More Algonquin April Birding

Last Thursday, there was a little bit of rain in the forecast, but with the south winds, I figured I should head out birding at the Old Airfield in Algonquin Park anyways. Lucky for me, the rain subsided early in the day, and I ended up having my best day of birding of the year thus far.

Not a ton of new arrivals per se, but certainly a good number of species on the move. The day started off well with an Eastern Phoebe soon after the rain stopped, the first of the year. 

In late morning, an Eastern Meadowlark dropped in, which was great to see. I believe this is a different bird than the one from a couple of days prior. 

I saw two Sandhill Cranes fly over, which are pretty scarce migrants and breeders in the Park.

A short while later, a lone Double-crested Cormorant flew by, far away and high up. I think this ties the early record.

And just five minutes after that, I spied an immature Golden Eagle migrating in the distance. No (conclusive) photos of that one though! 

A nice male American Kestrel also visited in the early afternoon.

The headliner for the day were Common Redpolls. I counted an incredible 3740 individuals migrating southbound. Why they were headed that way, is beyond me. Here is a portion of a flock of 500+ that I saw.

Here is my eBird checklist.

In some other Algonquin birding odds and ends, Winter Wren was a new one for the year on April 8. April 9 brought two new birds: Northern Flicker and Blue-winged Teal. The teal are of particular excitement, as they are a very uncommon spring migrant and were a new species for my park list.

Yesterday yielded no new year birds, despite spending most of the day birding on good winds. Perhaps driving from London and getting back at 3am was not the best idea after all! That's just how it goes sometimes! This morning I found a little bit of movement had occurred, as I found Hermit Thrush, Green-winged Teal, Bufflehead, and Wilson's Snipe in the Old Airfield. 

I've been quite happy with what I've been seeing so far (it somewhat offsets my sour feelings about missing a Black-necked Stilt back home), and am quite excited to see what else is to come. The beauty of Algonquin Park birding...it doesn't take much to make us happy! 

Pits to the Park

Today I did a little bit of birding locally.

This morning I checked out the "Komoka Pits", a series of old quarry ponds. These ponds often attract many types of water birds.

I checked out a little park with a couple small ponds. I was pleased to find a pair of Blue-winged Teals in one of the ponds.

There was also some Lesser Scaup, Canada Geese, and a Cooper's Hawk made a fly by.

Canada Goose

I checked out the main big pond, where I found an assortment of ducks such as Redheads, Ring-necked Ducks, Buffleheads, Common Goldeneye, and Common Mergansers.

I also found my first Common Loons of the year. Loons are one of my favourites.

Later in the afternoon I went to Fanshawe Park, in search of anything I could find.

I scoped out the lake for any waterfowl, but all I was able to find were a few Pied-billed Grebes.

I had more luck in a smaller pond, where I found, much to my delight, all three species of mergansers! Red-breasted Mergansers are uncommon in Middlesex, so I was happy to see them.

It wasn't long after I heard the very distinct call of the Eastern Meadowlark, my first of the year. It didn't take long to find two at the top of a tree. In all, there were four.

It was also a treat to see about eight Tree Swallows, my first "big" group of the year.

I also took a little bit of time to enjoy some of the more common woodland birds, still coming to feed on bird seed left at a trail head (but no Fox Sparrow today!)

Red-bellied Woodpecker

American Tree Spa

Black-capped Chickadee

April Fowl's Day Came Early

I would have ideally liked to have saved that title for tomorrow, but I doubt I will be able to get out, so today will have to do!

This afternoon I went to the Strathroy Sewage Lagoons to have a look around. There were quite a few ducks on the ponds.

The majority were Ring-necked Ducks.

Buffleheads were also numerous.

There were a couple Tundra Swans present.

But wait a minute...that left bird looks odd...

It is a Trumpeter Swan!

There was another pair of Trumpeter Swans as well.

Trumpeter Swans are pretty rare to Middlesex county, so I was happy to be able to find three on the same pond!

There was a variety of other ducks, such as Northern Shovelers, Green-winged Teal, Lesser Scaup, Greater Scaup, Redhead, Common Goldeneye, Gadwall, American Wigeon, and my first Blue-winged Teals of the year.

Lesser Scaup

Blue-winged Teals

There was also a Horned Grebe and American Coot.

Horned Grebe

American Coot

Just as I was about to leave I spied a male Red-breasted Merganser, another good bird for Middlesex.

Great early spring outing!