Gone shriking

Brett had plans to hit up the Carden Alvar north of Toronto today, so I, of course, couldn't refuse the trip!
The Carden Alvar is one of Ontario's best known birding hotspots, and for good reason. It is one of the last remaining expanses of open prairie, rough pastureland, and hawthorn alvar left in southern Ontario. Consequently it holds a large number of breeding grassland species, including Eastern Bluebirds, Common Nighthawks, Bobolinks, Clay-colored and about 10 other species of sparrows, Upland Sandpiper, and of course the Loggerhead Shrike. Add to that a variety of marsh birds such as Sedge Wren, Virginia Rail, and American Bittern as well as about 15 or more species of breeding warblers (many with much more northern affinities) and you have the makings of a very unique area.

But, the shrikes.

This is one of only a few locations left in Ontario where Loggerhead Shrikes breed. They are doing fairly well throughout most of their range but in Ontario they are down to a few dozen pairs, mainly due to habitat loss and conversion of pastureland into monoculture. Fortunately, efforts are underway to protect this unique area and several conservation groups are attempting to buy more of the land to protect. Not only does this protect the shrike, but also the myriad of other species utilizing the area.

Brett, Erika, Reuven (of Guelph FISH CROW fame), and myself headed up fairly early in the morning and were on site around 8:00. I heard a distant winnowing Wilson's Snipe, we saw the first of many Eastern Meadowlarks, and we just about ran over a Ruffed Grouse that didn't like the idea of moving off the road. Red-winged Blackbirds were singing the songs of spring.

It wasn't long before we spotted our first Loggerhead Shrikes - an unbanded pair on McNamee Road just east of Wylie Road. This individual was unique in the limited black mask, but every other character lined up for it to be a Loggerhead Shrike. Its mate was more typical looking.

Most of the spring migrants hadn't returned yet to the alvar, but we did get a few species of sparrows including 2 Field, 3 Swamp, and 2 Savannah to go along with the hoards of Song Sparrows. A few Eastern Meadowlarks and Eastern Bluebirds were in attendance at nearly every stop. Several Sandhill Cranes flew over and I grabbed a quick shot of of a Canada Goose.

We found a further 3 shrikes on the day. One was on the west side of Wylie Road near bluebird box 21; two banded individuals were in the field on McNamee opposite the quarry road.

Is that a bear? Nope, just a blurry porcupine.

It's obvious that all the landowners in the Carden area welcome birders with open arms.

That's all for now, folks. The two year birds brings me up 167. I am heading north in the very near future - I'll comment on that later!

Gulls and rarities at Niagara

I woke this morning to the sound of a robin singing outside my window as the sun rose and knew that I had picked a good day to spend birding. The Niagara River was my destination, first of all because there had been several interesting species that I "needed" for my big year being sporadically seen, and second of all because I love looking at gulls (actually!).

I pulled into Niagara-on-the-lake around 10:00 AM and immediately began scanning the waterbirds. Among the highlights were a number of White-winged Scoters and singles of Horned and Red-necked Grebe, both new for the year.

This was a good start and I was exited for what the day could have in store. Queenston was next, and after scanning through all the Bonaparte's Gulls (watching a couple of Little Gulls mixed in with them), I parked myself on the lookout to view Queenston, ON and Lewiston, NY. The day was warm and sunny and I was hoping I could find a Black Vulture. Even if I did, it would need to fly across the river for me to be able to count it towards my year list (those are the rules!). After 1/2 an hour, no vultures were in sight and I was getting a little restless. Noisy Tufted Titmice, a Red-bellied Woodpecker, and a Carolina Wren kept me company, however.

Finally, I noticed a vulture soaring low over the trees and it turned out to be a Turkey Vulture. Within the next 10 minutes, 4 more joined it. At one point 2 of the vultures briefly flew over to the Ontario side before heading back to New York. Then, after about 45 minutes of waiting, a Black Vulture flew through my scope view, about 1 kilometer away on the New York side. I watched it for a while as it circled around, refusing to cross the river so I could add it to the list. After about 15 minutes of this, it headed straight for the river! I grabbed my camera and took a series of photos as it floated over the river into Ontario airspace. Success! It slowly drifted out of sight towards the Adam Beck lookout.

Black Vulture - Queenston, ON

 Lev Frid soon pulled up, about 5 minutes after the vulture left. Not the greatest luck for him, but he's on his way to North Carolina for a few pelagic trips so it's hard to have sympathy!! ;)

At the Adam Beck lookout I scanned the gulls, coming up with a few interesting things. 2 Thayer's Gulls (1 juv., 1 2nd winter), a Glaucous Gull (2nd winter) and about a dozen Iceland Gulls of various ages were the main attractions until I spotted a slightly smaller gull sitting on the rocks. It was an adult, mostly alternate-plumaged California Gull, presumably the same bird that was seen here last weekend. I managed to grab some very poor shots through my scope.

This was my 5th year bird of the day for me and I added one more above Niagara Falls. After a considerable amount of scanning I was able to spot several dark lumps on a rock halfway across the river. The 3 lumps woke up, revealing themselves to be female Harlequin Ducks. Two of them went for a swim while the third went back to sleep.

Tundra Swans - Niagara River

After birding the rest of the Niagara River I made it over to Fort Erie in mid-afternoon. It didn't take long before I heard several Fish Crows calling! I was even able to get a photo of one, though not of the greatest quality. At least I can now say that I've seen a Fish Crow this year as my original sighting was heard only.

