End of year stuff, including another bird count

 The year 2020 is just about out the door. Here is hoping that 2021 is much better on a whole bunch of fronts! Meanwhile, getting out and finding birds is still one of the most satisfying, and safest things to do right now, so that is what I've been doing as much as possible.

The Erieau Rail Trail can be good, when the wind isn't blowing too hard since it is quite exposed. Those days are sometimes rare. But a visit not too long ago, just after a bit of snow, gave me a few things to look through. One of the target species was Common Redpoll, which don't always come through this part of the province in good numbers, but this year it has been much better than normal. I was also looking for the rarer Hoary Redpoll, but although one or two others had seen one here, I did not. The flock of redpolls was flighty, so I only got a good look at a few of the ~45 birds that were in the area.

Several White-crowned Sparrows were low down in the snowy branches....

....as were a few Song Sparrows, one of which was partially in view for a short time.

I also got out to roam around the area northwest of Chatham, looking for Snowy Owls. With a bird count in this area coming up shortly, it is always useful to find out where they are hanging out. I found 5, but most were well out in a field and not worth trying to photograph from the road. I did see a woman well out in the field as well, trying to get close enough to get a decent photo with what appeared to be a fairly basic camera requiring her to be up close. The owl was having none of it, however, and kept moving off. I had better luck, as I found a Snowy inside a chain link fenced area, and I was able to get this shot from my vehicle. The owl seemed quite unconcerned.

I also wanted to check on the ongoing reports of Snow Geese and a Ross's Goose at the Ridgetown Sewage Lagoons. I had seen them there a few weeks ago, but am always on the lookout for more and better photos. At first the Snow Geese were on a berm quite unsuitable for good photos. But waiting a bit was the key, as after a few minutes this group got up to go to a field of corn stubble nearby. This photo shows a 'blue' phase, in the upper left, as well as a first year bird, the lowest one on the right. The rest were mostly typical white Snow Geese....

...but not all of them. The Ross's Goose was in this group. It is relatively easily separated from a Snow due to its smaller size, a shorter, stubbier bill with no grin patch, and a slightly rounder head. If you click on the photo, these characteristics may be more apparent.

But the biggest event of the last few days has been the Wallaceburg/Walpole Christmas Bird Count, held on Dec 27. I helped get this count going back in 1986. My territory for most of the last couple of decades has included the St. Clair River north of Walpole Island as well as several roads and more woodland areas inland from the river, so there is a nice diversity of habitat. But the most important part is the river.

Unfortunately the river did not have a lot of waterfowl this year, compared to many years. It seems there hasn't been enough cold weather, forcing birds down from the more northern lakes. There was no ice on the river at all, and not many gulls either. Nonetheless there were enough to make parts of it interesting, but photographing the waterfowl had its limitations. Here are a few of the things I saw.

There were a fair number of Bufflehead, shown first. This one was getting ready for flight, and I got this shot a split second before it lifted off, hence its wing is partially out.

Common Goldeneye was about the most common duck I saw, although the number was still below 100 individuals.

There were a few Greater Scaup....

....and even fewer Lesser Scaup. The photo below actually shows a female Greater on the left, and a Lesser in the center. It is slightly smaller, has a slightly more peaked head, not as rounded, and the dark tip of the bill is much more restricted compared to a Greater.

There were a few gulls, and by far the most common was Herring Gull. I saw a couple of Ring-billed and Greater Black-backed Gulls but they were way too far off, mostly on the other side of the river.

A highlight was seeing a group of seven Hooded Mergansers but from a distance in a wide creek. The best photo opportunity for this species came at about the end of the day, as this male Hoodie was resting on a piece of ice in a narrow creek along a quiet road. I was able to get almost full frame shots of it right from the vehicle.

Mallard.....yes, there are always some Mallards around, so when the photos of more exciting things are hard to come by, why not shoot a Mallard....

...or one of the numerous exotic Mute Swans?

Certainly a little more exciting were 21 Tundra Swans right close to the river shore downstream from Sombra. They are more often seen in fields well away from the river.

As mentioned, I did some more inland areas, where songbirds and non-waterbirds were to be found. I found a fair number of American Tree Sparrows in a couple of locations.

