Cranes, owls, and more in Haldimand

Yesterday, I teamed up with Barb Charlton for a tour of Haldimand County to see what we could come across on this late winter's day. The day dawned bright and sunny and for the entire day we were treated to calm, relatively warm conditions. Horned Larks sang from nearly every field and other spring migrants were in attendance including Tundra Swans and Northern Pintails. It was a great day to be out! We managed to see 54 species for the day.

We started the day near Caledonia, slowly working our way south along the concessions east of the Grand River towards Cayuga. Some highlights from these early stops included several singing Tufted Titmouse, a Northern Mockingbird, and some great looks at a Rough-legged Hawk or two. We had a Northern Shrike, and a big flock of Snow Buntings containing smaller numbers of Horned Larks and Lapland Longspurs.

In the afternoon we crossed over the Grand River by Dunnville and birded along the Lakeshore, making it about 1/2 way to Nanticoke before calling it quits. As we were driving along one of the roads, we were surprised to see a flock of 5 Sandhill Cranes "grazing" in a snow covered field. This species is usually much to the south of Ontario at this time of year, and in fact this was the first time I had seen some in February. Though they were distant from the road I took some photos anyways.

Sandhill Crane - February 13, 2013

Along the lakeshore we saw our first Northern Harriers and Cooper's Hawk of the day, along with a beautiful Red-shouldered Hawk (that I blew my focus on). If the autofocus on my new camera was even half decent I would have taken a great flight shot! Oh well, what do you expect for an entry level SLR?

Red-shouldered Hawk - February 13, 2013

Bird activity was very high nearly everywhere we went, and spring certainly seemed imminent. In the residential community of Stonehaven, we were treated to singing Northern Cardinals, Carolina Wrens, House Finches, and other "fun" birds like a Red-breasted Nuthatch and Common Redpolls. Not the rarest of all species, but it was certainly a welcome change to see the flurry of activity after a harsh, cold winter. In just a few weeks migrant songbirds like Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles will be returning.

Not far from Stonehaven, this immature Bald Eagle made a pass.

Bald Eagle - February 13, 2013

The waterfowl was fun to sort through since everything was concentrated in the few areas of open water. We were unable to turn up the Greater White-fronted Geese or Snow Geese that had been hanging around, but we did have great looks at a Cackling Goose swimming with it's monstrous "Canadian" cousins fairly close to shore. A flock of 10 Northern Pintails were certainly spring migrants, as probably were the 20 or so Tundra Swans scattered along the shoreline. 

On our way back towards Dunnville, we pulled over to the side of the road to investigate a suspicious looking white lump in a field. Turns out, the white lump was a Snowy Owl! They are not as common this winter as they were last winter and this was the first one I've ever seen in Haldimand County. A pretty sweet bird to finish the day with!! It was very distant so these phone-scoped shots will have to do.

Snowy Owl - February 13, 2013

The snakes of Ontario - part 4

Well, after a hiatus of more than a year and a half, I have finally decided to get around to posting the final few parts in my Snakes of Ontario series. Why post them now, you may ask? Several reasons, actually. First, we are in the depths of winter so I find writing about snakes far more enjoyable than watching snow falling on the 30+ cm that has already accumulated. Second, I haven't gone out birding for several days, and with no new blog material, this is worthwhile filler. Third, these posts are the most popular out of any posts I have made on my blog, so I figured I might as well finish the series.

Part 1 - Eastern Gartersnake, Dekay's Brownsnake, Northern Redbelly Snake, Northern Ribbonsnake
Part 2 - Northern Watersnake, Lake Erie Watersnake, Queensnake
Part 3 - Eastern Milksnake, Eastern Foxsnake, Eastern Hog-nosed Snake
Part 4 - Northern Ring-necked Snake, Smooth Greensnake
Part 5 - Gray Ratsnake, Butler's Gartersnake
Part 6 - Blue Racer, Eastern Massasauga


Northern Ring-necked Snake (Diadophis punctatus edwardsi)

The Northern Ring-necked Snake, despite its abundance in many areas of central Ontario, is one of the least familiar Ontario species to many people. The densest populations, or rather the areas where this species is relatively easy to locate, are found in the Bruce Peninsula, the shoreline of Georgian Bay north to about Sudbury, and southeast from here down to Kingston and Ottawa. Scattered populations occur in the southwest, though these are few and far between.

