New Year, New List

When the clock struck 12 on New Year's Eve, we welcomed a new year, and with that, new lists. While I don't really have any intentions of a "big year", I thought it would be fun to try and tick off as many species as possible for my Middlesex year list in the first little bit of the year. I'm still riding the high of the exceptional birding in 2020, so we'll see how long my enthusiasm lasts. Probably until the sedges start to grow again.

I started off the day before sunrise in my neighborhood. I tried to get a screech-owl in one of the ravines, but no luck. I did have one here last March for a bit, but it was probably just a transient individual. My first bird of the new year was a Mallard. Better than how I started 2020, with a House Sparrow!

I picked up Northern Cardinal, Dark-eyed Junco, and Mourning Dove in short succession, then went to the wetland, where I had my first finch of the year, a Common Redpoll. It took a little bit of work to dig one up, but I eventually got my target, Swamp Sparrow. I picked up another 20 or so species as well.

Next, I went to Fanshawe Conservation Area, a favourite haunt in the last couple months of 2020. I was disappointed to find that the lake was largely frozen over, so there wasn't the large concentration of ducks as I had a couple days prior. I scoped the geese at the north end, and came up with three Cackling Geese, not a bad species to get in January. 

Overall, I found it to be much quieter than I had been expecting, but there were still a few quality birds to be had. While in the campground, I heard a couple soft "chuts", and was surprised to see a flock of 15 White-winged Crossbills fly over. These were the first crossbills I had seen since November 24th, so I thought they had all moved through. I guess we are getting the second wave.

I was told about a Fox Sparrow coming to some seed, but after waiting around for a bit, it was a no show, so I continued on my way. I checked another area which is a popular spot for feeding birds, and often gets some good wintering sparrows, and was rewarded with an immature White-crowned Sparrow, and a White-throated Sparrow. 

A bit later in the afternoon, I went to the very northern part of the lake, where the large numbers of Mallards that I had missed were apparently hanging out. Here I picked up Northern Pintail, American Wigeon, and Common Goldeneye. I also had another flock of White-winged Crossbills fly over, this one totaling 30 individuals! The previous high count for Middlesex this past season was eight, so that was pretty exciting! 

Down near Komoka, I tried for the reported Hoary Redpoll, but found no redpolls at all where they had been seen. I still have a couple months to try and find one I figure, so not a big deal! The quarry ponds in the area were frozen over, much to my disappointment, but at least the Mute Swans could be seen resting on the ice.

Out Strathroy way, we found three Snowy Owls, two of which were quite close on the hydro poles. They are always a highlight. A Northern Flicker flew by as well, which was a bit unexpected.

The weather was really turning at this point, but since I was in the area, I checked in at the sewage lagoons, and found the Common Yellowthroat that had been there since at least December. A bit of an odd wintering bird for this area. I also had a Sharp-shinned Hawk, which was my last new bird of the day.

My year list at the end of January 1st was a respectable 50 species.

Today, I went out in the morning in the neighbourhood in hopes of Carolina Wren and Cooper's Hawk, but came up empty handed. It was then back out to Fanshawe, where I found the lake to be largely ice free in the north end. I spent the better part of an hour counting the waterfowl, and came up with 1300 Canada Geese, 960 Mallards, 70 American Black Ducks, 34 Common Mergansers, a few Hooded Mergansers and goldeneye, as well as the wigeon. I also had an amazing 20 Cackling Geese. 

Just the usual suspects on the remainder of my walk, and I was getting worried I wouldn't see a single year bird that day! A fly over Rough-legged Hawk was a nice surprise, a new bird for my modest Fanshawe list. I stopped by the Fox Sparrow spot, and thankfully had it come right in to my pishing.

As I was crossing the dam, I spied a Merlin sitting in the distance, proving to be my only other year bird of the day. 

A fun couple days of birding, looking forward to what is still to come!

Happy New Year!

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!)

The Wilds of Algonquin: Part Two

Read part one here

After a few hours rest, we awoke to the songs and calls of many winter finches. These Red Crossbills came down for grit not too far away...lighting was not the best however!

We went to the visitor centre next, where we watched the action at the feeders for a bit. I was happy to be able to see my first European Starling for my park list :-)

Pine Siskin

Red Crossbill

Purple Finch

We searched for Spruce Grouse at the Spruce Bog boardwalk, unfortunately to no avail. We did however find a Ruffed Grouse and a Purple Finch.

Purple Finch (rear end)

Opeongo Road was next, where we found many Red Crossbills and White-winged Crossbills.

Red Crossbills

White-winged Crossbill

White-winged Crossbill

Gray Jays found us pretty quickly. We found some more as we walked up the road.

Soon it was time to get picked up and start heading home, but not before I found a Canada Goose near Cache Lake, an early migrant.

We also saw an Otter at the same location.

Overall it was a great weekend to be up in Algonquin! I think spring is finally upon us!

The Wilds of Algonquin: Part One

This past weekend I visited Algonquin Park with a group of other young birders with the Ontario Field Ornithologists (including Ethan). It was quite a lot if fun and we saw some great birds!

I arrived early Saturday morning to the Wildlife Research Station (I was late getting up, so we stayed in Dwight Friday night), and was immediately overwhelmed by the number of finches! Finches turned out to be pretty common throughout the park, and I don't think we ever really went a moment without hearing at least a siskin or a crossbill!

