Long eared Owl and some other Pelee area birds

My wife is too good to me to let me go out for these occasional mini-birding trips! I was lucky enough to make it out to Point Pelee and Hillman Marsh area today for a quick two hour nature walk.
 
I ran into a friend of a friend who happens to be a subject matter expert when it comes to owls at Point Pelee. He was driving by me and we spoke for a minute and he agreed to show me the location of this wonderful, mysterious bird. (lifer #225).

My main impression after seeing a long eared owl is... How beautiful.  Its smaller than I thought it would be. It was very skinny around the chest, I don't think the photo gives a good context of scale. Its like a rolled-up pennysaver newspaper. In my mind, I was thinking this would be a big as the great horned owl. It is so well camouflaged that even though it was 10-15ft away from me, I would completely lose the owl if I looked away even momentarily... very weird.

Just a quick mention of birding ethics with Owls... Never use flash on them*. Never try to attract birds with Ipods. This is unethical and not in the birds best interests. We also remained in our car and used it as a blind. This gave us limited angles with which to photograph. Use a strong telephoto lens and give the owl some room (I use a Sigma 500mm zoom lens and most of my photos are cropped which increases zoom even further).  Make an attempt to observe the bird without flushing it and then leave it be.

This Eastern Screech Owl has been featured before on my blog (deja vue?). I guess its always exciting to see an owl, even if its in its predictable and favorite tree hole. I walked Shuster Trail to east beach and then walked to the tip. Nothing overly exciting today other than the Long-eared Owl!

Some birds seen today include:

Horned Larks
Northern Flicker
Eastern Screech Owl
Long eared Owl (lifer #225)
Red Tailed Hawks (5 along highway 3 to Windsor)
Rough legged Hawks (2 dark morphs)
Sharp Shinned Hawk
Cardinals
Dark eyed Junco
Robins
Various gulls and duck along East Beach of PPNP.

Good birding,
Dwaynejava

*Instead of using flash, use other techniques such as increase ISO settings, increase aperture, lean on a steady object to reduce camera shake. 

Black-legged Kittiwake ... The Detroit River has been good this week!

 I stopped by one of the Marinas in East Windsor today after work in hopes of seeing a recently reported Black-legged Kittiwake. I was only there for about 10 minutes when Karen from the Ojibway Park Nature Center joined me and we discussed the appearance of this elusive bird. We spotted it just seconds after we started discussing its appearance! Too funny. It was only about 30-40m from the docks that we were standing on. (Lifer #224)


One other interesting point is that on the e-bird observation graphs for Essex County, this bird is not even listed on it. Beyond that, I don't really know how common or uncommon this bird is.

This nice pair of Hooded Mergansers were not very shy and made for a nice photo. This duck species is so beautiful, and to get both in the same photo is a treat. This lets you compare the dimorphism of the species.

 

 Overall, its been a good week along the shore of the Detroit River for Winter birding! I'm repeating myself from my previous posting but White-winged Scoter and King Eider were seen last Saturday. Neither of those species were seen today. Black backed Gulls, Bald Eagles, GB Herons and 13 other species were seen. 

King Eider and White-winged Scoter were seen last Saturday but not today.

Three lifers in the dead of Winter? I'm luvin it!

Good birding!

Dwaynejava

King Eider & Better looks at White-winged Scoter

Click image for larger view

I had some time to kill this morning so I headed out to East Windsor to see if I could re-find the White winged Scoter I saw yesterday. Its funny though, my main viewing area had been the park just east of lili-kazilies on Riverside Dr. I did not see much this morning from that park (with the exception of two soaring bald eagles over Peche Island), so I figured I would try the viewing from another marina I had never checked out.

Lucky for me, there was a friendly birder (Richard) there with a scope, and he pointed out not just the White winged Scoter but also a female King Eider! (Lifer! #223). I would not have noticed the King Eider without his keen eyes and his willingness to share his observations.

