Harlequin In Our Midst and Other Recent Sightings

 Not much happening of late, and birds have been scarce! So, lack of subject matter here.

A treat for Sarnia area birders appeared just over a week ago, as a male Harlequin Duck was frequenting the area of the mouth of Lake Huron, and the entrance to the St. Clair River (not the "mouth" of the river as some mistakenly call it).  An adult male Harlequin is a very attractive duck not often seen in our area.  A week ago today, I ventured up to Sarnia to see it.  It was visible as soon as I arrived at the "lakewatch" spot in front of the water treatment plant.

We have seen a few Harlequins here in the past.  The present bird was quite co-operative, being seen close to shore in the general area.

There has not been much to see along the St. Clair River yet (unless you like Mute Swans!).  A few wintering Tundra Swans have been around as well, but a few days ago a pair of Trumpeter Swans were mixed in off Cathcart Park.  The day I went, the pair was seen taking flight just as I arrived, so not a good photo from quite a distance.

The feeders have been quite busy with common birds.  One stuck out this past Friday when a Common Grackle showed up in the yard for the afternoon.

Blackbirds left long ago and it was the first I had seen in some time.  No doubt some are likely around the Lake St. Clair/Walpole Island area.  Perhaps some will be tallied on the Wallaceburg CBC on January 4, which will be revived after a two year absence.

Saturday I went to Wheatley and Hillman to see what was around.  I did a lakewatch at Wheatley Harbour for the first hour.  Most ducks were Common Goldeneye.  There is an exceptional number around the area this year.  Must be a Barrow's Goldeneye out there somewhere.....

Hillman was all frozen of course but there were still some Sandhill Cranes standing around on this gloomy (and windy) morning.

On the way home I went through Tilbury, and north of there, I came across a decent flock of blackbirds (mostly Common Grackle) at Jeanneatte's Creek wetlands.  I did not detect a Yellowheaded though!  It was the first "flock" of blackbirds I had seen in some time.

The next day, I went the other direction up to Pinery and Ipperwash.  There was a stiff WNW wind making it very cold and uncomfortable.  Not sure what I was thinking, but there were hardly any birds.  I was aiming for Bohemian Waxwings but saw none at Pinery.  Perhaps if it was calmer day, I would have had better luck.

The usual "spoiled" birds were at P9 where people feed them.  They follow you around hoping for handouts!

After Pinery, I stopped by Ipperwash.  Same deal with the wind, but I lucked out with four Bohemian Waxwings.  Unfortunately, I came upon them all of a sudden and they flushed.  Oh well...

Some places of late, I see more squirrels than birds!  This backyard bandit was feeding in a soft maple.

Today was very mild and calm for a change and I did not do much.  My early morning walk was at Mitchell's Bay.  Not much in the way of birds of course.  Lot of geese were way out on the ice, so who knows what was amongst them.

In the history department, on this day in 1976, the sandsucker Charles Dick was retired for scrap.  It was a frequent visitor to Wallaceburg, as seen in this photo.

A recent scene at Port Lambton one morning:

Alpena (and a rusty Calumet in background)

No more posts until after Christmas, so Merry Christmas to all....!

East Side Birding

 While we have had some calm days, there have been many with brisk westerly winds, especially of late.

This past Saturday, I decided to head to Point Pelee for a change.  I wanted to see the long "Tip".  With the low water levels, the sand has been exposed at the Tip of Point Pelee and extends well over 1 km.  It is certainly the longest I have ever seen it, but one must take into consideration the erosion of the land mass as well.  Trees used to extend quite a bit farther out as I recall, since I have been visiting Point Pelee.

The winds were very brisk  out of the west upon my arrival, so I opted to head out Shuster Trail and walk down the east beach.  Just as well, since the road to the Tip was gated, when it is usually open this time of year.

It was an easy walk along the wide beach, except for one area where many trees were down.

There were lots of ducks on the lake.  A large number were Common Goldeneye.

A Killdeer was along the water's edge early on.  It eventually ended up working its way down to near the Tip.

Killdeer heading south near the "pilings"

One spot along the beach was quite eroded.

Upon arriving at Tip, an immature Iceland Gull was huddled up at the edge.  Obviously in some distress.

A couple of American Pipits were playing around on the beach.

I would have liked to walk out the sand spit, but it would have been rather risky to do so.  Though a friend of mine did!

He was interested in seeing if the White-rumped Sandpiper was still present at the very end.  It was....record late for Essex.  It is unknown why this bird has stuck around, never mind the harsh environment way out the sand spit!  

This photo turned out a bit blurry and does not give the situation justice.

