Big December Day

Yesterday in an effort to brighten up the last few days of December, I did a "Big Day" in Hamilton and along the Niagara river. I set a goal of 50 species, and I ended with 52. We started with looking at the Burlington Bay area, where 19 Greater Black-backed Gulls were found.

Next was the canal under the lift bridge that crosses the Halton/Hamilton county line. Hundreds of Long-tailed Ducks inhabited the area.

From Front to Back: Adult Male, First-winter Male, Adult Female

A few scoters and mergansers were with them.

White-winged Scoter

Then came the real prize...a female King Eider.

Windermere Basin yielded some puddle ducks such as American Wigeon and Northern Shovelers. This was also the only place where I found a few Ruddy Ducks among the Buffleheads.

We searched for Black Vultures at Queenston Heights next. Nothing at first but this Red-tail.

But then I noticed some dark blobs on the church...a kilometer and a half away!

I took pictures, but the blobs appeared to be Turkey Vultures, which also winter in the area. But I figured that where there are Turkeys there could be Blacks hidden among them. I ran back to the car to get my scope, and set up. It took 10, maybe 15 minutes before I saw three smaller-than-TV black birds flying at least another 500 meters behind the church. They then sharply dropped beneath the tree line but in the split second before disappearing, I saw the silvery wing tips of the Black Vulture...at two kilometers! We soon re-found at least one on the church.

The Queenston sand docks revealed this funny Long-tailed Duck. She swam quite far down river in this position.

At the whirlpool I found a Thayer's Gull, but no Black-headed! Four Canvasbacks as well.

I got my first real taste of gull-watching (gulling?) above the falls. Thousands of gulls were perched and flying around.

This barge known as "The Old Scow" broke loose from the tug boat up stream while dredging the sand banks almost a century ago on August 6, 1918.  There were two men on board when it got marooned on the rocks just up stream from the Horseshoe falls.  It took the US Army to help with the rescue, and 17 hours later the two men once again stood on solid ground.

We met a group of birders who were just leaving. They told us that there were a few Little Gulls flying around. Little Gulls are quite rare in the ABA area (code 3), but can be reliably found in Ontario. You just need to know where to look.

If Little Gulls didn't have a dark underwing, it would be nearly impossible to pick them out.  I had to be quick to get this shot.  He was hard to keep track of.

It was an awesome day, and I'm four species closer to 250. Eight more to go!

Eurasian Collared-Dove and Some Others

Sunday morning my mom and I got in the car and drove eastward. There were reports of a Eurasian Collared-Dove hanging around in Guelph for the last few weeks, so we checked that out first.

It was a cloudy day, and as the 'Burg Birder would say..."It's the weekend!"

When we arrived at the location (Elmira Rd. S) the bird was nowhere to be seen. So we turned onto Stephanie Dr., then typed "Cherrywood Drive" into the GPS (we call her Lady Nav), as I had remembered reading about Cherrywood some where along the line. As soon as we pushed "Go" the voice said "Arriving at Cherywood Drive on right". We pulled forward 5 feet and revealed the street sign that was concealed by a pine. Not 15 feet away from where we entered the street, I spotted the dove on top of one of those vent thingies.

We left in less than 10 minutes because it's a residential area, and the occupants probably wouldn't like me looking at their homes with binoculars. It's bad enough that on Nature London trips we usually find ourselves looking at people's feeders!

A shortish drive later, we find ourselves in Hamilton. There are a lot of Double-crested Cormorants, and I saw a nesting colony close to the highway.

I haven't seen this many since Pelee Island last fall.

They were perched on lampposts above the road, and there was even a sigh that said "caution: low flying birds"

Windermere Basin was home to a Snowy Egret for a few days, but it wasn't there when we went. There were however tons of Caspian and Common Terns, as both breed in the area. I'm still kicking myself for not getting a decent shot of the terns, as they flew right over!

Some others birds seen were Ring-billed Gulls, DC Cormorants, Mallards, Canada Geese, and a female Rudy Duck.

Shorebirds are starting to arrive, and I saw 5 species. Solitary Sandpiper, Stilt Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, and Killdeer.

After the basin, we went down to Queenston Heights park in the Niagara region. I was hoping for Black Vultures, but I found out they don't hang around during the summer months. All I saw were Turkey Vultures.

And now some information for history buffs like me...

The Battle of Queenston Heights was fought on October 13, 1812. This is perhaps one of the best known battles of the War of 1812. The Americans decided to cross at Queenston, so they sent a small militia group on the 12th. General Sir Isaac Brock thought that the militia was a distraction, as crossing the Niagara currents isn't easy, and it would be much easier to cross at Fort George. So, Brock kept most of his men at the fort, but sent a few to Queenston.

It turned out that the Americans were intent on taken Queenston, so on the morning of the 13th, Brock woke to the sound of guns. He rode his horse all the way there, organized his troops, then personally lead the charge down the hill with his sword drawn. Unlike other generals, Brock liked to lead his men and not just direct them. His bravery lead to the victory of the British, but he was sadly killed by an unknown sniper. He was one of the 28 non-American causalities.

A monument was erected in his name, 182 feet tall. The monument is found on the longest un-defended border in the entire world. Brock's remains can be found here.

It is kind of neat that 200 years ago, men were running down these paths, fighting for their lives.

Its black, but not a vulture!

I didn't find anything out of the ordinary, but I spotted a lifer butterfly...Red-spotted Purple!

I can only imagine trying to cross this in 1812.

On the way home, we passed an old ship with a whole lot of cormorants.

The clouds cleared up and revealed a rainbow.

A nice ending to a awesome day. I finally tracked down a rare dove! It almost makes up for missing the White-winged Dove by TEN minutes back in June :)

These birds are eating the WWDO's seeds!

Good birding!