2017 (Part 1)

Another year has come and gone, and as is tradition, I will summarize some of the highlights of my year from a natural history perspective.

January 

I began the year by spending all of January within the boundaries of Ontario. As is generally the case, my work responsibilities diminished during the first couple months of the year due to the somewhat seasonal nature of consulting, affording me many opportunities to bird locally as well as embark on a few rare bird chases elsewhere in southern Ontario. The Smith's Longspur in Norfolk County persisted into the new year, while a Slaty-backed Gull frequented the Niagara River and Welland Canal near Thorold. I was ecstatic to finally catch up with the beast in Thorold where it provided a nice study and great photo ops.

It had been five years since I had added a new species to my Ontario herp list, so it may seem unlikely that January was the month for the new addition. Perhaps this is less surprising when that species is Common Mudpuppy, an aquatic salamander that is active year round. Dan Riley discovered a semi-reliable location for this species near Thorold, and I rushed over to finally see my first Common Mudpuppy in the province! That leaves Wood Turtle, Northern Dusky Salamander and Allegheny Mountain Dusky Salamander as the remaining species to see. I've saved the hardest ones for last!

Smith's Longspur - Port Rowan, Norfolk County, Ontario

Tufted Titmouse - Dufferin Islands, Niagara Region, Ontario

Northern Cardinal - Dufferin Islands, Niagara Region, Ontario

Common Mudpuppy - Thorold, Niagara Region, Ontario

Slaty-backed Gull - Thorold, Niagara Region, Ontario

February

In February I headed south to Cuba for the third winter in a row with Quest Nature Tours. Cuba is a charming country with some excellent natural areas including the jewel of the Caribbean, the Zapata Swamp. An extra day in this part of the country gave my group and I a chance to access the heart of the swamp, where we traveled by boat to find the localized and secretive Zapata Wren as well as Zapata Sparrow. Of course the rest of the trip was great as well, with surprises around every bend. Face-melting views of Cuban Tody, Blue-headed Quail-Dove, Cuban Black Hawk and the world's smallest bird, the Bee Hummingbird were just some of the avian highlights from Cuba, while several Hutia sightings and a variety of reptile species were also popular with this group.

Back in Ontario the days were beginning to grow longer though the temperatures remained consistently low. A Black-headed Gull that had been on the Niagara River reappeared along the Welland Canal near Port Weller for a few days, while two Pine Warblers managed to eke out an existence at Dufferin Islands in Niagara Falls.

Ashy Gecko - Viñales Valley, Cuba

Cuban Grassquit - La Guira, Cuba

Cuban Parrot - Playa Larga, Cuba

Blue-headed Quail-Dove - Bay of Pigs, Cuba

Northern Curly-tailed Lizard - Bay of Pigs, Cuba

Red-legged Thrush - Sierra del Rosario, Cuba

Desmarest's Hutia - Cayo Las Brujas, Cuba

Cuban Black Hawk - Cayo Las Brujas, Cuba

Black-headed Gull - Port Weller, Niagara Region, Ontario

Pine Warbler - Dufferin Islands, Niagara Region, Ontario

March

March is a month of transition in southern Ontario. The first migrant waterfowl, blackbirds and Song Sparrows arrive with the first warm winds from the south, but winter always pushes back with a vengeance and easily sinks its icy claws back into the landscape. The highlight of the month was a road-trip to northern Ontario, where winter still gained the upper hand. Jeremy Bensette, Mark Dorriesfiled, Todd Hagedorn and I traveled from Timiskaming District to Hearst and back, stopping frequently for Northern Hawk Owls as they adorned the tips of some of the spruces along the way. Despite the thermometer rarely cracking -20 degrees Celsius on this trip, the very light winds and sunny conditions made it quite enjoyable to explore the boreal forest. Luck was on our side this trip; among numerous highlights some that stand out for me include a Gray Wolf at dusk along the highway, a great study of Hoary Redpolls at Hilliardton Marsh, exploring the Hearst 4 Burn where we found a half dozen A. Three-toed Woodpeckers and fifteen Black-backed Woodpeckers, and an incredible encounter with a Short-tailed Weasel and its Meadow Vole prey on a sideroad north of Cochrane. The north never disappoints.

Back in the south I enjoyed birding in Niagara, trying to get out as much as possible to avoid catching a case of the March blues. One particular day stands out in which Laura and I were successful in tracking down both Short-eared and Long-eared Owls.

