Pelee weekend!

I had Friday off of work, so I took advantage and headed down to Pelee. On Friday morning, I spent my birthday by paying for the new tires and brakes (fun!), but by early afternoon I was driving down to Pelee. Some of my stops:

Ridgetown lagoons
-usual "lagoon ducks"
-adult Common Loon in spanking new plumage! Just chilling in the middle of a pond...

Blenheim lagoons
-first 30 Pectoral Sandpipers of the year
-good assortment of other shorebirds (Dunlin, Spotted, both Yellowlegs)
-lots of Bonaparte's Gulls (but no Littles)
-continuing Eared Grebe that was found almost a week prior by Blake Mann.

Erieau pier
-big white Glaucous Gull! A few are still kicking around southern Ontario...

-nothing else. Nothing in the Lark Sparrow spot (though I was a day late)

Hillman Marsh
-shorebirds!! Lots of Dunlin, both yellowlegs, Pecs, but nothing else
-nothing rare, but lots of the usual ducks and terns/gulls

Saturday
Jeremy Bensette and I birded together for the whole day, meeting up with other birders at various points. Nice to see so many familiar faces! Steve Pike, Kory Renaud, and the Hunters joined us for good chunks of time. The weather was cool with strong northeast winds, but the sun was out most of the day. Some highlights:

-year birds! Cliff Swallow, Eastern Kingbird,
-6 warblers, including Northern Waterthrush, a stunning male Hooded, and an Eastern (Yellow) Palm Warbler, my first one that I've seen. The streaking was rather sparse but the bird had an extensive red crown and was bright yellow from the chin to the undertail coverts, really standing out from the other nearby Western Palms.

-chased a dozen Marbled Godwits at Hillman and watched them from the road!
-raptor flight in the afternoon, including 3 Bald Eagles, 1 Osprey, 12ish Turkey Vultures, 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 1 Cooper's Hawk, 2 Red-tailed Hawks

-braving the winds by checking the tip at dusk with Jeremy Bensette and Steve Pike, finding a miserable looking female Orchard Oriole

Sunday
A bit of a late start to the morning, but Jeremy and I were in the park by 8 AM and birded the tip area. Again we ran into many familiar birders, though the majority of the morning was spent with Steve Pike, Chris Law, and Tom Preney. The birding was slow but as is always the case at Pelee in the spring, there were a few things to keep us interested

-a large flock (50+) of warblers along the main road north of Sparrow Field, mainly composed of Yellow-rumped but also with my first of year Black-and-white and Yellow
-Fish Crow reported by Steve and Chris, and subsequently seen by several groups of birders. My looks weren't ideal as I saw it briefly twice
-great looks at all 3 scoter species off of the West Beach

I swung out to Mitchell's Bay as I made my way towards home in the early afternoon. The area came through with a few sweet birds, including a Green Heron, Common Gallinule (my first ever for April), a ton of Forster's Terns, a calling Sora, and a male Yellow-headed Blackbird. This is perhaps the last remaining area that Yellow-headeds regularly can still be found at. The terns were actively hunting near where I was standing, so I tried to take a few action shots. I failed at that, but did manage a few typical flight shots; my first decent photos for the species.

While the weekend did not come through with any mega finds and the birding was pretty slow for the most part, I still had an awesome time with a few good birds and about 20 year birds...gotta keep those big year birders looking in their rear-view mirrors a little! ;)

Recent rarities found in Ontario include a nice male Painted Bunting that has been attending a feeder in Huntsville for the past two days. Painted Buntings average about 1 sighting a year in the province...I have seen two previously but never the rainbow-colored adult male. This week may be busy as I move to a new place, but I may be able to squeeze in an evening searching for it, if it continues to be seen. At any rate, the next two weeks are probably the heaviest for the sheer number of rare birds that are typically found. Get out there and find them, the birding will be awesome...

Bad photos of good birds

For the last week I have been completing surveys for work near Lindsay, Ontario. I happen to be done by early afternoon each day, giving me lots of time to search for birds after work on my way home! Some of the areas I have checked include the Carden Alvar, the southern shore of Lake Simcoe, and several towns on lakes and rivermouths that attract ducks (Bobcaygeon, Fenelon Falls, etc).

