Barred Owl Barometrics

Owls are a favourite bird of many people, even non-birders. So when a Barred Owl showed up at Rondeau Provincial Park this past December, and has been seen intermittently as recently as yesterday, it is special. This bird is only the fifth known record for the Rondeau checklist area.

There is lots of suitable habitat for Barred Owl at Rondeau, and that begs the question as to why it is so rare. Of course looking at the very limited habitat across much of southwestern Ontario, there aren't many habitat linkages so birds from the species' normal range choosing the best habitat available to them would not be tempted to move into the Rondeau area.

But that may be changing, and not just because the amount of forested habitat here in the southwest is increasing to any extent. For some reason, Barred Owls have been recorded a lot more this winter than usual. It was interesting to read the various Christmas Bird Count reports for this past Dec 15-Jan 5 period to see where these owls were recorded more frequently than usual. Many counts only record them very infrequently if at all, so getting even one was a highlight. Some CBCs had them in record numbers. Okay, usually a single bird was a normal number reported in previous counts, but some counts were reporting as many as 3 birds. The summary reports provided by the count compilers on Ontbirds often made special mention of the presence of Barred Owl on their count.

I did a bit of search on eBird. This first map shows the Barred Owl reports on eBird during the three month period of December 2005 to February 2006 period. The purple rectangles indicate where one or more reports of Barred Owl occurred during that time. The darker the purple, the more reports within that rectangle.

Obviously there were very few reports during that period. However since eBird only got up and running in 2002, lots of birders had not begun participating, so it is not surprising how few records show up. In fact the grey rectangles indicate where there was at least one report of any bird species made, and the non-grey and non-purple rectangles indicate where there were no reports of any birds. There are probably as many rectangles without any birds as with at least one bird, and clearly Barred Owls were very limited.

This next map shows a similar area for the period of Dec 2010 to Feb 2011. Obviously the number of birders participating in eBird seems to have increased, given the increased number of grey and purple rectangles. And the number of purple rectangles has also increased. But the level of participation by birders entering data on eBird was still building, and it is not nearly at the same level as it is today.

This next map shows the period of Dec 2017 to Feb 2018, just a little over a year ago. The number of grey rectangles has increased quite a bit, as have the number of purple rectangles. It is interesting to note that across the border to the southeast of southwestern Ontario, it seems that the increase in purple rectangles is even greater.

Fast forward to the most recent three month period of Dec 2018 to Feb 2019. While the number of rectangles where bird data has been entered is much the same as the previous year, there is definitely an increase in the number of purple rectangles, including more darker purple ones.

As expected, the level of bird data entry on eBird continues to grow. It will be interesting to see what next year's map will look like. Will the species continue to appear to expand? Will there be a retraction?

The area shown on these maps is not the only area where Barred Owls have apparently increased. A recent news report from Nova Scotia, shown here, indicates the species has increased there as well. It has perhaps been a trend throughout the northeast, and the question is why. Has the weather been a factor, or the food available during the breeding season, causing a greater production of young, but during the winter the food availability is not enough to sustain the increased population so birds have to move beyond their normal range? This has certainly been the case for some other owl species, such as Snowy Owl. It is interesting to speculate, but for the time being we can enjoy the presence of this impressive owl.

Another thought to consider: maybe there is more than one Barred Owl in the Rondeau area. There certainly is enough habitat. As the mating season arrives, we will have to get out in the evening and listen for calling birds. Just maybe there is a pair of them and seeing more of this species is in our immediate future!

Birding in the lull between the storms

As one of our favourite bloggers would know well, the weather of the last weekend was kind of challenging for even getting out of the house, let alone birding. So the last couple of days was a relief, just before the next cold and snowy weather arrives.

The Thames River is quite iced over now, and that means it is time to check the warm water outlet of the water treatment plant, just downstream from the Keil Drive bridge at the west side of Chatham. Sure enough, there was an opening in the ice of about 10 metres by 50 metres, with lots of ducks on the ice around it, or in the water. When it is about the only open water anywhere along the river, occasionally other ducks will stop in, such as Wood Duck, any of the three mergansers, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck or Green-winged Teal. I've even had an immature Black-crowned Night-Heron there. But on this day, it was mostly Mallards, with a few Am Black Ducks, and a gaggle of geese. The only other species of waterfowl was a Northern Shoveler.