Northern Ring-necked Snake - Waterloo Region

They are one of the few species of snakes that can be found in moist, shaded woodlands as most snakes prefer open or semi open areas. In Ontario while they can be found in the darkest of forests they are much easier to locate and occur in the greatest abundance near the edges of habitats where there are many flat rocks for thermo-regulation.

Northern Ring-necked Snake - Muskoka District

Northern Ring-necked Snake - Muskoka District

Ring-necked Snakes certainly are specialists of fossorial living. You can see in these photos their long, flat head - ideal for poking in narrow crevices to find their preferred prey - Red-backed Salamanders. While in the northern Great Lakes Redbacks make up the majority of their diet, Ring-necked Snakes will also consume small snakes, earthworms, and other long slender organisms.

Northern Ring-necked Snake - Bruce County

From above, Ring-necked Snakes are relatively nondescript, save for their yellow or orange ring around their neck. However on the underside it is a different story. In Ontario the ventrum is usually yellow or orange, and occasionally they have parallel rows of small black spots. Subspecies identification of this variable species throughout North America is often determined via the pattern and colour of the ventrum.

Northern Ringneck Snake - Bruce County

Most adult Ring-necked Snakes are relatively small, maxing out between 25 and 40 cm. However the occasional individual has been found quite a bit larger - up to 70 cm in total length.

Northern Ring-necked Snake - Bruce County

Ring-necked Snakes are one of the most docile species native to Ontario. I can only recall one instance where one bit me, and the bite certainly wasn't very powerful (and definitely did not draw any blood)! This species is used to slurping down worms and salamanders - not exactly hard to subdue prey. Ring-necked Snakes are fairly adaptable to human-influenced habitats and for the moment appear to be stable in Ontario (unlike most species of native reptiles).

Northern Ring-necked Snake - Bruce County

Smooth Greensnake - Liochlorophis vernalis

Growing up in southern Ontario, this was the one species I wanted to see more than any other. By the age of 17 I had seen the majority of Ontario's snakes, but this green gem had eluded me. It wasn't until May 5, 2007 when I finally laid eyes on my first Smooth Greensnake, and what a specimen it was!!

Smooth Greensnake - Niagara Region

The mythical status of this species disappeared, but it still became one of my most wanted species and I have enjoyed many hours in the following few years searching it out. I have been somewhat successful in that matter, though to this date I have only seen 13 individuals in Ontario. Most Smooth Greensnakes have a scratch, or a few scales missing, or some other imperfection so I was quite happy to come across this "perfect" individual in the summer of 2010 on the Bruce Peninsula.

Smooth Greensnake - Bruce County

Smooth Greensnake - Bruce County

Smooth Greensnakes are unique among Ontario's snakes in that they are the only species that feeds predominately on insects. Most snake species consume small rodents, earthworms, frogs, fish, earthworms or salamanders, however the meals of choice for Greensnakes include crickets, hairless caterpillars, and grasshoppers.

Smooth Greensnake - Bruce County

Smooth Greensnake - Bruce County

If Northern Ring-necked Snakes are a non-imposing species, this one is even less so. I don't think you could make one open its mouth, much less attempt a bite, if you tried! Because of its beauty and docile nature, often they are caught in the wild and raised by captivity by amateur "herpers". Unfortunately this rarely ends well and most individuals die within a few weeks due to the difficulty in providing this finicky species with an ideal habitat and variable food source.

Smooth Greensnake - Norfolk County

Smooth Greensnake - Norfolk County

Smooth Greensnakes spend the majority of their time in green, grassy habitats, searching for their insect prey. Near impossible to see in this habitat, most of the ones I have discovered have been on the move across a different substrate between grassy habitats, or under small cover objects alongside fields early in the morning.