This morning, while checking the Colborne Street ponds in Lindsay on my way to the site, I noticed a raptor hovering in the distance, directly into the wind. It was a familiar bird - a Rough-legged Hawk. Roughies winter in southern Ontario but by now most will have flown north again. With this late winter, several other species have been lingering in the province, including Snow Buntings, Snowy Owls, and to an extent some of the waterfowl (pintails can be found in big flocks, rare geese are still frequently being seen).

On my way home I took a detour north to check out the ice conditions at Beaverton. I have been trying so far this year to stop and scan every flock of geese/ducks/gulls etc whenever possible. It is easy to get bored of this or to only scan the really big flocks, but by forcing myself to check them out more often I am hoping to come across some great birds.

While driving, a noticed a small flock of geese around a wet area of a field. There weren't that many, I did not see any white ones from the road, and there were no shorebirds or ducks to speak of. I turned the car around just in case and began scanning with my binoculars. One of the geese looked a little funny, but they were all sleeping so it was hard to be sure.

I focused on the bird in the bottom right of the above photo and grabbed my spotting scope from the back seat, not attached to my tripod. By steadying it against the window sill (it was too windy to try standing up with the scope on a tripod), I was able to pick out more details on the mystery goose, which was revealing itself as a Greater White-fronted Goose. It lifted its head and the orange and white bill/face combo was obvious. Also check out the black on the belly. Cool!

Greater White-fronted Geese, like many other geese species, are increasing in number and as a result wayward ones are more common in Ontario. While at one point they were an OBRC rarity, now they show up fairly frequently, perhaps with 20 to 30 records a year in Ontario. The reason I was so happy to see one, even though I had seen a white-front the previous day at Luther Marsh, was because this was the first one that I stumbled across on my one. One of my lists that I keep is my Ontario self-found list, which after the goose is sitting at 327. My criteria for this list roughly follows that which was described so eloquently by Punkbirder. Basically, if I find it, or if I am next to another birder which first spots/identifies it, then it goes on the list. The Black Vulture on the weekend was also new even though Kory Renaud first observed the bird. It is tricky with some birds like Loggerhead Shrike and Piping Plover, since they nest at known locations in very small numbers. I don't count seeing birds at these "colonies" - I have to find a vagrant well away from the colony. As a result, Piping Plover and Loggerhead Shrike are still missing from my list! Other big misses include Barrow's Goldeneye, Gray Partridge, Cattle Egret, Glossy Ibis, Great Gray Owl, and Harris's Sparrow...one day, hopefully. A few weeks ago Brandon Holden wrote a blog entry about trying to find 400 species in Ontario.

We are now into that late-April window when pretty much anything can show up, and given the right weather, great stuff usually does! American Avocet, Worm-eating Warbler, more Cattle Egrets, and Eared Grebes seem like obvious choices to show up in the province in the upcoming week. There is always the possibility, however rare it may be, of a Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Swainson's Warbler, Lazuli Bunting or something crazier. I am hoping to make it down to Pelee this weekend - hopefully the winds cooperate!

Perth County Rarity Hunt

I woke this morning almost on time, and by 7:00 I was on the road from the Point Pelee area to Perth County, located north of London. This part of Ontario isn't well known in the ornithological scene. Farmland dominates the countryside, and as a result, rare birds can be hard to come by in the county. There are a few reservoirs, however, that can be quite productive. A quick check of ebird shows records of Black-necked Stilt, Western Sandpiper, Chuck-will's-widow, and Spotted Towhee, though.

Not one but three rare birds had been found in Perth County over the past few days. I have a hunch they were arrivals with the weather last weekend, as many birds invaded the province including other rarities (Summer Tanager, Yellow-throated Warblers, American White Pelican). Who knows, though.

The first rarity, a Eurasian Wigeon was being seen regularly at the West Perth Wetlands, but it had not been seen in two days. The second rarity was a Blue Grosbeak, attending a feeder west of Fullarton. Several of us were trying to figure out more details, and if it was possible for people to visit. The third rarity was a Snowy Egret that had been seen along the Thames River along the St. Mary's waterfront.

