Time Flies (then again butterflies and fruit flies too).

Somehow winter has moved into spring and we are getting close to summer too. That doesn’t mean we didn’t see any birdies, it just means that I let time get away from me without keeping this bloggy thing updated.

So, even though this should be a long one…, well maybe it will be.

This year the winter was actually pretty cold and we had the lakes and rivers freeze over. When this happens the best place to see any life is at the Lakeview Marina in Windsor. This is where we usually hang out because there is a water treatment area just up the Little River Corridor, and the water stays warm as it enters the Detroit River. All the waterfowl congregate here because the food also gathers here.

The Glaucous and Icelandic Gulls were still here, the Black Backed Gull continued enjoying itself, along with the Canvasbacks, Buffleheads, the odd Hooded Merganser, and at one point I watched a couple of Mallard ducks chatting it up as if they were hanging around talking about all the people with cameras (Birds watching people perhaps?). The Eagles returned in larger numbers to Peche Island and kept harassing the ducks throughout the days. But noticeably missing was our little Wood Duck and his Lady Mallard.

In early February we observed a pair of Horned Owls occupying the Osprey nest on top of the cell tower that they squatted in for the past couple of years. Couldn’t get any photos because they always hunkered down low in the nest. Then about halfway through February we saw a Peregrine Falcon perched on one of the spires of the tower before eventually flying off. Sadly we never saw the Horned Owls there afterwards.

Peregrine Falcon Possibly Looking Over A Crime Scene

Slowly the days began to warm up, not by much but enough to melt the snow a bit.

There was an alert about a Short Eared Owl being active in the north east area of our county and we had an opportunity to wander over and patiently wait, until suddenly it appeared on top of a shrub alongside the road and fly almost directly at us. Got some great photos before the light quickly fell.

So we get quite a few Turkey Vultures coming in, as you may recall from our outbound observations from the last few years. This year there has been a Black Vulture staying in the area recently. My Lady saw one sitting in a tree a couple weeks ago, but I couldn’t see it since we were driving on the highway at the time. Then one day I was at the boardwalk in Pelee and looked up at a few vultures passing when I noticed one on the far side that looked different. Up go the binoculars and sure enough the tail was short and the wingtips are white. Excitedly I fired off a bunch of shots and got a couple for Identification. Not something to put on the wall, but glad to get a look at it anyway.

Black Vulture. Notice the Missing Feather On The Wing

One of the noisy little guys that entertains us at Holiday Beach almost never stays still long enough to get photos, and doesn’t like being near people. But one morning my Lady and I were at the park and had a visit from the Belted Kingfisher who laughed at us before taking off and getting his breakfast. He beat the poor little fish a couple times on the branch before quickly throwing it down his throat whole.

Going to tell you a little secret, but you have to promise not to tell anyone. We found out where the Horned Owls moved to after the Peregrine Falcon incident. They have taken over a ratty old nest at the top of a tree at Holiday Beach, and are raising a pair of little ones.

Oh Oh Oh , can’t let this one get away… we had to drop our car off for a service and were on our way to Hillman Marsh to check out the shorebirds when we got an alert that a Tufted Duck was spotted in Point Pelee. Initially we didn’t think much of it until a couple of other birders suddenly were extremely interested. The choice was made to go to check it out and when we got there it was difficult to find because it was in a group of other ducks that look so much like it. I finally got a photo of it and learned just how rare it is. Apparently it has only been recorded 3 times in the Pelee area. This bird is usually found in Eurasia, but can be found along the east and west coasts of Canada. This one has really drifted inland.

Along with the Tufted Duck we were happy to get some really nice views of a funny little bird called the Surf Scoter. This is also something that is harder to find close to shore, and is generally rare inland.

Surf Scoter Looks Like He’s Trying To Surf

Ok, so here comes May and we are kicking into Warbler season. Already the Yellows are coming in, Blue Gray Gnatcatchers, Black Throated Green, Common Yellowthroat, Hooded Warblers, the special little Prothonotary Warbler and so many that are being reported but we haven’t seen yet. Hopefully this year will be so much better than last year’s slow showing.

Wouldn’t it be nice if I can actually put out a few of these blogs over the next month or so. I can dream can’t I?

Once again, thanks for making it this far and I really hope you are enjoying everything as much as I am enjoying telling you about it.

Till next time.

Almost Mid February and I am Finally Getting January Finished.

So here we are in another year of this stupid PanDAMNic, with all it’s variants. Let’s hope we can finally get this thing outta here.

January started off pretty nicely with a couple of firsts. I was out on Jan 2^nd looking for Snow Buntings when an alert came through about a Yellow Headed Blackbird at Jack Miners, as well as Snow Geese and a Blue Morph Snow Goose. I raced over to Jack Miners and was shown where everything was by one of our friends. The Yellow Headed is easy to see in the photo, but you need to look carefully to see the Snow Geese and the Blue Morph Snow Goose.

