Early January 2026 outings

 New Year's day dawned clear and cold. It was the date for the annual St. Clair NWA Christmas Bird Count. As usual, my territory started at SCNWA, along the northwest berm that is normally off limits to visitors which I have permission to access. It is very much out in the open, subject to wind. Since the day started off at about -13C and a wind chill making it to about -23C, it was not easy going, especially since I have to hike about 2 km or more, carrying a tripod and 'scope along with binoculars. 

This is what I encountered from a landscape perspective:

...and this was the adjacent St. Luke's Marsh a bit to the north.

 The vast majority of the wetland was frozen, not surprisingly given the recent weather, but as is often the case, there is a small area at the extreme NW part of my route which has open water. And  there are many individuals of waterfowl making use of it, hence the need for the 'scope. The birds were packed in so it was difficult to pick out anything unusual, but there were many hundreds of Mallards and Canada Geese with a few Tundra Swans and American Black Ducks there as well.

Some readers will be aware that the NWA was closed to public access for three months while some trail/bridge alterations were made. It re-opened just before the end of December, fortunately for the CBC. Here is the new bridge structure...

...and the view from the bridge looking generally south:

After covering this part of my territory I went elsewhere, and fortunately came across a few more things, such as a few Dark-eyed Juncos coming to a feeder....

...a few Northern Cardinals along a roadway...

....and four Wild Turkeys scattered well out in a field

An Eastern Screech Owl was cooperatively sitting out in plain view.

At another spot, a small amount of corn was present at the roadside, and the birds found it. There were several Horned Larks, which are sometimes hard to get photos of. As it turns out, the American Birding Association has declared the Horned Lark to be its featured Bird of the Year.

A few other winter birds were also making use of the corn availability, including a species that is always fun to see.

Snow Bunting

 

Mourning Dove

Elsewhere, there were always crows to see!

 I 'managed' to get to Rondeau on a couple of occasions a few days later. While birds were not abundant where I hiked, I got a few photos of things. This sub-adult Bald Eagle was surprisingly tolerant along the east South Point Trail on my way out...

...but on my return had decided to move a little farther away, on a white pine branch right at the edge of the forest.

A Fox Sparrow is not common at this time of year, but I got a few photos of this one along the north end of Harrison Trail.

 Northern Cardinals are scattered about....

...as are Red-bellied Woodpeckers.

On another occasion I walked the west side of the SPT. A wind storm had knocked over a dead American Beech tree across the trail. No doubt as American Beech trees continue to be affected by the deadly Beech Leaf Disease, this will become a more regular occurrence. I brought this to the attention of park staff, and was advised the next day that the trail had been cleared.

The view from the very south end of the trail is always intriguing as the shoreline with ice and waves are constantly causing change.

A quick trip to Erieau had a fair variety of water birds to see, but most were too far to attempt a photo. However American Coots are usually fairly close by.

 

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And the 2021 Bird Of the Year Is.....

 ,,,,Pileated Woodpecker!

For those readers who are members of the American Bird Association, and get periodic email updates, you will likely already know this. For the past few years, the ABA has picked a bird to be the Bird of the Year, and it has included species such as Ruddy Turnstone, Cedar Waxwing and Green Heron, all of which are great, popular choices. The Pileated Woodpecker is no less a favourite of many people, birders and non-birders alike and probably better known to non-birders than the three mentioned above. It is a large bird, and very distinctive with its red crest, and probably where the idea for the Woody Woodpecker cartoon character came from. The Pileated Woodpecker has a very distinctive call, which also possibly resulted in the Woody Woodpecker laugh.

The Pileated Woodpecker generally likes large woodlands. I have read where normally a territory for a single pair of these woodpeckers is approximately 600 acres. But they have become somewhat accustomed to people, as some people living in or adjacent to woodlands have them coming into their yards. Once you have seen one of these, it is not something easily forgotten.

The species is widespread across the eastern and northern USA, and across much of southern and eastern Canada. At Rondeau Provincial Park, there are probably at least 5 or 6 pairs. On the most recent Christmas Bird Count, only a few short weeks ago, there were 7 birds reported. They can be notoriously hard to find when you are looking specifically for them, and at other times, they can be very tolerant, even cooperative for the photographer. Here are a few images I've taken of this impressive woodpecker at Rondeau.

You are more likely to see evidence of their presence than the actual bird. Their holes are distinctive, often showing elongation.

With their massive beaks, they can really tear into a tree trunk to go after the beetles and such that they can tell are working away inside. They can leave an impressive amount of large chips on the ground below.

Nests are hard to find, and the adults are quieter and more wary in the nest vicinity. The nest cavity access is fairly small considering the size of the bird, and mostly rounded, but a little flattened at the bottom. The photos above show a male, with the crest being red from the beak to the tip. The bird in the next photo is the female, as the forehead is brown, and only the last part being red.

