Thanksgiving Weekend Pelee Birding - Winter Wrens and more...

I had visited Pelee with my in-laws from Ottawa this weekend and on a few occasions, I was able to step away from the group to follow up on some birds that I was seeing. Near Blue Heron & the Marsh Boardwalk - I was able to see many Eastern Phoebes, Winter Wrens, Ruby crowned Kinglets, White crowned and White throated sparrows. Hermit Thrush, Bald Eagle, American Kestrel were seen along with many Sharp shinned Hawks flying overhead.

Later, near the tip of Pelee along a closed off section of West beach footpath I had seen many of the same birds that were mentioned above, along with Dark eyed Juncos, Red breasted nuthatches, with singles of Blue headed Vireo, Cape May Warbler and Yellow rumped Warblers.

Just outside the park gates, I had seen yet another Merlin perched atop a dead tree. I feel like I've seen many of them this fall season. There are some years where I feel like I miss them so its nice to see so many during this fall migration.

Fall migration really presents a nice, gradual mix of birds that changes week by week.  I really wanted to scan other areas of the park - such as Delaurier Trail and perhaps Hillman Marsh --- but it wasn't to be with my out of town guests...

Ebird checklist:
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49032695

Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving  & Good birding!
-Dwayne

Informally Birding the Holiday Beach CBC

(Note:This is an old posting from Dec 27th that I never got around to publishing until today)

Holiday Beach (in Amherstburg) had its CBC on Dec 27, 2012. I had participated in last's year's CBC but this year, I couldn't commit to the full morning. I still wanted to get out there though in the early afternoon, even just to walk the area on my own and enjoy the nice weather. As I approached Holiday Beach, I noticed a several fields with Snow Buntings and Horned Larks, and got a quick glimpse of at least two Lapland Longspurs (see photo above).

Here are some of the birds I saw while informally birding HBMO-CBC*:

Amherstburg side roads leading to HBMO
75 Snow Buntings
50 Horned Larks
2 Lapland Longspurs

Holiday Beach Memorial Forest
1 Northern Harrier
2 Red tailed Hawks
10 Black capped Chickadees
4 Red breasted Nuthatches
3 Tundra Swans (flyover)

HBMO Main Forest Pathway
6 White throated Sparrows
2 Downy Woodpeckers
1 Red bellied Woodpecker
3 Red breasted Nuthatches
1 Hermit Thrush
3 Northern Cardinals
3 American Goldfinches
1 Carolina Wren

On the way home, I took a detour through Harrow and found the following:

4 American Kestrels
2 Northern Shrikes
1 Short eared Owl
1 Rough legged Hawk
4 Red tailed Hawks
120 Snow Buntings
30 Morning Doves

Northern Shrike !

And another Northern Shrike !

I was really excited about seeing a Northern Shrike again today, and then, another shortly after! I totally missed seeing one in 2011... They are so rare in my opinion but this is my third this month! Hermit Thrush and Fox Sparrow** were pretty nice to see, not mega-rarities, but still good birds to see in the last week of December.

I plan on doing a 2012 year in review as my first posting in 2013.  I will also try to join the Detroit River (Ojibway Park) CBC on Jan 1 2013.  Happy New Year!

Good birding!
Dwayne

*PS:I am going to officially start using Ebird in 2013.

**PSS: On boxing day, we had a really nice snowstorm, so I figured I would head over to Ojibway Park to see if I could get some nice photos in the snow. The usual feeder birds were present, (House Finch, Tufted Titmouse, Cardinals etc) but to my astonishment, a Fox Sparrow perched into a tree next to the feeders where I was standing!

Holiday Beach Raptors

 I stopped by Holiday Beach after work today, for just a short visit of about 1.5 hours. I did a quick walk by the forested area along the beach but I did not see many birds. Just a few BC Chickadees.  I then went to the hawk viewing tower and joined Jim (the official counter at http://www.hbmo.org/) & Sarah from PPNP.  Great people! I've said this before, but Jim's ability to see raptors is incredible. The birding conversation was excellent as well!

The most dramatic movement tonight was Turkey Vultures. Its been said that they are ugly to look at but beautiful on the wing. Kettles of them flew by... sometimes 10-30 of them at a time, gliding effortlessly at various heights (Due south). Blue Jays were migrating in numbers as well.

I really saw a great variety of raptors tonight... some included:
Peregrine Falcon (in pursuit of a Blue Jay)
American Kestrel
Merlin
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Osprey
Red tailed Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Sharp shinned Hawk

 

Some non-raptor species I saw tonight were:
Palm Warbler
Dark Eyed Junco (first for the fall)
White Crowned Sparrow
White Throated Sparrow
Black capped Chickadee
Blue Jays
Great Egret
Great Blue Heron
Various Ducks

 I also saw my first Northern Harrier for the year. I saw my first one last year at St Clair NWA. Its a pretty striking bird with dramatic white-black underwings and an Owl-like face.

As I was about to leave Jim & Sarah noted the Peregrine Falcon which circled the tower then started to chase a Blue Jay. Eventually, the Peregrine knocked it down into the water, and finally killed it for dinner. I have several photos of this chase, but they were blurry. The Falcon had a major chunk of feathers missing from one of its wings. It also had a blue-ish beak... which hints that it could be a young, first year falcon. A local photographer has an incredible photo of a Peregrine hunting a Blue Jay... I can't help but link to it here.

On the way out of the park I noticed an Eastern Fox Snake on the road, but it was dead. It seems it was run over by a car, it wasn't flattened though. I was sad about that, but I'm sure that all the raptors flying around will make use of it.

Good birding,
Dwayne