(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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Barred Owl continues, plus hints of spring

The Barred Owl that has been at Shrewsbury since late December or earlier, continues to hang around. It does move around the village regularly, but always seems to find a roost to spend the day time hours. This, of course, makes it a real challenge for birders looking for it and basing their search on where it was seen the day before. Especially frustrating if one comes from a distance, and keeps striking out, which has happened in at least a few cases.

I was out a few days ago, and with quite up-to-date information on where to find it, was successful. I was able to approach it carefully and quietly with a long telephoto lens. While the owl saw me it did not seem to be all that concerned.

In the few minutes I was there, it spent most of its time with its eyes closed, apparently unconcerned and even ignoring me. That was fine with me, I was not offended in the least :-).

With the above normal temperatures lately, even shorebirds are starting to appear. There have been up to 3 Killdeer seen regularly along the Erieau Marsh/Rail Trail. It is possible that they never left, but if so, where were they over the last couple of months as they were not reported at any of the usual birding spots by birders out and about in various places. At any rate they seem to be predictable at this location. This first one was one of three seen on Feb 8.

I was out again today (Feb 16) and saw at least three.

Interestingly another shorebird, a Lesser Yellowlegs, was photographed in a slightly flooded field in the area, beside McGeachy Pond, just yesterday. Given the warm temperatures, up to about 15C, one might expect birds to be confused and tempted to get moving. I checked the area today, but as is often the case, the bit of water in the field yesterday, was pretty much gone today. There were other ponded areas, but I did not come across the bird. Perhaps it got a little concerned in the past 24 hours as the temperature had changed considerably, as did the wind direction, and it might have headed back a little farther south. I had one at the foot of Rondeau Bay back on Feb 27, 2017, but this one certainly has eclipsed that previously earliest date.

Regular readers will notice my mention of lots of Bald Eagles as of late. That continues, with numerous sub-adult birds frequenting the area. They are always fun to photograph. I haven't got tired of them yet when they cooperate.

The adults are paired up, and hanging out in their territory. This pair was in the Shrewsbury area, and there are two nests within 2-3 kilometres of where this pair was seen, so it is likely from one of those territories unless there is another territory I have yet to discover.

While it takes 5 years for a Bald Eagle to attain fully adult plumage, with both a white head and tail, sometimes slightly younger birds will mate if there is territory available. I came across this sub-adult checking out the nest seen from along the west South Point Trail at Rondeau a few days ago. Unless one of the adults that occupied this territory in previous years has met its demise, I expect this particular bird was just checking out the nest, maybe getting some ideas of what it had to put together in a future year.

A new nesting pair has shown up in the Keith McLean Conservation Lands area. Perhaps it is the pair that showed interest last year in the nesting platform that is quite visible along the trail at that conservation area, but maybe felt a little too exposed with the many birders and hikers exploring the area? At any rate, this nest is considerably more secluded. In fact I estimated I was at least 800 metres from the nest when I got this highly cropped fuzzy foto, and that was from about as close as the official trail goes. In scanning around, it was the white head that first got my attention, otherwise I probably would have missed it.

I have checked some of the other nests that I know about in southern Chatham-Kent, and often see an adult perched on the side of the nest or on a branch very close by. Late February is very typical of the beginning of nest occupancy, so if you get a chance to see a nest, take a closer look to see if there is the white head of an adult in a position that indicates it is incubating one or more eggs.

Certainly not an indicator of spring, but while checking out the Clear Creek Forest Prov Park area a few days ago, I saw this Rough-legged Hawk soaring over the grassy field. It is normally a wintering species, although they have been very few and far between this winter. Some will linger, or be late spring migrants, as on one occasion several years ago, I and another birder had one at Rondeau in very early June!

While there was still ice on Rondeau Bay, a swan of some type was caught in the ice, or died and remained there. A young Northern Harrier, found it worthwhile to dine on.

A few days later I saw this young Northern Harrier, possibly even the same bird as it was only about a kilometre away from the previous spot, perched at the top of this evergreen shrub at the KMCL.

The water treatment outlet on the Thames River in Chatham was not a productive spot to see much diversity of waterfowl this year, unless one is content with Canada Geese, Mallards and American Black Ducks. The only other species of waterfowl I saw this winter, so far, was a single Green-winged Teal. But I partially satisfied my photographic urges when there, focusing on the Mallards and Am Black Ducks. The latter species used to be the more abundant of the two species here in the east, if you go back far enough to before settlement opened up the landscape. Here is a pair of MALL, with the female in the foreground and a male in the background.