 The ducks must have been getting hungry. You don't often see Mallards going after fish, but I guess they will snack on whatever comes along. The challenge is to keep it once you catch it. This female Mallard caught it and got chased out of the water by another couple of Mallards. Once on the ice, there were several others waiting to pick up the chase. I lost track how many times this fish changed beaks before getting eaten.

 The shoveler was often partly obscured when it had the side profile I wanted.

Northern Shoveler, upper right

 Another waterbird was in the area. This female Belted Kingfisher was reluctant to leave the area of open water, not surprisingly, but never landed less than about 50 metres away from me, so this is a greatly cropped photo.

There are still a handful of ducks at Erieau, but with some construction going on where the fish tugs are, they were seldom very close.

Canvasback

All of the snow we've had lately means the plowing of roads, resulting in some nice scrapes in the grass right alongside the road. This is quite attractive to small birds. It was not unusual to see a dozen or more Dark-eyed Juncos mixed with Am Tree Sparrows and a few other species, including Song Sparrow, Fox Sparrow and quite a few Chipping Sparrows. Chippies are certainly not common winter inhabitants, and some winters it is difficult to find even a single one. The roadsides between Rondeau Prov Park and Morpeth were definitely the place to be looking for them in the last day or so. As many as 13 were seen on one occasion. I never saw any more than 6, but anytime a vehicle went by, and especially a snow plow, the birds scattered quickly and were sometimes slow to return to the road side.

Rough-legged Hawks have been few and far between for the winter so far. But this last storm has brought a few into the area. I was following one along the road for a little ways, hoping to get a good flight shot showing its telltale white banded tail and black wrist spots. I got a flight shot, but it was not worth keeping. The bird landed at the top of a White Pine, and I got this photo. It isn't all that different looking than any other large buteo type hawk in this situation and pose.

 Fortunately as it took flight, it showed the typical underwing pattern.

Not far off was this large flock of Wild Turkeys. Turkeys have been a little hard to pick out on the landscape these last few weeks, with no snow cover. This flock was about half a kilometre from the road, and without the snow, I might have missed them altogether. It totalled at least 35 birds, about half of them on one side of the wide hedgerow and half on the other, with an unknown number in the hedgerow itself.

A Ph. D. student from Trent University is using eBird data to assess the usefulness of eBird posts in determining the overall population size in Ontario. It is nice to be able to contribute a bit of data for the research.

As I was approaching Blenheim, I noticed first one, and then another, Turkey Vultures soaring. They weren't high up, but both were moving towards the southwest, probably heading to their over night roost. I got a couple of quick shots, of a black bird against a very bright grayish-white sky....certainly not the ideal conditions for photographing them.

Winter gulls are often worth looking through. There haven't been many along the lake these last few weeks, but landfills and the immediate vicinity often attracts them. The Blenheim Landfill is handy for this purpose, and a couple of days ago when I was driving by there was a good sized flock in a field nearby. They weren't all that close to the road, but I managed to scan through the myriad Herring Gulls and a surprising number of Great Black-backed Gulls to find a couple of less usual species. There was at least one Lesser Black-backed Gull, which I did not get a photo of, and at least one adult Glaucous Gull, which I was more successful at. Before I was able to check the flock more intensively something spooked the gulls and they all took to flight, landing in the same field but a lot farther back.

Glaucous Gull facing, just right of centre

Yesterday birders had several Glaucous Gulls here in the mid-day period. I swung by there about three hours later, but there was not a gull to be seen. That's the problem looking for things that have wings :-).