Richard and I discussed scopes. He gave great advice on not skimping when it comes to birding optics, but I told him... I have a wife, a new son and a mortgage. No $3000 scopes for me! I went ahead and purchased this scope which seems pretty good and costs about the same as an evening to a local restaurant. Now, I get the enjoyment of a scope while maintaining a healthy marriage!!!

This female King Eider does not look too much different than the female Canvasback to the right of her. Props to Richard for finding it. I guess I'm stating the obvious here but I wish a male King Eider was hanging around.

Hooded Mergansers seemed to much more abundant somehow this morning. A refreshing change from just seeing one in the far distance.

 There was a mature Bald Eagle flying with this juvy. They are basically easy to see if you scan along the trees on Peche Island.

Female Greater Scaup

Good birding!

Dwaynejava

PS: Thanks to Kelly for pointing out a typo I made on my last posting. I was calling the Scoter a Scooter!!!! Opps!!! I can laugh at such a silly mistake, but I must say, ... I have an excuse for that mistake! I was at Point Pelee in May this year, and someone came up to me and said: "There are some Surf-Scooters out off the west beach waters". I've been calling Scoters --> "Scooters" for the last 7 months! Thanks Kelly :-)

... don't even get me started on the spelling or pronounciation of Pileated Woodpeckers!

White winged Scoter and a few other goodies at Lake St Clair

Its been so gloomy out lately... Where is the sun? Well, it was sunny this afternoon so I figured I would get out there and enjoy some sun light & some good birds. What a great way to end off the work week!

Upon arriving at the Kayak Cove park I noticed a dark black scooter. I was quite sure it was a lifer, and upon referencing my trusty field guide... White Winged Scoter (lifer #222 )!  It was so cold out today... it was ridiculous. My goose bumps had goose bumps. I was probably only out there for 40 minutes.

My first attempt at age-based Gull Identification. Would this be 3rd, 2nd and 1st winter Herring Gulls (respectively)?

A Red Breasted Merganser. All three Mergansers were seen!

A Great Blue Heron flew slowly along the shore and then perched on a branch on Peche Island (top middle on the photo above). Only in the depths of January is this particularly interesting!

Greater Black Backed Gulls were around. I would love to get a very crisp, clear photo of  a Greater Black backed Gull.

This photo has several Bald Eagles just to the left of the middle of this photo. I think I'm counting about 6-8 'lumps'. Pretty cool! I  hope they stick around when I get my Kayak back in the water.

I still haven't yet seen a Long tailed duck. I think it might be my nemesis bird! This duck eludes me!

Overall, a pretty good post-work birding trip. I met up with a new blog reader (Kelly) who kindly brought her scope. I think I'm convinced that I'm going to buy one. I'm thinking about this one. Any thoughts on buying scopes? Are the specs on this one decent?

In Birding,
Dwaynejava

Lake St Clair Winter Birding & Life list for 2010

After work Friday (and Thursday) I stopped by Lakeview Marina where Lake St Clair funnels into the Detroit River. Visiting this area has become a January tradition. This posting shows a few selected photos of various ducks and waterfowl.

Common Goldeneye is Common!

 The ducks (and swans, geese, mergansers) weren't as skittish as they normally were. I guess they are more confident when more are around.

 Redhead ducks (lifer #220), Canvasback & Greater Scaup are blog lifers.

 

Above, you can see  some Great Blue Herons in the distance (on the snow-bank to the left). I wish I had a scope, because there were huge rafts of ducks in the distance. I'm not really identifying gulls yet, but I did see a Black-backed in the photo below ... probably a Greater Black Backed Gull.

 

It would be awesome to have a scope and spend some time sifting through all these ducks. I would love to list out all the species but I feel the few I can identify just with my camera are probably a fraction of what is out there. Besides, along the Windsor shore, it seems there are different birds that further out, or along the shore of Peche Island.

 This is a highly cropped photo of the Peche island shore. Can you find a hooded merganser in this group?