Next is a pair of ABDU, with the male in the foreground.

And here is a comparison of a male ABDU in the foreground and a female  MALL in the background.

Unless there is a major return to winter over the next few weeks, I don't expect this water treatment outlet to be a place to see much until next winter!

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Where there is water, there are birds

 Open water is a significant attraction for many species of birds, especially at this time of year. Just like humans, birds need water to drink, if nothing else. Of course the term 'waterfowl' implies the importance of water to that group, and many open water areas in wetlands and rivers are a great place to find concentrations of them. With the current cold weather, areas of open water are very limited, not surprisingly. The warm water outlet along the Thames River, on the downstream side of Chatham, is very popular with various water birds. I've made several visits there over the past few days. 

 Certainly Mallards are by far the most common, with typically more than a hundred of them in the area.

 Of course with the warm water flowing into the river, it is also attractive to small fish, and that turns out to be a food source for ducks. In spite of the fact that many ducks are primarily vegetarians, when they are hungry enough any source of food and protein is important. I've even seen Canada Geese gobble down the occasional fish!

There is a small number of American Black Ducks, closely resembling a female Mallard but darker and with a greenish, rather than orangey, bill.

A few domesticated Mallards are present, showing a mix of normal Mallard colours but often with patches of white, since they may have hybridized with domestic white Pekin ducks.

One of the most colourful of our native ducks is the male Wood Duck. A pair of Wood Ducks has been present most of the time.

The female woodie is less vibrantly coloured.

There is at least one female Hooded Merganser, the smallest of our three native merganser species, usually around. In the second photo, there is a Mallard close by, giving an idea of scale.

A female Common Goldeneye has been hanging out as well.

Of course there always seems to be a large number of Canada Geese around. Some are on the ice, but a majority of the several hundred individuals can often be seen on the snow-free grassy river slope across the river.

A few gulls may be around, but not always. This next bird is a Herring Gull. A much rarer Iceland Gull has been seen from time to time.

Where there are concentrations of waterbirds, predators of waterbirds may be around waiting for an opportunity to pounce on some unsuspecting or weakened individual. I have seen an immature Bald Eagle, shown next in the trees across the river from this patch of open water, as well as a full adult Bald Eagle flying through or perched nearby.

On a much smaller scale of open water, are some large ditches which are fed by springs. One such ditch just south east of Blenheim often has one or two Wilson's Snipe present, their long bills probing the unfrozen muddy bottom for some morsel.

A little more unusual for the location, is this Northern Mockingbird. It shows up from time to time, and while it likely is feasting on some berries in the nearby bushes, it will come to the water for an occasional drink.

Right nearby where the mockingbird was, this Red-bellied Woodpecker was found. It probably had nothing to do with the water in the ditch, but was more interested in the woodlot close by.

A day or so ago I decided to roam around the former Dover Township, northwest of Chatham. There really isn't any open water readily available given all the cold and snow, so this departs somewhat from the open water theme above. With the landscape almost entirely covered by snow, I really wasn't expecting to see any Snowy Owls. I expect more than one of them saw me, however. But it was still very much a worthwhile time to roam around. I managed to get a few distant photos of a coyote scampering across a field. Being hunted as much as they are, I suspect they are very wary of any vehicle that stops. This individual was probably at least 500 metres away, and although it kept loping farther and farther away, it would stop from time to time and look around. The light wasn't the best angle with the bright sun bouncing off the snow; these are highly cropped.

Another highlight of my roaming around that day was encountering this Merlin perched in a tree. It was a little leery of me stopping the vehicle and pointing something out the window at it, and I only got three or four photos.

I am quite sure that this is the first time I have ever photographed a Merlin!

Closer to home, a periodic walk through Paxton's Bush shows that the resident Great Horned Owls are still around. I'm not sure where they are going to nest this year, as the tree stub they started with in 2020, is not available to them. In case you missed it, you can read up a bit about last year's saga by checking out this. Nonetheless, the owls are still here, although this first photo shows three birds.

Given how close it is to the beginning of the nesting season, and how territorial this species can be, I was a little surprised to see three birds so close together. Presumably the third one might be offspring from last year, and may be learning the ropes for its future activities. Marie and I go for somewhat regular walks to Paxton's Bush, and we will be keeping an eye out for the whereabouts of this nesting location.