Winter Kiskadee

The Great Kiskadee adventures at Rondeau continue. This mega rarity has gone AWOL before, and had last been reported on Nov 9. In spite of local birders being on the lookout for it on regular visits to Rondeau, including at its usual haunts, the bird eluded us. That is until Dec 2, when two birders were walking down the Marsh Trail a bit before noon and saw it at the usual former canal along the north end of the trail. The discovery was reported to the staff at the Visitor Centre, which fortunately was open that day, and the word got out to others almost immediately. It was seen for a short period before going into its disappearing act once again, but this time only for a few hours. It was heard by several of us towards the end of the afternoon in the vicinity of the maintenance compound. Then it went silent, and we had no idea exactly where it went.

Bright and early the next morning, well as bright as a heavy overcast day with a hint of precipitation can be, several birders were stationed in what we thought were the most likely places it might appear at. After about two hours, we heard it, then saw it briefly as it flew north east over the maintenance compound. It continued by wing as we pursued it on foot, continuing in its northward trajectory. Then we briefly lost it, only to find it again heading into the campground. Was it looking for a vacant campsite? Probably not, but this was the first time any of us had seen it this far north in the park, even though it was only a short flight from its usual area. Is it possible that it had spent some of its time there after it disappeared in early November? Possible, but considering the amount of time that local birders had spent combing the campground in recent weeks for late migrants, or early wintering species, it would be a bit surprising. Regardless, there it was. But it was almost constantly on the move, rarely spending more than 30 seconds in one spot before moving on in what was a large circling route. We did get some distant views of the bird, and even fewer photos, also from a distance. This first one is cropped to the equivalent of about 60X, and with the bright, bland background, is nothing more than a record shot.

It eluded us for awhile longer, but we all thought that the best chance of re-finding this bird was to stake out the area immediately south of the maintenance compound. As the afternoon arrived and then wore on, there was likely a bit of uncertainty felt by the dozen or so birders who were committed to the task of waiting the bird out. And then it was heard, and seen where we had hoped. First it was down low over a slough and then it went and sat fairly high in an open deciduous tree branch facing us. The bright yellow belly was quite visible even against the bland sky, although binoculars were a necessity to truly appreciate it. At this point, it sat relatively motionless for about 30 minutes, and never made a sound.

It was apparent that being as motionless and silent as it was, and so high up, it would have been easily missed by even the most careful and observant birders. Who knows how often birders had walked by within view of it over the past several weeks when it was not reported?

After awhile, the bird flew downward and off towards the beginning of the Marsh Trail, and a few of us followed it as best we could before losing it again. It was seen briefly along Water Street feeding on berries before flying back towards the maintenance compound, presumably getting ready to enter its still unknown overnight roost.

It will be interesting to see if this bird can be found for the upcoming Rondeau/Blenheim Christmas Bird Count in less than two weeks. Given the weather that it has survived through already, and its omnivorous diet of berries, tadpoles, dragonflies, leeches and undoubtedly a few other things, we have no doubt it can survive. But will it be seen?

While on the lookout for the kiskadee on this day, a few other noteworthy birds were seen, including White-eyed Vireo, (Western) Hermit Thrush, Eastern Towhee, Baltimore Oriole, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Gray Catbird. Most were seen by only one or two others who happened to be at the right spot at the right time which is all so typical of birding. I was only able to catch up to the sapsucker and catbird, the latter species noted skulking amongst the dense honeysuckle shrubbery across from Lot 17240.

Flakey Friday

Okay I realize that many people look forward to Friday as it means the weekend is almost here. My title is in reference to the snow flakes that are gently falling on this Friday as I write this, and winter is still more than three weeks away. But if every year and season were identical and predictable, it would be boring, right?

I've been out and about a little since my last post. The former Dover Twp between Chatham, Mitchell's Bay and Lake St. Clair is often worth checking at this time of year. Snowy Owls are arriving in larger numbers, at least for now. On the day I was out looking, I came across 5 of them. Whether they stay for most of the winter or keep moving farther south, remains to be seen. There have been 4 or more along Lagoon Road, a bit north of Rondeau Bay as well.

Most of the Snowies that I have seen tend to be out in the partial shelter of a recently harvested cornfield.

 Once in awhile, one is a little closer to the road.

