20 minutes later we came back with everyone else, but the
owl was nowhere to be seen.
The drive to Sarnia was quite uneventful in the beginning,
but as we neared our first destination, things picked up. One of the channels held
hundreds of waterfowl, and we managed to pick-out such birds as American Black
Duck, Northern Pintail, and a Black Duck x Mallard hybrid among the
geese and Mallards.
 |
| European Starlings |
 |
| Canada Geese |
Wawanosh Wetlands didn’t yield the Northern Shrike we were
hoping for, but Downy Woodpeckers kept us entertained.
We couldn’t find much in the way of birds in Canatara Park.
We were counting on seeing the Eastern Screech Owl that usually overwinters in
the petting zoo, but it wasn’t to be.
Long-tailed Ducks and Mergansers could be found on the lake
and under Bluewater Bridge.
 |
| Long-tailed Ducks |
The marina is usually the best bet to finding something
good, and it didn’t let us down today. Despite us only finding 3 species of
gulls (and one HERG x GBBG hybrid), we found most of our waterfowl here, and a
couple other goodies such as two American Coots, and eight Cackling Geese
swimming in a line, a lifer for many of those present.
 |
| American Coot |
 |
| Cackling Geese |
After lunch, we headed back to the marina where we found a small raft of Redheads close to shore with Canvasback, Greater Scaup, and a Ring-necked Duck mixed in.
 |
| Ring-necked Duck |
American Black Ducks provided better views than earlier in the day.
Heading down river, we were awarded with decent looks at various ducks. The only new waterfowl species we added were White-winged Scoter and Mute Swan.
 |
| Redheads and Scaup |
 |
| Common Goldeneye and Herring Gull |
 |
| Mute Swan |
Sombra wasn't as spectacular as we thought it would be, probably due to the snow moving in. I didn't take any photos here as it was pretty boring.
We bid farewell to half the group, then some of us went down Bentpath Line. Instead of a Short-eared Owl at the solar farm, we found a nice female Northern Harrier.
46 (give or take) Wild Turkeys were a nice surprise. Sure beats the groups of 3 or 4 we see around London! There was a group about this size along the road last year was well.
Our first Rough-legged Hawk of the trip was spotted about 20 minutes later.
Our first and only Bald Eagle soon followed. The trip leader was pleased.
Snow Buntings are always a joy to come across, and we observed a large group on Nauvoo Rd.
The group tried the Snowy Owl spot one last time before calling it quits. We quickly located one on a telephone pole.
 |
| "I'm Outta Here!" |
All in all, it was a "slow" day, but it was filled with great birds.
Trip List:
Cackling Goose
|
Canada Goose
|
Mute Swan
|
American Black Duck
|
Mallard
|
Northern Pintail
|
Green-winged Teal
|
Canvasback
|
Redhead
|
Ring-necked Duck
|
Greater Scaup
|
White-winged Scoter
|
Long-tailed Duck
|
Bufflehead
|
Common Goldeneye
|
Common Merganser
|
Red-breasted Merganser
|
Wild Turkey
|
Northern Harrier
|
Sharp-shinned Hawk
|
Cooper's Hawk
|
Bald Eagle
|
Red-tailed Hawk
|
Rough-legged Hawk
|
American Coot
|
Ring-billed Gull
|
Herring Gull
|
Great Black-backed Gull
|
Rock Pigeon
|
Mourning Dove
|
Snowy Owl
|
Red-bellied Woodpecker
|
Downy Woodpecker
|
American Kestrel
|
Merlin
|
Blue Jay
|
American Crow
|
Horned Lark
|
Black-capped Chickadee
|
Red-breasted Nuthatch
|
White-breasted Nuthatch
|
European Starling
|
Snow Bunting
|
American Tree Sparrow
|
Dark-eyed Junco
|
Northern Cardinal
|
Common Grackle
|
House Finch
|
American Goldfinch
|
House Sparrow
|
Total: 51 species