I went for the Snowy Egret, arriving around 8:30 AM with the sun rising in the sky. Here I ran into Brett Fried and Erika Hentsch. We chatted a bit, and they had not seen the egret since their arrival. We also heard from Barb Charlton who was chasing the birds, and so the four of us met up.

Northern Rough-winged Swallow - St. Mary's, Ontario

Unfortunately, our search of the river was in vain. We did, however, see a lot of new, exciting Perth County ticks (Bufflehead! Great Blue Heron!! MUTE SWAN!!!). Eventually Brett and Erika had to go to an Eastern dinner, so Barb and I continued on to the West Perth Wetlands, the location of the Eurasian Wigeon.

Here we met Ken Burrell, Mike Burrell, and Erika Barkley who had the same idea as us. It turns out that they were in contact with the people hosting the Blue Grosbeak, and they had arranged for us to go look for it! We did a quick scan of the waterbirds (highlights being Canvasback, Horned Grebe, American Coot) and got on our way. It was late morning and the temperatures had quickly risen.

We got out and began a search of the property, meeting the friendly homeowners, Rita and Ron. Immediately a bird flushed from the Crabapple Tree next to a feeder. Ken and I had the best looks of the bird (though very brief) and we thought that the bird looked right to be the Blue Grosbeak. A few minutes later Mike had a brief glimpse of a suspicious bird dark bird with blue on it.. Again, difficult to say, but probably the bird.

Luckily any doubts were erased several minutes later when the bird suddenly landed in the tree, easily visible but partially obscured between the branches.. It was a young male Blue Grosbeak, not a female as I had originally thought.

Blue Grosbeak - west of Fullarton, Ontario 

We watched the bird at least three times over the course of half an hour, though each visit was very brief. It was interesting to note the behaviour of the bird, as it pumped it's tail in a phoebe-esque way. Cool!

Blue Grosbeak - west of Fullarton, Ontario 

 This bird was aged as a young male due to the blue coloration coming in along the face. Out of the three previous Blue Grosbeaks I have seen, two were young males and one was an adult male.

Blue Grosbeak - west of Fullarton, Ontario 

At this point I had to get going to an Eastern dinner as well. We left the farm and decided to complete a brief but thorough (and unsuccesful) search of the Thames River for the Snowy Egret. We parted ways and I headed back to Cambridge after a quick check of the Tavistock Lagoons.

It was a very successful weekend of birding Point Pelee and Point Pelee 2.0 this weekend, with highlights being Henslow's Sparrow, Black Vulture, and Blue Grosbeak. Other great birds included Louisiana Waterthrush, Vesper Sparrow, American Golden-Plover, and all the new spring migrants. Now that I am back at work for the week, I am already beginning to look forward to next weekend, when lots of good birds should be around, and at the very least, lots of new year birds. Should be fun!

Point Pelee comes through

My hunch to head down to Point Pelee this weekend seemed to be a good choice, as most of the rarity action in Ontario over the last few days has been related to Point Pelee. Yesterday it was the Henslow's Sparrow, and today was a new one for my Pelee list.

The day started out much like the last - cold but sunny with the promise of warmth. The birding was slow for the most part, and I spent a lot of time socializing with fellow birders, some who I hadn't seen since last May. By late morning I was hiking with Kory Renaud and Rick Mayos along the Woodland Nature Trail. We dipped on a reported Yellow-throated Warbler found by Mike Tait, Bob Cermak, Blake Mann et al., but we came across a Louisiana Waterthrush in a wet slough. Since it was relatively close we took the time to photograph it.

Kory and I split ways with Rick and we decided to bird Tilden's Woods. Tilden's was slow with not much to show for our efforts so we chose to head north up the Chinquapin Oak Trail to see the results of the recent deforestation event by the park. I believe the area will be called "Cactus Field". It was surprisingly birdy, with Eastern Towhee, Brown Thrasher, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Bluebird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and a few groups of sparrows. We were in search of a possible Vesper Sparrow when I heard Kory yell out some choice woods, then "Black Vulture!!!" I looked up to see a Black Vulture cruising by at a low altitude. We both grabbed our cameras and fired off some record shots as the bird circled several times.

