Middlesex Biggish Year: January Update

We have survived the first month of 2021! It was quite an exceptional month for birding, with many highlights. After month #1 in my "Middlesex Biggish Year", I have amassed 82 species, almost 80% of the species reported from the county so far this year. This past month, my only "critical misses" were Pine Grosbeak and Barred Owl, and to a lesser degree, Red-shouldered Hawk and Lapland Longspur.

The breakdown:

Code 1: 60 species

Code 2: 14 species

Code 3: 4 species

Code 4: 3 species

Code 5: 1 species

Although code 1 species are pretty much guaranteed, there were several that I saw that are usually quite rare in the winter. These species include Wood Duck, Green-winged Teal, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Hermit Thrush, Chipping Sparrow, and Common Yellowthroat. These winter abnormalities are always fun to come across.

Hermit Thrush

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Green-winged Teal

Code 2 species were well represented, and I managed to see pretty much all the expected January ones. Highlights included Cackling Geese, three species of owls (Snowy, screech, and Great Horned), all the gulls, and a wintering Fox Sparrow.

Fox Sparrow

Although numbers were low for the code 3 species, that is to be expected for January. Golden Eagle and Short-eared Owl, two uncommon overwintering species, were ticked off, as was Common Redpoll, a common species this winter. An unusual winter Red-breasted Merganser on the Thames River was also found.

Red-breasted Merganser

Code 4 species were made up entirely of irruptive finches. Although I had scored White-winged Crossbill early on January 1st, it wasn't until a couple weeks in I finally found a Hoary Redpoll, as well as some Red Crossbills, the first of that species to be seen in the county for over a month. The mega flight of finches is certainly being kind to us...only three more species of finches to go!

Red Crossbills

A singular code 5 was seen, a Harlequin Duck first seen on January 9th, and refound on the 12th. I believe this may be the 5th record of the species for Middlesex County, and the first in a few years. An excellent bird to start off the year!

One month down, eleven to go. Although the next month will probably be pretty slow going, it will soon pick up! I can't wait to see what else is waiting to be found.

Another Week, I Guess

It is a busy time of year for a student! Outings have been far and few between this week, but I got out for a short while a couple times. Yesterday I popped into Fanshawe Conservation Area briefly to see what was hanging out at the seed pile. Always seems to be something! Yesterday it was a White-crowned Sparrow, an uncommon bird in this parts during winter. I actually don't think I have seen a White-crowned during the winter months since 2016!

Of course there were the usual suspects, including decent numbers of White-throated Sparrows. They seem to be fairly numerous this winter.

Dark-eyed Junco

White-breasted Nuthatch

Black-capped Chickadee

White-throated Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

A couple plants...

Scots Pine

European Swallow-Wort

Some Snow Birds

Today was (another) snow day, so I decided to take advantage of my time off school, and go for a little hike on one of my favourite trails in the area.

Although they had forecasted 5-10 cm of snow, we got a dumping of at least 30 cm. It made for slow walking. I was hoping that we wouldn't get this much snow...I have CBC routes this weekend of about 6.5 and 10 km!

It was a bit slow at first, but it soon picked up. Northern Cardinals, Black-capped Chickadees, American Goldfinches, and House Sparrows were most numerous.

Northern Cardinal (male)

Northern Cardinal (female)

House Sparrow

American Goldfinch

Also present were a couple of White-breasted and Red-breasted Nuthatches, a House Finch, and an American Tree Sparrow.

White-breasted Nuthatch

American Tree Sparrow

House Finch

All in all, a nice little outing...can't wait till the weekend!

Christmas Bird Count Season starts in a couple hours!

A SNOWy Day

This afternoon, my Dad and I went out to see if we could find a Snowy Owl in a traditional spot.

Upon arrival, we immediately found a very convincing white garbage bag.

It wasn't long until my highlight of the trip...a medium sized bird with bold markings flew in front of the car...at first I thought Clark's Nutcracker (I was being optimistic), then kingfisher (I don't know why!), then Snow Bunting (though it wasn't white enough), then I thought Blue Jay (though it wasn't blue enough). Northern Mockingbird even crossed my mind. I soon found out what it was when it perched on a shrub...it was a freaking Northern Shrike!

While for some people this may not be too exciting, this was the first time I have ever been able to see one (I heard one in March). On top of that, this was a Middlesex lifer for me, which tied my Middlesex list with my Essex list (though I am sure that will change come next spring!). Also, species number 243 I have been able to photograph in Ontario.

After all that excitement, we continued our search for a Snowy Owl. After about five minutes, we saw a large white object on the ground....could it be?

It was our first of season Snowy!

It was a great little outing, and I can't wait for more winter birding!

Blackbird Bonanza

While it may look like Winter, it sure sounds like Spring.

Recently there have been even more Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles moving through. Tonight down at the local park I had well over 80 of the two species combined.

Red-winged Blackbird

It sure is quite weird to be walking through snow and hearing dozens of Red-winged Blackbirds displaying and grackles flying over.

Of course, there are a few other birds around as well.

Canada Goose

Dark-eyed Junco

European Starling

It was quite the nice evening, and an enjoyable little outing.

Photo Quiz Answers

Congratulations to everyone who got some right!

Common Goldeneye

Brown Creeper

Little Gull

White-winged Scoter

Long-tailed Duck

American Pipit

Short-eared Owl

Red  Crossbill

White-winged Crossbill

Pine Grosbeak

Evening Grosbeak

Redhead

Horned Lark

Guess the Bird: Winter Edition

Can you identify the birds below? Post your answers in the comments section.
Hint: All birds were photographed during the months of December-February in Ontario

Good Luck! Answers will come soon.