Yesterday was the Blenheim/Rondeau Christmas Bird Count.  It was sunny and quite cold, but not really unusual for this time of year.  The big thing was the brisk west wind, making it feel even colder.  At least it was not heavy rain and high winds like the last two years!

I have been doing this count since the late 1980's, and have seen almost every type of weather.

I always start with a lakewatch at dog beach.  One is a bit exposed there to the winds, so it was quite uncomfortable this time around.  I could only handle it for about twenty minutes!  There was not a lot moving on the lake anyway, so I had to move on.

The lake was not all that rough, as seen in the photos, but it sure was cold!

I changed my route a bit this year, cutting out to the beach at the light beacon, and walking down to the trail washout, and back the trail.  It was just to try and get out of the brisk WNW wind first thing.

Interesting to look at the layers of sand deposited over the years. Almost like counting tree rings.

Of course, I came across that tree that is stuck in the sand.  One can only wonder when this tree fell.

Another exposed fallen tree buried long ago:

There were not many birds to count on this walk.

I arrived back at the car for a break, and beside me, was a Pileated Woodpecker!  (see header photo as well).

I was up for more walking, but there was hardly a bird to be found.  I walked back the old Dillon trail to the big slough.

The once-drivable road is getting more and more difficult to discern anymore.

Then it was up Harrison to the VC.  Unbelievably, there was not a single bird on that stretch!

Along the way I found this fallen nest.  Not yet quite sure what bird made this, but it is well made.

Walking back the road, it was nicely out of the wind, and there were a few birds, but not many.

I ended up with 32 species, below average indeed.

The entire count is at 101 species last I heard.  I do not think there was anything spectacular found, but there were some nice finds though.

Birds have resorted to eating snow!

Winter Walks and a Call Duck

 It is definitely winter!  Unlike the past few years at this time, we are probably experiencing more "normal" weather for this time of year.  I have high hopes that things will be good on the St. Clair River this winter.

This past Monday I walked the south shore nature trail at Mitchell's Bay.  The wind was quite brisk coming off the lake and quite cold, so I did not stay long!

The shallow lake has already frozen over, except farther out where hundreds of geese and swans were resting.  Even some ice fishermen were venturing out already!

There were not many birds along the trail.

Just before I got back to the car, a White-crowned Sparrow briefly popped up.

The next day, I just stopped at various spots along the St. Clair River up to Sombra.  The Saginaw was unloading gravel at Frye's dock beside Fawn Island.  One of the few "classic" lakers left.

By the time I got to Cundick Park, snow started to fall.  There were a few ducks just offshore, and one in particular caught my attention.  I had no idea what it was!

It was associating with Mallards, but was smaller.  It was no duck that I could think of, but later on I decided it was of domestic origin.  Likely a "call duck", which is small and rounded and of domestic origin.  It was like nothing I had seen before, so it had me puzzled at first.

I needed to go father afield on Thursday, so went down to Rondeau.  I had been wanting to walk out marsh trail the last couple of weeks, but every time it was just too windy (and cold) to do so.  Went to plan B.

I checked out the campground, where a few birds were roaming about.  

There was a half decent flock of mixed birds at the south end, including two Yellow-rumped Warblers.  Not the rarities one would hope for!  Even the "yumps" are scarce this year.

I walked south point trail (east) and walked back the beach.  Low water levels have made things interesting, as there is a lot more beach than in recent years.

That mysterious concrete structure is quite prominent.  Likely a remnant of the old campground office at this location.

Here is a series of photos over the years at the same location, showing how the shoreline has retreated.

2022

2024

Farther up the beach, I came across an interesting area.  Although most beach areas have grown, this area has experienced more erosion.

Some trees buried decades ago have been exposed, including this one as shown above.  The upper end is still well buried in the sand.

Bonaparte's Gull

Later on during my walks, I came across an area that has some seed.  Seems it was a spot used for the recent deer herd management.  Lots of birds were attracted to the spot.

Nothing unusual there of course, but I was hoping a Varied Thrush would pop up.  lol.

Today was a gorgeous calm day, and I should have gone farther afield.  I just do not seem to have the ambition to go any distance these days.  Is that an age thing?

I checked out the St. Clair River to Willow Park, then went inland and took a brief walk at Reid C. L.  With the cold weather, snow was very crunchy!

We received more snow than farther south, then rain on top of that.  Then it was a quick freeze, so lots of areas are very icy.  Tricky walking.

Sunday is the first Christmas Bird Count in our area, so I will be at Rondeau Park!  I think the weather will be decent for a change compared to the nonsense we had the last two years.

Stay tuned....