Kory posted the sighting on Ontbirds and I phoned/texted a few people. Eventually we lost track of the vulture as it headed south towards the Visitor's Centre. Black Vultures show up usually 3 to 10 times a year in Ontario, often with several sightings throughout the spring migration (most at hawk-watches). Black Vultures are starting to colonize the Niagara area, but apart from the river corridor they are quite rare in Ontario. Point Pelee sees close to one a year on average I would think (Alan?). It was a new Point Pelee bird for me, putting me once closer to 300 species.This was also the first one where I had been a part of the find.

About half an hour later we met up with Blake Mann and Adam Pinch who were birding together. We told them about the vulture and about five minutes later it flew over again! We all had great looks and photos of the bird as it gave an encore performance.

That was the only highlight of the day bird wise! In the afternoon I braved the meter-high snowdrifts of the west beach footpath and found a nice sheltered spot along the beach. I sat down with the sun shining down on me and scanned the ducks. Other than hundreds of scaup and Surf Scoters I did not see much else with them. A female Common Goldeneye flew by heading south, and some Horned Grebes dove close to shore right in front of me, giving me the best looks I've ever had of the species, despite the glare from the sun.

A drive through the onion fields and Hillman Marsh yielded the regular ducks and shorebirds. I was happy to spot an American Golden-Plover at dusk, still in winter plumage, sitting by itself at the edge of the mudflat.

Tomorrow afternoon I have a family gathering for Easter, so I only have a few hours to bird beforehand. Right now there are a few rare birds being reported up in Perth County, so I might make a slight detour up there on my way back home...

Long weekend Pelee birding

This weekend I made the decision to drive down to Point Pelee for my first visit of the spring. On Thursday afternoon, after finishing my bird surveys in Lindsay for work I headed down into southwestern Ontario.

My first stop was at a hotspot for amphibians in Waterloo Region, at a location where I have seen 25 species of herps. I met up with a bunch of Guelphites (Todd, Reuven, Beverly, Mark, Matt, and Steven) and we scoured the woodlands and ponds for amphibians. While the main pulse of salamanders had likely finished by now, we did come across a few things. Eastern Newts numbered probably close to 100, definitely the highest one time count for me at this site. I found a little Four-toed Salamander under a log later on, my first for the spring.

Later that evening I made the long drive to Pelee, arriving at 2:30 AM. My first bird for Pelee was an American Woodcock peenting away in the middle of the night.

I started the day by chasing a Henslow's Sparrow that Chris Gaffan had found the following evening. Henslow's used to be fairly widespread in pastures in southern Ontario, but they have declined and now only a few pairs are hanging on. They do, however, show up annually at Point Pelee (in fact, all five Henslow's I have seen have all been at Pelee). I ran into several other birders there including  local birder Rick and Mike, Ken and Jim Burrell.

After a few minutes the Burrell's got on the bird while I was down the path. By the time I arrived the bird had ducked into some undergrowth, though we waited it out and eventually the bird appeared in view!

It was a very bright Henslow's and it was awesome obtaining such good looks at one!

Later that morning, while walking the Woodland Nature Trail, I ran into Alan Wormington and Richard Carr. Alan proclaimed that he had a record earlier bird with him. He pulled this out of a tissue.

The Scarlet Tanager must have arrived with the warm spell last weekend, and likely perished in the cold snap the following few days. Around the same time there was also a Summer Tanager and Yellow-throated Warbler in the Pelee Circle.

A finished the Woodland Nature Trail, photographing this Mink along the south end. Louisiana Waterthrushes proved elusive though!

I walked up the west beach footpath and had my progress impeded by 2-3 foot high snow drifts. I guess the drifts were so high back in February that they are only just melting now!

Birds were fairly numerous and I saw kinglets, Hermit Thrushes, Brown Thrashers, and a few sparrows of four species. This Chipping Sparrow posed nicely for photos.

A Hermit Thrush along the west beach footpath...

