A Long Walk and Other Things

Friday I decided to get out for a nice long walk along the Thames River. My plan was to start at the old dam in Springbank Park, and end up in the northeast corner of the city, past Kilally Meadows Environmentally Significant Area. A total distance of about 20 kilometers, my longest walk in quite awhile.

I started off strong with a Redhead and a Greater Scaup right at the dam. There has been a recent influx of Aythya ducks in London on the river as a result of the great lakes freezing. 

I continued down the path, and encountered a group of 16 Redheads, as well as the usual wintering waterfowl. A bit later I came across a flock of 150 Common Redpolls.

At Greenway Park, I came across a few more Redheads, as well as another Greater Scaup.

At the Forks of the Thames, I spotted the female Ring-necked Duck that has been in the area for awhile, as well as a male Redhead which was accompanying her. 

Several kilometers later I came across a Pied-billed Grebe, undoubtedly one of the couple that have been hanging out on the Thames this winter. 

I arrived at the Harlequin Duck location, but was unable to find it. It must have been hiding. I did however come across a Ruddy Duck. What an odd bird for the Thames River in February!

The remainder of my walk (about 6 kilometers) was pretty uneventful. I checked out a series of feeders that had been harbouring a wintering Red-winged Blackbird, but had no luck in finding it! 

Today, Bill Lindley and I went down to Glencoe to try and find an interesting meadowlark that had been seen on February 10th, and was posted to Facebook. The photos seemed to point to it being a Western Meadowlark, and that identification seemed to be the general consensus among everyone who saw the photos. We spent nearly two hours looking, but were unsuccessful. There had been a lot of snow the day prior, which covered up the grassy roadsides where the bird had been feeding, so maybe we will have to give it another shot once it warms up a bit.

This afternoon I was out of the house when I got another message: Spotted Towhee! Since I wasn't coming from home, I didn't have my binoculars or camera, and I was wearing running shoes, but I would have to make do. I rushed over, and we began our stakeout of the bird feeder. After and hour and a half, finally the towhee showed up. It was very skittish, but offered diagnostic looks. I was hoping to get a lifer today, but I certainly wasn't expecting it to be that!

I'll have to go back for photos. The bird has apparently been coming to the feeder for a week, so it will likely remain there for awhile.

After things being quiet for weeks, it was certainly nice to get the adrenaline pumping again!  

Notes from the St. Clair

Hello. Does this thing still work?

Yesterday I birded Sarnia and along the St. Clair river, with the intention of seeing what was around. I didn't take any photos (save for one bird), so I will recycle some old ones.

The day started off not so nice, with rain and quite heavy fog. Not too much of note along the way, but we did have a Snowy Owl in the usual location, as well as a Rough-legged Hawk. The roughie was in the same spot as the one we had last year, and looked to have the same patterning, so it could be the same bird as pictured below (from 2019).

We toured around Point Edward a bit, looking at the lake at a few different locations. Not too much to be seen. The usual Long-tailed Ducks, which always seem to be flying around, never settling. Had a few White-winged Scoters to shake things up as well. 

Quite the contrast to last year at this time. The only ice to be seen was on the rocks.

NOT like this (2019)

Off of Canatara Park, there was a sizable raft of Redhead, I estimated numbering around 1800. They were on the American side, but whatever...Also seen was a Great Black-backed sitting a distance out with an adult Glaucous Gull right beside it. Perhaps two of my favourite wintertime gulls.

There were more birds in the marina and Sarnia Bay than I expected, but nothing too much out of the ordinary. A few Great Black-backs and an adult Glaucous were among the Herring Gulls. I did see a Long-tailed Duck, which I think might be the first time I have seen one in the bay!

Heading downriver, we stopped a few times to sift through the gulls. There were easily a few thousand Herring Gulls present, as well as some more interesting things mixed in. Guthrie Park was good, as it always seems to be, and the gizzard shad die off attracted the gulls en masse. Along with about 2000 Herrings, I picked out a couple Iceland Gulls, some Glaucous, Great Black-backeds, and a Nelson's Gull, which is a hybrid between Herring and Glaucous Gull.

Great Black-backed Gull

At the OCF outflow down near Sombra, there were quite a few Great Black-backs, as well a some Glaucous and a pretty little first cycle Iceland Gull. A Belted Kingfisher also made an appearance. 

Final stop was the Sombra waterfront. As usual, lots of Redhead, but the star of the show was a Ring-necked Duck x Redhead hybrid, which has been coming back for a few years now. This is the first time I have seen this hybrid.

All in all a good day. Back to exams...

Some Springbank Photos

Yesterday I went on a short walk in Springbank Park. I managed to catch up with a few ducks that have been frequenting the river this winter, along with a very photogenic Northern Cardinal. I also encountered my first Cackling Goose of the year.

Cackling Goose

Black-capped Chickadee

Northern Cardinal

Redhead

American Wigeon

Some Sarnia Stuff

Today was the annual Nature London outing to the Sarnia and St. Clair region. I would say today's outing has been of my better days birding in the area!

