Early January (mostly) birding

 Certainly one of the most sought after local birds over the last couple of weeks is the Harris's Sparrow. It is a species that shows up quite irregularly in this area, so as this one has been predictably popular, there have been many dozens of birders out to see it. On one occasion there were so many vehicles lined up, it was hard for local travelers to pass through.

It hasn't always been easy to photograph. On my first attempt, it was a sunny day, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the bird was almost always along the fence row at the side of the road, and behind grasses that were in a constant state of movement due to the wind. Therefore the camera's focus as well as the backlit conditions made it almost impossible, and this next photo was the best I could get.

Fortunately on another day, it was cloudy bright, and the sparrow sat up on a rail for long enough to get the first couple of unobstructed photos.

It was accompanied by a good mix of other winter time sparrows, including White-crowned Sparrows and others.

Before it got too snowy and cold, I managed to capture a few other things, such as one of four American Robins I saw on an outing at Rondeau....

....the Barred Owl at a nearby conservation area, which has been there for several weeks but roosts unpredictably and is often not found by the searchers.....

...from 1-6 Killdeer hanging out at a small unfrozen area at the Keith McLean Conservation Lands....

....a few Sandhill Cranes...

....and a Snow Goose. All nice things to add for the season.

As is usual for the time of year, in spite of the colder than average temperatures, a bit of the water in the Erieau vicinity remains open. Lingering waterfowl continue to hang out, at least for now. At first the birds are well out in the open water, as they are undoubtedly still cautious in being too close to human activity due to the continuing waterfowl hunting season. This first photo shows a mix of typical ducks, including Ring-necks, Scaup sp, Redhead and a good number of American Coot, the latter of which technically is not a duck.

Mostly American Coot

As the cold continues, waterfowl are forced to be closer to shore, much to the delight of viewers and photographers.

Common Goldeneye

Common Merganser

Greater Scaup

Certainly one of the primary ducks to look for in the Erieau area in the last week or so has been not one, but three Harlequin Ducks. Finding them is no easy task, as they are often across the channel and sometimes tucked in with the rocks out of view. These three are females, so not nearly as colourful as the males, but still a great species to find and photograph. I had been out looking on a couple of different occasions, including one time when there were hunters set up across the channel amongst the rocks, and the only 'ducks' I could see were decoys. The other real ducks were widely scattered and the Harlequins were not visible. However on my most recent attempt, I managed to see all three close together where the marina joins the main channel.

Among other species were Redhead....

...and Ruddy Ducks.

While out looking for Short-eared Owls, I found one or two, but was not able to get a photo. But I did manage to get a distant photo of this Rough-legged Hawk busily hunting in the same area....

....and some Wild Turkeys were feeding in a field near the Ridge Landfill. Backlit a bit, but salvageable.

I will finish up with some odds and ends. For anyone who is a regular hiker at Rondeau, you will notice that the Tulip Tree Trail has been partially closed for several weeks. The park staff have been busy making some much needed repairs in some sections. But now as one approaches the trail, parts of it look like this:

And a closer look:

For anyone interested, the American Birding Association has selected what species will be its 'Bird of the Year.' It is the Common Loon, a species well-known to Canadians!

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Autumn's final warm fling?

 Butterflies in late November? Yes, and a few other warmish season creatures have been out and about. Eastern Comma, first, is a species that will overwinter as an adult, so when the weather is warm, they can be out basking as this one was.

Common Buckeye does not overwinter in southwestern Ontario, but there has been a good number of them this late summer and fall, so it isn't all that surprising to see the occasional one stick around in this unseasonably warm weather.

  There have been a few Autumn Meadowhawks flitting around in sunny, sheltered places.

Next is a Black Blow Fly.

...followed by a Common Drone Fly.

There were a few of this next one around. It is a possibly a Tufted Clusterfly, although the exact type of clusterfly has not yet been determined.

Woolly Bear Caterpillars are often seen, even in winter. It is the larval stage of the Isabella Tiger Moth, and this first image shows the typical coloration.

According to a specialist on iNat, this next one is a Tiger Moth of the Phragmatobia species.

Reptiles are cold-blooded, and are not often seen this late in the season. However due to the warmer than normal temperatures, a few Eastern Garter Snakes were out....

.....as were a few Midland Painted Turtles.

I even heard several Spring Peepers on more than one occasion! I'm sure all these reptiles and amphibians are now safely in their winter quarters!

On one of my outings to Rondeau, I spent a bit of time scanning the lake from the east beach. I was hoping for a few loons, especially a Red-throated Loon or even a Pacific Loon. Both have been seen on occasion in the last week or so. I did see up to a couple of dozen Common Loons.....

....and there was at least one Red-throated Loon mixed in from a distance, but I didn't get any photos of it. As for a Pacific Loon, I struck out on that one so far, but I have seen them in Ontario in the past. When I was involved with some wildlife surveys at Polar Bear Provincial Park in about 1990, we came across a nest, and one of the adults was cooperative enough to allow me this photo. The fall plumage is considerably more drab than this photo, however.

While looking for loons, there was a massive movement of Red-breasted Mergansers flying by. I think they had been stirred up by a passing ship, so there were probably 3-4000 of them in flight that stretched like this photo, for at least a kilometre with smaller groups going by as well.

I spent a bit of time up along the Mitchell's Bay North Lakeshore Trail, and while I didn't see any shorebirds on this occasion in spite of the extensive mud flats, there were some raptors in the area keeping an eye on waterfowl and other things. There were probably three adult Bald Eagles in the area, although they were sometimes on the move for a short distance and maybe there were only two.

This Merlin, next, was initially seen hopping around in some shallow water. Not sure what it was trying to do, maybe wash something before eating? It wasn't clear, but after a few moments it got up and left....

....and this next photo is likely of the same bird, on the top of a pole a short distance away, surveying its domain.

I also spent a bit of time along the Erieau Marsh Trail. There wasn't a huge diversity of birds, but a few things caught my eye and gave me some photo ops. I was a little surprised to see at least a couple of dozen American Pipits flying around in a loose group and landing near the tree tops. I usually see them in much fewer numbers, and typically on the ground, but these were migrating so were behaving a little differently.

American Tree Sparrows are one of the more common sparrows this time of year. This one was busily tearing into some goldenrod seedheads.

A Downy Woodpecker was digging into a tree trunk....

...and this is a Rusty Blackbird, one of a small flock of a dozen or so on the move.

This Great Blue Heron was first noticed when I heard its loud 'croak' that indicated where it was, so enabled me to get this rather distant and cropped photo.

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