A drive of the onion fields and a check of Hillman Marsh was next. Things were fairly slow though there were still good numbers of ducks at Hillman, and my first Forster's Terns, Common Terns, Dunlins, and Lesser Yellowlegs made appearances. By late afternoon I headed back in to the park, checking Dunes where I ran into a nice little mixed flock of kinglets, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Black-capped Chickadees. I found my first towhees of the year and several Field and Chipping Sparrows were singing.

Around 6:00 PM I drove back down to the main parking lot and walked into Tilden's Woods. By this point the wind was almost non-existent and the sun was shining, making birding still productive until late in the evening. As I passed a slough near the Chinquapin Trail, a sharp chip caught my attention. It was a Louisiana Waterthrush, bobbing along the edges.

My last stop was De Laurier, where once again the Henslow's Sparrow was being photographed by birders. I met Rick there again, and the bird crawled out into the open, allowing me a clean shot at it.

It was a pretty good day of birding, and I added about 13 species to my Ontario year list. I think I saw about 90 species for the day. What will tomorrow bring?

Spring birds and herps

In the last week I have gotten out daily to look for herps, birds, and whatever other signs of spring that I could find. We were given 20+ degree weather over the weekend, followed by a few inches of snow and sub-zero temperatures for all of Tuesday. Today was warmer again (about 6 degrees and sunny), and the next few days leading into the weekend look good for mostly fair-weather birding! On to some highlights...

Friday, April 11

After taking off from work, I checked some areas within York Region to see what I could find. Holland Landing gave me three year birds in Bonaparte's Gull, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and Ruby-crowned Kinglet. It was nice to find a little flock of kinglets, chickadees, sapsuckers, creepers, and some nearby Rusty Blackbirds!

I checked out some flooded fields in the southwestern Holland Marsh and scoured some flocks of waterfowl, turning up some Cackling Geese and Tree Swallows, also new for the year. Ah, spring...

Saturday, April 12

I visited a friend in Guelph on the Friday night and Saturday I took care of some errands at my parent's place in Cambridge. Needing a break in the mid-afternoon I took advantage of the great weather and checked out a favorite trail system of mine to look for some early season herps. I wasn't disappointed, though in hindsight I wish I had my camera with me for the hike, instead of the iPhone with its terrible camera!
Four species of frogs were calling and it wasn't long until I came across my first snakes of the year.

Red-backed Salamanders were common under rocks and I found one tiny Eastern Newt.

Even with the sun hiding behind some clouds the herps were active. I soon stumbled upon several Northern Ribbonsnakes basking on a hillside near a vernal pool and it became apparent that there were 3 males vying for the services of the much larger female (which I watched for a good 15 minutes...).

First snake of the year!!

I also birded some areas south of Cambridge later on and discovered five more year birds - Eastern Meadowlark, Osprey, Sandhill Crane, Eastern Bluebird, and Savannah Sparrow. A Common Raven flew over being harassed by American Crows at one point as well. Watching a pair of Sandhill Cranes while Eastern Meadowlarks and Rusty Blackbirds called from somewhere unseen was certainly a highlight of the spring so far.

Sunday, April 13

After a shindig at my buddy Dave's place Saturday night, I slept in a bit on Sunday morning before leaving to do a day of birding in Simcoe County. Needless to say it was a huge success! Among the 72 species I saw on the day, some highlights were:

-finding two Ross's Geese with a large flock of Canadas. I was pretty excited with these birds as I had only "found" one previously in Ontario, and Ross's Goose was a new Simcoe County bird for me. Cue distant record photo!

-Snowy Owl just chilling on a sprinkler system

-new year birds!! Greater Yellowlegs, Winter Wren, Barn Swallow

-a metric ton of waterfowl, highlighted by Canvasbacks and Cackling Geese. Large numbers included roughly 200 American Wigeon, 80 Northern Shoveler, 750 Northern Pintail, and 850 Green-winged Teal. No Eurasian Wigeons or Garganeys, though!