While out looking for Snowies, I came across a large number of Tundra Swans. Large numbers of them have been a little slower arriving in the Lake St. Clair area than some years, it seems. On this day I saw an estimated 7000 or more in several fields. This first photo is of a very small portion of one of the larger fields.

 They were frequently on the move, seeming to be startled when vehicles slowed down or ATVs roared by.

I looked for other birds mixed in such as Ross's Goose or Snow Goose, but did not see any at the time. However there have been Trumpeter Swans hanging out in southern Chatham-Kent in the last few weeks, sometimes at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons or McGeachy Pond or somewhere in between. These were photographed at McGeachy Pond one cloudy, late afternoon.

A Great Blue Heron was at McGeachy Pond as well, taking shelter from the brisk westerly wind.

The forested landscapes are generally quiet these days, although they are still attractive in their own right.

Harrison Trail

Southeast Oak Savanna (Rondeau)

McKerral Woods

There are still berries around, but they are disappearing in response to birds feeding on them so as to withstand the colder season.

Bright red berries such as those in the first photo, are appropriately called Winterberry (Ilex verticillata). This native species is widespread but not abundant.

 Unfortunately another bright red berry producing shrub is much more abundant but not native. It is Japanese Barberry and is a real problem species in our landscapes.

Northern Saw-whet Owls have been migrating through the area from their northern haunts. They can be difficult to find, however. This next photo shows one that I was able to find, but only due to some kinglets and chickadees that were heard scolding it, which alerted Steve Charbonneau to find it and pass on the directions to others. Even with the very good directions it was hard to pick out quite high in this White Pine of the Rondeau campground. This bird was an estimated 25 feet up, much higher than they are normally found.

Of course bird feeding areas are often the best place to seek out birds, and the feeders at Rondeau are worth checking out at anytime.

 Winter finches, including Evening Grosbeaks, are irregular winter visitors to southwestern Ontario. This fall and winter seems to be one of those times that local birders look forward to, and at least a few of these grosbeaks have been sighted over the last couple of weeks or so. I photographed these at the drinking pool of the Rondeau Visitor Centre.

 Pine Siskins are another irregular winter visitor. Here are a few feasting on the niger seed at the Visitor Centre.

 White-throated Sparrows are fewer in number than they were a few weeks ago, but some remain.

Red-breasted Nuthatches are another, mostly winter visitor.

One has to work a little harder to find birds this time of year but the results, even if it is just being out for a nice long walk, can be quite satisfying.

Counting birds....in your yard!

This weekend, February 17-20, 2017 is the Great Backyard Bird Count weekend. If you feed birds, it is an opportunity to share your findings in another one of the citizen science projects that are being promoted by the likes of Audubon, Cornell University and Bird Studies Canada. The results will give an overall view of the status of winter birds in different parts of the country, and contribute to the overall status of wintering birds over time.

Feeders are great places to enjoy in the winter, especially if there is enough snow to attract the birds. With that condition, however, when the snow is gone and spring-like temperatures are here, the birds are more spread out and not as likely to visit feeders as much. But there are always some.

Full information on how to get involved with this GBBC may be found at this link.

Aside from the pleasure of watching birds and their behaviour interacting with each other, it is a perfect opportunity to get some appealing photos. The photos that follow were all taken at, or in the immediate vicinity of, a feeder, but not my own. (Full disclosure: we fed birds every year for more than 30 years, but since we now live in the winter crow capital of Canada, I got tired of feeding primarily crows and squirrels, so I go elsewhere to enjoy and support bird feeder action :-(.

Some of the more common species to be found are:

American Goldfinch

American Tree Sparrow

Black-capped Chickadee

Dark-eyed Junco

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Cardinal

Red-bellied Woodpecker

White-breasted Nuthatch

Pine Siskin

Some species, like Pine Siskin, are very erratic in their arrival to southern Ontario, and this winter they have been noticeable by their absence for the most part.

If you are a little more fortunate, you may find:

American Robin

Tufted Titmouse

Eastern Towhee

Pine Warbler

And if you are really fortunate, maybe one of these will enjoy your feeder!

White-winged Dove

Happy Winter Bird Counting!