Smooth Greensnake - Muskoka District

Smooth Greensnakes are unique in that they have a very short incubation period. They do lay eggs, however the young are very far advanced in their development when the eggs are laid and often hatch within 1-2 weeks (most oviparous snakes lay eggs that hatch in 1-3 months). This short incubation period may be an adaptation to speed up development (by thermo-regulation through basking) since cool climates prevail over much of its breeding range. I was fortunately to come across a clutch of Smooth Green Snake eggs on August 9, 2009. I returned a few days later and was surprised to see several grayish neonates that had already hatched!

Smooth Greesnake eggs - Norfolk County

Smooth Greesnake eggs - Norfolk County

Stay tuned for the remaining two posts. Still to come are Black Ratsnake, Butler's Gartersnake, Blue Racer and Eastern Massasauga.

Birding! With photos!!

My camera arrived the other day so needless to say I was pretty excited to try it out. Considering that it is a Nikon D40, a very basic SLR that isn't meant for "serious" wildlife photography, it actually performs well. It is a bit better than my old camera which I had been using for 4 years (Nikon D80). The ISO performance is better and there are slightly more frames per second than my old camera - a welcome change!

Two days ago, I had to be in Toronto for a speaking engagement in the evening. I left around noon and planned to stop at several locations along the north shore of Lake Ontario. One of my stops was the famous winter warbler location of Sedgewick Park in Oakville. You may recall me talking about this place earlier in the winter. The species list for this winter here was phenomenal, with 5 species of warblers (2 Yellow-rumped, 2 or 3 Orange-crowned, Nashville, Cape May, and Bay-breasted) and 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets. Unfortunately it appears that most of these species have met their demise as I could only locate a single Yellow-rumped, a species that regularly overwinters in parts of southern Ontario. It was nice to try out the new camera on a real live bird!

Yellow-rumped Warbler - Oakville

I did not see a whole lot throughout the rest of the afternoon, mainly because I was too ambitious in the amount of stops I had planned on making in limited time. I should have known that would be a problem and as a result I cut out a few stops and could only devote an hour to looking for the Western Grebe in Toronto.

It has been nice not doing a big year and so not having to chase some of these rarities. That is why I had not gone for the grebe in the past 4 or 5 days since it had been found. However since I needed to be in Toronto anyway, and I had never seen one before in the winter, I gave it a shot! Unfortunately the grebe was a no-show, though a Red-necked Grebe was cool to see in its place. Apparently the Western will move around a bit and will be viewable from Humber Bay sometimes, as opposed to Sunnyside Park.

Yesterday, Chris Law was in town so we teemed up for a few hours of Dundas area birding. We were able to see a bunch of interesting winter birds throughout the day, including Pied-billed Grebe, Great Blue Heron, Double-crested Cormorant, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and Wood Duck. A highlight for me was the woodpecker activity behind the Olympic Arena in Dundas. Of particular interest was the Pileated Woodpecker working a tree at eye level! With a bit of stalking I was able to get quite close. We also had about 5 Downy, 1 Hairy, 2 Red-bellied, and 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

Pileated Woodpecker - Dundas

I finally saw my first mockingbird for the year. Unfortunately it was deep in a bush and lighting was poor but I still grabbed a few shots.

Northern Mockingbird - Hamilton

Driving back towards Cambridge, we were happy to find a pair of Eastern Bluebirds in someone's yard along Harvest Road, northwest of Dundas. Another new year bird for us!

Eastern Bluebird (female)

Gulling along the St. Clair

For quite some time this winter I had been reading the reports by Blake Mann and others about the fantastic gulling on the St. Clair river - the best they have had in years. I had really wanted to check it out myself, so I made plans to bird the river yesterday.

I awoke this morning near Point Pelee to frost covering my sleeping bag but I actually had a pretty good sleep! Before long I was on the road, and after unsuccessfully trying for the Snow Geese in the onion fields again (0 for 3) I made my way to the south end of the St. Clair river.