This adult Cooper's Hawk allowed me to get closer than I expected, although maybe it thought it was obscured enough by the branches.

A few Downy Woodpeckers came in to check me out as I 'pished' for birds.

Mourning Doves aren't exactly uncommon, but when a photo op presents itself, I'll take it!

Rock Pigeons were fairly plentiful, although most of them were across the river, roosting on a building connected to a power plant. But there were a few resting on some hydro wires along the road, and with a nice sky background for a change, why not?

Certainly the highlight of the inland birds was this Short-eared Owl. Okay it isn't all that obvious, and I wouldn't have seen it if I hadn't met Mike B along the roadside who had seen it fly in and land way out in the field. I took a couple of photos of it in mid-morning, but there was just enough sunlight to create some haze, and those photos were not worth keeping. I came by again later in the afternoon when the sun was behind some clouds, and there was no problematic sunlight haze. Unfortunately the owl was always facing the opposite direction, so this is the best I could do. Between the camera/lens combination and some severe cropping, this photo is at about the equivalent of about 140 X!

The count ended up with 85 species plus an unidentified shorebird, which was a bit higher than normal.

This is likely the last post before the new year, as I will be busy preparing for the next bird count on January 1, so with that I will wish all readers a Happy New Year!

Twas a Count Before Christmas

 I usually only participate in one Christmas Bird Count before Christmas. The others are after. The one before is the Blenheim CBC, but with Rondeau Prov Park and Rondeau Bay being the main natural feature, it often just is referred to as the Rondeau CBC. Anyway, it was last weekend, and there was a good number of excellent birders joining in, keeping socially distant for the most part, as far as I know. There was no gathering at the end of the day.

I've been doing this count since about 1968 or 1969, so for more than 50 years. On some counts, it feels like it! Since about the mid 1970s, my territory has been mostly the south end of the park and sometimes includes the marsh trail, but in the last several decades, it has been exclusively the south beach, and if time permits and there is the need for coverage elsewhere in the park, I may get to other areas.

I start off by driving to the south end of the west side of the South Point Trail and then walk out towards Erieau from there. Being a former long-term staff member, park volunteer and being on good terms with the current staff, having a key to the gate for events like this is definitely an advantage. Of course I check with the park staff to make sure the South Point Trail is clear to drive.  Upon their check on the Friday before the count, this is one of the photos of the south beach I received.

Clearly the walk west did not look to be enjoyable or even doable, and this was on a day with little or no wave action. 

  It didn't look a whole lot better on the day of the count with the added aspect of a fair bit of wave action from the brisk southwest winds, although at least the snow was gone.

 

 But birders do not like to be held back.....what would we miss if we didn't do our territory? This part of the count circle has had some very exciting birds on counts of past years. Think of Harlequin Duck, Purple Sandpiper, Red Phalarope, Red-throated Loon, King Eider, Snowy Owl and others including virtually all of the expected waterfowl species. Therefore we decided on a bit of an alternate plan. We went back up the trail about 300 metres where we could access another ridge, then followed it down to the lake to where it was a little less tangled. Not much less, but enough to be able to get to the more open stretch of the south beach that led to Erieau. Once we made it past the last ridge of trees, this is more or less what awaited us. We even had a hint of blue sky for a few minutes. 

 That is Erieau in the distance to the left of the beach, only about 4 kilometres away in a straight line distance, but what birder ever walks a straight line even when sober?

This next photo was taken when we were well out towards Erieau, probably still a kilometer away, and looking back towards the Rondeau forest.

Another photo looking towards Erieau.

One of the species we were really looking hard for was Purple Sandpiper. There had been one along this stretch of beach only a couple of weeks or so ago. It isn't a species we get very often, but when there is so much beach habitat available and the weather has not been enough to drive them farther south, it is always a possibility. We didn't get one last year, although one had been in the area in the late fall, and one showed up here in early March before normal spring migration, so it likely overwintered in the area, but unfortunately went undetected on that count. This next photo shows the one which was present along here on March 9, 2020.

 If it was there this year, we wanted to do everything we could to find it. But as hard as we looked, we could not find any sign of it.