- Ruddy Duck at the Stayner lagoons

Monday, April 14

Back in the office...After work I checked a new area in King Township for me - the north end of Bathurst Street along the south edge of Lake Simcoe. It was absolutely rocking (for King Township) and I had an enjoyable few hours before dusk. Some highlights:

-Bank Swallow with a bunch of Trees and Barns
-flyover Black Scoters (spring migrants?)
-Bonaparte's Gulls, Caspian Terns, and Greater Yellowlegs
-2 Horned Grebes
-Sandhill Cranes
-large number of typical mid April ducks

That's all for now! I was going to include photos/sightings from the last few days in the Kawartha Lakes area but this post is long enough as it is. As we continue to move into spring I will try to post updates a little more frequently - whenever my birding (er...working) schedule allows! I also have a whole ton of Panama posts to crank out, and some more stuff from Europe.

Check out those winds...

I just grabbed this screenshot from the awesome Wind Map - check it out when you have a chance. We are currently getting winds straight out of the gulf coast and will continue to get strong south winds until the cold front passes by, in which case the winds will switch to the north.

These winds have been coming straight out of Texas and the Gulf of Mexico to locations further north for the last two days, and now these winds are blowing straight into southern Ontario. Leamington, Ontario (i.e. Point Pelee) is currently getting hit with strong south winds, gusting up to 75 km/h.  It sure feels that strong here at my office too.

While this certainly does not guarantee that all kinds of rare birds will be found in the next few days in Ontario, it does mean that there will probably be higher number of rarities than usual to be found in the province, waiting to be found by birders! Yesterday, Ken Burrell reported a Yellow-throated Warbler at Pelee Island, the first "southern overshoot" of note so far this spring. There is a very good chance that more Yellow-throated Warblers, as well as other early overshoots (Summer Tanager, Henslow's Sparrow, Glossy Ibis, Worm-eating Warbler, Lark Sparrow etc) may make an appearance in coming days. But what everyone looks for is the mega rarity. Again, there is no guarantee that one will be found with this weather, but I would say that the chances are higher for the next few days than they have been at any time in the last 4-5 months.

One theory in regards to bird migration in Ontario is that all of these overshoots (that inevitably show up after strong systems from the southwest move through in the spring) will retrace their steps once they realized that they have flown too far. Southern Ontario is somewhat funnel shaped and it is very possible that these retreating overshoots will bunch up along the lakeshores. In theory, the Swallow-tailed Kite that may be blown up into Ontario today will likely try to vacate the province tomorrow, and in doing so may end up at Point Pelee or Long Point or Hamilton or something!

One more thing - here is a list of some of Ontario's more notable rarities that have shown up between the dates of April 14 and April 20 (the next seven days). This time period is the week before when the birding really starts to go nuts in southern Ontario; the birdlife often has a mid-April feel to it (surprisingly), with many temperate migrants and the first few neotropical migrants.

Brambling (Kenora; April 18, 1994)
Black-headed Grosbeak (Bruce Peninsula; April 14, 1998)
Burrowing Owl (Renfrew County; April 19, 1991)
Garganey (Renfrew County; April 18)
Say's Phoebe (Chatham-Kent; April 18, 1964, two others in last two years)
Smith's Longspur (Long Point; April 20, 1980)

Other rarities that sometimes have arrived in mid April include Ferruginous Hawk, Swainson's Hawk, Bewick's Wren, Cinnamon Teal, Tufted Duck, rare herons (Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Little Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, etc), and Western Grebe.

Only time will tell what will show up - get out there and find the birds!

Spring is here!

(This post was mostly written on Thursday, I just haven't been able to find the time to post it until now)

Ever since returning from Europe, I have been stuck in my office in Aurora, writing reports and getting ready for the upcoming field season. Luckily the longer daylight hours have enabled me to do some local birding, to mixed results.

On Monday I drove around some fields in King Township (where I currently live) to see if I could find any waterfowl or other spring migrants. At one point I stopped to photograph this grackle in a small wetland.

Eventually I found a flock of ducks in a flooded field and added several species to my "local patch" list (which includes King Township): American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Redhead, American Black Duck, and Rusty Blackbird. 