Fish Crow - Fort Erie, ON

A brief scan across from Rich's Marina in Buffalo only yielded a few Bonaparte's Gulls, so the Black-legged Kittiwake that had been accompanying them will have to wait.

Later in the afternoon, right before sunset, I tried Bayfront Park in Hamilton just to see what was around and to get out and stretch my legs. There was a good variety of waterfowl including several Canvasbacks.

Canvasback - Bayfront Park, Hamilton

Mourning Doves are actually quite beautiful when you see them up close.

Mourning Dove - Bayfront Park, Hamilton

Lots of geese around, though no rare geese mixed in with all the Canadas.

Canada Goose - Bayfront Park, Hamilton

I was surprised to see this 1st winter male King Eider hanging out with a bunch of Mallards. If I recall a King Eider had been reported here recently - this must be him!

King Eider - Bayfront Park, Hamilton

It was an extremely successful day at the river. I added another rarity for the tally with the Black Vulture (code 4), several locally uncommon birds in the California Gull (code 3) and Harlequin Ducks (code 3), as well as Tufted Titmouse (code 2), Red-necked Grebe (code 1) and Horned Grebe (code 1). I still need that darn kittiwake but that will have to wait til I get back from Scotland.



ADDENDUM: Looking back at my photos of the California Gull, it does not appear to be one after all. At this point in time four years later I can't recall if I just happened to photograph the wrong bird or if I mis-identified it, so to be safe I have removed California Gull from my year list.

Late afternoon trip to Brampton

After completing a bit of homework today, I decided to travel to Brampton to look for the reported Ross's Goose. Unfortunately traffic did not work in my favor due to an accident on the 410, forcing me to travel through Brampton to get to Professor's Lake. I arrived at around 5:00 PM and immediately found the Ross's Goose (code 3) swimming with a bunch of Canadas.

The ~1000 geese were taking off and heading north throughout the 15/20 minutes I was there, until about 100 geese were left.

Eventually the Ross's took off, disappearing into to the north. I didn't stick around long enough to see if it would return to the lake to roost for the night.

The Ross's Goose makes 130 birds for the year. The only regular waterfowl that I still haven't seen this year include Snow Goose (code 1), Eurasian Wigeon (code 3), Blue-winged Teal (code 1), and Harlequin Duck (code 3). Off to Niagara tomorrow!

Great day along the bay

Today, Laura had plans to meet up with some friends in Hamilton for the day. I was more than willing to drive her down, spend the full day birding around the lakeshore, then picking her up and driving back home.

I met up with the one and only Barb Charlton this morning to look for rare Passerines at Bayfront Park in Hamilton. Barb was "stuck" on 320 species for the year in Ontario, and with no new rarities around for her to try for, we decided our best bet to find something interesting was to check out the Waterfront Trail. If you can recall a number of really rare December birds had shown up in recent weeks including Black-throated Green, Black-throated Gray, Wilson's, and Orange-crowned Warblers; a Blue-headed Vireo, and multiple Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers (check out Brandon's photos of some of the goodies here: http://www.blog.peregrineprints.com/2011/12/black-throated-gray-warb.html).

Barb and I didn't have much success though we briefly heard a gnatcatcher. A few Mockingbirds kept a close eye on us, however.

"Mocker" mocking us

She left to do some Christmas shopping and I would have been wise to follow her lead and get started on mine. Instead, I headed back down the waterfront trail, determined to find some of these birds. I made it all the way to Princess Point before turning back. There was not much to show for it except for this extremely RARE morph of a Double-crested Cormorant. The only field mark to distinguish it from a normal "cormie" is that it only has one wing.

Double-crested Cormorant, one-winged variant

Eventually I saw some of the birds as the Black-throated Gray put in an encore performance. I ran into Ross Wood here, and he was pleased to add this bird to his Ontario list.

Black-throated Gray Warbler - Bayfront Park, Hamilton

Heading back to my car, I found not one, but two gnatcatchers! The second was crawling around near my feet, gleaning insects. This photo is about 90% full frame, and I was shooting with a 300 mm lens. Gives you an idea how close I was!

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - Bayfront Park, Hamilton

Around this time, I had an interesting conversation:

Random passerby: "Hello."
Me: "Hello." (just being friendly, ya know)
R.P.: "Are you with a school group or anything? There's all these young guys walking around and taking pictures."
Me: "Nope, not with a school group. Just looking for birds!"
R.P: "You're a birdwatcher? I thought all birdwatchers were old and wore floppy hats!"
Me: "Actually the demographics are changing- you'd be surprised how many of us young guys and gals there are."

It's a conversation I have all the time! Lets break that stereotype (except for the Tilly hats -they're pretty awesome).

Just then, Tim King posted a nearby Snow Goose to the listserv, so I hustled over and watched it for a while. Nice bird!

Snow Goose - Bayfront Park, Hamilton

And a CANG, cause no one gives them any love.

Canada Goose - Bayfront Park, Hamilton

With a few hours to spare I headed over to Bronte Provincial Park for no particular reason. I walked around for a few hours, enjoying the crisp air and seeing a few birds (Pileated Woodpecker, White-crowned Sparrow, Northern Mockingbird, Eastern Bluebird,etc). Twas a great day in the field, but I think now I better get started on whittling down that Christmas list!

Eastern Bluebird - Bronte Creek Provincial Park