Ojibway Birding in February - Surprisingly good birding!

After this week's "polar vortex" of -25C weather - it was nice to go outside today in balmy +4C + sunny weather. My first target was Long tailed Ducks that were seen by many along the Detroit River. It was nice to see a Pied-billed Grebe along with some Golden-eye, merganser and Canvasback ducks. 

Then at Ojibway Park - just a few minutes from that spot several nice birds were seen. In particular - it was nice to see Fox Sparrow, a male and female Eastern Towhee, Song Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Tufted Titmouse and to my absolute amazement - Kit M. had found a Saw Whet Owl!

I am tempted to go up to Guelph to try my luck for the Bohemian Waxwings... That would be a long sought after life bird!

Good birding!

DM

Bonus story : Last week I was driving in Windsor on Dougal Ave and I noticed a raptor flying very agressively while I was waiting at a light. I soon drove by a hotel parking lot and noticed a raptor with a pigeon as prey. I pulled into the parking lot and was able to capture a few cell-phone photos as I flushed the bird. To my surprise --- it was a Peregrine Falcon!

Late November Birding - Snowy Owl in Essex!

I've managed to get a little birding in over the last month and figured I would publish some highlights. Two or three weeks ago, I had gone out to Colasanties in Leamington with the family but then tried my luck with a quick visit to the Hillman Marsh Area. A Long-eared owl was an excellent find... but admittingly... predictable. I tried to see if I could find this beautiful bird today but no dice. I did see Blake who mentioned a SNOWY OWL that he found in the Point Pelee Onion fields and amazingly, I ended up catching up with it!

I had read this week that there are several Fox Sparrows at Ojibway Park - near the bird feeders. My visit was successful! As I was photographing the Sparrow, several Black Capped Chickadees, Nuthatches and even a Tufted Titmouse landed at point-blank range --- perhaps expecting a handout?

Earlier this week, I had read that a Varied Thrush was seen near Kingsville, as well as Little Gulls at Kingsville Marina, so I figured I would try my luck with those birds. A few Northern Harriers were seen as well as American Kestels on the way.

Ring billed Gull in a contemplative pose. Perhaps he is considering how he can differentiate himself from the masses?

Black underwings make this an easy bird to identify. Always a pleasure to see this bird.

I caught up with the Snowy Owl Blake had mentioned earlier. A beautiful bird easily found in the Onion Fields near Point Pelee.  Pine Siskins were another exciting first-of-season bird at the Pelee Wings feeders. A female Purple Finch was in the mix as well.

FOS -Snowy Owl - Heavily Cropped

Can you identify three finch species in this photo?

Seeing a Little Gull was pretty exciting because today's sighting is only the second time I've seen one. I haven't been able to chase some of the mega-rarities in the province right now but I'm pretty happy that I was able to catch up with some of the great birds in this posting.

Good birding!
Dwaynejava

Weekend of birder's discontent...

Today's weather blows/blew (literally and figuratively). 3-5 degrees celcius and 40Km/h winds with gusts of 50-60km. It wasn't fun to be outside. But I went out anyway!!!

Hillman Marsh had many Bonapartes Gulls, Terns and Northern Shoveler, Bufflehead and Green winged Teal. Double Crested Cormorants were everywhere! Some shorebirds were out there but I saw them more in flight and was unable to identify them.

 

Louisiana Waterthrush (lifer #235) on Point Pelee's Woodland Nature Trail. Terrible photo. I know. I had about three fleeting seconds to see this bird and 2.75 of those seconds were with me fumbling with my camera. Thanks to Blake for finding it on Friday.

 

Blue Winged Teal were in the North Dyke ditch. (behind Phragmites)

 I also saw a Northern Flicker clinging to a telephone pole in the onion fields as well. I think it was tired of trying to fly in 60 KM/H winds.

This was about all I saw in the Redbud Footpath today.

Ojibway Park (from earlier in the week)

I took this photo of the moon while searching for american woodcock this week. It may be the only good photo in this particular posting!

I made a few more (final) attempts to see an American Woodcock this week but left each evening disappointed. I figured I might photograph the moon as its pretty easy to photograph. It is well lit and not moving and simple to maintain focus on.

The Ojibway Prairie has the same birds as I've been blogging about all week, but during my last walk, I saw two separate Garter Snakes. One had a red stripe on it, but I did not get a photo of it.

I followed up on a recent Ojibway Park posting about an Eagles Nests at the foot of Laurier Drive and found it. The two photos below give some context of the nest from mainland.

Ring Billed Gulls are a "blog" lifer (I've never posted or tagged this species). There are several species I have not photographed or tagged because of their common-ness.  American Crows for example are a bird that I see all the time, but have not bothered to photograph or tag.

Well, next weekend promises to be better. It can't possibly be worse than this weekend.  I will even go to Kopegaron woods and see the spring flowers from this ecological gem of a forest. It's one of the few areas in SW Ontario that did not get logged. Another location I plan on visiting will be Colasanti's... I keep forgetting to pick up some of their cinnamon doughnuts.

Good Birding,
Dwaynejava