More birds, less winter??

 It has been nice to see the intensive wintry conditions subside, at least a bit. So I have managed to get out to a few local places to see what is around. 

 A recent visit to St. Clair NWA wasn't terribly productive, but the combination of a nice walk and a few birds made it worthwhile. American Tree Sparrows are often around, scrounging on the now exposed grassy trail and retreating to the adjacent cattails when a hiker disturbs them.

A few Canada Geese are going to and fro, but not stopping in the still frozen NWA.

Views of the frozen NWA, taken from the observation tower, follow. It won't be many weeks until there is lots of open water, and hopefully lots of water birds!

Rock Pigeons are here and there, and on a really cold day they seldom fly, but as the weather warms up a bit they become less tolerant of a stopped vehicle with something pointed out at them. These three were part of a group that was a little more tolerant. 

I decided to make another trip up along the St. Clair River. There is still lots of ice floating around, making it difficult to get close enough to many of the waterfowl. I was hoping to catch up to a couple of Trumpeter Swans that are here and there, and although I did see them, I didn't get any photos of them. This next photo is of two I saw a few years ago.

A few other, much more common species of waterfowl, were more available for my photographic attempts. This first one features a male Ring-necked Duck in the foreground, and a male Redhead in the background.
 

male Common Merganser

male Canvasback

On another outing, I headed a bit east, into southeastern Lambton County, where it seems that eagles tend to over winter. I have seen and photographed Golden Eagles here in the past. However on this occasion I only saw one Bald Eagle, but didn't get an acceptable photo. I did manage a few other things, such as a fair number of Horned Larks in scattered locations, so I spent a bit of time capturing a few photos of them as they hung out in the fields adjacent to the road. They blend in quite well when in the corn stubble.

Horned Larks are fun to watch, and photograph. It is the the Bird of the Year for the American Birding Association.

A Red-tailed Hawk hung out on a tree quite a way from the road, but enabled me to get this heavily cropped photo.

Closer to home, I spent a bit of time hiking some of the less snowy/slushy roads and trails at Rondeau. I got a good hike or two in, but didn't photograph many birds. This male Pileated Woodpecker was the most successful of my efforts, and didn't seem to mind my camera pointed at him for several minutes.
 

I came across this workings of this Poplar Vagabond Aphid. I hadn't paid much attention to them in the past but they are more abundant than I thought. It looks quite a bit different in the mid-summer, and will try and get photos of it later this year.

Even closer to home, I checked out the water treatment plant outlet just downstream from Chatham. The open area is not large, but there are a few dozen ducks making use of it. Amongst the mostly Mallards, were a couple of others, such as this female Common Goldeneye, shown first...

...and this female Common Merganser. A Green-winged Teal was also there but I didn't get any photos of it.

 And even closer to home, were some American Crows, not surprisingly, and I took this through the kitchen window. Doesn't get any closer than that!

 

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Wintry landscapes, lots of ice, and a few birds

 I managed to get out to the southern part of Chatham-Kent a couple of times, but the birds were not all that plentiful. There was virtually no open water along the east beach, although small open spots well out had a few waterfowl. The ice formations were attractive, however.

 The east beach was attractive to a few Bald Eagles. I think I have seen at least 2-3 on every time I made it out.

 There were some scenic parts of the woodland, even though the birds were almost non-existent.

However at a couple of feeders at the north end of the park, there were often at least some bird activity. A Carolina Wren isn't very common in the winter, but on occasion they can be found visiting a feeder under the current wintry conditions.

Here a Black-capped Chickadee and Downy Woodpecker were putting up with each other on opposite sides of the feeder.

I went over to Erieau, hoping there were two or three open spots in the Lake's ice to appeal to at least a few ducks, but it wasn't to be, at least unless a change in the wind caused some openings.

For something different, I went up along the St. Clair River as there is usually enough movement in the river to create some openings.

There was a small group of swans well out on the ice, and resting so it was hard to tell what species they were. I had some Mute Swans elsewhere. The bit of gray on some of the plumages suggest they were likely Tundra Swans, which isn't surprising, although a few Trumpeter Swans have also been seen. However getting a look at their beak would have been really helpful

One of many Redheads was constantly diving for something. I didn't see that it caught anything for its efforts.

Others seemed to be content to mostly just swim around.

These are a few Mute Swans, easily identified by their bill.

A few Common Mergansers were in the area....

...as were Common Goldeneye...

