser Black-backed and 8 Great Black-backed.

Towards Mitchell's Bay, in the Mallard/Marsh/Winter Lines area, I counted 7 Snowy Owls.  So, many are still around!

The wind picked up and the temperature dropped as the day worn on, so I guess we are back to more seasonal weather!

Friday Frolicks on the St. Clair River

It turned out to be a nice day, and I headed up the St. Clair River after work.  Lighting is never good at that time of day when the sun is out, but there was lots to see.
There continues to hundreds of gulls on the river, but nothing of the mega variety!  It was 25 years ago that Dennis Rupert found the Ross's Gull at Sarnia (21 February 1992).  Probably his most exciting find!
There was a good variety of things at the Sombra dock, but I never made a list.
Cathcart Park was busy.

Numerous swans (Mute of course) and Canada Geese were there among a good selection of ducks.

Lots of gulls were off the OC outflow as well.

I stopped at Cundick Park just north of the village of Sombra where there was some activity.  A Bald Eagle stirred things up including a couple of Glaucous Gulls.

The good 'ole Daldean was making its continuous runs.  This ferry has been going since 1951!
Here is a view from 1958.  April 19 no less!

The Redhead X Ringnecked Duck was reported at Corunna late this afternoon by Mike Bouman.

Some scoters are still seen on the river.  I had a Surf at Port Lambton early this morning.


There was a nice sunset this evening.

Sombra Scoters to Cathcart Cacklers

Today was a fine day for checking out the St. Clair River.  It was calm and overcast which is good.  Most of the avian activity was around Sombra where one could have spent hours.  Much of the stuff was out in the middle of the river, but with a scope one could pick out various things of interest.

Most notable was the number of White-winged Scoters.  It seems to be a good year for them in these parts as I saw at least 30 at Sombra-certainly the most I have ever seen on the river.  I even picked out a Surf Scoter at Cundick Park!  Rather distant for a photo though.

I have also seen White-winged Scoters at Port Lambton each morning in the past week, as they head upriver.

There are still hundreds of gulls from Sombra to Cathcart Park, but most were of course, Herring.  I did pick out one adult Lesser Black-backed way out from Cundick Park.  Most of the white-winged gulls must have left as I never saw one today.  Some are likely at Sarnia though.


At the village of Sombra, a notable duck has been hanging out.  Some time ago, Mike Bouman (the hybrid specialist !), found an apparent Ring-necked X Redhead.

Photo by Mike Bouman

In sunlight, the colour shows well.

Photo by Mike Bouman

Thanks to Mike Bouman for sending me photos.

I finally saw it today, but I could not get very close.  It was getting close, but as my luck would have it, a Bald Eagle came along and the ducks flushed.

There is also an apparent scaup hybrid hiding among the rafts.

Photo by Mike Bouman

Cathcart Park is another good spot this time of year to check things out.  Today, the bulk of the swans (Mute of course) were there.  Some Tundra Swans were around too, and a flock of about 40 flew over while I was there.
I tried to make one pair into Trumpeters, but it would just not work.  We did have a pair here a few winters ago.  Trumpeter Swans are becoming more regular, so one needs to keep an eye out for them!

Canada Geese also like this spot.  This weekend, up to 8 Cackling have been swimming about.

A drake Northern Pintail was hanging around with some Mallards at Cathcart.

Cathcart Park is where Clay Creek flows out to the St. Clair River.  It has always been a popular spot and was once a Provincial Park.  My father worked there for a couple of summers back in the 1950's!

Pesha photo from early 1900's

Long-tailed Ducks are in good numbers as well all along the river.  For whatever reason, they have become very common in the last many years.  We never used to see them much south of Sarnia/Corunna many years ago.

I checked some spots inland on the way home, but they were virtually devoid of birds.  I guess I will stick to the river!

Scoters to Siskins

Unfortunately it was a bust.  An excellent wind was blowing up at Point Edward, but birds failed to come in. A fair number of bonies coming and going, but nothing with them.  A few of us stood vigil for a few hours in the stiff NNE wind.  The next few days have even stiffer North winds, but I have little patience and time!
Lots of Common Loons were flying about, not sure where to go it seemed.  Only saw one Horned Grebe.  I saw one White-winged Scoter, one Surf Scoter and one Black Scoter.  There were other scoters very far out with other ducks obviously too distant to ID.
Many birds were flying very high. Lighting was horrible today so many birds were silhouettes. Gulls were initially quite high, and many ducks were very high flying south.
A few Long-tailed Ducks were riding the current too.
A Peregrine Falcon put on a show for a while, as did a couple of Bald Eagles.

Afterwards I left and headed over to Perch Creek WMA.  Not many landbirds, but I did find a good group of sparrows as well as chickadees too.

I decided to check some pine trees just for fun and was delighted to find a Northern Saw-whet Owl.  Nearby was a Long-eared Owl as well.  Too much crap in the way to get a good photo of each, but you get the picture.

Farther south I stopped at Moore WMA.  No landbirds there either!  I did flush an American Woodcock though.






A McKeough CA I came across a group of Fox Sparrows.

I encountered a couple of Northern Shrikes on the back roads as I drove home.  First for the fall.







Here at home, like many places now, Pine Siskins have come en masse. There were close to 80 at one point.  As usual they were quite approachable.

Junco with colour at McKeough.....