Mid 'Winter' Birding?

 OK technically, early to mid February is mid-winter, but with temperatures sometimes being like late March or even early April, it has felt anything but winter. I don't mind not having to shovel snow, however.

We did have a bit of snow in mid-January, and so the Mourning Dove nest that was occupied in late summer.....

....was now looking like this.

 But since then, I am sure even some of the not-so-regular winter birds are even a bit confused. Things like American Robins have been fairly widespread, even plentiful at times.

Killdeer are beginning to show up in widespread areas. Perhaps some of them never really left southwestern Ontario.

Areas that typically are partly to totally frozen over, such as the Thames River at Jeannette's Creek, just upstream of where it outlets into Lake St. Clair, is mostly wide open.

No Great Egrets here like has happened occasionally in the past, but typically three or more Great Blue Herons are hanging out within sight of the boat launch.

When the river is mostly frozen over, but with some open spots remaining, there can be a concentration of water fowl. And when that happens, there can be a concentration of Bald Eagles perched on trees along the river, keeping and eye open for an available injured bird to swoop down upon. On one occasion when these conditions occurred, I counted at least 28 eagles from this vantage point!

Elsewhere in wetland areas that are sometimes open and sometimes frozen over, there are lots of waterfowl using them. The Ridgetown Sewage Lagoons are productive, but mostly for Canada Geese. However there is often a much rarer goose species mixed in amongst them, such as a Snow Goose. In this case it is a young blue-phase Snow Goose, showing the mostly dark body and blotchy white head....

...as well as a Greater White-fronted Goose, or Speckle-belly, with its orange bill, white at the base, and brownish feathering with black bands across the belly.

Both species are smaller than the average Canada Goose, so sometimes are hard to pick out when they are at a distance or mixed in with a lot of other geese. If the head of the White-front is not visible, sometimes the orange legs are. This next photo shows all three species together.

Canada Geese are by far the most abundant.

In other wetland areas, and sometimes in roadside ditches, one can come across various duck species. I came across these Northern Shovelers near Bear Creek.

The males are quite striking.....

....this one is going through its plumage development, and in a few weeks will likely look as crisp and clean as the other male.

Along another roadside ditch I came across a pair of Wood Ducks. They are often quite skittish, even though the hunting season is over, and the female was a short distance away so I didn't get her photo. But I manages a couple of quick shots of the male from the vehicle as follows.

While I was out roaming around the former Dover Twp, I encountered this Snowy Owl. I had checked this spot on numerous occasions over the past few weeks, as this general area often has one or more Snowies, but this year they have been hard to find. This is my first one of the winter.

It is barely a record shot, as it was several hundred metres from the road. With my telephoto lens combination, and further cropping, it is shown at about 100X magnification!

I've been to Rondeau a couple of times in recent days....no big surprise there. Birds have been quite widely scattered, and not always photograph-able. I managed to get this White-breasted Nuthatch as it scurried around a tree trunk....

 

 The long-staying Red-headed Woodpecker continues in its usual little wooded patch at the corner of C-K Rd 15 an Wildwood Line.

 

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A Long-tail, lingering shorebirds, snow geese, and puttyroot

 More about fungi in a future post, but for now, there is a bit of catching up to do mostly regarding birds. With the weather being above normal, there is lots of open water, including muddy edges for lingering shorebirds. I was at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons a few days ago, and was treated to some good photo ops. Certainly a highlight was to get a pair of cooperative Long-tailed Ducks fairly close to the edge of the middle pond, and they didn't seem to mind my presence all that much.

Long-tails are not seen all that often in southern Chatham-Kent, although they do occur on Lake Erie, but usually seen only from a distance. The southern end of Lake Huron at Point Edward can be a good spot in the winter, so seeing them so handily at the lagoons these last few days was a real treat. They swam back and forth, dove under at times,

...and got up to fly around. They didn't go far, staying at this middle pond all the time I was there.