One evening where we were driving home and the sunset was ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS! Can you tell we were impressed? I have no idea what caused this beautiful sight, but we are very thankful to have seen it, and taken a photo of it.

Another evening as we were on our way home we took a different route and had a very pleasant surprise. We noticed what we had thought was another Harrier, but it flew differently. As it turned into the light we saw that it was a Short Eared Owl. I can’t tell you where it was because we have been asked not to report Owl sightings, but hopefully I don’t get in trouble reporting it here, long after it seems to have moved out of the area. We haven’t seen it since that time.

As My Lady and I wandered back into the Onion Fields near Point Pelee we saw one of the Snowy Owls land on a pole just down the road. It allowed me to take some photos, even as it cleaned itself. It looked like it was laughing at me as it said “get a good look now because we are out of here”. We haven’t seen any since then.

Starlings are still hanging around in large flocks. We happened upon one flock in a field and as we were sitting there they took off right at us as they flew over the car and into the field across the road. We needed to wash the car afterwards.

Sure enough winter actually decided to make itself known in January. We ended up getting a bit of snow, and then it got cold. We went for a walk through Ojibway Park and happily found an Eastern Towhee feeding with some Cardinals. Not many Towhee around so we were fortunate to see one.

With the colder weather the Detroit River, Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie have started to freeze over. This is good for birders because we can hang out at the marina across from Peche Island and watch all the Waterfowl, Gulls and Eagles feeding in the small area of open water. As the few ships that go through stir up the fish, the frenzy begins with everyone enjoying the chance to snag a meal. Surprisingly the Blue Herons which normally like to remain lonely old men, have also had to hang out together like a bunch of mall groupies sitting in a food court drinking coffee.

Of course the snow brings Snow Buntings! We love our little baby Buntings. Can’t get enough of them and we go out looking quite often.

I can honestly say there has been a major influx of Northern Harriers this year. Almost every time we go out we see at least one flying low over the fields. Sometimes we get to see them close up and when we are really lucky they are enjoying a good meal.

Now I have to say that I know almost nothing about Gulls. Notice that I am not calling them Sea Gulls, learned that one soon after coming down here… No Sea here. But we have had a couple of rarities. An Iceland Gull and a Glaucous Gull. I didn’t rush to see them, but one day when I went to the marina I found out from other friends that they were both there, and they even gave us a show.

Near the end of the month My Lady and I went for a walk in Holiday Beach. It was very cold that day, but the wind stayed comfortable enough not to keep us away. You know it’s cold when the snow makes that irritating sound like you are walking on Styrofoam. Yup, it was that cold. Snowrofoam?

The last day of the month brought us freezing fog in the morning. Before the sun rose the air was thick and the light was very diffused and grey. Once the sun was able to break through and the fog broke we were left with a beautiful coating of Hoar Frost on all of the trees. I had to run out and grab some photos before it all disappeared.

Well, that pretty well wraps up January. Hope everyone is staying warm.

Thanks for reading. Stay Safe

Till next time

Sorry I’m Late once again. I won’t let it happen again. At least until next time.

What a snoozefest.

Was July and August really that bad?

I was looking at how many times I actually took photos in July and it seems we only went out birding 5 times.

On July 4 I was fortunate enough to watch our local Osprey parents feed their 3 babies.

Then for whatever reason, life and the weather seemed to conspire against us most of the time.

My Lady and I decided to get out of town for a weekend since we were finally allowed to see other parts of Ontario without feeling too guilty. We shuffled off to Guelph as a base point, and visited Stratford, St. Jacobs Farmer’s Market, and spent a half a day wandering around the beautiful town of Elora. While in Elora we did a little Punting tour, then had a lovely dinner outdoors by the river.

I got lucky at the end of July…,

Thought I would leave that one to your own thoughts.

Actually, I had wandered to the marsh down the road and sat, just watching for anything to come by. While I was watching a Blue Heron another one flew in and they began eyeing each other up, when suddenly, BAM a Big Bird fight (except these ones were blue, not yellow, and didn’t speak English). Click click click click click…

Very soon after the interloper had chased away the original owner of the spot, the victor took off to another location nearby. Have to ask if the fight was really worthwhile.

I was finally able to get another couple of photos of a Hummingbird coming to our feeder, but it appears that the males had pretty well left the area.

Along came the first of August and I was watching the Ospreys as the parents came and went with breakfast and then suddenly, One Of The Babies TOOK OFF! I saw it FLEDGE! And if that wasn’t enough, I had apparently missed an earlier one as I noticed one sitting on a fence at the back end of the baseball diamond where baby number 2 flew over to. Eventually number 3 decided to take a leap of faith, and so all of the babies were now out of the nest.

