Waterbird photo ops

One of the highlights of this time of year is the photographic opportunities for water birds. The bird migration is just getting underway in late winter, and where there are bits of open water water birds, and in particular water fowl, are sure to show up. If those bits of open water can be approached easily, the photo ops can be tremendous. But with the rain and warmer weather (finally!) in the immediate forecast, those photo opportunities will be diminishing as quickly as the open water increases. Waterfowl are in their most colourful breeding plumage right now, and sometimes the males can be seen going through their impressive displays in their attempts to attract the attention of a potential mate.

The Thames River just downstream from Chatham has been very worthwhile lately, as the water treatment plant pours water into the river, maintaining at least some open water in even the coldest weather.

There are always a few of the most common species, such as Canada Goose and Mallard.

 Mallards are usually one of the most common ducks here in southwestern Ontario most of the year. Birders don't have to seek them out, as if any ducks are around, Mallards are most likely to be found; although birders have been known to say "Oh, it's just a Mallard" before looking for something less common, a male in breeding plumage is really quite an attractive duck.

Far less common at the Thames River location is American Black Duck, although at places like the Erieau harbour area, they can outnumber Mallards in the winter.

Some of the highlights found at the Thames River location in recent days are the following:

Common Goldeneye

Gadwall

Green-winged Teal pair

Hooded Merganser

 Most of the time the crest is down, but when it is trying to impress a female, it will raise it up.

Northern Pintail pair

Northern Shoveler

Sewage lagoons can be a good location to check. The Ridgetown lagoons on the north side of the road were still frozen over yesterday with no waterfowl except for two Canada Geese on the bank, but the ones on the south side had an open stretch of water with a variety of waterfowl. The light is never all that great looking into the sun, so the cloudy day made it a little more satisfying even though the birds were not very close. There were a couple of less common birds there, including these two Snow Geese, with both a snow and a blue phase.

 Much less expected was this Long-tailed Duck! It is much more likely to be seen on large bodies of water such as the nearby Great Lakes and the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers. I'm not sure if one has ever been seen at these lagoons before.

Other spots with a bit of open water will attract other water birds. The creek along Stefina Line southeast of Blenheim has been reasonably reliable for Wilson's Snipe yet again this winter, but in the last few days there have sometimes been two seen. It is entirely possible that they have both been winter residents, as this species doesn't normally arrive on migration quite yet, and there has been a good stretch of open water in this creek for most of the winter. Lately a Killdeer has been seen along with them. This next photo show all three birds sort of together, with the Killdeer on the left and the two snipe on the right. The far one is not in focus, however.

Earlier in this post I mentioned that waterfowl can sometimes be seen involved their courtship displays. One really needs to have a video to illustrate this, but I haven't achieved that yet. One of the more entertaining species, at least from a birder's perspective, is the Red-breasted Merganser.

Exciting times are ahead!