Hearst 4 Burn, Cochrane District, Ontario

"Hornemann's" Hoary Redpoll - Hilliardton Marsh, Timiskaming District, Ontario

Short-tailed Weasel and Meadow Vole - north of Cochrane, Cochrane District, Ontario

Northern Hawk Owl - Opasatika, Cochrane District, Ontario

American Three-toed Woodpecker - Hearst 4 Burn, Cochrane District, Ontario

Northern Hawk Owl - Ameson, Cochrane District, Ontario

Long-eared Owl - Oakville, Halton Region, Ontario

April

April is one of my favorite times of the year in southern Ontario. The dynamic weather, emergence of flowers, snakes and frogs, and new migrant bird species arriving each day bring hope and optimism with each excursion into nature. Work was not quite in full swing yet, enabling many opportunities for me to explore natural areas close to home. One particular highlight of the month was an excellent long weekend in the Point Pelee area where I caught up with a variety of rare species, highlighted by finding a very photogenic Lark Sparrow near Sparrow Field at Point Pelee National Park.

Northern Ribbonsnake - Waterloo Region, Ontario

Forster's Tern - Port Dalhousie, Niagara Region, Ontario

Piping Plover - Port Dover, Norfolk County, Ontario

Black-necked Stilts - Windsor, Essex County, Ontario

American Avocets - Hillman Marsh CA, Essex County, Ontario

Lark Sparrow - Point Pelee National Park, Essex County, Ontario

Smooth Greensnake - Wainfleet Bog, Niagara Region, Ontario

May

May is always an insanely busy month but I would not have it any other way. Bird migration takes up most of my time and this year was no different. I made it down to Point Pelee for three long weekends in May. The birding in this part of the province can be spectacular, but even on the slow days it is fun to catch up with many of the fellow birders who have descended on the park. This year there was a notable emptiness in the park as it was the first spring at Point Pelee without Alan Wormington.

During one particular weekend Laura and my parents were able to make it down to the park for a few days of birding. This was undoubtedly one of the highlights of my year as I was able to share my passion with three of the most important people in my life. All three of them were successful in obtaining their hundred species pin, despite the less than ideal weather conditions.

I was asked by the Ontario Field Ornithologists to be their guest birder and take part in the Great Canadian Birdathon in 2017 to raise money for bird conservation. I roped Jeremy Bensette and Dan Riley in, and together we completed a Big Day within the Point Pelee Circle. While the birding that day was somewhat slow, we still managed a respectable 130 species, and more importantly helped raise several thousand dollars for conservation.

While Point Pelee is always a blast I had just as much fun birding some of the local hotspots in Niagara. There are only a handful of local birders meaning it is unusual to come across someone else on the trails or along the shorelines. This increases the sense that a rarity could be lurking around every bend since there is not the thought that all the other birders have picked an area clean. Port Weller is my favorite birding location within Niagara Region and I had some great days in May. The first day of the month in particular sticks out due to the fallout of songbirds I experienced. Hundreds of warblers and sparrows filled the trees and bushes along the pier, including a Louisiana Waterthrush, a species recorded less than annually in Niagara. While waiting out a massive storm at the end of the pier that day I also spotted a Purple Sandpiper. I don't know if I'll ever have a day at Port Weller to rival May 1, 2017, but it won't stop me from trying!

Alan's Bench - Point Pelee NP, Essex County, Ontario

Tufted Titmouse - Point Pelee NP, Essex County, Ontario

Mom and Dad with their 100 species pins - Point Pelee NP, Essex County, Ontario

Le Conte's Sparrow - Point Pelee NP, Essex County, Ontario

Prothonotary Warbler - Point Pelee NP, Essex County, Ontario

Kirtland's Warbler - Point Pelee NP, Essex County, Ontario

Orange-crowned Warbler - Point Pelee NP, Essex County, Ontario

Magnolia Warbler - Port Weller, Niagara Region, Ontario

Sandhill Cranes - north of Point Pelee NP, Essex County, Ontario

Clay-colored Sparrow - Niagara Falls, Niagara Region, Ontario

Part 2 will cover the months of June through December of 2017. 

Tufted Duck in Mississauga

Yesterday morning while participating in the South Peel Christmas Bird Count (CBC), Luc Fazio discovered a male Tufted Duck with a large flock of Greater Scaup, on Lake Ontario offshore Lorne Park Estates in Mississauga, an area which is private and not accessible to the public. Luc sent the word out to a few people in the hopes that the bird would move up or down the shoreline, becoming accessible for the many people eager to see such a rare bird for these parts.

At the time, I was slowly cruising along some side roads near Port Colborne, searching for sparrows, longspurs or whatever else would be coming to the exposed grasses along the road edge, after the 25+ cm of snow we had received in the last week had covered the open fields where these birds are normally found. I was having fun and finding decent numbers of sparrows after an hour of searching when my phone rang and I was informed by Jeremy Bensette about the Tufted Duck. Never one to back out of an opportunity for a new bird for my Ontario list I turned my car around and pointed it in the general direction of Mississauga.

