Leaping Around Lambton

Given the nice weather (unusual for a Saturday) I decided to do some Lambton County birding today.  Nothing new has been reported towards Lake Erie lately anyway!  Viewing conditions were excellent along the St. Clair River, and there was lots of waterfowl to look at.  Most ducks seemed to be in the lower parts ( Port Lambton-Sombra) of the river, except for Long-tailed which were still everywhere.

It was the same old stuff though! I thought for sure I could scrape up a Harlequin Duck today.  I went as far as Guthrie Park, Corunna.  Five Northern Pintail, though, were likely spring migrants at CF Indutries outfall.

Trumpeter Swan (this bird was at Cathcart Park in January)

I then headed inland and thought Perch Creek would be a nice walk.  I spent the better part of two hours there.  The redpolls were still on the east side of the landfill, and were quite co-operative today.  There is lots of teasel there and they love that stuff!

On the last leg of my walk, I checked an area where I had Long-eared Owls late last fall.  To my surprise, there were eight!  They never allow close approach, so when you accidently stumble upon them, they tend to flush.

No Northern Saw-whet was to be found today.

My next stop was the south pond of Blackwell Trails park.  Earlier, a Wood Duck had been reported.  It was a female and was visible upon my arrival.

Strangely, it was a "FOY".  Usually I see one or two during winter along the river.

Another Hybrid

After chatting with Ed Lavender, lunch was a necessity since my stomach was growling (I went to the Mall).  While there, I got a message that a pair of Common Ravens was at the east end of Churchill Line.  I was there in no time, and saw them soon after my arrival.  They had been reported earlier by Sean Jenniskens who lives not far from there.
Unfortunately, I was looking straight ahead into the sun through the windshield when I saw them in flight.  They briefly alighted on a dead tree, then took off.  However, their size and shape was distinctive.

These birds are becoming quite regular in north Lambton anymore.  There have been several sighted in the last few months.

During my travels today, there were lots of Red-tailed Hawks perched or on the wing as they gear up for nesting.

My last walk was at Wilkesport (Nicholl's Memorial Forest).  I came across another nice flock of Common Redpolls taking advantage of teasel.  They too, were co-operative.

This one was quite plump

And, beavers are busy in the area.

It was a nice day to be out, but as usual, we cannot get two good days in a row (on a weekend).  Some crappy weather is arriving tonight!  Supposedly anyway, as forecasts (long-term) seem to be too unreliable anymore.
Will see what tomorrow brings....

P.S.  Bird Trax may be dead now, but something new is supposed to come out next month.

Today's Swans and Geese

It was another day of much travelling to see what was around.  I started out at Rondeau Park which was rather quiet today.  I did not really see anything of note despite spending over two hours there.
Along New Scotland Line, were lots of geese, but only Canada Geese that I could find.  That mass of Snow Geese may have left there area as there have been no reports for some time.
Rondeau Bay refroze this week as winter returned.  We never really have much of a winter, but why did it return now? lol!
There were a couple of "puddles" with waterfowl at Shrewsbury dock.  Included were lots of Gadwall, but nothing of note.
At Erieau, most of the ducks flushed over to a puddle at the Rondeau marsh.  There were many ducks in the Bay near the government dock, but just as I raised my binoculars, they flushed due to an incoming fish tug.  Typical luck!  Perhaps the Harlequin Duck was among them as it was still see earlier this week.
It was not even noon, so I just continued on west and after a quick look at Wheatley Harbour, I went over to Hillman Marsh for a walk.  It was a good choice.
As I walked up the laneway towards the shorebird cell, I could see two rather large swans.  They were  a bit distant, but I sure thought of Trumpeter.

Sure enough, as I got closer, they were indeed Trumpeter Swans!  Three of them.

They called often and the characteristic sound was evident.
I went over to the viewing stand and waited.  They swam right up to it for close views!

They were constantly calling.

I knew they were rare for the Pelee circle, but I did not realize how rare.  There is only one other valid record for the Pelee circle which was some years ago on a CBC as seen by Josh Vandermeulen.

I continued on, and when I was at the boardwalk area, the three amigos flew over in an easterly direction.  Not to be seen again, apparently.

Hundreds of blackbirds were around today.

Ducks in the shorebird cell included Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal and Mallard.