Some shorebirds were there to be found as well. Three Dunlin, which also stayed close enough to be photographed were there. Again, with the weather being what it has been, it wasn't a bit surprise, but nice to see just the same.

There is a lot of mudflat along the Erieau Marsh Trail, and a Pectoral Sandpiper has been seen from time to time. It is much less likely to be seen this late in the season than the Dunlin, so I was pleased to get this photo, even though it was at the far side of the mudflat and the photo is greatly cropped.

There were three Lesser Scaup in the more open area of the mudflat, where there was open water, but they were far less tolerant of me aiming my lens at them. I guess it being hunting season, with a couple of hunter's duck blinds not all that far away, it wasn't too surprising.

While I was at Erieau, I checked the waterfront, hoping that there might be a Purple Sandpiper or some other shorebird hanging out along the shoreline, or even at the pier, but it wasn't to be on this day. I did manage to get a reasonable photo of a Snow Goose along the shoreline, as it was with a large flock of Canada Geese....

...and when I took a drive by St. Clair NWA, in amongst the gazillion Canada Geese were at least eight Snow Geese....

...including several blue phase Snows.

In meandering around the former Dover Twp.,  I knew that a particular Wood Duck box was often used by an Eastern Screech Owl. It was there on this visit, nicely peering out at me.

I went out to the Jeannette's Creek boat launch, hoping to catch sight of a lingering Great Egret, which happens this late in the season from time to time. In fact it was just a few short years ago when up to three hung around for the SCNWA Christmas Bird Count, and even stayed well into January! But there were none to be seen on this day, although there is lots of area for one or more to still be around. So instead, I satisfied my birder/photographer's urge by shooting this Belted Kingfisher. It was on the far side of the Thames River, so is greatly cropped. I doubt it even knew I was there.

There were up to 6 Great Blue Herons that I saw, or at least partly saw. They were usually obscured by something or other.

I usually make it out to Rondeau on one or more occasions each week. I haven't been out at the right time to catch up to the Western Flycatcher of a few days ago, or even the adult male King Eider that was a flyby for a few hours one day. The Western Flycatcher would definitely have been a new species, but the King Eider is something I have seen before. It was on the Rondeau CBC back in about 2000 when one that had been seen in the Erieau area off and on. It was present when I got to the west end of the south beach of my territory, so already had that species on my Chatham-Kent list. But there is no question that an adult male would have been great to see. But in my various wanderings through the park, I was able to digitally capture a few of the more expected species, as follows.

American Tree Sparrows are fairly commonly seen....

...as are Dark-eyed Juncos.

House Finches are resident, although not abundant.

White-crowned Sparrows, such as this immature one shown next, seem to be declining this late in the season....

...but White-throated Sparrows are plentiful.

At one point this accipiter type of falcon showed itself briefly, but I only got a look at it from the backside. Based on the overall size, and the length of its tail beyond the wing tips, as well as the slightly pale back and side of the head, I felt it fit Cooper's Hawk most closely. It certainly is a relatively common accipiter type.

On one of my trail jaunts, I checked the leaves of a rare orchid: Puttyroot. The leaves are most visible from about November through April, as long as they aren't covered with snow. While this known population only had two flowering stems this past June, on this visit I counted a total of 146 leaves, one of the highest totals I have ever had in all the years I have been watching this population! It will be interesting to see how many flowering stems appear this next June.

Since it is getting close to Christmas, I will put in a plug for my first book, Life on a Sandspit, which I published last spring. 

 It is still available at several locations in Chatham-Kent, including:

Bayview Market, Rondeau

Mindful Market and Eco Hub, Blenheim

Mitton's Jewelers and Gifts, Ridgetown

Five-Eau, Erieau

Book Brothers, Chatham

Sydenham Field Naturalists, through their web site sydenhamfn@hotmail.com

Friend's of Rondeau Bookstore at the Rondeau Visitor Centre, although the centre is only open on weekends and the bookstore is not always open. The centre will be open more frequently during the Christmas break.