It is truly an impressive bird, and an excellent choice for Bird of the Year, as it happens to also be the bird featured on the Ontario Field Ornithologist's logo.

February Shorebirds!

It seems that oddities are the norm these days, thanks to the weather. My last post dealt with butterflies in February. Not to be outdone are shorebirds in February.

(Note: only the last photo in this blog post was actually taken in Feb.....the rest were obtained from my archived files.)

Killdeer have been around for a few days now; that isn't all that much of a surprise.

American Woodcock have also been around, and aren't too far off their normal arrival. Given that some stayed quite late in the fall (5 were recorded on the Rondeau Christmas Bird Count on December 18), is it possible that some of the handful that have been reported in the last week are actually winter survivors?

The most surprising shorebird arrival was one I unexpectedly saw yesterday, Feb 27. I was scanning a large, scattered flock of waterfowl at the head of Rondeau Bay. Some ducks and coots were close to the edge, which is piled up with black organic material, and appearing as mud flats. There were 4 Killdeer, and as I was scanning, a Lesser Yellowlegs popped into view! Unfortunately as I was scanning through my scope at about 45X or more, and with the sun shimmer, there was no way I could get a photo at all. But its size, (body size about the same as a nearby Killdeer, although slimmer) long bright yellow legs which made the bird stand taller than the Killdeer, and the long pointed beak were quite diagnostic, as was the habit of darting around in search for food.

As far as I am aware, the earliest record of Lesser Yellowlegs for the Rondeau Provincial Park checklist area is March 23, which occurred quite a few years ago (pre-1979). So this bird yesterday was more than three weeks earlier. According to the ebird database, the earliest record for Ontario was March 6, 1977 in the Hamilton/Royal Botanical Gardens area of Spencer Creek, so this record of Feb 27 is the earliest date ever for Ontario by about one week.

Still with the shorebird theme, but not one that I expect to see for quite a few weeks yet, is this Ruddy Turnstone. I feature it because the February, 2017 issue of Birding, published by the American Birding Association, has just declared it as the Bird of the Year for 2017. I photographed this individual from my kayak as the bird wandered along the edge of the sandy island in Rondeau Bay.

I did get a couple of other 'first of the year' birds yesterday, however, but no other shorebirds. I finally got the long-staying Orange-crowned Warbler along the South Point Trail, as it hung out with a group of Golden-crowned Kinglets, Tufted Titmice and Black-capped Chickadees. No photos, though.

The other FOY was a Turkey Vulture which flew low over the trees at the north end of the Campground, and enabled me to get only this one quick shot as it flew right over my head.

Happy late winter birding!

Green Heron....2015 Bird of the Year

I got my latest issue of Birding magazine in the mail earlier this week, the colourful and informative publication every member of the American Birding Association receives several times a year. Over the last few years, ABA has identified a particular species as the Bird of the Year.

For 2015, it is the Green Heron!

The Green Heron is one of my favourite species. It isn't large and showy like other members of the heron group is. In fact it is about the smallest of the ones here in North America. I find them very furtive, with such an intense, piercing look to its face. They seem almost neckless, until they dart out after a small fish or frog. I love hearing their distinctive 'call', a fairly quiet and slightly descending throaty 'kowwww', rather than the raucous croaks and kraaks of its much larger relatives. And as common and widespread as they are, they are surprisingly hard to find sometimes, especially when one is doing a big day and that box beside its name on the list sits unchecked at the end of the day. Yet at other times, they just pop into view and seem quite tolerant of people.

From a distance, depending on the light, they may look almost totally dark. But when seen up close, they are surprisingly colourful. The yellow on the facial area, the chestnut brown upper body, the dark green rest of the upper body, and the light and striped or fairly solid chestnut, depending on age, underside are an attractive combination.

Many heron species nest in colonies, but Green Herons seldom do, and even then they would be very few in number. They nest in a variety of situations, but almost always quite close to water. They prefer shrubbery, and have even been known to nest in a cedar hedge close to a cottage! I've found the occasional nest, and was first able to get some photos of them in action back in June of 1976, at Rondeau. This next photo is the result of that experience, as the nest was built at about eye level in a large buttonbush, a common shrub of a high quality wetland.

It is a scanned photo, obviously, and doesn't reflect the true colours and details as well as it might. Also, the nest was in fairly bright, mid-day sunlight so the light conditions were a little harsher than ideal. Lots of direct sunlight during June can be hard on the newly hatched birds, so this adult was standing over the chicks covering them to protect them from the intense sunlight and heat generated from it.

So hats off to the ABA 2015 Bird of the Year!

Green Heron successfully fishing