"Only" birds here and there

 In spite of the winter, there have been opportunities to get out, go for a long walk, explore and even get a few photos to feature the season.

A recent eBird post indicated a Snowy Owl had been seen not far from St. Clair NWA. Since I was heading out somewhere anyway, I decided to swing that way since it was only a couple of hours later. Unfortunately, even with slow and careful viewing, the owl was not to be seen. It wasn't reported by anyone else either. But I did get photographs of a few other things while I was in that vicinity.

Sub-adult Bald Eagle

As I crossed over a wide creek, I noticed this Great Blue Heron standing on the ice, waiting for....something. Maybe spring????

A little further down the channel, was another one. At least it was standing in some water. I am amazed that in spite of standing in almost freezing water, on ice, it apparently doesn't seem to bother them. And even farther down the channel was a third heron.

In a field nearby, were 7 Sandhill Cranes.....

...and a few Tundra Swans flew overhead.

But no Snowy Owl to be seen.

An outing at Rondeau and area didn't produce a lot to photograph, but there always seems to be something. 

White-throated Sparrow

It was bright/heavy overcast, which didn't produce great lighting for a mostly dark House Finch perched on a branch against the sky. It seemed to be busy feeding on the numerous berries of some of the Red Cedars in the campground.

A Hairy Woodpecker was busy searching for insects.

American Tree Sparrows are relatively common, or at least somewhat regular at the moment. They often travel in small flocks.

A single photo gives a good view....

In other odds and ends, there are often Canada Geese somewhere around...

...or a Ruddy Duck...

...or even a Red-tailed Hawk.

No butterflies, insects, or plants to photograph these days, but at least there are a few birds!

 

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Late autumn, early 'winter' birding in prep for the Rondeau bird count

 I had been out a few times, looking to see what might be around in preparation for the Blenheim/Rondeau Christmas Bird Count on Dec 14.

In spite of the wintry weather, it is surprising that there is as much diversity as there is. Of course there are the usual things, including:

American Coot

Bufflehead

Lots and lots of Canada Geese!

A few Hooded Mergansers, mostly in the unfrozen areas around the Erieau harbour.

A pleasant surprise was to hear, and then get out and see some Ross's Geese. At a distance they look like a smaller version of Snow Goose, and this photo was take at quite a distance. Fortunately the head was visible enough to see the smaller stubby bill, and lack of a 'grin' patch, as well as the typical black wing tips.

In the same field with the Ross's Goose, were a couple of Tundra Swans, and lots and lots of Canada Geese.

In a field near the Blenheim Landfill, there were as many as 27 Wild Turkeys out roaming around on the lightly snow covered harvested field.

My territory for the bird count has almost always been inside Rondeau Park. I have been on this count for ~56 years. In the past it has included both the south beach all the way to Erieau, and then driving up to the Marsh Trail where I walked at least the south half. That typically involved walking a total of about 15-17 km, while carrying a tripod and scope, along with binoculars, and sometimes camera equipment as well. But that was yesteryear, and the Marsh Trail has been inaccessibly by vehicle for several years due to erosion, And while I could do the south beach, there is a much younger generation of fellows, in their 20s, who have more energy and better eyes and ears, so I have passed that area over to them. Instead, I roam around some of the roads and trails in the wooded area of the park, which is a lot less conducive for bird diversity, but there are some things around.

I checked several of the deer feeding stations that had been regularly stocked with cracked corn. (As a result of the two weekend deer culls in late November and early December, there were exactly 50 deer harvested, so the ongoing deer browsing will be reduced, much to the delight of saplings and shrubs, I am sure.) 

Birds immediately flushed even as I cautiously approached, but waiting patiently and quietly caused them to return. I guess their hunger won out!

Some would approach carefully...

...and after a few moments, drop down and start feeding.

White-breasted Nuthatch

Fox Sparrows are rather uncommon this time of year, but will hang out with other more abundant birds, and join them in their feeding frenzy.

Dark-eyed Juncos are quite abundant now.

And American Tree Sparrows are fairly abundant, and widely scattered. 

The bird count was held regardless of the cold, wintry weather, as usual. The day started out at about -14C but warmed up to a balmy -8C. The brisk westerly wind made the wind chill more like about -20C! Not exactly late autumn weather, but every year is different.

 White-throated Sparrows, named appropriately, were scattered here and there, and certainly the feeding piles were helpful.

