Middlesex Biggish Year: February Update

Another month has come and gone! I find February to typically be the most boring month birding wise, but this past one had been fairly good. The cold snap this month brought in plenty of ducks, but certainly halted the arrival of several typical late February migrants.  After month #2 of my "Middlesex Biggish Year" my year list stands at a respectable 93 species after accumulating 11 new species, roughly 75% of the species reported in the county so far in 2021. My biggest misses this past month were White-winged Scoter (which I probably would have gotten if I hadn't missed the call by 20 minutes) and Western Meadowlark (which I did end up seeing, but it was a couple hundred meters on the wrong side of the county line!).

The breakdown: 

Code 1: 64 species (4 new)

Code 2: 17 species (3 new)

Code 3: 7 species (3 new)

Code 4: 3 species

Code 5: 2 species (1 new)

Up until this weekend (Feb. 27/28), the only code 1 I had added to my list was American Coot. Several have been reported on the Thames this year, and I finally caught up with a couple on the 24th. On the 27th, I had the first Red-winged Blackbirds and Brown-headed Cowbirds of the year, and then on the 28th I got my first Common Grackles. 

The freezing of the great lakes brought in three new code 2 birds. Redhead, Greater Scaup, and Ruddy Duck all appeared in decent numbers throughout the month along the Thames.

Ruddy Duck

It was nice to get three code 3 birds out of the way, even though I will probably see some more of at least two of them later this year. The first was a Trumpeter Swan, which is not always a lock for a Middlesex year list. The others were a Long-tailed Duck and a few Canvasback.

Long-tailed Duck

I didn't get any new code 4s, but I did see a code 5; the second Middlesex record of Spotted Towhee! I first saw this bird on Valentine's Day, and have since then been back a few times to enjoy this rarity. I imagine that it will be around for awhile yet. I already "ticked" it last month, but the Harlequin Duck had still been around as well, and I have seen it on a couple different occasions. 

I think I am off to a pretty good start. I'm excited to see what else will show up! 

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...

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!

Birds of the New Year

This morning was Nature London's annual New Year's Day walk in Greenway Park along the Thames River in London.

We found multiple species of the expected ducks, such as Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Common Merganser, Hooded Merganser, American Black Duck, and Mallard. Canada Geese were also numerous.

Common Merganser

Surprisingly, we also were able to find a couple rarer species of ducks. Although not completely unexpected, Northern Pintails are scare and hard to find along the Thames. There was a nice drake to be found with some Mallards.

Long-tailed Ducks are typically not found on the Thames river, so it was a complete surprise when the group found a female today. It was actually a Middlesex lifer for me!

It's not a duck, but it is still are water bird! The group got great looks at a Pied-billed Grebe, a rare bird for Middlesex in the winter. Two years ago we had a Pied-billed Grebe on the walk as well!

Bald Eagles are always a highlight of a winter walk along the Thames, and there was not shortage of them today! I saw at least four.

Well, it was a pretty good start to what I know will turn out to be a great year! One down, 364 days to go!

On a side note, here is a video of some of the birds in the backyard today!

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!