The next evening I met up with David Szmyr near the Beeton sod farms in search of migrants. We checked a number of areas finding most of the expected species. Highlights for me included my first Blue-winged Teals of the spring, an Eastern Phoebe singing away, and a Snow Goose in a field. The Snow Goose was in the same location that a Ross's Goose was reported the previous day.

I have to say it was pretty nice to be standing with the sun on our backs on a warm April afternoon, looking at hundreds of ducks. The wind was non-existent and the water was smooth as glass, adding to the enjoyment of the evening! 

The following night I decided to stop at the Cawthra-Mulock reserve located west of Newmarket in King Township. This is an area with some interesting breeding species, including Clay-colored Sparrow and Blue-winged Warbler. I was hoping to hear American Woodcocks. The fields were quiet wet (too wet for woodcocks), but by driving around I heard a single one peenting somewhere in the distance. A flock of Common Mergansers flew over as well, my first for the local patch. I'll have to return soon to get some more woodcocks!

And finally, a few nights ago I checked out Happy Valley located near where I live. This is a tract of mixed woods that has a number of interesting breeding species: Barred Owl, Red-shouldered Hawk, Acadian Flycatcher, Hooded Warbler, etc. I was hoping to see some salamanders, but unfortunately most of the ponds were still ice covered (and up to 30 cm of snow remained in some locations in the woods!) and I struck out. Hopefully this upcoming week I can finally see my first Ontario herps of the year...

--------------------------------------------------

Every day, more and more spring migrants have been reported in Ontario. Many of the more recent arrivals are in line with what is expected for the date. It seems we are finally catching up after the long winter! If you haven't seen it already, I would recommend checking out Mike Burrell's page on spring arrival dates in Ontario. He used Ebird data to determine on what date a push of each species typically arrives in Ontario. For April 13th, he has Louisiana Waterthrush, Pine Warbler, and Swamp Sparrow listed. Considering the weather forecast, I would be surprised if multiple individuals of all three species aren't seen in Ontario by then! 

Speaking of spring, the next 7 weeks will likely be the most exciting weeks for birders in Ontario. Check out this graph I made a couple of years ago, detailing when rarities are seen in Ontario, broken down by week of the year. 

Mid-April can be an interesting time for birding in Ontario, depending on the weather conditions. Occasional systems from the south and southwest may pass through southern Ontario, bringing large pushes of birds with them. This time of year, it is not too uncommon for species like Eared Grebe, American Avocet, Yellow-throated Warbler, a southern heron/egret (Little Blue? Snowy?), or something rarer to make an appearance. The weather is scheduled to reach 20 degrees, and the winds have mostly a southern component until Monday. Already some killer birds have been seen along the Great Lakes, but nothing so far in Ontario. Now that there is strong rarity potential it makes going out looking for birds that much more exciting. However, this early in the spring, these weather systems can bring with them less rarities than what we may hope for. At the very least, expect a lot of kinglets, Brown Creepers, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Eastern Phoebes, sparrows, and maybe some early warblers this weekend! :)

Coming soon, to a sewage lagoon near you!

Edinburgh Ptarmigans

Prior to my second last full day in Europe, Laura and I were debating where we would spend the day. We both love hiking and checking out new areas, but had exhausted most of the options that were accessible by bus/train for a reasonable cost and within an hour or two of her place in Edinburgh. Laura suggested that maybe we try hiking in the Pentland Hills, located just south of the city, for a change of scenery. Immediately I remembered that Red Grouse (a.k.a. British Willow Ptarmigans) inhabited those hills. While the ptarmigans are fairly common in barren, upland areas throughout Scotland, I had never seen one before and was eager to search for them! They also happened to have one of the coolest voices out of any bird, sounding almost cartoon like.

We took a city bus out of the downtown and were at the west edge of the Pentlands in about 20 minutes.

Our route through the Pentlands

It was a gray, foggy day, but fortunately it was nearly dead calm (a rarity in Scotland!) and without rain. In short order we added many of the common U.K. birds to the day list as well as a few slightly more unusual ones that I was happy to see (Lesser Redpoll, Eurasian Treecreeper, etc). At one plowed field I could barely make out the shapes of several hundred European Golden Plovers mixed in with some Northern Lapwings and Eurasian Curlews.

