Fanshawe Finches n' Stuff

I had been aiming to put out a post detailing the mothing in my yard this past summer, but given the great sightings I have had since my last birding post, seems that will have to hold off! 

Fanshawe Conservation Area is a spectacular birding location only about 10 minutes from where I live. I am looking forward to the breeding bird atlas, starting next year, as my London area square encompassed the conservation area. Should be good!

On Halloween, I started at "The Lookout", as I normally do. I find it can be a great spot to see a variety of waterfowl and other flyover birds. After about 40 minutes, I was quite delighted to see a Red-necked Grebe fly by and land in the north end of the lake! This was my first observation of one in Middlesex, and a species I had been hoping to see every time I had gone out to the reservoir. 

Also on the 31st, I had nine Evening Grosbeaks and another Red Crossbill. Certainly a nice finch year! eBird checklist (Oct 31)

The next few times I went out to Fanshawe (November 3, 4, and 7) weren't too eventful, other than adding Common Redpoll and White-winged Crossbill to my winter finch list for the location. I am not up to eight finch species there this fall, with hopefully still some Pine Grosbeaks and Hoary Redpolls on the way. I also continued to see Red Crossbills, with the largest group being 11 on the 4th. I still have not seen both crossbill species in one day though!

eBird checklist (Nov 3)

eBird checklist (Nov 4)

eBird checklist (Nov 7)

Today was certainly an exciting day as well. Not two minutes after getting out of the car, I found a Northern Mockingbird. Mockingbirds sightings are rare, but increasing slightly, in Middlesex. It was a new year bird for me. I thought for sure I had missed it!

I was a little disappointed that the rowing teams (Fanshawe is where they train) had beat me to the north end of the lake where all the waterfowl were. They flushed basically everything in sight! As such, I wasn't really expecting to see too much on the lake. Finches and other birds kept me entertained, and I had 25 Common Redpolls, as well as a Red Crossbill (type 10). At one point, I noticed a lone duck. I raised my binoculars and, could it be? I got my scope on it, and it sure was! A Black Scoter! A new Middlesex bird for me. I called Bill Lindley, who needed it for his big year, and he came and saw it shortly before it disappeared.

It hadn't been looking great for the county getting all three scoter species this year, even with all the effort put in. I believe that this is the 253rd species recorded in the county this year, incredible! The last record for Black Scoter in the county I can find is 2012, so it has been awhile!

eBird checklist (Nov 8)

Hopefully, we are just getting started! I am expecting some good things on the next cold front (but will it be bean goose good? Who knows)

(Another plug for Ezra's site, it's ready now!)

James Bay 2018: Part Four

This past summer I was given the opportunity to volunteer for the James Bay Shorebird Project on the coast of James Bay, north of Moosonee. For two weeks from August 13th to August 27th, I was stationed at Longridge Point, the most northern of the three survey sites in the project.

James Bay 2018:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven
Part Eight

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August 18, 2018

We had a morning survey on this day, and since my foot was feeling better, I went along. I decided to head out a bit early and wait for the rest of the crew at "the wrack". As soon as I arrived, I spotted a flock of eight geese flying south not too far off shore. The sun was at their backs, so I wasn't able to see any detail on them. They seemed to be flying "odd" so I put my scope on them, and was pleased to see they were Snow Geese, the first flock of the season! I radioed back to camp, and everyone got to see them. A nice start to the day!

We started the survey about half a kilometer north of "the wrack" and then made our way to the tip of Longridge Point, where we'd finish the survey. We stopped in at the "forested island", (which we later dubbed "fantasy island") to see what songbirds were around. This spot isn't really an "island" but it is a stand of trees on the ridge about a kilometer away from the nearest forest. It seems like the perfect vagrant trap, hence our name for it :-)

We saw the usual suspects, including large numbers of Palm Warblers. The real excitement happened when a large-ish finch was spotted briefly before disappearing into a bush. It was very red, so Purple Finch was considered, but something seemed off. We were about to move on when the culprit jumped out of the bush. It was a Common Redpoll!  The bird was perfectly content feeding on strawberries only mere feet from us. It was certainly a time where I wish I had my camera, but I think my digiscopes turned out okay!

