Carolina Wren Finally Added to Yard List

This morning was a sunny, crisp and downright too beautiful to be indoors. So I went into my backyard just to look at my garden area and just be outside.

In the distance - a Carolina Wren was clearly heard. Hearing this distinct bird song always induces a smile on me. One usually hears this at Point Pelee, Holiday Beach, or Ojibway Park - but to hear one today from my back yard blew my mind! I have been living at my current house for 4-5 years and have seen and heard many great species - but it was only today that I distinctly sensed one for the first time!

I grabbed my camera and binoculars and went for a walk behind my house. I walked in the direction of the bird song and soon was at the edge of a field and forest-scrub habitat. Sure enough, two Carolina Wrens - most likely a breeding pair were skulking around nervously in their wren-like fashion.

While I was out there, I also heard my first of year Song Sparrow singing. It was being shy but I was able to find him along a ditch/drain that cuts through South Cameron Woodlot in Windsor.

For those who have followed my blog over the last few years, its interesting to know that I've seen and heard some great species in this natural area. Some include:  Wood Thrush (breeder), Eastern PeeWee (Breeder), Red bellied Woodpecker, Downy, Hairy (rare), Red Headed (rare) and too many others to name here.

As I walked by to my house through a field, I noticed many American Robins skulking around on the field 20 perhaps which are no doubt northbound or soon to be taking up territory in a residential area near you.



Another great bird seen today was a pair of Eastern Bluebirds in the Pleasant Valley area of Essex County.  My family and I went to John R Park Homestead along the shore of Lake Erie, and while coming home, I drove through that area in hopes of seeing a bluebird and luckily - my target bird was found.  While out in the county, I saw several Killdeer as well. Its always nice to see them and hear them as they return from their winter migration. Spring is here!

Dwayne

Wintering Eastern Meadowlark in Essex???

This morning, I talked my son into going for a drive with me through Essex - in the 'pleasent valley' area near Harrow - which often hosts some great birds - even over the winter.

Over the last few days, people have seen Red-headed Woodpecker, Eastern Bluebirds, Northern Shrikes, Eastern Meadowlarks etc. Decent birds for February!

I had gone out a few times over the last few weekends and came up short until this weekend. The Meadowlarks were not easily found. From Couture Sideroad - I noticed some small blobs in the distance in a soyabean field and luckily my eye caught light a one bird's bright yellow breast - through binoculars.  These photos are pretty heavily cropped - and this is with a 400mm lens.

Some other highlights about the outing was simply spending time with my son, seeing Rick Mayos out there as well as seeing the sun out!

Good birding!
Dwayne

Feb 2020 Birding

I haven't really blogged much this year so far. I still want to ... but I have not seen much of note this year so far!

Today I brought my son for a walk to Belle River Marina - it was mentioned by a few other birders as of late and I thought I would try my luck at that spot.

I believe that I observed Greater and Lesser Black backed Gulls. I have not confidently identified Lesser black backed Gulls over the years... so its  a pretty good sighting for me!

Of course, with this mild winter we've had, I think many people have had red-winged blackbirds for a while now - but it was nice to hear them singing this weekend at both Belle-Isle and Ojibway Park.

Another neat sighting - perhaps even a first for this blog is a Kentucky Coffee Tree - a rare tree in Canada.

I have driven out for a drive in the "pleasent valley" area of Essex County - out near Harrow.  There is always some nice birds to see in that habitat of open fields, floodplains, forest and even landfill site. Eastern Meadowlarks were seen for weeks on end but I was unable to catch up with them!

One afternoon, I was lucky enough to see a rough-legged hawk out there. It might be the only one I've seen this winter and last winter. 

Its nice to see the days getting longer. The tide of migration is swinging back in our direction - northern hemisphere. Good birding!

Dwayne

2019 - Highlights & Year in Review

I noticed this Cassins' Sparrow while stopping randomly along an Arizona roadside for a bathroom break. This little sparrow would take flight off the fence and sing then land nearby on the fence again. This particular behavior is unique to Cassin's Sparrows. This was on of many amazing nature observations I was fortunate enough to make this year.