After that day, the family abandoned the nest on top of the light stand, and took up residence on the original cell tower for a couple of weeks. We will have to see next year if the light stand gets used or not.

We had an opportunity to babysit our grand-dog and truly had a blast with him. He is a Spanish Greyhound, and he loves to run. I don’t know who was more tired after we had him out for a “walk”, him or us.

August also saw the rise of the number of shorebirds being seen in the area. We were over at Holiday Beach and while watching the Green Heron we noticed a Sandpiper fly in nearby. After looking at the photos we believe it is a juvenile Spotted Sandpiper. We heard of a number of different ones within the county, so went out to see if there was anything else. Found a couple of Wilson’s Snipe in a field, along with some Sandpipers and Killdeer.

We were hoping for a good year for the Monarchs, but we hardly visited Pelee during the migration because we heard about so many Stable Flies this year. These guys are nasty and their bite is vicious. Here’s hoping for next year.

The warblers are heading south and we had some nice views of them. Not as vibrant, and not as talkative as they were on the inbound migration, but it’s really nice to see them again. A couple days have been busier than some days from this year’s inbound. Unfortunately they like to hang around in the leaves or undergrowth, making it almost impossible to get some nice photos. Sorry.

The Hummingbirds must have had all their babies, because we are constantly seeing them at our feeders. They don’t really like me taking their pictures from outside, the sound of the cameras seems to startle them so I have had to try to photograph them through double paned windows, and the lighting never seems right (of course).

The egret roost down the street is full every sunset and they usually head out just before sunrise. One morning I stopped by after sunrise and was surprised to find quite a few still there. I was able to count 42 at one point.

So then along came September and I suddenly realized that I hadn’t updated in a while. Of course it didn’t help the cause when My Lady and I decided to do an Eastern Ontario holiday right after Labour Day. Stories and pictures from that trip may have to wait a bit longer so I can catch up on all the other stuff going on.

Didn’t get out too much afterwards in September, but we did make it over to the Holiday Beach Hawk Festival, and we are getting up to the tower once in a while to help out with the Raptor count.

Live Owls on display during the Hawk Festival

Hopefully I will be able to get next month’s blog out on time, and actually have something worthwhile to talk about, but until next time, thanks for sticking with me.

Till then.

This may be one of the shortest Blogs I’ve done in a while.

July 03, 2021

June was super quiet on the birding side with just a few specials making an appearance early in the month.

Around the end of May we heard from friends that at least 1, maybe 2 White Winged Doves were being seen and heard in a very small area in Windsor, but we couldn’t get there until June 1. Almost as soon as we parked, we saw something pop up from the top of a house and fly towards the other street behind the houses. Off we went around the block, eyes scanning the rooftops, until suddenly we heard a guttural call and searched the trees without luck. Suddenly it flew overhead and landed in a tree nearby. Sure enough it was the White Wing Dove! It allowed me to take a few photos before flying away again.

As we rounded the corner to return to our car, we heard the call again and frantically searched until we found it resting in a tree over a house. The homeowners soon arrived and we struck up a conversation with them, and they were so happy that we were able to point it out to them. They had seen all the other birders in the area before us, but this was the closest that they had seen it themselves. As we talked the bird gave us a nice show back and forth across the road. This bird is not usually found in this area as it is more common to Texas and the Southern USA.

A couple of days later we heard about Dickcissel in a few fields around the area and after getting a tip about some being seen close to the road on the far side of the county, my Lady and I scooted on over and spent a good amount of time listening and watching not only the Dickcissel, but Bobolink and Meadowlark as they did their thing in the fields. Later on we found out that they were in a radio tower field just a little north of our home, and we spent a little time watching them there as well.

Other than that, the regulars are still here, including the Osprey family that decided not to move back into their nest on the tower after the Horned Owls moved out. The Ospreys finally finished the new nest on top of the light stand that they started in the ball park last year, and appear to have a couple of young ones there.

We know the Cuckoo was at Holiday Beach earlier, but we haven’t seen it in a while. Our White Headed Robin appeared to have a nest, but it too may have moved elsewhere.

The Fish Flies were a strange visit this year too. Started out with a small handful, but by the 3^rd week of June they were everywhere. You couldn’t enjoy going for a walk with so many of them flying out from the grass as you disturbed them. By the end of the month, they were almost all gone.

So, I guess part of the reason we aren’t getting out as much is due to the fact that the company that I retired from called me up and asked if I might be interested in helping out for a little while. When I originally left I had suggested maybe working remotely, but that didn’t pan out. Times have changed and when they asked, I didn’t hesitate to get on board with them again. Thankfully they are comfortable with me taking time to do my birding as well, just in case something shows up. Strangely, not much has.

Thanks again for reading.

Till next time.

What happened to all the birds?