It was a pretty average survey (especially compared to what our NEXT Longridge Point Survey was going to be...). Lots of Black Scoters, with a few White-winged and Surf Scoters, were found at the tip. James Bay is a major staging site for Black Scoters. While the females are on their nests, all the males congregate to molt. There were probably between 1000-1300 Black Scoters at the tip of Longridge.

White Birch logs, along with White Cedar, are a common sight on the beaches. Those two species don't grow in the area, meaning they would have had to floated a long way.

I tried to document the moment.

Just me and the bay...

Back around camp, I continued to explore the marsh. I caught a couple more meadowhawks.

Black Meadowhawk

Cherry-faced Meadowhawk

I also went back to the creek to see what else I could catch. Just the same species as the day before.

Northern Pearl Dace

Brook Stickleback

August 19, 2018

It was sort of a cool and dreary day...very nice as it kept the mosquitoes away! We did the West Bay Survey on this day. There were tons of shorebirds on the mudflats. I believe we tallied somewhere around 2000 Semipalmated Sandpipers and 1500 White-rumped Sandpipers. Many of the Semis were juveniles, so it was obvious that there was some turnover as it was our highest juvenile count to date! We succeeded in finding a Red-necked Phalarope and a couple Wilson's Phalaropes on the survey as well. 

After a long trek across the mudflats, we finished our survey. Just before turning around to head back, we had this Rusty Tussock Moth caterpillar, certainly eye-catching!

Also right before turning back, we had a Tree Swallow go over with either a Cliff or Bank Swallow (sorry, it was over a month ago and I can't remember! I do think it was Cliff though). Interestingly, we had a Barn Swallow fly over later while back at camp. Swallows are uncommon up along the coast, and we only saw 4 individuals over the course of our stay.

Halfway back across the mudflats, I heard an odd shorebird call. By this point, I had been exposed to enough calls to pretty much recognize any of the shorebirds that we encountered, so I knew that whatever it was, it was going to be interesting. Soon after, I got on the bird, as was pleased to see it was a Red-necked Phalarope. Sure, not super rare, and we had already seen one today, but they are always fun! It landed not too far away, and put on a good show.

Also on the way back, I managed to hand catch this little fish, the Three-spined Stickleback. It has wonderful blue eyes. 

The rarest sighting of the day came soon after...

A couple hours later, back at camp, I spotted a white butterfly flying around. I assumed it was just another Cabbage White, which we had seen many of, but I decided to catch it just to be sure. I was pleased to see it was in fact a Mustard White, a (perhaps overdue) lifer for me!

Spent the rest of the day around camp...and if I remember correctly, I took another nap!

Tuesday Tuft and Other Stuff

Yesterday my Dad and I went to the Burlington/Hamilton area in search of waterfowl, namely the rare waterfowl that had been seen in the area recently.

I noticed a couple interesting birds on the way to Hamilton, including a Common Raven (uncommon this far south) and my first Turkey Vulture of the year! The vulture caught me off guard, but it is no doubt one of the ones that overwinter in the Hamilton area.

We first visited Spencer Smith Park, where a Ross's Goose had been found the day before. Within 30 seconds, I had found this tiny white goose snoozing with some Mallards.

Eventually the goose got up, walked around a little bit, then went back to sleep.

Next stop was the lift bridge and canal on the Hamilton/Halton county border. I found the resident Peregrine Falcons right away.

There were also a number of ducks such as scaup, Long-tailed Ducks, White-winged Scoters, and Common Goldeneyes present in the canal.

White-winged Scoter

I walked to where the canal opens up into the bay and decided to do a little bit of scoping to see what was out there. Within five minutes of looking, a scaup caught my eye. When the scaup turned broadside I realized that it was no scaup...it was a TUFTED DUCK.

Needless to say, I sort of lost my mind because I wasn't expecting to see the Tufted, as it it hadn't been reported since Saturday. I called my friend Owen right away to get the word out. After I got Owen and my other friend Ethan (who has a blog by the way) to post the sighting, I went back to my scope and tried to find it again....turns out ducks can swim.