Upon arriving in Mississauga, another phone call (this one from David Pryor) let me know that Cheryl Edgecombe had just seen the bird off of Ben Machree Park, located a few km east of where Luc originally found the bird. I searched the Lake Ontario shoreline with several intrepid birders, including Garth Riley, Nancy McPherson, David Pryor, Richard Poort, Mourad Jabra and John Lamey, but the duck refused to show itself. According to Cheryl's Ontbirds post, the scaup flock had been flushed by a few Great Black-backed Gulls. Evidently, the Tufted Duck had vacated the area as we couldn't dig it out of the big scaup flock despite scanning through the birds over and over. 

As the time ticked by I decided to widen my search radius since I needed to be back home by 5:00 PM. Eventually I returned to Ben Machree Park, where I ran into several other birders including Jeremy Bensette, Iain Fleming and Alfred Adamo. We had been scanning through the scaups for only a few minutes when our phones started ringing - Nancy and Garth had just re-found the bird, a few km further east of here!

We quickly sped over to the area and set up our scopes, soaking in the rare visitor to the Mississauga lakefront. The Tufted Duck was surprisingly difficult to pick out in the diving duck flock due to the distance, large number of scaup, and bright sunlight causing extensive glare. By relocating to a closer parkette, the views were a little better; sufficient enough for distant "record shots". 

Tufted Duck (top) - Mississauga, Peel Region, Ontario

While the bird appeared to be in the process of molting in its long tuft and only a couple of long feathers were present, it showed all the features of a classic male Tufted Duck. Compared to the nearby Greater Scaup, the Tufted Duck was slightly smaller with a jet black back and clean white sides with sharp points at the top front end of the flanks and a very wide black nail on the bill. Tufted Ducks molt their tuft in October to December according to Sibley, so this appears to be right in line with their regular molt schedule. 

Tufted Duck (top) - Mississauga, Peel Region, Ontario

Tufted Duck used to be a more frequent visitor to the province and if accepted by the OBRC, this would mark the 31st accepted record for the province. Nineteen of these records are from between the years 1992 and 1999, while there have been only six records in the last eighteen years. In the time that I have been birding only three Tufted Ducks have been reported in the province. These include a male at Sault Ste Marie from 8-15 May 2008 (found by Robert D. Knudsen), a male at Wolfe Island on 18 November 2009 (Brandon R. Holden, Jonathan S. Pleizier), and a female at Ottawa from 20-23 October 2012 (Bruce M. Di Labio, Ben F. Di Labio, William von Herff). 

Tufted Duck - Mississauga, Peel Region, Ontario

While the vast majority of Tufted Duck records in the province come from the western end of Lake Ontario, this is the first record for Peel Region as far as I can tell. Thanks to Luc Fazio for such a great find!! Now that CBC season is in full swing, maybe another rarity or two will be discovered in the province. 

Birding Chatham-Kent and Essex - November 17-19

A few weeks ago, Todd Hagedorn joined me for a weekend of birding in southwestern Ontario. It had been several months since my last visit to Point Pelee, and it hadn't been a very good time. During that trip I spent about 2 hours in the Point Pelee area before I had to leave, and I unfortunately "dipped" on the Wood Stork that had been seen for two days, up to about five seconds before my arrival. It really is pretty incredible how close I came to seeing that  bird and still missed it. If you are feeling down, or enjoy other people's tales of misery, feel free to ask me about it sometime! :)

Needing to wash the taste of the last trip out of my mouth I was eager to get down to Point Pelee for a weekend of birding. Our first stop was not Point Pelee, but Bate's Subdivision outside of Rondeau Provincial Park. Jim Burk, one of the several sharp local Rondeau birders who seem to be constantly out looking and finding rarities, discovered a gorgeous Townsend's Warbler on November 11, a species with only nine accepted records for Ontario. In the days since, its routine had been nailed down and Todd and I were hoping to cross paths with this scarce western warbler.

The morning was calm, sunny and relatively warm for the date. Todd and I slowly walked the side streets throughout the subdivision, searching through the abundant red cedars in the heavily wooded subdivision, on one occasion making pleasant small talk with one of the residents here. The Townsend's Warbler had become a local celebrity and she was curious if we had caught up with it yet. It is great to see situations like this. All of the previous birders had respected people's private property and kept to the public roadways, leading to positive vibes between birders and the residents of the quiet subdivision. Much of this is due to the work done by Steve Charbonneau, Jim Burk and some of the other local birders.

The Townsend's Warbler was a little slow in appearing this morning but there were many other birds to look at. During a lull in our searching we walked out to the lake side of the peninsula to search through the big flock of geese that had been assembling there over the past days and weeks. Lev Frid had discovered a Ross's Goose with the flock a few days earlier and it was still present, along with an adult and immature Snow Goose.

