Lambton Loons and Other Stuff

Yesterday I ventured further afield to Lambton county. There was been an absolutely stunning Pacific Loon in the Sarnia Bay over the past few days, and I wanted to check it out. I have only ever seen the species once prior, and it certainly did not give views like that!

My dad and I arrived early on. It was a gorgeous day, and with the sun to our backs, it really lit up the bay. A Common Loon was present upon our arrival.

After a little bit of searching, the target species popped up, quite literally!

 
With that bird out of the way, I wanted to check out Canatara Park. It was the birdiest morning I had had all year, even if diversity was relatively low. Seems like today was really good, and some nice birds popped up (including a Kirtland's Warbler, which I have never seen)! I had nine species of warblers, including my first of year Magnolia and Orange-crowned. Just to give testament to how slow the spring has been, that Magnolia literally took my breath away when I spotted it! My other first of the year was a Gray-cheeked Thrush. Almost seems early, even though its late! I haven't had a Swainson's Thrush yet.

After Canatara, I opted to head south to Sombra. I stopped in at a few places along the way. At Guthrie Park there were a couple Common and Forster's Terns. Cathcart Park proved to be quite birdy! The place was covered with Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers, as well as many swallows. A few shorebirds in the form of yellowlegs and Spotted Sandpipers were sprinkled throughout, along with some mergansers and terns of three species; Black, Common, and Forster's.

Not too much along the Sombra riverfront, but there were a few Purple Martins and a Forster's Tern.

My next stop was the Sombra Sewage Lagoons. Lots of birds to sort through! There was a great number of shorebirds, including Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Dunlin, Sanderling, Short-billed Dowitcher, and Least Sandpiper.

Also a great number of Black Terns, I counted 76. It was amazing to see.

A Peregrine Falcon ripped through a few times, and kept the terns and shorebirds on their toes.

Some Common Gallinules were calling nearby. Additionally, I also had my first Bobolinks of the year. Dad spotted a Red-tailed Hawk nest nearby.

I cut inland from Sombra, and went to the Sydenham River Nature Reserve. I had a few birds here, including a singing Yellow-throated Vireo. My main target here however was the Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica). I saw some last June when I was here for a breeding bird blitz, but they were well past their prime. Seems I caught the peak this time around!

False Mermaidweed (Floerkea proserpinacoides) was also abundant.

I picked up a few birds on the drive between there and Strathroy, including Eastern Bluebird, American Pipit, and House Wren. I made a quick pit stop into the Strathroy lagoons. A few lingering ducks and a couple rails, both Sora and Virgina.

In the evening, I went to check out a population of one of my favourite wildflowers, the Wood Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum). This is a very rare plant in Canada, with only two known populations, both in Middlesex county. A nice ending to the day.

I wasn't really doing a big day, but still managed 109 species. Probably could have made it 110 with American Woodcock, but I was too tired to bother!

Today was quite good, and we got our first big push of migrants in a week and a half.

Last night

Perhaps more on that later...

From the Lake to the Flats

Some readers may be aware that Jeremy Bensette has recently broken the Ontario Big Year record that was set in 2012 by Josh Vandermeulen. On Tuesday, he saw his 344th species for the year with a Northern Gannet in Hamilton. A huge congratulations goes out to Jeremy for reaching this milestone in his birding career. I think I will need to ask Jeremy and Josh to mentor me for my Big Year attempt in a few years (more on that once I graduate high school)  :-)

This morning I set out to Hamilton to try to observe the Northern Gannet. Keeping with the tradition of the blog, I will come out and say it...I didn't see it! It was, however, reported 30 minutes after I left! Despite this miss, I did end up having a great time!

I first checked out the Halton side of the lift bridge. Long-tailed Ducks numbered in the hundreds.

There were plenty of White-winged Scoters as well, including the first adult male that I have ever seen! I was quite pleased by the photos!

Red-breasted Mergansers are the most commonly seen merganser on the great lakes during the winter months. During the Rondeau CBC last year, on our route, I estimated over 600.

Common Loons are always a treat to see, and today we had around 4 individuals. This one came up about 10 feet from the pier. Surprisingly, this is the first time I have had the chance to get a decent photo of a Common Loon!

Also present were around two Red-throated Loons, first of year for me. The first bird was quite a ways out, but the second one was spotted about 6 feet from the pier! Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough, so I only caught the last little bit of it as it dove. It resurfaced a little further out, but by camera refused to focus on it!

Believe it or not, it was a three loon day! Soon after I arrived, I noticed a different looking small loon way off in the distance. It dove after about 3 seconds, and I wasn't confident on the ID, so I decided to not to say anything to the other birders. About 5 minutes later one of the others said that they had a Pacific Loon out in the company of two Common Loons. It was pretty easy to find, and I even managed a few "record" (aka crap) pictures.

I went over the Hamilton side, where things weren't much different. A few more Long-tailed Ducks and a pair of Peregrine Falcons.

After checking out Beachway Park, where I got another look at the Pacific Loon and added some Mute Swans to the day list, we started to make our way towards Waterloo to look for the Mountain Bluebird which has been around for about a week now. This was the bird that Jeremy tied the record with.

When we arrived, the birders on the scene said that the bird had been seen, but wasn't being seen at the moment. After about an hour of searching the best thing I found was a flyover Common Merganser, and I was ready to give up.

Then, suddenly I looked up and saw a starling flying over...or was it? Upon closer inspection I saw it was the Mountain Bluebird and it had just landed in a tree!

I ran back to the road, only falling twice, and soon joined the group looking at the bird...or at least trying to look at the bird because she had disappeared again! She was soon found sitting on a low tree in the middle of the meadow, or whatever you want to call it.

I hopped the fence (not illegally, since there are trails throughout the open area, but I didn't feel like walking back down the road to the opening in the fence) and made my way closer to the bird.

For the next hour or so, I followed her around as she went on with her routine. Sometimes I would lose her, just to realize that she was 30 feet in front of me hidden in a bush!

Near the end of my time with her, the sun had come out and it was turning into a pleasant day. She gave us some great opportunities for viewing and pictures.

The highlight for me was getting the following picture of her on the ground!

All in all, a great day of birding! I think it is pretty cool to have seen a Townsend's Warbler, Mountain Bluebird, and Pacific Loon in the same week within Ontario!