June 12, 2021

Wow, what an interesting migration this May.

It seemed to take quite a while for the Baltimore Oriole and Hummingbirds to return to our yard, but they were few and far between. By the end of May we didn’t see the male Hummingbird anymore, but the female must be looking after some babies as she is the only one that comes by. Hopefully the little ones will be showing up soon at our feeders.

The Orioles were only around for a couple of weeks, and they didn’t even want the oranges that we put out for them. They sucked up their nectar, then came to steal from the Hummy feeder, and soon they were gone too.

The Yellow Warblers and Tree Swallows really showed up in abundance this year, which made it difficult to tell if any of the “special” ones were around.

The Purple Martins set up in their homes all around the county and were often seen buzzing around the wetlands. These birds are like the swallows, but are a bit bigger. The males are a deep colour, almost a royal purple/blue in the sunlight.

I happened upon an Egret at Holiday Beach close to the edge of the water, in the shade with sunlight in behind. It was a male, preening his breeding plumage. I sat at the edge of the marsh and made myself comfortable. I didn’t have long to wait. Within 2 minutes he stretched himself out and the magic happened. After a few seconds, it was all finished. I chimped the camera and felt elated! This time I got decent photos of the feathers being spread in the sunlight.

The shorebirds started their annual march northwards, so it was time to visit Hillman Marsh. Although it was busy enough, there just seemed to be fewer species coming through, and those that visited didn’t stay around very long. We did get a chance to see the Black Throated Stilts, a Western Sandpiper, Golden Plovers, Black Bellied Plovers, Yellowlegs, Dunlins and a pair of Trumpeter Swans. One special visitor was a Leucistic Canada Goose.

Slowly, the warblers began to show up. A few came in early, but this year it seemed that the majority got the Stay at Home order from the Ontario Government, and decided not to migrate. It was either that or the weather. It’s no fun to fly when it’s just too cold and the winds like to blow from the North too often. The warblers need winds from the South to help push them across Lake Erie, but those winds were as scarce as the warblers themselves.

This is not to say that nobody arrived, but if we were looking for the big push, it just didn’t happen. And by the time it warmed up enough for anything to come through, the trees had already popped out their leaves and the groundcover was too deep to see anything.

I know, I sound like a whining child.

Alright, what were some of the highlights;
Warblers – Black Throated Blue, Black Throated Green, Yellow, Palm, we got to see a very rare Kirtland’s way up at the top of a tree (not the best place to get photos), Prothonotary (endangered), Common Yellowthroat, Hooded, Ovenbird, Black and White, Blackburnian, Chestnut Sided, Magnolia, Yellow-Rumped, Parula, Canada, and a few other ones. Have I lost you yet?
Others include – Orchard Orioles, Rose Breasted Grosbeak, various Thrush, a quick glimpse of a flying Woodcock, a Sedge Wren, Sora, a few Red Headed Woodpeckers, various Flycatchers, Terns, Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, Titmouse, Blue Grey Gnatcatcher, a really cute bunch of baby Wood Ducks, a few kinds of Sparrows, Cedar Waxwing, maybe I am dragging this on too long. Skipping to the end of the month brought us a pair of Glossy Ibis, way out on the other side of a flooded field, but at least we can say that we saw them.

My Lady had been pushing me for some time to make a major purchase of something that would help us both see some of the birds that were too far away for our binoculars. I kept putting it off complaining that it would just be another thing that I would have to carry around to go along with the camera and binoculars (and tea, and snacks, and backpack with warmer clothes, and other various stuff). Little did I know she was biding her time for the right moment.

We were able to go out birding with a couple of our friends, and they had a nice scope that brought the distant birds in close enough to identify. When my Lady was able to see one of the rare birds so clearly, she really began pushing in earnest. “You should get one of these” she said, pointing to the scope. From there, they ganged up on me and it became the running line for the rest of the day, even popping up a few times in the following days. It wasn’t just my Lady and our friends pushing me, but also a few members of our birding group got into the act. They were efficient in knocking down my defenses, and after a couple of days I made a stop at the best place in the area to buy optics, and after some humming and hawing, I ended up spending more than a few bucks on some really good equipment. It wasn’t so much that the store saw a sucker, but it was the opportunity to compare products, and select the best product for what my Lady and I would do with it. Of course I am secretly happy about getting a scope and have used it many times over the past couple of weeks, I was just in that “I couldn’t justify it” stage for too long.

Yup I’m one step closer to moving up a stage in the old Birding 101 blog from June 2019. Heck, I’m even starting to learn some of their habits and calls.

Anyway, even though it looks like we saw a lot of different birds, this year’s migration really was very soft. We didn’t get the normal number of birds coming through, even trying multiple locations. Everyone said the same thing, almost becoming a mantra – Slow year eh?

