Lifer! Horned Lark and others...
-Horned Lark hanging out with a Lapland Longspur - Thanks Paul & the Ojibway group for the great afternoon!
I went with a birding group today that is hosted by the Ojibway park naturalists. This week's destination was Holiday Beach. Even though the weather and light outside was cloudy and cold, it turned out to be a pretty good walk.
As we left the park, the group leader suggested we stop by a farmers field where a farmer had a feeder. Many Horned larks were hanging out, and even a Lapland Longspur!
At Holiday Beach, I was greeted by the group of four birders who pointed out a raptor in the distance ... An adult Bald Eagle. They joked that we may as well go home now. As we entered the park we saw three woodpeckers: A skylarking Downy, a Red Bellied and Norther Flicker Perched in distant trees. We had several distant run ins with the Northern Flicker. At one point, Paul, our group leader Pished a Cardinal, Brown Creeper and White Breasted Nuthatch into our views.
We noticed flotillas of Canada Geese on the water. The photo below shows Fermi in the background.
Soon before we left, a second pishing session attracted a Golden Crowned Kinglet, a White Throated Sparrow and some Black Capped Chickadees. Finally, as we left, a Yellow Rumped Warbler saw us off as we were leaving. A typical winter turnout with a nice mix of birds! The Horned Lark was a lifer. The Lapland Longspur and Coopers Hawk are technically not lifers, but they are better photos then my original ones. Sharp-Shinned and Coopers Hawks are very similar in appearance so I have had a definite ID on a Coopers until today. The photo above is probably a female coopers hawk, because it was huge!
Happy Birding!
Dwayne
There are lots of Horned Larks around right now. I saw about 100 while travelling one small stretch of road early this morning. Some Snow Buntings were mixed in. I did not stop to check for Longspurs. Maybe a Smith's Longspur was there!!
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