Some year end birding

 These last couple of weeks of December have been a bit of a whirlwind. Christmas Bird Counts, Christmas itself and general year end preparations for the coming New Year. Where did the time go?

As you may have noticed, I did get out to see the Limpkin that was hanging around Wheatley Prov Park for several days. It may, in fact, still be there somewhere, as it did eventually seem to move around making it more challenging for birders searching for it.

It was first noticed during a bird count on Dec 19 that included Wheatley. I didn't get out to look for it until Dec 21, and almost didn't find it since it had moved off a bit from where others had seen it. Not far, mind you, but tucked away in a brushy area and with its back to me and not moving, it blended in fairly well. But persistence paid off, and I eventually found it. Here are a few photos showing that in spite of initial concerns that it was so immobile it might not be able to survive, it moved around as needed, preening from time to time.

I had to move around a bit to get the bird in clear view from the surrounding shrubbery, and these are cropped to eliminate more of the distracting background.

A bit earlier than this day, was the Blenheim/Rondeau Christmas Bird Count. I gave up my usual territory (the Rondeau south beach) to some much younger and more energetic souls. Given the wind and the rain that persisted most of the first half of the day, I wasn't terribly disappointed. Instead I positioned myself at the south end of the South Point Trail and scanned with my scope across the lake. But with the brisk southerly wind, and accompanying rain, it wasn't all that great when one is looking straight into it. The view through optical equipment was not easy. This following photo shows the view in just seconds after being exposed to the elements. 

 It was hard to keep the optical equipment clear enough to view much of anything, so after putting up with it for the better part of an hour, I decided to head north. The woods were quiet, although at least I didn't have to face looking into the rain.

There likely were sparrows and such in the grassy sloughs, but with so much for them to choose from, they weren't where I was.

There might have been birds that saw me. However with the wind, and the sound of waves breaking on the south and east shore of the park, in combination with my less than stellar hearing, I didn't record a lot. In fact during one segment, where I walked about 6 kilometres along wooded roads and trails, I saw a grand total of 4 birds!

Certainly not one of my more productive bird count days at Rondeau. Fortunately others in the count circle had much more productivity, with results being 110 species for the count! Not quite as high as the record 123 species recorded last year, but as one of my birding colleagues stated "at some stage of the early part of the day, I thought we would be lucky to beat the London count totals!" So all things considered, 110 species was quite satisfying. I think only one or two other counts in Ontario exceeded 100 species this year.

I did get some birding in on other days, when the weather was a little better. For example at Rondeau I saw and photographed:

A singing Carolina Wren, something they don't do much of on a cloudy dreary day.

Northern Flicker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Just outside the park, an adult Red-headed Woodpecker has been hanging out somewhat predictably, enabling me to get a couple of photos.

With the sometimes record mild temperatures, even the occasional cold-blooded amphibians were out, such as this Northern Leopard Frog.

In the Erieau area, I got photographs of Ruddy Duck....

...and this Downy Woodpecker that was tucked away in some shrubbery.

In the more northerly parts of Chatham-Kent, partly in preparation for the St. Clair NWA Christmas Bird Count which is New Year's Day, I photographed several Snow Geese mixed in with much more abundant Canadas...

...and several Sandhill Cranes.

I was photographing this Rough-legged Hawk, when it raised its tail....

...and I caught it in this act.....

...before flying off. These photos were taken in two successive seconds.

A highlight was to see this Northern Shrike on a wire, and I managed to get a couple of photos before traffic caused it to move elsewhere.

Happy New Year!

 

P. S. it has come to my attention that my previous post was not received by everyone on the distribution list. If you want to see it, just scroll down this post and select 'Older Posts'.

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