And just so you know, I have a second nature book at the printer, titled Natural Treasures of Chatham-Kent. I am not sure when it will be available for purchase, so stay tuned for a future blog in the very near future describing it in some detail, as well as where it would be available, price, etc.

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Early November birding travels

 This is the best time of year for me to see one of my favourite sparrow species. Fox Sparrows are fairly large as sparrows go, and are distinctly marked and somewhat colourful. Late October through November are when they seem to be at their most numerous, with typically a dozen or more seen. They are often seen foraging on the ground, in typical sparrow style, but sometimes they will sit up and right in the open.

 

 

If they are in the area, they often respond to 'spishing' and will come quite a bit closer, which is nice for the photographer.

Generally more abundant and a sparrow species that usually sticks around longer, is the White-throated Sparrow.

I have enjoyed tracking down these and other sparrows on my recent forays to places like Rondeau and St. Clair NWA, where the above photos were taken recently.

A few of the other species that I have managed to photograph at either of those areas include Robins enjoying the abundance of red cedar berries.....

...and a shy Black-capped Chickadee. Actually it wasn't shy at all, as it came in quite close in response to spishing, but was so intent on looking for food, I only got this one photo before it moved off.

Downy Woodpecker

Purple Finches, such as this female, are around in better numbers now.

Of course gulls are quite abundant, and when the common Ring-billed Gull gives opportunity for a good photo, as a photographer I will take it.

There are hundreds of Ruddy Ducks out on Rondeau Bay and Lake Erie, although not typically very close to shore.

They are a little easier to get close-up photos at the local sewage lagoons.....

...as are Bonaparte's Gulls. I was looking for a Little Gull that had been there briefly, but none of us there that day saw it, so I satisfied my photographer's itch with this Bonaparte's Gull.

 A juvenile Peregrine Falcon has been hanging around St. Clair NWA on a couple of my visits there...

...as have at least a couple of Sandhill Cranes, although they are more often heard than seen very close by.

The occasional Snow Goose can be found mixed in with the more abundant Canada Geese. This was one of two along the shore of Lake Erie just outside of Rondeau....

...whereas this blue phase Snow Goose was at St. Clair NWA.

On one sunny but cool day, I came across this Midland Painted Turtle catching some late season sun.

Given that it is right in the middle of hunting season, ducks aren't always so cooperative when things are aimed at them. This Mallard didn't seem to mind.

Shorebirds are becoming much more scarce. There had been many dozens of Dunlin at most mudflats along a wetland, but those numbers have dropped considerably. When I was out at the Keith McLean Conservation Lands, I was actually hoping to see a Hudsonian Godwit that had been seen there from time to time. But each time I was there, it was not in view. And even the Dunlin were harder to find. In just a few days, their numbers went from at least a couple of hundred, to only three on my most recent visit. This one was scared up by a Northern Harrier on the prowl, but it came back to this pile of rocks.

It seemed like it wanted to play hide-and-seek as it never came out in full view. Two others flew by but didn't stop.

This Greater Yellowlegs continued along a mudflat at the Mitchell's Bay North Shore Trail.

On another time at Rondeau, a few Hermit Thrush were noted, but seldom gave a decent photo op. This was one of the better ones, and only for a brief time as they preferred to rustle around in the bushes searching for berries.

When the sun was out, the occasional Green Darner dragonfly was seen buzzing around. There weren't many flying insects like midges for it to feed on.

Raptors are continuing to migrate through the area, and it has been a great time to see Golden Eagles. Some of the hawkwatch sites are reporting 30 or more in a day! I stopped by the Morpeth Cliffs area for a couple of hours on a promising day, and had two young birds fly by. One flew right overhead, and not that high up. Unfortunately it was heavy overcast, so the following two photos had to undergo some serious processing to get the critical characteristics somewhat visible.

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