The gulling was absolutely fantastic! Unfortunately I needed to be back in Guelph for a decent time in the evening so I could only devote 5-6 hours on the river. Because of that, I just stopped at areas with the highest gull/waterfowl concentration and ignored slower stretches. I probably missed an Ivory Gull because of that.

In total, I had about 40 Glaucous Gulls which is the most that I have ever seen at once in southern Ontario! Many of these were at Willow Park in front of Lambton Generating Station, along with thousands of other gulls. At least 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were seen here as well, and at least 50 Great Black-backed Gulls. 2 interesting hybrids caught my eye - the first an apparent 2nd cycle Nelson's Gull that spent the entire time I was there within 50 meters of shore, and the second superficially resembled a Slaty-backed Gull. However many things did not line up, and even though it had bright pink legs I think it was either a Lesser Black-backed Gull or a Lesser Black-backed hybrid of some sort.

Guthrie Park near Corunna was also a highlight. I added another dozen Glaucous Gulls here, but the big story was the waterfowl. Out in the middle of the river were thousands of birds! Most were Redhead, Canvasback, Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, and Long-tailed Duck. Of note here was a drake Northern Pintail on shore.

Try as I might, I could not get any other interesting species of gulls. There were at least 40 Glaucous Gulls, yet not a single Kumlien's Gull or Thayer's Gull.

While birding along Stanley Line, I happened upon a group of redpolls. Redpolls are a confusing bunch and the taxonomy of them is not well known and is certainly in need of more studies. There was one bird which fit the description of a "southern" Hoary Redpoll, if that is even a "good" species! There could have been more in the flock but they were constantly on the move.

Other highlights:
-the locally rare Trumpeter Swans were together off of the OCF outflow
-rare in winter Gadwalls were seen at the OCF outflow (1) and the the Sombra riverfront (4)
-the Peregrine Falcon pair was sitting on the Bluewater Bridge
-a single Rough-legged Hawk along HWY 402 on my way out of Sarnia

I finished the day by checking in on the Short-eared Owls that had been reported north of London. It was pretty awesome to watch these 3 beauties hunting successfully for voles in the late afternoon. The best looks I have ever had of Short-eared Owls!

I'm looking forward to returning to the St. Clair - its gulling this time of year is only rivaled by Niagara.

2 great days at Pelee

I am currently sitting in a Tim Horton's in Leamington, going over my notes after two great days at Pelee and stealing their wifi. I never did find the big rarity (big surprise, right?) but I have seen quite a few good birds in the two days.

Yesterday I started at Wheatley harbour about an hour after sunrise, after driving down from Cambridge. However on the way, I scared up a flock of what I assumed were mostly Horned Larks along the roadside. It was pretty surprising when I saw that they were mostly Lapland Longspurs! About 70 in total, by far the most I had ever seen in one spot. Normally in the winter this species is very scarce, and usually only present in ones and twos with flocks of larks or buntings.

Continuing on to the harbour, I happened onto some good birds, seeing 2 Glaucous Gulls sitting together on the ice. New Pelee bird for me, just like that!! To make things better, the birds took to the air and headed southwest into Essex County, so it was a new Essex bird for me as well. I may or may not have had a part in flushing the gulls into the preferred county by waving my arms emphatically ;)

I met up with Kory Renaud and Jeremy Bensette and we spent a few hours in the park. We did not see a whole lot, though White-throated Sparrow was a year bird for me. The highlight of the afternoon was near the southeast corner of Hillman Marsh. As we were exiting our vehicles, I thought I heard a pipit. Sure enough, there was one hopping around on the ice! Hopping is definitely a good word in this situation, since it only had one good leg. I wonder if it will be able to survive the rest of the winter?

While scoping the ducks on the lake, we were surprised to hear a Killdeer calling! It spent the next 10 minutes flying around and loudly announcing its presence, most likely the first "spring" Killdeer and the harbinger of many to come.