We started off the day with a nice male Snowy Owl just outside of London.

It was fairly quiet on the drive to Sarnia, however we picked up Snow Bunting (my first of 2018...finally!), Brown-headed Cowbird, Horned Lark,  and Northern Harrier. Closer to Sarnia we checked out a creek along the road, which revealed Mallards, Common Mergansers, Northern Pintail, American Black Ducks, and a Gadwall.

Next stop, Wawanosh Wetlands! Just before leaving the car, I glanced at my camera. I decided against bringing it because I reasoned we wouldn't come across anything worth photographing. About five minutes later I regretted that decision...

We were happily looking at Canada Geese and Herring Gulls when I heard a high-pitched honk. I looked up, and saw a large flock of geese flying 50 feet overhead. It took me a moment to realize that I was looking at GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE!

The group was treated to great views of the geese, although they were gone almost as fast as they had arrived. I texted Blake Mann about the sighting, and he was able to later track down the flock just north of Wawanosh. He also managed some photos!

Next stop was Canatara Park, where we promptly saw Tufted Titmouse, Red-bellied Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, and Black-capped Chickadee. There were also some goats.

I was playing around with some filters, and I thought this turned out good.

Onto to the beach! We found Greater Scaup, Redhead, Canvasbacks, Long-tailed Ducks, Bufflehead, and a White-winged Scoter.

Greater Scaup

White-winged Scoter

Common Goldeneye

Further down we got on a distant eagle, which turned out to be a Golden Eagle!

Golden Eagle

We headed to the marina, where we managed to see tons of gulls, including Great-black Backed, Glaucous, Iceland, Herring, and Ring-billed.

Plenty of ducks were out on the bay as well, including Common Mergansers, Redhead, Canvasback, scaup, Ring-necked Duck, Common Goldeneye, American Black Duck, and Bufflehead.

American Black Duck

This male Wood Duck has been hanging around for a while. I heard it long before I saw it!

We drove down the St. Clair towards Sombra, stopping along the way whenever we saw something interesting. Redheads numbered in the thousands, and Canvasbacks and Long-tailed Ducks could also be found in the hundreds. We found a few other ducks in smaller numbers such as Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, and Common Goldeneye.

Redhead

Common Merganser

Bufflehead

Mute Swan

Long-tailed Duck and Common Goldeneye

On the way back home, we saw a few raptors such as Red-tailed Hawks and Rough-legged Hawks. We also happened across five Snowy Owls within 10 minutes!

I'm off for exams this week...I'm sure I'll be out again soon!

Deep Freeze Ducks and Stuff

This afternoon my aunt and I went for a walk along the Thames river from Greenway Park to the Springbank Park dam. Our main focus was the wintering waterfowl, but we were also hoping to find a few birds to add to our year lists.

Upon arrival, we quickly found an American Robin (first of 2018 for my aunt!), Common Goldeneye, Common Mergansers, Mallards, American Black Duck, Ring-billed Gull, and Herring Gull. I think today was the first time that I have seen more Herring Gulls than Ring-billed on the Thames!

American Robin

Herring Gull

The Pied-billed Grebe from New Year's Day was still present.

The Long-tailed Duck could still be found as well.

Another rare duck has showed up on the Thames, this one in the form of a Red-breasted  Merganser. Red-breasted Mergansers are hard to find in Middlesex regardless of the season, and this one was yet another Middlesex lifer!

Red-breasted (front) and Common Merganser

At one point a Belted Kingfisher came in briefly. I didn't think we'd come across one!

Surprisingly, smaller birds were far and few between. At one point in Greenway, we came across a little group of Black-capped Chickadee, Golden-crowned Kinglet, and a Brown Creeper. In typical creeper fashion, it didn't want it's picture taken!

Brown Creeper

As usual, there were quite a few Canada Geese present. At one point, I noticed a large goose with a much deeper voice than the others. I photographed it, and then I realized it was a Branta canadensis maxima, aka the "Giant" Canada Goose. I was happy with the sighting, as this subspecies is relatively difficult to find.

Bald Eagles seem to always be present along the Thames in the winter, and today was no exception. We saw at least 8 or 9 over the course of the walk. A couple provided some good photo opportunities.

Closer to the dam, waterfowl numbers started to build. Canada Geese and Mallards were most numerous, but Common Mergansers and Common Goldeneyes could also be found in larger numbers. Hooded Mergansers, black ducks, and Buffleheads were seen in lesser numbers.

Common Merganser (Left) and Common Goldeneye (Right)

Hooded Merganser

This Merlin was a first for 2018. I wasn't expecting to see one today!

Down by the dam there were many ducks, mostly Mallards.

As usual, there were many domestic types, including this one which has been around for years.

A pair of Redheads were mingling with the Mallards.

A couple Red-tailed Hawks patrolled the river, and occasionally perching in the evergreens.

It was at that point I found the most unexpected bird of the day...a female American Wigeon!

Wigeon are rare winter visitors to Middlesex, so I was excited to see this one!

I thought it was a very good outing, and a great way to end off the winter break. Tomorrow it is back to school!