Life List

Last January (Jan 2010), I compiled my life list which was at 81 birds! This was after about seven months of birding, and without binoculars and a field guide (I was only using allaboutbirds.org).  In 2010, I've seen 218 bird species! I don't want to list too much, so I will make this a January-only tradition.

This year, I am hoping to go to BC for the first time in my life, and plan to pick up a few western goodies. I will also try to make it out to Florida, possibly in March.

Black Skimmers in Florida... Florida, I miss you!

	2010
1	Bittern, Least
2	Blackbird, Red-winged
3	Blackbird, Rusty
4	Blackbird, Yellow-headed (MI)
5	Bluebird, Eastern
6	Bobolink
7	Brown Pelican (FL)
8	Bufflehead
9	Bunting, Indigo
10	Bunting, Snow
11	Canvasback
12	Cardinal, Northern
13	Catbird, Gray
14	Chickadee, Black-capped
15	Coot, American
16	Cormorant, Double-crested
17	Cowbird, Brown-headed
18	Crane, Sandhill (FL, MI)
19	Creeper, Brown
20	Crow, American
21	Cuckoo, Black-billed
22	Cuckoo, Yellow-billed
23	Dove, Eurasian Collared (FL)
24	Dove, Mourning
25	Dowitcher, Short-billed
26	Duck, American Black
27	Duck, Ring-necked
28	Duck, Ruddy
29	Duck, Wood
30	Dunlin
31	Eagle, Bald
32	Eagle, Golden
33	Egret, Cattle (FL)
34	Egret, Great
35	Egret, Snowy (FL)
36	Falcon, Peregrine
37	Finch, House
38	Finch, Purple
39	Flicker, Northern
40	Flycatcher, Alder
41	Flycatcher, Great Crested
42	Flycatcher, Least
43	Gadwall
44	Gallinule, Purple (FL)
45	Gnatcatcher, Blue-grey
46	Godwit, Marbled (MI)
47	Goldeneye, Common
48	Goldfinch, American
49	Goose, Canada
50	Grebe, Pied-billed
51	Grosbeak, Rose-breasted
52	Gull, Bonaparte's
53	Gull, Great Black-backed
54	Gull, Herring
55	Gull, Laughing (FL)
56	Gull, Ring-billed
57	Harrier, Northern
58	Hawk, Broad-winged
59	Hawk, Cooper's
60	Hawk, Red-shouldered
61	Hawk, Red-tailed
62	Hawk, Rough-legged
63	Hawk, Sharp-shinned
64	Heron, Great Blue
65	Heron, Green
66	Heron, Little Blue (FL)
67	Heron, Tricolored (FL)
68	Hummingbird, Ruby-throated
69	Ibis, Glossy (FL)
70	Ibis, White (FL)
71	Ibis, White-faced (Big creek)
72	Jay, Blue
74	Junco, Dark-eyed
75	Kestrel, American
76	Killdeer
77	Kingbird, Eastern
78	Kingfisher, Belted
79	Kinglet, Golden-crowned
80	Kinglet, Ruby-crowned
81	Knot, red
82	Lark, Horned
83	Longspur, Lapland
84	Loon, Common
85	Mallard
86	Martin, Purple
87	Meadowlark, Eastern (FL)
88	Merganser, Common
89	Merganser, Hooded
90	Merganser, Red-breasted
91	Merlin
92	Mockingbird, Northern
93	Moorhen, Common
94	Nighthawk, Common
95	Night-heron, Black-crowned
96	Nuthatch, Red-breasted
97	Nuthatch, White-breasted
98	Oriole, Baltimore
99	Oriole, Orchard
100	Osprey
101	Ovenbird
102	Owl, Eastern Screech
103	Owl, Great Horned
104	Parula, Northern
105	Pelican, American White (FL)
106	Phalarope, Red-necked (MI)
107	Phalarope, Wilson's (MI)