We birded around the Wildlife Research Station for a few hours, and we were treated to awesome sightings such as a White-winged Crossbill, Red Crossbill, Pine Siskin, Purple Finch, and a Merlin, which is good winter bird up there.

White-winged Crossbill

Afterwards we went to Opeongo Road to look for some Gray Jay nests with the researchers. Again, crossbills were numerous, as were Pine Siskins.

Red Crossbill

Pine Siskin

It wasn't long until we found some Gray Jays, including one on a nest.

There were some curious Red Squirrels as well.

We visited the Visitor Centre next, where the feeders were quite active. We saw Blue Jays, Pine Siskins, American Goldfinches, Dark-eyed Juncos, and Evening Grosbeaks among other things.

Evening Grosbeak

Red-winged Blackbird

Pine Siskin

White-winged Crossbill

Red Crossbill

I was quite excited to see my first American Marten.

There were a couple Wild Turkeys in the parking lot, overwintering birds.

We checked out Spruce Bog quickly after the Visitor Centre, which revealed to be more or less quiet. At least there were a couple cooperative Gray Jays and a Purple Finch.

We checked out Bat Lake and a little bit of the Old Airfield before dinner, but were unable to find anything that we hadn't already seen.

Certainly a great first day in Algonquin!

Birding Below Zero (Algonquin Park)

To see winter birding at its best, you have to visit Algonquin Park…that is, if you don’t mind the cold.

Algonquin is well-known in the birding world to be one of the best and most accessible places in Ontario to regularly find winter finches and other “Northern Specialties”.  I made a list of targets for the weekend:

1.       Gray Jay

2.       Evening Grosbeak

3.       White-winged Crossbill

4.       Red Crossbill

5.       Pine Grosbeak

6.       Common Redpoll

Well, I’m glad to say that I saw all of them…which is the first time in quite a while where all the birds I was hoping to see were all observed.

The weekend started off at the West Gate with Red Crossbill, White-winged Crossbill, Common Redpoll, and the first of many Blue Jays.  A couple of Crossbills, probably Red, were noted along the highway, but other than that it was pretty quiet.

The fun began when we reached the Visitor Centre.

Well over a hundred Evening Grosbeaks dominated the feeders, along with dozens of American Goldfinches and Blue Jays. Many of them perched just mere meters away from us, and their calls filled the air.

The Wild Turkey that’s been hanging around also allowed its presence to be known.

Spruce Bog Boardwalk is the one stop shop when it comes to winter birding. While I didn’t see a Spruce Grouse this time around, I did  (finally) see a Gray Jay.

Three more soon followed.

I managed to hand feed two different birds here as well, which was pretty awesome. By the end of the weekend, I had hand fed four different Gray Jays.

There was even one with a radio tracking device (which is one of the ones I fed...see above).

The Boreal Chickadee seems to be getting bolder, as the first time I noticed it, the bird was taking a peanut from my hand!  It soon took a nut from my mother as well.

Opeongo Road was next, where there were numerous “friendly” birds. I use “friendly” lightly as there were about a dozen chickadees swarming me and a battle between a chickadee and a nuthatch over who gets to perch on my head.

A Black-backed Woodpecker flew overhead, but I fell over in the 3+ feet of snow as I attempted to see where it landed and get a photo.

There was a pair of Gray Jays as well.  I must say, they make the weirdest sounds!

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The next day was a much better day in regards to winter finches.  We started right off with a pair of Red Crossbills, then a bit further down a whole group of mixed crossbills (White-winged and Red).

White-winged Crossbills

Red Crossbill

Both Crossbills

A large number of Pine Siskins were gritting on the road.

Sadly, I counted nine fatalities, which will be the topic of a post coming soon.

The rocks along the highway had some pretty neat ice formations on them.

It truly is a different place here in the wintertime.

We passed  a Ruffed Grouse on the way to the Logging Museum, but it flew away before any photos. We passed it later, but it pulled the same trick.

At the Logging Museum, we hand fed dozens of Chickadees and I got one Gray Jay.

The Visitor Centre was not as active as the previous day, but still quite a few birds. A Pileated Woodpecker flew by as well.

A Red Squirrel too.

Here's a picture to give you an idea of how deep the snow was...nothing like SW Ontario!

Last stop of the trip…Spruce Bog. Quite a few Black-capped Chickadees and the Boreal Chickadee was back as well. Nuthatches, Blue Jays, and Hairy Woodpeckers were common.

Boreal Chickadee

I was freezing my butt off so I decided to head back to the car, ready to accept that I had missed a Pine Grosbeak.

 But I didn’t get too far.

A fellow birder told me he and his wife had just found a PINE GROSBEAK!!!

The bird sat high in a tree for the longest time.

You can only truly appreciate this incredible bird’s beauty when it’s at eye level, so imagine my delight when it flew down to the trail map about 15 feet away from me!

By the time I finished taking photos, my fingers were so cold I couldn’t bend them, but it was worth it.

We were done with the park, and it was time to head back to London (Bonus Knowledge: as I write this I’m on Highway 11 with at least three hours still to go). I’m sure we’ll be driving through the gates of Algonquin Provincial Park again soon!

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My life list now stands at 249…..what will be my 250^th species!?!?!