After all that excitement I realized something...I didn't photograph the bird. Dang it!

Next, I went over to the Halton side of the canal in search of the female Harlequin Duck that has been hanging around. I found a few other things such as more scoters and a Mute Swan along the way.

Mute Swan

It wasn't long before I found the Harlequin Duck beside the pier. I hadn't seen a Harlequin since 2016, so this was a treat!

I stopped in quickly to Windermere basin just to scope out the ducks there. There were plenty of Mallards, along with lesser numbers of Bufflehead, Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Bufflehead, Gadwall, and Ruddy Duck.

flyover Gadwall

Northern Shoveler

Plenty of Double-crested Cormorants were also around.

Green Road was the last stop, and I was in search of King Eiders. I found a female shortly after being there, later ending up with two females and two first winter males. All the ducks were very far away, so this is my best pic (highly cropped).

All three species of scoters were also present, including my first ever adult male Black Scoter.

Surf Scoter

It's not often I see all my target species, and then some! A very good day, and I can't wait until I get back out!

Kettle Point Produces

Today I went on the annual Nature London trip to the Kettle Point area. I didn't go last year, but in 2015 it was very successful...and this year it was no different!

We stopped in at the Forest Sewage Lagoons first. This spot often yields numerous ducks that are hard to get on the lake. We had numerous Green-winged Teal, Ruddy Ducks, American Wigeon, Gadwall, Bufflehead, Mallard, Northern Shoveler, and Long-tailed Duck.

One of the highlights was a White-winged Scoter.

Ruddy Ducks and White-winged Scoter (2nd from R)

Many gulls, mostly Ring-billed and Bonaparte's, were present.

We managed to hear a late Common Gallinule in the reeds along the side of the cell.

Kettle Point was next. We immediately were off to a great start with a few dozen ducks, including Surf Scoter, Black Scoter, Bufflehead, Greater Scaup, Ring-necked Duck, Redhead, and Red-breasted Merganser.

Surf Scoter

There were a few Pied-billed and Horned Grebes as well. At one point, I thought I spotted a Red-necked Grebe way off in the distance, but I couldn't rule out it being a merganser.

At one point, a Great Blue Heron flew in.

Many blackbirds were present, including these Rusties.

There were also a couple Double-crested Cormorants and Mute Swans.

Near the point, at the little park with the gazebo, we managed to find a nice group of Common Mergansers some Bonaparte's Gulls.

There was also a single Long-tailed Duck.

We drove along the beach, which resulted in a few additions to the day list, including the first Turkey Vultures I've seen in a few days. We couldn't find anything within the dozens of Canada Geese, but the Bonaparte's Gulls kept us happy.

Moving toward the Pinery, we finally found a couple Bald Eagles. They didn't care to be photographed, so my only picture is quite bad!

The feeders at the Pinery VC were quite active. Tufted Titmice (Titmouses?) were quite regular, which was nice to see. American Goldfinches, Dark-eyed Juncos, Black-capped Chickadees, and White-breasted Nuthatches were present as well.

The lighting was very bad, and the camera didn't want to cooperate!

Tufted Titmouse

American Goldfinch

We walked Riverside Trail, where we found a number of Cedar Waxwings, robins, nuthatches, and a Tufted Titmouse.

The highlight of the trip was found soon after...a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers!

Although Red-headed Woodpeckers are expected, they are definitely are very uncommon. The pair seen here are my first for Lambton county.

After Riverside, we drove out of the park, but not before checking out the beaches. Nothing much except a large-ish raft of Greater Scaup.

The real excitement was on the opposite side of the road, on the forest side. After a little bit of scanning, we were able to find dozens of Cedar Waxwings, American Robins, and even a pair of Purple Finches!

After this, we decided to call it a day and head back home.

Huge thanks to Paul for driving me around (and sharing your lunch!) Sorry we couldn't find you a Cackling Goose (or Pine Siskins!)