Makes me worry about the future, especially if the warblers couldn’t make it to their breeding grounds this year.

Wow, you actually stayed with me to get to the end?

Thanks so much. See you next time.

Is that the sound of Crickets?

Wow, I really didn’t take a lot of photos in April. We went out a few times, but not much seemed to be happening

As mentioned last month, we had some Pelicans fly in and eventually land in Holiday Beach marsh.

Early April my Lady and I went over to the Hawk Tower, and as soon as we arrived 40 Pelicans performed their landing routines, before splitting into 2 groups and giving us a great show.

We saw them 1 more time after that and then poof, they were gone and haven’t been seen around here recently (but we have heard of some near Pelee)

We happened to see a juvenile Bald Eagle catch a fish and get chased by a handful of Gulls. They wanted the fish, but really had no chance.

The Horned Owls had at least 1 baby, but they always stayed on the wrong side of the tower to get any worthwhile photos.

As of the end of the month the nest appears to be empty, and the Ospreys have returned but are building a nest on one of the light stands in the baseball field across from their original home. Maybe they don’t like the smell of Owl.

The Egrets have also made a comeback, and are showing off their breeding outfits. I have been waiting to get photos of them ruffling all their feathers, but they continue to elude me.

We heard of an Evening Grosbeak at Point Pelee, and made our way over as quickly as possible. Although we had seen a few last year way up in a tree, this one gave us a really nice show.

We would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers for Saint Vincent. La Soufriere has been explosively erupting on and off for the past number of weeks, with lots of rock and ash debris, pyroclastic flows, over 20,000 people evacuated, and we are hearing that the 2 old craters have become 1. The north part of the island, considered as the best growing area, is wiped out and may take a very long time to show any signs of regrowth.

Family is safe right now, but we are still concerned for them. None of them live in the Red zone, but all are being affected in one way or another, some worse than others.

With May comes the real big push of incoming birds on their inbound Spring Migration. We will be trying to be out every day possible, looking for anything that moves, hoping it’s something that is new or special for us, and praying that we get a decent photo.

I will try to get another post out early next month, fingers crossed.

Till then, stay safe.

Thanks for reading.

Is Easter Cancelled?

The weather is starting to warm up and the ice is finally off the lake. As it broke up we found a few lake icebergs floating a little off shore.

It’s really nice to see some of the early birds working back into Essex County. We had a few Sandhill Cranes visiting our little area again, unfortunately they seem to be staying pretty far out in the fields, or higher up in the sky. They like to give a loud call similar to a turkey gobble, and as soon as we hear them our heads are up and swiveling all over.

All over the place we are seeing the Turkey Vultures, Killdeer (they tell you who they are when they fly), Redwing Blackbirds, Dark-Eyed Junko, Phoebe, Kinglets, and Robins. Herons and Egrets are finally showing up in small numbers. We’ve even had a flock of American Pelicans resting on the Detroit River just a 3 minute drive from our house. All kinds of ducks are starting to show up. We missed the Long Tailed Duck in Windsor, but Pintails are enjoying themselves at Hillman Marsh.

So last month we were chasing the Snow Buntings, but early March was all about the Redpolls. This time we got a message that they were at a park that we often visit for waterfowl and shorebirds. The initial post was about over 100 redpoll, so we hopped in our car and off we went. By the time we got there, they had either moved away, or were hiding from us.

We went back a couple days later and as we got to a small brush at the edge of the trail, we noticed the bushes almost seemed alive. We had struck Redpoll gold! In all we counted almost 70 in a couple of trees, and they were giving us quite a show. Although we couldn’t find a Hoary, we were giddy just seeing so many Common Redpolls so close.

My Lady and I were walking through Holiday Beach a couple days ago and spotted a strange bird. I took a photo, and was quite surprised to see a White Headed Robin! Right away I put it onto our birding group and went on taking far too many photos. After getting home and putting them onto the computer, it turns out I took just under 600 pics of this poor bird. After getting rid of the obvious bad ones, I am still left with about 90. I really should get rid of some more. We have found out that this is a pretty rare bird so it’s nice to see it again a few days later, and this time we showed it to a few other birder friends who were able to get their own photos.

And guess who’s back on the Osprey nest? Yup, those Horned Owl squatters. They are making it harder to see them this time, and we haven’t seen any babies yet, but we are keeping an eye out for them.

We had a Common Loon spending time in the Colchester Harbour for a few days. We stopped there a couple days and tried getting that perfect photo of it rising up with the wings out, head up and bill open in a call. Unfortunately it chose not to do that for us. We did show up one afternoon when the sun was shining nicely and got some close ups of it. Very happy with that.

On one of our many drives, we spotted 4 female Pheasants near the side of the road. We went back a few days later and found the male trying to hide, before it went running down the side of the field.

So I teased about the Pelicans earlier.

