Sarnia and the St. Clair

Today was the annual Nature London field trip to the St. Clair River.  We met this morning at 7:30, and started the day by heading to the traditional Snowy Owl spot. I spotted one on top of a hill on the way, however only the cars behind us got to see the bird as the rest of the group didn’t notice us stop, so they kept on driving.

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.

Upon leaving the wetlands, we picked out a Green-winged Teal in one of the channels leading out of the Conservation Area. It’s a great bird for this time of year.

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

Point Pelee on Saturday

Yesterday I took a trip to the Pelee area to see what was around. With hurricane Matthew heading up the Atlantic shore, I figured that some things may show up in the area (I was right...I frigatebird was spotted near the Pinery. I might go if it is found again).

As expected, there were a number of Blue Jays moving through. I estimated at least 100 were seen along the north dike, and around 240 at the Sanctuary Pond. I also noted 8 Northern Rough-winged Swallows there was well.

A couple immature Bald Eagles hung out around the VC.

There was an impressive number of Turkey Vultures moving around as well. They prefer NE winds to help them migrate, but the winds were NW, so birders got to enjoy the sight of over 200 vultures swirling around in a massive kettle.

The tip was fairly quiet, but I still managed to see more species than what I saw on my big day back in May (I saw 29 on May 7th and 34 on October 8th). Raptor Migration is still in full swing with a number of Red-tailed Hawks, Sharpies, Coopers, Northern Harriers moving around. A high flying Peregrine (?) Falcon is my first one of the year.

A 'Gashawk' flew by as well :)

I was a tad surprised by the number of warblers I saw at the tip. I was expecting one or two species, but I ended up with five. Obviously Yellow-rumped was the most numerous (7), but I ended up with Palm (4), a stunning male Black-throated Blue (1), Magnolia (1), and Blackburnian (1).

Butter-butt

Maggie

Black-throated Blue

Dark-eyed Juncos are starting to arrive, and I saw about two dozen around the tip. White-throated Sparrows are starting to show up too.

There were dozens of Monarchs at the tip. I even saw a few flying far out on the lake while looking through the scope at some gulls.

Dragonflies were numerous, and I saw both Red and Black Saddlebags, Meadowhawks, and Common Green Darners.

Black Saddlebags

I saw four species of gulls, most of them out over the lake. I wasn't able to find a Little Gull hidden among the Bonies.

juvie Herring

There was a group of three Common Loons being attacked by the gulls far out in the lake. It was interesting watching the birds dive under the water as the gulls flew at them. I think that the loons were bringing up some food that the gulls wanted, so they took it from them. I also saw two species of grebe...Horned and the uncommon Red-necked.

yes, there is a loon out there

New England Aster was the most common wildflower. Cabbage Whites and Sulphurs love them.

After lunch, it was off to DeLaurier. A number of Sparrows and a couple Palm Warblers frequented the grassy areas. A Prairie Falcon was seen earlier, but I had no luck finding it.

They closed off the observation tower on the trail, but at least I heard my first and only Gray Catbird of the trip. Blue jays were moving through in large numbers.

So were Golden-crowned Kinglets.

The Marsh Boardwalk was next.

Green Frog

There wasn't much around to photograph, but I added a few new species for the day list such as Wood Duck, Belted Kingfisher, and Swamp Sparrow.

More Palm Warblers were around as well.

I wanted to try to see the Snowy Egret at Big Creek, so I said good bye to the park and that's where I went. It wasn't there, but I saw 21 Great Egrets, my third species of grebe for the day, and a (domestic) Muscovy Duck!

The middle one had me fooled!

Pied-billed Grebe

Hillman Marsh was the last stop. I didn't get there until quarter after seven, so it was becoming dark, but I could still make out a few birds. The shorebird cell is quite nice at dusk.

Canada Geese and ducks such as Mallards and Scaup were coming in for the night.

Shorebirds included Greater Yellowlegs, Killdeer, and a peep of some sort. It was dark by this point, so I made the shorebird ID by ear.

No owls yet, but in another month a couple species will come to roost.

It was a great day, I ended up with 55 species, and I can't wait to go back!