Eventually we came to a little walkway leading out into a lowland raised bog called Red Moss, one of very few remaining lowland raised bogs in the area. It was eerily calm here and I snapped a few iphone photos. Meadow Pipits (mipits!) were everywhere here, and a Common Buzzard patrolled from a tall snag at the edge of the bog.

Red Moss - Pentland Hills, U.K.

We stopped at several reservoirs that supply the City of Edinburgh with water. My first Chiffchaff for Scotland was singing away in some bushes and a Pied Wagtail was doing its namesake behaviour over a little bridge. The lake was smooth as glass, making it easy to pick out the Little Grebes, Eurasian Coots, Tufted Ducks, and Common Goldeneyes on the water. Two fishermen were in a boat, and from the looks of things they were having a very successful morning!

As we walked up to the hide located on the edge of the lake where I took the above photo, we noticed a large flock of medium sized birds feeding at the edge of a field. They were Fieldfares! And a lot of them - maybe 200, plus another 200 starlings. This was a long-awaited lifer that I had missed in England a few weeks earlier - they had likely already departed for the north. But here in Scotland this large flock was still hanging on. Fieldfares and Redwings are winter visitors to much of the U.K.

We continued walking to the end of the road and eventually found a trail that seemed to wander into the hills.Time to search for ptarmigans!

Right away we added a few more day birds. Skylarks were fairly common and several Northern Wheatears perched on a rock wall parallel to us. As we walked, we kept flushing the wheatears further along the rock wall. Instead of turning around and looping back, they kept flying a few meters further along until we would flush them yet again. It is kind of funny how many birds will do this...

Northern Wheatear - Pentland Hills, U.K.

Here are a few landscape shots showing, fairly accurately I must say, what the scenery was like!

Pentland Hills, U.K.

Pentland Hills, U.K.

As we were following the trail through the fog we both stopped around the same time, hearing a bird call. Laura asked me if I had heard that, as she thought it might have been a ptarmigan. We listened, and a few seconds later it called again! That was it! Here is an example of the vocalizations that this species gives...what an awesome call! The bird was down the slope in fairly short grass. By this point the fog had cleared enough that we could see fairly well to maybe 50 meters away. I scanned but could not find it in the haze, so I decided to walk down the hill towards it. By triangulating its call I approached closer eventually spotting a small lump rising above the vegetation.

Red Grouse (Willow Ptarmigan) - Pentland Hills, U.K.

 I called Laura down and we watched and photographed the ptarmigan.

Red Grouse (Willow Ptarmigan) - Pentland Hills, U.K.

What a cool bird! We ended up seeing a half dozen on the hike and hearing several more. For an Ontario birder like me, whose idea of Willow Ptarmigan is a bird that nests on the barren tundra in the artic, it was a bit weird seeing these ones in the same fields as sheep, on the outskirts of Edinburgh. I guess the vegetation and climate is similar enough in both places.

We continued on, following the trail east towards the town of Penicuik, on the eastern edge of the Pentlands. While cresting a hillside, the fog melted away and the sun even came out for a few minutes. Bird song picked up, and we found a large flock containing Fieldfares, Bramblings, Linnets, Greenfinches, with Song Thrushes and Meadow Pipits being common as well.

Further along, the trail passed alongside a sheep farm, and the local dog came out to check us out.

The fog was visible in the valley that we came from, creating a dramatic scene and a cool spot to do some "touristy" photos.

After several additional hours of hiking we finally arrived in Penicuik. New day birds along this stretch included Mistle Thrush, Sparrowhawk, and Great Spotted Woodpecker, to name a few. And a photo of a law-abiding citizen in Penicuik.

We completed about 15 km in just over five hours, hiking through the Pentlands. We weren't able to cover a few other great spots in the hills due to the time, including a waterfall and stream passing through a canyon where Ring Ouzel and White-throated Dipper could be found, as well as several of the larger Pentland hills in the same area. I would like to return to the area later in the year at some point as Common Cuckoo, Spotted Flycatcher, Whinchat, Dotterel, and a few new warblers could be seen.