We were lying in bed one morning and our phone beeped with a bird group message. Someone had 40 Pelicans just off his back yard. Back and forth messages followed finding out where, and it was 3 minutes from our house. After receiving permission to go visit his back yard, we flew out of bed, threw on our clothes, grabbed a cup of tea to go and zipped over. We missed the large group but were quite entertained by the dozen or so that were left. The next day, they were there again, and off we went again. Sadly most had left by that time, but we managed to find a small group out on the lake just a short walk away. Later we heard they were in the marsh at Holiday Beach. We zoomed over there and found 4 of them close to the Hawk Tower where we spent so much time in the fall.

Quite a different experience than we had last year, when we had seen a few in flight, but couldn’t get any photos until the very end with only 1 directly overhead at Pelee.

BREAKING NEWS…

EASTER IS CANCELLED…?

Due to a hungry Eagle spotted by local photographers (My Lady and I), it has been confirmed that the Easter Bunny has met a sad demise.

Initially spotted in a farmer’s field, the young Eagle quickly flew into the trees in a guilty attempt to hide from prying eyes, but was soon again found enjoying a satisfying lunch of pulled rabbit. A basket of coloured eggs magically disappeared as the photographers tried to focus on them.

Considering that they breed like rabbits, we can only hope that at least one of his multiple offspring is willing to take up where this poor bunny’s place ended.

WARNING – GRAPHIC PHOTOS FOLLOW

So, that’s pretty well it for March, we are trying to see whatever we can, and hopefully April will start to bring in some of the warblers.

In the meantime, I am still trying to figure out how to take a few shots of the stars, and since Orion is the most prominent constellation in the sky from my back yard right now, the Orion Nebula has been my target of choice. One day I’ll be able to post something really cool, but for now, here’s Orion.

Thanks for reading. Glad you are still with me.

Till next time.

What’s with this SNOW?

Welcome to my new readers. Always nice to see you here. Hope you continue to enjoy.

Well, originally we didn’t expect February to be anything interesting, but I guess in a way, it turned out to be alright.

The past few months have been pretty grey with a lot of cloud cover, but for some reason we actually got to see the sun a number of times in February. With this though came the colder weather. The ice on the river built up quickly so Lake Erie and Lake St Clair both froze over as far as the eye could see. A lot of the waterfowl moved in a bit closer so we visited the Lakeview Marina a few times to see what we could get photos of. Sadly we missed a couple of the different visitors, but we were always entertained by the good old regulars.

Early in the month we heard about a Mockingbird being seen in Ojibway Park in Windsor. So my Lady and I packed up our lunch and set off to see if we could find it. Thankfully it wasn’t too hard to find as it was just along the trail leading to the popular bird feeding bridge, and it was willing to give us a show. At one point it was chasing some Eastern Bluebirds out of the area while we were trying to photograph them as well.

And SNOW, geez did we get snow this year. Some of the residents in our area said they hadn’t seen this much in almost 10 years. We actually had to go out and shovel a few times, and when the plows came along we had to work hard to clear the end of the driveway. Thankfully, we have a great group of neighbours who are all willing to work together to help everyone out.

Sure, some people living in more traditional Snow Belts would laugh at us complaining of a “little bit of snow”, but we live in a Banana Belt down here at the bottom of Canada. I guess if Texas can get slammed by old man Winter, then it’s fitting that we get a bit here too in the Great White North, even if we don’t like it so much. Kids on the other hand were having a blast. With the marshes frozen over we saw a good number of skating and hockey rinks popping up, and even had a few parents out scooting over the fields in their snowmobiles.

One really nice thing about the snow was the arrival of thousands of Snow Buntings being seen all over the county. A few concessions over from us had the largest flock of Buntings that I have ever seen. Sure, I really haven’t seen a lot, but this one was really big. They hung around a couple of silos that must have had enough food scattered about to keep them satisfied, but they would be so far away from the road where I couldn’t really photograph them. I did manage to find other flocks that would kinda let me be close enough and have added a few photos below. A large number of Horned Larks and a very, very small number of Lapland Longspur would join in with the Snow Bunting feasts.

Just down the road is Big Creek which also was almost completely frozen over, except for a small area close to the road, about 50 feet across, where the ducks, geese, swans, a couple of herons, and the local Eagle family would all congregate and feed. One day we stopped to watch an eagle harass the other visitors, and eventually it caught a small fish and then flew off to a tree to enjoy it. It was snowing a fair bit at the time, as you can see in the photos.

Oddly, we had a few Virginia Rails that were trying to overwinter at the Point Pelee Marsh this year. We were fortunate to be able to get out to see them on a good day when at least one was feeding along the boardwalk. With the cold weather there was a lot of concern about whether or not they would survive and we aren’t sure if they made it, as we went back a few days after the heavy snowfalls and we couldn’t find any new tracks and nobody has seen them since. They nest in the marsh so we can always hope that they were able to find a new area to hunker down in and stay safe. It’s a big marsh after all.