Happy New Year!  2019 was a pretty awesome year for me in terms of Natural history observation and as per tradition - I am making a quick reflection on the previous year of nature observation. This posting will be summarized by the following four or so events:

I did a surprising amount of Travel this year - such as:
* Florida in March
* Carden Alvar in late May
* French River, Killarney in July
* Arizona in August

My life list went from 410- 460 this year!

Florida in March-
I saw many great birds in Florida this past march but to be honest, did not get any of my target birds! I specifically missed out on Snowy Plovers which I am 0/6 in Florida with. I think Snow Plovers migrate out of the state by the time mid-march rolls around. I could be wrong on this!

I did pick up some great butterfly species in Florida this time around though (Palamedes Swallowtail, Red banded Hairstreak and Phaon Crescent). The highlight being a Little Metalmark butterfly. While photographing this tiny Orange Metalmark - I noted an orchid species - Spring Ladies Tresses which was pretty exciting. See https://dwaynejava.blogspot.com/2019/03/fort-myers-birding-and-butterfly.html for more on this trip's butterfly observations.

Wild Burrowing Owls - at a baseball diamond 

* Pinery in late May

I finally caught up with an Olympia Marble in May of 2019. It was found in the Pinery Provincial Park and near Ipperwash as well. I had attempted to find this in previous years but this year, I had better information, and chose warmer days from the weather forecast which I think is a big help to see this beautiful species.

* Carden Alvar in late May
Carden Alvar in late may and June is always a treat for a naturalist. My time in Carden was a brief two day trip. Highlights were Golden winged Warbler, many sparrow species and an Eastern Pine Elphin.

* French River, Killarney, Ottawa and Smith Falls in July

French River and Killarney were quite beautiful places to discover this summer.
Just birding some of the parking lots at Killarney for example included looks at various breeding warbler species, and stunning looks at this Yellow bellied Sapsucker  (seen below).

French River Provincial Park

Silver Queen Mica Mine @ Murphy's Point Provincial Park

* Arizona in August

I picked up a mind-blowing 50 new species in Arizona this summer.  With at least 4 new woodpecker species, 5 new sparrow species, 8 new hummingbird species --- just to name a few. See my 7 or so blog postings in

https://dwaynejava.blogspot.com/2019/08/birding-southeast-arizona-4-day-birding.html

Local Highlights:

Some Local  Highlights this year were: 

Red Phalarope Near Rondeau (Lifer)

King Rail near Rondeau (Lifer)

Slaty backed Gull (Essex) (Lifer)

Common Redpolls (Essex)

Swallow-tailed Kite (self found at Point Pelee)

Perhaps one of the best birding observations of the year for me was this self-found Swallow Tailed Kite at Point Pelee. I will have to wait for the OBRC report for the year to see if I am the original finder - but regardless - I would chalk this up to being one of my top birding moments in the ten years that I have been birding.

The story was basically this: Kit and I met at the entrance of the park (NW Beach) as I needed to borrow some money from him (I realized I had forgotten my wallet at home and wanted some money to buy lunch at the park - Kit offered to lend me some and meet me at the NW Beach). We then proceeded to the DeLaurier Homestead where Kit proceeded to take a shuttle bus to the VC while I decided to take the path less travelled  (IE - Walk to the VC).
As I walked along Ander's Footpath, I noticed this rapter flying from north to south,  flying at tree-top height - directly over my head! I inspected my photos and quickly sent out an email to the ontbirds list serve. I took the above photo and saw the bird near the Point Pelee Cemetery entrance.

Thanks for joining me on my reflection of 2019 and I look forward to blogging more next year for more adventures.

Some goals for next year(s):
More travel - Perhaps to:
Bruce Peninsula Orchid Festival?
Midwestern Tallgrass Prairies?
Alaska?
Churchill Manitoba?
Thunder Bay?
Tennessee?
The Gulf of Mexico?

Good Birding, Naturalizing... and All the best in 2020!
Sincerely,
Dwayne