After the Hillman event, I went over to Road 1 where I could see many geese.  Some white ones of various sizes were present.  Along Road 19, two scope-toting birders turned out to be none other than Josh Vandermeulen and Steve Pike.  They actually picked out several Ross's Geese, Snow Geese, Cackling Geese and even 6 Greater White-fronted Geese.  I did not see the white-fronts, but the Ross's were more interesting to me.

We went over to the dead-end road (Rd.. 1) at Hillman Marsh in hopes of finding the Trumpeter Swans.  No luck.  Even the "Afternoon Shift" made an appearance before he went to his work shift.

On the way home I saw lots of geese and swans.

5 Snow Geese along Maple Line

Along Meadowvale Line south of Wallaceburg

Weekend Wanders

Saturday I set out to Point Pelee in the fog.  Unfortunately the fog stuck around all morning so seeing anything at a distance was futile.  Although last weekend was nice, the trend continues with at least one crappy-weather weekend day.
The above photos sums up the morning!

Wildlife was on the run along or near Shuster Trail.

One had to creep(er) along due to the still-present snow and ice.

By mid day the fog was lifting somewhat and it was evident that waterfowl was on the move.  Ducks, geese and swans were on the move!  I looked at this group along Rd. 19, but obviously I had no patience to stay very long.

Not long after I left, a Bewick's Swan was reported here!  No doubt it was there when I was looking but who actually looks for Bewick's in a large flock of swans?  It is by sheer luck that you will find one.  Most of the swans in my photos had their head stuck in the water, so perhaps it is there somewhere.
A Ross's Goose was also nearby, but can be difficult to find in the corn stubble and among the larger birds.

Sunday, I started at Rondeau under gloomy skies.  Sun was forecast today, but as usual we were deceived. It did come out this afternoon though, thankfully.
An early Sandhill Crane was in McLean's field, but that is the only decent bird I saw there.  I spent an hour at Rondeau but got out pretty quick since it was dead as a doornail!

The Bewick's Swan was found again this morning by Steve Pike so I headed west.  It was in a different location, but soon left the spot. Despite many birders looking all morning, it was not seen while I was around.

However, that good spot along Concession Road D yielded much waterfowl. I was in the vicinity when Jeremy Hatt reported a Greater White-fronted Goose.  Shortly thereafter the Ross's Goose was also located in the same spot.

Greater White-fronted (centre) and Ross's butt

Ross's Goose (centre)

Several birders were out today in search of that elusive swan and other good waterfowl.

PDP et al.

I stuck around that area for well over an hour seeing many swans come and go, but none with that yellow blob!

There has not been much yet in the old Dover Township south of Mitchell's Bay.  Too frozen I guess.

waterfowl at location of old Triangle Marsh

Late Winter Duck Details

I decided to check out Lakeview Park Marina in Windsor again this morning.  It is an excellent spot to view waterfowl on most days right now.  The St. Clair River has been uninteresting of late especially with the ice situation.

There were thousands of ducks, many of which were out of range for viewing.  Many were in close though, looking for handouts.  A lot of waterfowl is clearly in distress with this very harsh winter.  Dead ducks can be seen in many spots littering the ice.

Deadhead

Even on Friday as I drove up to Corunna along the St. Clair River, I saw a number of carcasses.

That dismal stuff aside, some healthier ducks were quite close today to get good photos.  Several Windsor area photographers were present taking advantage of the situation.

I did quite a bit of scoping and found the White-winged Scoter that Kory reported yesterday. It was very distant though.

downriver

Ian Woodfield, a friend of mine, came along and had not yet seen the White-winged Scoter.  I could not re-locate it for him, but he later got one closer to the Ambassador Bridge!

Lots of swans, most of which were Mute, were seen.  I later picked out 3 large swans in the distance with the scope, namely the Trumpeters.  Tundra Swans were also present, obviously a bit smaller in size.  A couple of Trumpeters were in close yesterday according to one of the photographers.  There were 3 Tundras in close to the breakwall this morning.

Wintering Tundra Swan

I picked out 3 Long-tailed Ducks, which are certainly less common than on the St. Clair River!  One was a resplendent male.  Very distant though.

Here are some more photos.

Greater Scaup

Hooded Merg

Redhead

Common Goldeneye

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