We did see a few things, and since I didn't have my 'good' camera with the long telephoto lens with me on this trek, the following bird photos are from my files. We saw lots of American Black Ducks....

....and some Mallards.

There was the occasional Common Goldeneye...

....and a couple of Ruddy Ducks.

An immature Bald Eagle flew by.

...and we got the only Double-crested Cormorant for the count, which was a bit of a surprise since there had been others in the area recently.

Altogether Kevin and I got about 30 species, but since the woodlands throughout the count circle were very quiet, and the wind and wave action didn't make hearing things any easier, it was still worth it. It was the lowest count for me in terms of species diversity for many years. 

The overall count total for the day stands at 111 species, which is really quite good. It is only the eighth time since the count started in 1939 that we have had that many species. The only new species on this count was Trumpeter Swan. A bit overdue, I think, so it is nice to be able to add that to the overall list. The count since 1939 now stands at 193 species!

Trumpeter Swan

 

 

Merry Christmas everyone!

And for some added thoughts, I invite you to listen to one of the best Christmas songs ever, sung by the one who wrote it. Check it out here.

Late Fall Forays

 It is that time of year, when winter hasn't arrived, the woodlands have few birds in them other than the resident species such as woodpeckers, but the unfrozen wetlands still have birds holding off on the migration. 

But a walk through the woods can still be inviting, and there are other things to see such as this rather attractive jelly fungus. 

Fan-shaped Jelly Fungus

I've been out scouring around to see what I can find, as the Christmas Bird Count season is almost here. Technically today, Dec 15, is the first day of the count period, but most counts, if folks are going through with them, will not likely start until the coming weekend. Social distancing is quite easy to do, and it is healthy to get out and get some fresh air and exercise. The big difference for most, will be not to have any meal and tally gathering at the end of the day.

Some of the local sewage lagoons continue to attract lots of waterfowl. The Ridgetown lagoons have been a good place to check lately, with some less common geese species hanging out. There is always a good number of Canada Geese, but several Snow Geese continue to be there.

The 'grin' patch is a key characteristic to look for.....

...compared to the smaller and much rarer Ross's Goose, which doesn't have the grin patch, has a stubbier bill and if you get the right angle, can see a slightly bluish patch at the base of the bill.

Lots of Tundra Swans are coming and going.

There is usually a good variety of ducks, but often many of them are on the far side of the far pond and difficult to get a good close-up photo of. These two Common Goldeneye were in the closest pond.

Sandhill Cranes have become much more common in recent years, but at this fairly late date, most have continued on with their migration. A few groups are still around, such as this one that I 'shot' today up near the Bear Creek Unit of St. Clair NWA.

Snowy Owls are showing up and sticking around, and hopefully will continue to do so for the upcoming bird counts. They seem to be particularly fond of staying well away from roads, so getting a photo at a distance seems to be the only option most times.

Occasionally there will be a couple fairly close together.

The usual mix of other raptors are scattered around, with the most common one being Red-tailed Hawk.

 Rough-legged Hawks are much less common, and the dark phase of this species, shown in the next two photos, is even less common than the light phase.

There will likely be at least a few Northern Harriers around all winter, but they are difficult to photograph. I got this one at quite a distance. Fortunately its white rump is fairly visible.

I was actually on my way to a spot along Stefina Line, south of Blenheim, which periodically has one or more Short-eared Owls, when the Northern Harrier flew by. A bit later I arrived at the large pasture, which has a combination of short grass, some longer and weedier grass and some shrubby trees. As long as the habitat was good for a healthy mice or voles population, it would be good for raptors. I met up with three other people who were also on the lookout for the owls. The Short-ears don't seem to fly during nice daylight, but more often just at dusk. On this heavily overcast day, there was nothing moving, so two of the others left. It was tempting to leave as well, but I figured I was here, why not wait just another few minutes. And then one appeared, albeit briefly, as it flew up from the dark background and its round head and floppy flight was quite evident against the fading sky. There was no real opportunity to get a photo, so I just enjoyed the brief view with binoculars. The image below shows a Short-eared Owl at this same location taken several years ago, when one decided to show itself in much better light conditions and cooperated nicely at least for a few minutes.