While at Pelee, I climbed the tower at the tip to see how much ice had been building on the lake.

And here we have a few more of the Pelee residents

We went to the marina a couple days ago when it was getting warmer, and all the eagles were gone from Peche Island. Often there are over a dozen or more hanging out in the trees, but with the ice breaking up, and the lakes and rivers running again, they have either moved on, or found somewhere else to find food for now.

There were still a small number of the regulars close by, and I was really lucky to find a Hooded Merganser in the mix. At one point it was cleaning itself up, and I just sat there waiting for the inevitable rise up and flap wings motion. Finally, up it goes and my finger hits the button and click click click, and then it’s over in about 1 second. Fortunately, I got the shot I was waiting for.

So that’s about it for the February roundup. Hopefully March will begin to bring some of the early birds in. On the 28th we had some Killdeer flying around our heads as my Lady and I went for a walk in the neighbourhood. Maybe some of the other shore birds will start showing up too.

Remember, if you like the stories or photos, enter your email and click the Follow button to get notifications of any updates. Looks like I may have actually settled into a routine of doing a monthly roundup, so I think I will try to keep it that way, unless something really special happens.

Thanks for reading.

Till next time.

Boy did we get lucky again …

Well, we tried to stay awake long enough to help kick last year out the door and down to the curb, but for some reason, we just couldn’t do it. Must be getting older. We are just thankful that it is gone.

New Year’s day found us walking around the Navy Yard park in beautiful downtown Amherstburg, and I took a few photos of the Christmas lights, just because I thought they looked nice. My lady suggested that I send a couple of photos into our town newspaper to see if they would get published. As it turned out, the photos didn’t make their way into the paper, but I had also written a Letter to the Editor based on one of the photos, and it Did get printed. YeeHaw, I’m a published writer now! I will include the letter at the end of this (yup, you’re going to have to read all the way through before you get there).

Birding has slowed right down this month, with just a few things worth noting.

We had another visit from a Grey Ghost (male Northern Harrier), and we found a Merlin sitting comfortably on top of a hydro pole.

The Eagles have returned to various locations around the county, and just a week ago we saw almost a dozen flying around the Windsor Marina at Peche Island.

Immature Bald Eagle. Almost has the full white head.

Holiday Beach marsh has begun to freeze over, but there are still some open areas for the various waterfowl to hang out in.

Sparrows are often visible clustered together in the bushes, and occasionally we can find one out on its own away from the maddening crowd.

Redpolls at Pelee showed up in much smaller numbers than before, and after Pelee closed for a week for the deer cull, we haven’t heard of any others around.

It looks like fishing is going on out in Lake Erie and the gulls are just too happy to see what they can get.

Coyotes are still showing up, often where people don’t want them. One morning we were out for a drive, and found one a little close to the road, but well enough out in the country.

Got close to a Screech Owl that didn’t seem to mind me taking its picture.

Hmmm, I feel like I’m missing something. Let’s see…, Oh yeah, getting lucky again (mind out of the gutter please).

Remember last month we had a female Snowy Owl come to visit us? Well, early in January we received an alert on our birding group about a Snowy Owl in a field, just outside of our county. We couldn’t make it there the same day, but the following day we hurried out to where it was seen, and sure enough, there it was way out in a corn field, like most of the ones we end up seeing. The road we were on had almost no traffic, so we hung around for a little while just in case it moved. After about 30 minutes it seemed startled by something and suddenly took flight. It landed on a road sign just a ways down the road from us, so I gently pulled forward and stopped to take a few more photos. It seemed like it had settled down, so I moved the car about another 50 feet or so and just watched it. We got a few more photos, but then another vehicle came down the other road and flushed it up again, and back further into the corn field.

I have edited out the names on the sign so that the focus is on the male Snowy Owl, not the location.

For us to be able to have seen both a female and a male Snowy within just a couple of weeks totally blows my mind.

Thanks for reading. Now for my little Letter to the Editor.

My wife and I wandered through the Navy Yard early New Year’s Day and admired the light displays.
One in particular caught us, as it simply said Believe.
Many of us struggled with so many difficulties through 2020, and we are beginning to find it hard to simply Believe.
Children Believe in The Tooth Fairy, Fairy Tales, The Easter Bunny and Santa Claus. Why? Because parents and society pronounce them to be true.
As we grow up, we believe that we will fall in love, marry, have children of our own, and live happily ever after. Why? Because for the most part, that is the way of life.
Throughout our lives, and for generations before us, we have Believed in God, no matter what name it goes by. Why? Because in times of stress, we need to turn to something that is greater than ourselves. Something or Someone who can guide us, or save us, or simply to hear our prayers.
As we head into 2021, we as a society are still struggling with the past, be it Covid-19, racial divide, homelessness, poverty, or any of the 7 deadly sins. But one thing that we can hold onto is the ability to Believe.
Believe in our health system, that they will defeat not only Covid, but whatever might come along afterwards.
Believe in our elected officials, that they will make the proper decisions that will guide us all towards a better life for everyone, not just the chosen few.
Believe in ourselves, that we can see the things we need to change in ourselves, and be willing to make those changes.
But above all, let’s Believe as a child Believes, and we will find the joy and wonder of living again.

