Some early January birding

 First of all, the American Birding Association has just declared what its 2024 Bird of the Year will be. It is the Golden-winged Warbler, a beautiful and uncommon species at least here in Ontario.

Here in the southwest of Ontario, you may see one on occasion furtively rummaging around some shrubby areas, but seldom see more than one on spring migration, and not typically as out in the open as this one, which I photographed at Rondeau a few years ago.

More seasonal, at least given the mild, snow-free conditions that we have been experiencing these first few weeks of winter, are a few birds that have not been forced to migrate to areas farther south. Indeed as most Christmas Bird Counts would indicate, there have been some lingering birds. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, at Rondeau (but which I haven't been able to catch up to) has been seen periodically even after the count, as has this Red-headed Woodpecker.

Sandhill Cranes are still present in greater than usual numbers, such as this partial group of 36 I saw up near Bear Creek Unit of SCNWA a few days ago. Clearly the lack of snow has made it easier for them to remain.

The St. Clair NWA Christmas Bird Count, which I compile and was held as usual, on New Year's Day, resulted in a rather surprising 88 species, and included record numbers of these Sandhill Cranes. We had 25 species of waterfowl, including Trumpeter Swan for only the second time. Waterfowl are one of the more abundant groups of birds that make or break this count. With all of the water remaining open, there were birds everywhere. Unfortunately there were excellent wetland areas that we did not have access to, which undoubtedly caused some species to go unseen and thus uncounted. We did have new high counts for things like Golden Eagle, presumably two different birds, and an amazing 193 American Robins! A Great Egret was seen, for only the second time on this count. A new high for Greater White-fronted Goose, 6 birds, was also recorded, three of which are shown in this next photo. Two birds are quite obvious, but if you look closely, you can see the orangey legs of another bird hidden behind the much larger Canada Goose on the left.

So in spite of the dull, dreary weather with brisk NW winds to contend with, the count was quite successful. We have had 90-93 species on other occasions but our past 10 year average is about 81.

I've been here and there since then, and have seen several Great Blue Herons, such as this one along the Thames River at the Jeanette's Creek boat launch (it was upstream and across the river, so not easy to get a very good photo of).

 In the northern part of the former Dover Twp, I had these Canvasback at Mitchell's Bay. While doing a waterfowl survey a few days after the bird count, I had an amazing number of Canvasback, about 4000, in a raft out on Lake St. Clair.

This Merlin allowed me a couple of photos before deciding to leave....

.....as did this Rough-legged Hawk.

The dull skies were anything but good for this type of photography, as you can tell.

Erieau was the place to be for a good diversity of water birds. Certainly the highlight has been this female Harlequin Duck, which first showed up on New Year's Day and has been seen daily, although not always very close.

There were a few Greater Scaup, shown next.....

...as well as Lesser Scaup, told by it slight crest towards the back of the head as well as a thinner dark blue patch at the tip of the bill.

Red-breasted Mergansers are present by the hundreds, although not always very close.

A couple of Double-crested Cormorants are still present, a bit unusual for the time of year, but not surprising due to the weather and open water.

Gulls are around, also not surprisingly, such as this young Great Black-backed Gull....

...and this smaller Herring Gull, an almost full adult shown next....

....and a full adult shown here.

The smaller yet, Ring-billed Gull adult with its obvious ring bill and yellow legs, are not as plentiful, but there are still a few around.

Many of these gulls will be noticeable by their absence over the next few weeks, if winter actually arrives, before returning later in the winter.

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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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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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