Kory left at this point, so Jeremy and I walked around Hillman Marsh. While checking out the new shorebird viewing location at the marsh, I was surprised to see a Vesper Sparrow sitting in a bush!! This is a tough bird to get in the winter, and was my first "winter" Vesper. Fortunately Jeremy had his camera ready and was able to grab a shot!

Vesper Sparrow - Hillman Marsh CA (photo courtesy Jeremy Bensette)

That evening Jeremy and I watched a Great Horned Owl, and later 4 Long-eared Owls hunting at dusk. I had never seen this before as most of my LEOW sightings include birds trying to look like a tree branch.

Kory and Sarah Renaud were hosting a shindig for several local birders, so I was pretty stoked to be able to go, stuff myself with pulled pork, AND have a place to sleep. Thanks, guys!!

Today I spent the whole day birding with Kory. We checked many locations, from in the park to the onion fields, Hillman Marsh, various spots in Leamington, and Wheatley harbour.

Before walking around the marsh boardwalk, I predicted that we would see 3 individual birds. A Swamp Sparrow, a Marsh Wren, and a Northern Harrier. Imagine my surprise when we flushed up a Marsh Wren! It scolded us a few times and popped up for brief views. A new "winter" bird for both of us. Near the end of the walk we flushed a Swamp Sparrow as well. Cool! We managed to go the entire loop without seeing another bird - even a harrier was a no show. But still, 2 outta 3 ain't bad.

In mid afternoon, we were milling around at Wheatley harbour, wondering what to do, since a White-winged Dove had been reported from the Visitor Center at Pelee. We were feeling pretty lazy and didn't feel like driving back into the park. However with nothing better to do, we drove in and unsuccessfully searched for the dove. It wasn't in vain though since we did turn up a Hairy Woodpecker behind the Visitor Center. They are quite scarce in the park and usually only occasional winter visitors. Checking my records, apparently this was a new Pelee bird for me!

We finished the day by walking along the Shuster Trail. The highlight here was a very "obliging" pair of Eastern Towhees - another good winter find. (Note: I usually hate using the word "obliging" since the birds were just doing what they do naturally - in no way were they showing off to us). A Winter Wren chattered, and 2 Bald Eagles flew over.

A few other highlights the past two days:
Fox Sparrow
Hermit Thrush (x3)
Cackling Goose (x2)
many many many Lapland Longpsur sightings
Eastern Screech-Owl
Ring-necked Pheasant
2 Red-shouldered Hawks
61 Robins! (they are scarce this winter)
1 very cold muskrat
Lesser Scaups and Redheads sitting in a cold field

Summary after 2 days at Pelee:
68 species
13 year birds (note: I am not doing a big year, even though my year list is on pace with last years. I am just unemployed and going birding a lot)
2 new Pelee birds (Glaucous Gull and Hairy Woodpecker)
29 Ebird checklists (because quantity is better than quality...or something)


Tomorrow - time to bird Sarnia!! Check out Blake Mann's blog to see why. Spoiler alert - I love gulls!(though not as much as Brandon does)

2012 big year presentation this week!

I have teemed up with Murray Shields from Authentic Canadian Tours, who is organizing an event about my 2012 Big Year attempt. The evening will be this upcoming Wednesday, February 6, and the event will be held downstairs in the Boston Pizza in the Yonge/Sheppard Centre in North York.

What will the evening consist of, you may ask?
It begins at 7:00 PM with an informal "meet and greet". I will do a presentation that begins around 7:45 and will last just over an hour (with a break halfway through). Afterwards, there will be a question and answer period.

The cost will be 10$ at the door and please RSVP ahead of time if you are planning on attending. There are limited spots.

I can assure you that the presentation will be pretty awesome (if I do say so myself), and I'm looking forward to it! There will be lots of "behind the scenes" stories that I did not elaborate about on my blog throughout my big year attempt ;)

Please contact either Murray (murray@authenticcanadiantours.ca) or I (joshvandermeulen@live.ca) if you are interested in attending, or have any questions.