108	Phoebe, Eastern
109	Pigeon, Rock
110	Pintail, Northern
111	Plover, Black-bellied
112	Redhead
113	Redstart, American
114	Robin, American
115	Sanderling
116	Sandpiper, Baird's
117	Sandpiper, Buff-breasted
118	Sandpiper, Least
119	Sandpiper, Pectoral
120	Sandpiper, Semipalmated
121	Sandpiper, Solitary
122	Sandpiper, Spotted
123	Sandpiper, Stilt
124	Sapsucker, Yellow-bellied
125	Scaup, Greater
126	Scaup, Lesser
127	Scoter, Surf
128	Shoveler, Northern
129	Shrike, Loggerhead (FL)
130	Shrike, Northern
131	Siskin, Pine
132	Skimmer, Black (FL)
133	Snipe, Wilson's
134	Sora
135	Sparrow, American Tree
136	Sparrow, Chipping
137	Sparrow, Clay-coloured
138	Sparrow, Field
139	Sparrow, Fox
140	Sparrow, House
141
142	Sparrow, Lincoln's
143	Sparrow, Savannah
144	Sparrow, Song
145	Sparrow, Swamp
146	Sparrow, White-crowned
147	Sparrow, White-throated
148	Starling, European
149	Swallow, Barn
150	Swallow, Northern Rough-winged
151	Swallow, Tree
152	Swan, Mute
153	Swan, Tundra
154	Tanager, Scarlet
155	Tanager, Summer
156	Teal, Blue-winged (FL)
157	Teal, Green-winged (MI)
158	Tern, Black
159	Tern, Caspian
160	Tern, Common
161	Thrasher, Brown
162	Thrush, Hermit
163	Thrush, Swainson's (FL)
164	Thrush, Wood
165	Titmouse, Tufted
166	Towhee, Eastern
167	Turkey, Wild (Local Rarety)
168	Turnstone, Ruddy (FL)
169	Vireo, Blue-headed
170	Vireo, Red-eyed
171	Vireo, Warbling
172	Vireo, White-eyed
173	Vulture, Black (FL)
174	Vulture, Turkey
175	Warbler, Bay-breasted
176	Warbler, Black-and-white
177	Warbler, Blackburnian
178	Warbler, Blackpoll
179	Warbler, Black-throated Blue
180	Warbler, Black-throated Green
181	Warbler, Blue-winged
182	Warbler, Canada
183	Warbler, Cape May
184	Warbler, Chestnut-sided
185	Warbler, Connecticut
186	Warbler, Hooded
187	Warbler, Magnolia
188	Warbler, Mourning
189	Warbler, Nashville
190	Warbler, Orange-crowned
191	Warbler, Palm
192	Warbler, Pine
193	Warbler, Tennessee
194	Warbler, Wilson's
195	Warbler, Yellow
196	Warbler, Yellow-rumped
197	Waterthrush, Northern
198	Waxwing, Cedar
199	Wigeon, American
200	Willet
201	Woodpecker, Downy
202	Woodpecker, Hairy
203	Woodpecker, Pileated
204	Woodpecker, Red-bellied
205	Woodpecker, Red-headed
206	Wood-pewee, Eastern
207	Wren, Carolina
208	Wren, House
209	Wren, Marsh
210	Wren, Winter
211	Yellowlegs, Greater
212	Yellowlegs, Lesser
213	Yellowthroat, Common
214	Wood Stork (FL)
215	Roseate Spoonbill (FL)
216	Redish Egret (FL)
217	Anahinga (FL)
218	Boat Tailed Grackle (FL)
219	Yellow Throated Warbler (FL)

I bought a suet feeder for the Red breasted Nuthatch and it seems to be well received by the BC Chickadees, Downy Woodpeckers and of course, the guest of honour! I see a White breasted Nuthatch around on occasion, but its funny, I have never seen him at a feeder. He seems more interested in foraging the trees.

Good birding,
Dwayne