...and Canvasback.

I also spent a bit of time roaming around the former Dover Twp. There was no shortage of American Crows.

At St. Clair NWA, now that it is open to hikers again, there were a couple of dozen American Tree Sparrow feeding on the open grassier sections of the trail.

This Beaver lodge is, I think, new. I don't recall seeing it along the usual stretch of trail I hike along, but with the NWA being closed from October to the end of December, there was time for them to build one.

 The view of the NWA from the observation tower is rather bleak. Not much interest there for birds at the moment, but come spring....I will be there regularly!

 At a usual spot that has several Wood Duck nesting boxes, Eastern Screech Owls will take up one as a wintering residence, peaking out to capture some of the sun's warming rays.

This next item is what is probably the result of a Poplar Vagabond Aphid causing some deformation on the outer buds of a Poplar tree.

Where there is a bit of open area in a field, you can sometimes find a few Wild Turkeys. There were at least 40 birds gathered in this open space.

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(Mostly) Water creatures and a memorial marker

 Most of my outings of late have been out where there is a bit of open water, since woodlands and non-wetland areas seem to be fairly devoid of birds, at least those that are able to be successfully photographed. So places like the Erieau harbour and immediate area with at least some open water, is one where ducks and other waterbirds collect. 

American Coot can be found, sometimes by the hundreds, but they are usually well out in open spots too distant to photograph. Some will hang out in the main channel.

Canvasback are regularly seen.

A comparison between Canvasback, in front, with a Redhead, behind.

Common Goldeneye are relatively few, but regular.

Scaup, primarily Greater Scaup, are well represented. There are strong similarities between the two, but the Greater Scaup, shown here, has a fairly rounded head. It also has a wider black tip of the bill.

Hooded Mergansers, the smallest of the three merganser species in the area, are around in small numbers, such as this female.

A bit similar to the scaup is the Ring-Necked Duck, with its more pointed head, and a distinct white area on its frontal flank as well as across the outer part of the bill.

Mute Swans, next, are not native to North America, and are not well regarded by birders or wildlife biologists, as they are very domineering over native waterfowl. They were introduced to North America by Europeans after settlement. But one should realize that in themselves they are impressive and beautiful birds. There are often a dozen or more scattered around Erieau.

 

There isn't much open water in the Thames River these days, given the extent of cold weather in recent weeks. But where the warm-water outlet occurs, there are usually a few ducks. American Black Ducks, shown first, are much fewer than Mallards which follow. At Erieau, there are often quite a few Am Black Ducks.....

....and an occasional female Red-breasted Merganser will be seen.

Not a duck, obviously, was this Beaver swimming through the open water, carrying a branch to its burrow, likely in the side of the river bank.

Northwest of Chatham, there is very little open water on Lake St. Clair or adjacent rivers, but where there is some, one can find a few birds. This next, somewhat distant, photo was taken from the very north end of Bear Line, looking in a small area of open water along the Chenal Ecarte, a.k.a. the Snye, which separates Walpole Island First Nation from the Ontario mainland. Most birds were Canada Geese, with a few Mallards, scaup, and Hooded Mergansers mingled within. A closer look just to the right of centre shows one of the four Great Blue Herons hanging out with the waterfowl.

 One of the herons was off by itself on the ice.

Elsewhere in a few spots were some Tundra Swans in some corn stubble. At first glance, due to the lack of the yellow patch on its black bill, one might figure it is a Trumpeter Swan. However some Tundras lack the yellow patch, and the black gap right in front of the eye is narrow like a Tundra. Also the swans that it was associating with were all Tundras, so it was an easy decision.

Elsewhere I came across a couple of Wood Duck boxes, which maybe in the spring will have a Wood Duck family occupying it, but at the moment, there is an Eastern Screech Owl making use of it.

On a sad note, I came across this marker along the road not far from St. Clair NWA. It marks the location of where a murder victim was dumped over the road bank and into the adjacent channel. It was in early January of 2024 when I was out looking for Snowy Owls that I came across this victim from Tilbury, and reported it to the police. I waited until they arrived, gave them the details of my discovery, and then left so they could get their investigation underway. Three people all known to the 54-year old victim, were charged with murder, and the case is still before the courts. Certainly unfortunate in so many ways, but such is the reality of society. This is the first, and hopefully the last, time I encounter this type of thing. It is along a road that I regularly drive, so there are unfortunate reminders of this every time.

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