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In other news, I am heading down to Point Pelee for the weekend. Why the heck would I do something crazy like spend 2 or 3 days birding Pelee in February, when there's not much around? Well I have never actually been to the park in February so I am curious as to what the bird life consists of this time of year. Plus I have a funny feeling that with the wacky weather we have been having, something interesting might be around. Yes, the chances of a rarity lurking in the Pelee area undetected are about 100x less likely in February than in May, but I am still going to do my best to find one! If a White-winged Dove can show up at Rondeau, what's preventing something that rare from being at Pelee? At the very least I am hoping to add one or two new Pelee birds. Leading candidates include Iceland Gull, Glaucous Gull, Northern Shrike, Snow Goose, Hoary Redpoll, or maybe if I'm really lucky Pine Grosbeak, Bohemian Waxwing, or King Eider.

I'll post updates in the evenings if I see anything cool (unlikely as it may be).

White-winged Dove, Red-headed Woodpecker and Hermit Thrush - just another January day

First some good news: I have ordered a new camera! It is a used Nikon DSLR - an older model that is basic, inexpensive, but will get me through the next couple of months until I can afford a "real" camera again. The bad news: It won't arrive for a week or two so I am stuck taking photos with my phone through my scope! Hopefully it won't be long until I can take half-decent photos again.

This morning I was going to meet up with Barb Charlton and we had plans on heading down to Haldimand Region to do some surveying for some particularly rare species, but with the heavy winds and blowing snow forecasted, we decided it just wasn't worth our effort. What to do then, since we were up early and ready to go birding? Well, a twitch was in order.

This time it was down to Rondeau where a White-winged Dove, originally found by Jim Burk on January 26th, was still attending the bird feeders at the Visitor's Center regularly. Barb and I had each only seen 2 White-winged Doves ever in Ontario so it was nice to be able to look for another. More importantly though, I had to keep my lead on the Top 100 Ebirders for Chatham-Kent, and this would be a new addition for me! Hopefully none of the "old-time" Rondeau birders add in their data so that I can stay in the lead ;)

We arrived at the VC around 9:00 AM, and just as we were getting ready to get out of the vehicle, the White-winged Dove landed on the feeder. That was easy! However by the time we made our way over to where it was, it had vanished. Finally, half an hour later, it showed and we were both able to take a few photos. Here is the best I could manage through my binoculars.

White-winged Dove - Rondeau Provincial Park (January 31, 2013)

Several other interesting birds nearby including a bunch of Common Redpolls, a Tufted Titmouse (always a treat to see), and a Hermit Thrush in Ric McArthur`s yard.

From here we headed down to the Erieau pier to check out the action. On the way however, a nice 1st year Red-headed Woodpecker was working some telephone poles. Cool! This was a new "winter" bird for me.

Red-headed Woodpecker - north of Erieau

Down at the piers we saw lots and lots of ice and I`m pretty sure I smelled an Ivory Gull at some point. Should I count it? There were a few interesting ducks (lots of Redhead, a Gadwall, etc) but the "rarest" birds were the coots, of which there were about 90. Pretty good for this late date, I guess.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful as we checked a number of locations. It is tough to find birds in snow squalls and high winds! But it was still a successful day. Red-headed Woodpecker, White-winged Dove, and Hermit Thrush - just another late January day in Canada!

Wildlife Club trip to Algonquin

Even though I graduated last spring from the University of Guelph, I have a lot of friends still in the campus Wildlife Club and I've participated in numerous trips/parties/meetings with the club this year. The latest adventure was a trek to a very cold and moderately snowy Algonquin Provincial Park this past weekend.

Due to a speaking engagement the night before I wasn't able to get to the 'Gonc until mid morning, but even with the relatively short trip, there were some epic times!

Within a few hours of arriving, I had already seen just about all the Algonquin specialties that were around. A walk down Opeongo Road resulted in sightings of several Gray Jays by the parking area. Todd Hagedorn and I ventured down the snowy road on foot and heard several Boreal Chickadees. We could hear a Black-backed Woodpecker tapping quietly off to the side, and a brief investigation resulted in Todd getting his first looks at a female Black-backed Woodpecker. For a lot of birders in North America, this species along with the more widespread American Three-toed Woodpecker is near the top of the "most wanted" bird list. We are fortunate to be able to see them regularly in the boreal forest in central and northern Ontario.