I saw at least 5 Red-bellied Woodpeckers, mostly in the vicinity of these feeding stations.

Pileated Woodpeckers are never abundant, even though they are year-round residents, so just getting one is sometimes a bonus.

Cardinals are always to be found, near a feeding station or wherever, along woodland edges.

A bit unexpected was to see this Hermit Thrush. We don't get this species on every count.

Blue Jays have been in migration mode for several weeks, with some lingering, and likely will be here all winter. There are lots of acorns for them to find and feed on!

And lastly, this American Tree Sparrow was present at a few feeding stations on the day of the count.

Overall it was another successful count in terms of numbers and diversity. I don't think it is official yet, but at this point it seems that there were 101 species seen. Getting 100 or more is quite a feat! Of course there were many, many energetic and highly capable birders out scouring the entire count area, and that makes all the difference. 

There were lots of Bald Eagles seen, along with a couple of Golden Eagles. Sandhill Cranes, Short-eared Owls, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon and even an Eastern Phoebe were counted. Some shorebirds were even found to be sticking around, including Killdeer and Wilson's Snipe. A couple of warbler species were counted, including Yellow-rumped, which is to be expected, as well as a single Orange-crowned Warbler. The Ross's Goose was found; it was trapped in the ice at the sewage lagoons, but was freed by a couple of birders, and the goose was able to fly away!

 

If you are still looking for a Christmas gift, both of my two books, Life On A Sandspit, and Natural Treasures of Chatham-Kent, are available locally at:

Book Brothers, King St E Chatham

Mindful Market and Eco Hub, Main St, Blenheim

Mitton's Jewelers and Gifts, Main St, Ridgetown

Bayview Market, just outside the park gates of Rondeau (open Thursday-Sunday) 

 

 

If you would like to subscribe to Nature Nuggets, send an email to: prairietramper@gmail.com 

 

 

 

 

Bald Eagle Bonanza, and a couple of Killdeer

 What a difference a few days make. This first photo was taken on Dec 1.

 And three days later, it looked like this.

 The bay was almost entirely frozen, much earlier than normal. Needless to say, the waterfowl hunt came to an end earlier this year as a result.

I had been out those two times looking for things to photograph while I was out for some hiking. Bald Eagles were the order of the day, on both occasions!

On Dec 1, was checking the lake front, and I noted this adult heading my way. It was following the shoreline, and it came closer....

...and eventually flew almost right overhead.

It continued southward, but after a bit longer flight, noted another eagle in a large cottonwood tree amongst some cottages, and flew in to join it.

  On Dec 4, I was again checking the cottonwood trees a bit south of the traffic circle, and came across this one. 

Just as I got to the traffic circle, I came across a couple of others, quietly resting in cottonwood trees.

 I very quietly got out of the vehicle so I could get a slightly better angle and keep the hydro wire out of the photo. The eagles didn't like that, so quickly left and flew up along the lakeshore.

 And there they joined another eagle, this time an adult. Whether all of these over the two days were different individuals, I don't know, but there were at least 5 birds.

 There were a few other things to photograph, some along the lake shore, 

Canada Geese at siesta time

Ring-billed Gull

And a few other things away from the lake. A flock of about 27 Cedar Waxwings landed high in a distant tree. Most of the flock were in this one tree, but there were a few others in adjacent ones. I looked for one to be a Bohemian, but was not successful.

Downy Woodpecker

While checking the feeding stations for the upcoming deer cull, I thought I saw something peering out at me from a hole in a tree. It was at quite a distance, but thinking it might be a screech owl, I took a photo and cropped it heavily at home. Turns out it was an Eastern Grey Squirrel, probably visiting the cracked corn at the feeding station when no one was around.

There were the usual few White-throated Sparrows, and other sparrow species, along with Dark-eyed Juncos feeding on the grasses and goldenrod along the road side.

One of the unexpected species was this Killdeer. It was feeding along the road side where the snow had been scraped. It was always a bit back lit, so not the best situation, and I tried to carefully get beyond it so as to have better lighting, but it was too skittish for that. Not all that unusual for the time of year in a normal year, but with the snow and cold, most of them should be long gone by now. I saw a second Killdeer by the road between the store and the yacht club, but although the light was a better angle, the bird was even more skittish.

I had kept an eye open for the super moon on Dec 4th, but there was cloud at the horizon and it wasn't until I got part way home that I noticed it above the cloud. So when I got home, I took this photo.

 

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