Snow Geese - Rondeau Peninsula, Municipality of Chatham-Kent

Ross's Goose - Rondeau Peninsula, Municipality of Chatham-Kent

A Blackpoll Warbler had also been found in Bate's Subdision by several keen birders searching for the Townsend's Warbler. This species usually has vacated the province by the middle of October so to see one in late November is a bit unusual. At one point we caught up with the Blackpoll, hanging tight with a few Yellow-rumped Warbler friends.

Blackpoll Warbler - Bate's Subdivision, Municipality of Chatham-Kent

After searching for well over an hour an unusual chip note caught my attention while Todd and I walked near the intersection of Second and Center Streets. It had to be the bird! A few seconds later Steve Charbonneau, who was across the intersection from us, called out that he had the Townsend's! It took a few seconds of searching before I saw it, sitting quietly in a deciduous tree. It instantly took to the wing and flew over us, disappearing far to the north. Well, at least we saw it!

Over the next hour various birders came and went but the Townsend's Warbler was playing hard to get. On several occasions I heard the bird call but it was sticking deep to the red cedars and very difficult to see. Finally our patience was rewarded and the bird fed slightly more in the open. I only managed one identifiable photo the entire time - it was difficult!

Townsend's Warbler - Bate's Subdivision, Municipality of Chatham-Kent

Some of the group searching for the warbler.

Townsend's Warbler stakeout - Bate's Subdivision, Municipality of Chatham-Kent

Todd and I continued southwest, stopping at Shrewsbury and Wheatley harbour, though we couldn't turn anything too unusual up. As we were driving in the "onion fields" towards Point Pelee we flushed two meadowlarks alongside Mersea Road 19. Both appeared to be Easterns, as far as we could tell.

presumed Eastern Meadowlark - Leamington onion fields

The day had become quite gloomy at this point and a walk around DeLaurier failed to turn up much of anything as the darkness ascended. We called it a day and headed back to Leamington where we were staying with Jeremy Bensette.

Todd and I were a little slow on the draw on Saturday morning and by the time we stationed ourselves at the Tip, the crack team of Jeremy Hatt, Steve Pike, Blake Mann and Mike Nelson had already found a Pacific Loon! It refused to show for Todd and I but we enjoyed a decent waterbird flight. Red-throated Loons in particular were around in good numbers while we also tallied a few of the unusual-ish ducks, such as Black and Surf Scoter and Long-tailed Duck. Unfortunately the forecast rain came in with a fury, effectively ending our day just before lunchtime. Todd and I enjoyed hanging out with Jeremy and Steve for a while, then birded on our own, but the relentless rain did not help at all.

Sunday morning was our last chance at birding in the southwest before we needed to make our way home. Strong northwest winds were forecast so instead of trying our hand at birding at the Tip we thought we would bird along the lakeshore, hoping to see some late migrant raptors. Our goal was also to leave at an early enough hour so that we would have time to search for the Mountain Bluebird found by Anthony Vanderheyden in Waterloo. This would be Jeremy's record-tying bird for his Ontario Big Year.

A short vigil at the end of Zion Road failed to turn up any migrant raptors, though a few flyover Lapland Longspurs were nice to see. It was still early in the day but time was of the essence and we had to keep moving. Near Port Alma we observed a flock of 27 Sandhill Cranes migrating. They are one of my favorite bird species in Ontario and I always enjoy seeing them. We also caught up with a massive flock of blackbirds containing at least 1000 Rusty Blackbirds, a good number for this species whose numbers have been dropping quickly.

At Erieau we finally caught up with the male Harlequin Duck, an individual that had returned for its third winter. I think this is the first Harlequin Duck that I have seen on Lake Erie.  A Snowy Owl, the harbinger of many to come this winter, was in the furthest east field along Erieau Road, opposite McGeachy's Pond.

Our next stop was the Ridgetown Lagoons, a favourite spot of mine that seems to turn up unusual birds more often than not. Luck was on our side once again and soon after arrival I picked out three tiny Ross's Geese tucked in with all the Canadas.

Ross's Geese - Ridgetown lagoons

Ten cute little Cackling Geese were a fun study as they stood on a near berm with a big flock of Canada Geese. Two are visible in the photo below.

Canada Geese and Cackling Geese - Ridgetown lagoons

We finished our weekend by searching for the Mountain Bluebird in Waterloo. Luck continued to be on our side and not only did we view the bird well but it cooperated for photos. I wrote about this bird in a previous post (http://joshvandermeulen.blogspot.ca/2017/11/mountain-bluebird-ties-record.html) but I will add one more photo here. It was a good way to end the weekend!