From here we checked the visitor centre feeders. As usual they were very busy, and it was fun having great looks at Pine Grosbeaks, Common Redpolls, and a single male White-winged Crossbill. The best looks I have ever had of this species! Also of note here was a female "rostrata" Common Redpoll, the subspecies that breeds in Greenland.

Pine Grosbeak (January 25, 2012)

The next stop was the Spruce Bog Boardwalk. Along with Todd, Brett Fried, Erika Hentsch, Athena Gubbe, and Mark Dorriesfield, we walked back deep into the spruce forest off the beaten track. Here we picked up several pairs of grouse tracks, and after following the winding trail (they never seem to like walking in a straight line!) we flushed a grouse that turned out to be a Spruce Grouse. Nice! A bit later we came across a Ruffed Grouse as well, surprising given the habitat that seemed a little too sprucy for Ruffed Grouse.

That evening I had one of the greatest wildlife moments of my life. We had heard of a Great Gray Owl that was being seen at the 48 km mark, so we drove over and were immediately treated to stunning looks at this northern beauty. After several minutes of observation, the owl suddenly left its perch in the tree and flew directly at me. My jaw dropped open as it passed right over my head, no more than 16 inches away! I could hear the sound of the wings as it passed overhead. Wow! This was only my third encounter with the species, and what an encounter it was! A friend of mine was able to get some photos of the experience, and if I can I'll see if I can post them here.

We spent much of the remaining daylight observing the owl hunt from the north side of the road. Watching it in the scope from close range was incredible - you could see every feather in sharp detail, the little bits of rodent flesh around its mustache and on its bill, and those piercing yellow eyes. While several carloads of birders stopped to view it, everyone was respectful and no one left the road side or tried to bait the owl.

Great Gray Owl - Algonquin PP

Unfortunately I am still without a camera so my cell phone shot will have to do. Which reminds me - if anyone reading this knows of where I can get a used Nikon DSLR for a good price (under 200$), please let me know. I just need something to tide me over until when I can afford a new camera in the spring.

The rest of the trip was a lot of fun. There was a lot less birding done, with an increase in the amount of shenanigans that occurred. Highlights definitely included human tobogganing off of a steep hill near Mizzy Lake, but this blog is supposed to be about wildlife, not wild life, so I'll say no more!

I'll close out with this photo I took at Ragged Falls, along the HWY 60 corridor in Haliburton County. It was another great trip with like-minded individuals and I can't wait for the next adventure!

Ragged Falls, Haiburton Co.

Winter is almost over....

Southern Ontario is currently mired in the coldest stretch we have had all winter. Daily highs here in Cambridge have been between -10 and -15 for a few days now, with daily lows closer to -20. It's sometimes hard to get motivated to go out into "the field" and see what birds are around!

I, for one, like the cold (in small doses), but every year around this time I start to get a bit of cabin fever, wishing it was spring already.

However, there is still hope! The shortest day of the winter, December 21, had fewer than 9 hours of daylight. Fortunately that is long behind us now, with the total amount of daylight for today being 9 hours and 38 minutes. I have started to notice the incremental daylight increases when out birding on recent outings. For instance, the other day I was scanning ducks at Windermere Basin in Hamilton,  well after 5 PM. In late December we would often have to call it quits by 4:30 or 4:45 PM. By the end of February, with spring right around the corner, the day length will be 11 hours and 10 minutes, with sunset happening after 6:00 PM!

Of course, even with this chilly weather, there are signs in the avian world that spring is coming. Some owls are calling more regularly and even starting to nest. The first "spring migrant" Horned Larks have probably arrived last week with the warm weather in southwestern Ontario. It won't be long until we get a pulse of warmer weather, bringing with it the first spring migrant dabbling ducks - especially Northern Pintails.

