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!

April Fowl's Day!

Today I decided to get a little bit of birding in around home to boost up the county year list.

The first stop of the day was Komoka Provincial Park, which proved to be quite quiet. The best birds were Horned Grebe and Ring-necked Ducks.

Strathroy sewage lagoons was next. While still overly quiet, there was more variety here than at Komoka.

Blackbirds were everywhere, and I saw my first female Red-winged of the year.

The two expected grebe species were also present.

Pied-billed

Horned

Ring-necked Ducks were here as well, and they were the most common species.

Buffleheads were the second most common.

I also managed to find Lesser Scaup, Mallard, and Ruddy Duck.

Canada Geese made their presence known.

Other birds such as Song Sparrows, Killdeer, and a Northern Flicker were around as well.

Not a bad day to be out....those neotrops will be upon us before we know it!