Two Lakes in Two Days

When a birder thinks of late October, they think of ducks. Ducks were my primary target this weekend, and I was hoping to add all three scoter species to my life list (I did!).  Also on my mind was Golden Eagles (nope), Red-shouldered Hawks (nope) and a rarity that you'll have to read on to find out what it was.

The trip started Friday, and the first location my dad (he wanted to come too) and I visited was Hawk Cliff in Elgin.

the cliff

I was hoping some GOEA would fly through, but none appeared. The weather system on the shores of Lake Ontario has cut off many of the raptors coming in from Quebec. Despite no migratory birds of prey, there was quite the variety of smaller birds including Purple Finch (trip lifer #1), Yellow-rumped Warbler, Fox Sparrow, kinglets, Cedar Waxwings, White-breasted Nuthatches, sparrows, and Downy Woodpeckers.

Purple Finch

YR Warbler

WB Nuthatch

White-crowned Sparrow

We drove about an hour to our next stop, Morpeth Cliffs. There were a number of ducks here including Greater Scaup, Redhead, White-winged Scoter (trip lifer #2), and Red-breasted Merganser.

WW Scoter

Next up was Blenheim Sewage Lagoons. We stopped in at the post office to get a permit and the code for the gate (you can't get in without them). This was my first time visiting the lagoons, and I know that I'll be back!

All the cells were covered with hundreds of Ruddy Ducks and over a thousand Bonaparte's Gulls.

A few other ducks could be found as well.

Northern Shoveler

Shorebirds are still present, and there were about 80 dunlin, along with yellowlegs, Killdeer, and a Wilson's Snipe, which I flushed while walking along the berm.

Dunlin

You haven't really lived until you've been swarmed by Bonies!

You may have heard about the recent "invasion" of Cattle Egrets in southern Ontario. I was lucky enough to catch up with one of the four that have been spotted at the lagoons in the last week.

It was quite flighty, and the only way I could get any good photos was by hiding in a ditch or behind a pile of junk...I'm pretty sure I got my tetanus shot. A Rusty Blackbird (trip lifer #4) flew over head at this point as well.

At one point the egret got between me and my dad.

Awesome (trip lifer #3)!

Erieau was next, and I managed to pick out five species of gulls on the pier.

This Herring Gull kind of scares me.

Horned Grebes are now in their winter plumage. It's quite the opposite of their breeding plumage!

Can you spot the Great Blue Heron? (hint: it's beside the Red-breasted Merganser)

The next day, we started in Sarnia.

There really wasn't all too much to look at other than a large raft of Redhead/Scaup and a Black Scoter (trip lifer #5) off Canatara Park.

Since there wasn't anything else to look at, it was off to Kettle Point!

Immediately I managed to find a small group of about 8 scoters with White-winged, Black, and Surf (trip lifer #6).

Pied-billed and Horned Grebes were abundant. I found a Common Loon as well.

There was some hunting going on, so there wasn't too many ducks.

Forest Sewage Lagoons was the last stop. A number of Mallards, Green-winged Teal, and Black Ducks were flying around.

GW Teal

Common Milkweed is pretty much done for the season.

South-western Ontario residents may have noticed the large flocks of migrating crows lately.

Happy Halloween!

Sparrows were abundant, and I saw several FOS American Tree Sparrows.

I also added a new shorebird species to the trip list, Black-bellied Plover, a Dunlin was with them.

A few Sulphurs were flying around, including this Clouded Sulphur.

It was quite the couple of days, and I'm sure that I'll be out again soon!

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On a side note, my life list is now at 233, only 17 off from my goal of 250 by the end of 2016.

Birds that I still have a chance to see:

1. Red-throated Loon
2. Black Vulture
3. Red-shouldered Hawk
4. Golden Eagle
5. White-rumped Sandpiper
6. Little Gull
7. Thayer's Gull
8. Long-eared Owl
9. Short-eared Owl
10. Northern Saw-whet Owl
11. American Pipit
12. Common Redpoll
13. Lapland Longspur
14. Yellow-headed Blackbird
15. Bohemian Waxwing

plus maybe a few rarities will show up!