Of course, one of my favorite pastimes is to search out breeding amphibians in their vernal ponds in certain woodlands. Usually the first wave occurs around March 15, a mere 50 days away! Here are a selection of photos of species we can look forward to in the upcoming weeks, as winter slowly loses its icy cold grasp...

Spotted Salamander migrating

Northern Ribbonsnake

First "lep" of the year - Mourning Cloak

Spotted Salamander on its way to the breeding ponds

Spotted Turtle

Known to some as the Eastern Konk-la-reeee

Gray Treefrog

calling male Spring Peeper

Jefferson Salamander

Niagara River birding

Yesterday morning, I met up with a large contingent of other young birders, including fellow bloggers Alvan and David for a tour around the Hamilton lakeshore and Niagara River corridor. We started the day in Fort Erie, checking out the crow flocks for a hopeful glimpse at the rare but somewhat reliable Fish Crows. One of the groups of crows was mobbing a Red-tailed Hawk just south of the racetrack and after a few minutes we heard the distinctive double note (cah-uh!) of a Fish Crow calling. All the crows soon flew off, following the raptor, and were never seen again.

We checked a number of spots along the river, seeing most of the regular gull and waterfowl species, but the main highlights were certainly above the falls. Across from the Dufferin Islands parking area we found 4 Purple Sandpipers on a rock, though we could not find the previously reported Harlequin Duck. The PUSAs were lifers or new Ontario birds for some of the people in the group!

Those bumps on the rocks are Purple Sandpipers. You don't have to believe me if you don't want to.

Purple Sandpipers - above Niagara Falls

And here is what they are supposed to look like...

Purple Sandpiper - Bronte harbour (December 1, 2012)

All along the river today were huge numbers of gulls. I would like to go back to the river soon and check them out more thoroughly, since there are bound to be some interesting things mixed in. Personally, we couldn't locate any rare species on the river, though it was nice to see about 5 Glaucous and 35 Iceland Gulls. I can't recall ever seeing that many of those species here before. Several Thayer's Gulls were nice, as were a couple of hybrids. One had us stumped, since it was definitely a Herring x something else. Lesser Black-backed? California? An F2 hybrid? Alvan has photos on his blog.

Other highlights on the river included at least 3 Black Vultures and some Turkey Vultures soaring over the dump on the NY side and a few Tufted Titmouse at Dufferin Islands.

From here we swung over to Lincoln, ON to search for the Red-headed Woodpecker, briefly checking out the most photographed Snowy Owl in Ontario on the way. While we were there the photographers were baiting the owls constantly, often right next to the road.

Baiting owls is a contentious issue with birders/photographers and I'm not sure where I stand on the issue. I've never baited owls, simply because I'm not all that big on raptor photography and personally it seems like a cheap and easy way to get outstanding photos...for some reason I would rather put in some legwork to get the great shots. What I enjoy about bird photography is being able to travel to interesting, relatively remote locations, and seeing birds doing what they do naturally. Standing on the side of a farmers field with 50 other people taking the exact same photo as me doesn't really turn my crank.  But still, I can certainly see why people enjoy that since they can get fantastic photos in that sort of situation.

On one hand its not much different than having a bird feeder for blue jays and chickadees, and I'm sure a hungry owl this far out of range wouldn't mind the free meals. But on the other hand, when it is being done so close to the road, it is quite possible that the bird will get hit by a vehicle at some point. This has happened before with baited owls.

Anyways, check out my awesome photos of the owl - taken with my phone through my scope!

Snowy Owl - Vineland

Here is what they look like a little closer...

Guelph, December 2011

We unsuccessfully checked for the wintering Red-headed Woodpecker, though there was a White-crowned Sparrow coming to the feeders. Dave did a really good one and decided to drive into a ditch, so the rest of us got sprayed with mud but we managed to get him out!

From here we checked the Hamilton lakeshore and while we did see most of the regular waterfowl species, we could not find any King Eiders or Harlequin Ducks.

34 ebird checklists, about 63 bird species, about 20 year birds, and several hundred kms later we arrived back home. A great day out!