Happy 2021 everyone.

OH MY GOD… IT’S A SNOWY!!!

January 2, 2020

Happy New Year everyone. Let’s hope we kicked 2020 out and slammed the door on that vile creature. Who needs to watch horror movies when we’ve been living through one for almost a year.

Well, we didn’t expect December to be quite like it was.

Of course we had lockdowns in the GTA, but also here in Essex County, and then the whole Province joined in with the fun. What a way to screw up the Christmas Holidays.

On the birding front, it was fairly quiet for the most part, but we still managed to get out and see a few things.

December started off with a beautiful snowfall, which brought in some Snow Buntings that came close enough to get some photos of. These little birds seem to follow the snow storms and pig out on the seeds in the fields. Always moving makes it difficult to photograph, and every few moments the whole flock flies into the air and land a few paces away. They are often found with Horned Larks and Lapland Longspur. We found the Lark but not the Longspur.

Shortly after that day we hung out with one of our birding friends and we were very fortunate to watch a number of Sandhill Cranes making their way along Lake Erie shores. These beautiful birds must have decided they don’t want to stick around for the snow. One flock that flew just north of our viewing area had almost 100 birds in it. We counted 35 in one flock and another 20 plus in a second flock as they passed overhead.

By the middle of the month we were hearing of some Common Redpolls that were hanging around at Point Pelee. If we hadn’t been made aware of what we were looking at, we might have misidentified them as another type of Finch or Sparrow, but these little ones are much prettier. The day we found them, they were enjoying themselves in the grasses on the west side of Point Pelee, with the winds blasting cold air straight across the lake, making it not only brutal for us humans to be standing in, but buffeting our cameras sideways as we tried to take photos.

Then we found out that everyone was trying to find the Common Redpoll’s elusive cousin, the Hoaries. After a few days of searching, we finally spotted a couple fly from the ground to a tree just as we arrived in the area. I quickly blasted a couple of blurred photos of them and they were gone over the trees. A few people have seen them afterwards, but they have evaded My Lady and I ever since.

As we went for a walk one day at Holiday Beach, I noticed a large bird fly into the trees across the way from where we were. Immediately the binos went up and we were very happy to see that it was a Great Horned Owl. Wonder if it was one of the little ones from our Osprey nest this spring.

Just before the end of the month My Lady and I were standing in line at Costco and I noticed a light coloured bird land on the lamp post ahead of us. Initially I thought it was a mature male Northern Harrier, so I wandered over to have a closer look. As I came around the proper side, I was Gobsmacked to see that it was the one bird that we had been searching 2 years for a close-up of. When I told My Lady, she rushed me off to get my camera out of the car, and I started firing off shots while moving all around the area for the best light and position.

A SNOWY OWL!!!

Not way out in a corn field allowing for tiny little dot photos that crop in terribly. This one came to visit US!

Just imagine seeing some crazy guy run out of line at Costco, who grabs a big long lens and camera out of his car and starts moving between parked cars, passing in front of people in line to get against the building, running back to his Lady, all the while smiling like a kid in a candy store (behind a mask, so no one could see that anyway) and taking photos.

I sent a blast out to our bird group and unfortunately just as we got to the front of the line, and one of our birding friends pulled in; it flies off and hasn’t been found since.

I got some great shots that I am very happy with, but we are going to keep on looking, hoping to get the classic perfect lighting while it sits on a fence post (or a stump), looking at me with wide open eyes (preferably a full white male, but the female is beautiful as well) photo. Am I asking too much? Might take a few more years, but we will keep on trying.

It was brought to my attention that on my last posting I misidentified a sparrow on a photo. Thank you Rick for pointing out that the White Throated Sparrow is actually a White Crowned Sparrow. It’s going to take a while for me to get these little ones right, even with the app.

Ok, how about my resolutions? Yup, More posts, More often.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA… …hahahahahaaaa… (wiping away tears from laughing so hard).Who am I trying to kid? Ok, maybe I should at least say that I’ll do my best.

Thanks for continuing to read this little bloggy thing. I will keep trying to improve the pictures, and change up the stories, especially if any really rare birds happen to show up in front of my lens.

Till next time, Stay Safe, Stay Heathy.