In the near future (next 1-2 weeks) I will be traveling up north, maybe making it as far as Thunder Bay, to search for northern species and a couple of rarities. If anyone lives anywhere between North Bay and Thunder Bay either along the HWY 11 route, or along the route near the great lakes (Sault Ste. Marie route) and would be willing to provide me with a place to stay for a night, I would be more than grateful! Sure beats sleeping in my car.
Anyways, back to birding. On Thursday, I headed to the Niagara River with Maggie Macpherson, a friend and former Guelphite who is now doing a Ph.D at Tulane University in New Orleans. She was visiting Guelph for a few days so we decided to check out the gulls along the Niagara River.
Unfortunately it rained pretty steadily for most of the morning. We spent a bit of time checking out the flocks of Bonaparte's Gulls near Fort Erie to hopefully pick out a Little Gull (code 2), Black-legged Kittiwake (3), or Black-headed Gull (4) but the rain made it very difficult to see well and we did not find any of those rare gulls.
The whole day wasn't a waste though. We did see all the expected gulls on the river including a distant Little Gull at the Queenston docks. I was happy to pick out an adult Thayer's Gull in flight at the Adam Beck power plants as well. Lesser Black-backed, Little, Iceland, and Thayer's Gulls were all year birds, as was American Wigeon.
By early afternoon fog had rolled in along the river so we drove to Port Weller to try to find the previously reported King Eider and Snowy Owl. They were both present and Maggie was happy to get her lifer King Eider. The only year bird I got here was Northern Flicker.
Tomorrow I plan on going back to the river and searching for some of those rarities again.
By the way, for some reason the links to my big year list haven't been updating. I have fixed that, but if anyone sees any problems just let me know.
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Ottawa to Amherst Island
A Varied Thrush was found by Giovanni Pari in Ottawa on Sunday and was seen several times throughout the day by various birders as it came to a feeder. Andrew Keaveney and I immediately made plans to see it as it would be a great bird for a big year. While more will probably show up, this west coast thrush is never guaranteed! Unfortunately it wasn't seen the next day but we decided to go down anyways. Varied Thrushes will often stay at a feeder for days or even weeks.
We left Monday evening after my first day of classes, arriving at our destination for the night at around 1:00 AM. The next morning we showed up at the spot and immediately met Nicholas von Maltzahn, also standing vigil at the feeders. Unfortunately it wasn't seen for the several hours we were there. Nick showed us some spots around the Larose forest before he had to take off. After not getting any Evening Grosbeaks at the feeders where they are supposed to be, we lucked out and heard two Red Crossbills calling. I managed to take very distant photos of one!
We then tried for Gray Partridge in an area southeast of here, but after driving the fields for an hour or so we didn't have any luck. At this point we were getting kind of desperate as we headed over to Kanata to try for them there. We arrived around 3:00 PM, but lucked out as the first spot we looked contained 4 partridge - 3 females and 1 male. This was only the second sighting that I have had of this species, the other being in Brantford last winter.
With about an hour of light left we drove down to Bate's Island to try for Barrow's Goldeneye. In the fading light Andrew picked out a textbook example of a female Barrow's Godeneye! I found an adult Glaucous Gull nearby and I ended the day with 82 species for the year.
Today we took the Amherst Island ferry to try for some owls and other wintering raptors. Driving along the roads we saw several raptors, including Snowy Owls, Rough-legged Hawks, Red-tailed Hawks, Northern Harriers and American Kestrels.
A walk around Owl Woods was next on the agenda. A flock of 4 Common Redpolls greated us near on the walk in.
Thar be owls in them woods....
There's one!
We couldn't turn anything else up in the woods and continuing on. Before grabbing our ferry we drove farther west on the island. We were very surprised to see an adult Goshawk perching at eye level in a nearby tree! I managed one shot through the window as it flew away.
A couple of more photos from the day:
We left Monday evening after my first day of classes, arriving at our destination for the night at around 1:00 AM. The next morning we showed up at the spot and immediately met Nicholas von Maltzahn, also standing vigil at the feeders. Unfortunately it wasn't seen for the several hours we were there. Nick showed us some spots around the Larose forest before he had to take off. After not getting any Evening Grosbeaks at the feeders where they are supposed to be, we lucked out and heard two Red Crossbills calling. I managed to take very distant photos of one!
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| Red Crossbill - Larose Forest |
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| Gray Partridges - Kanata |
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| Gray Partridges - Kanata |
With about an hour of light left we drove down to Bate's Island to try for Barrow's Goldeneye. In the fading light Andrew picked out a textbook example of a female Barrow's Godeneye! I found an adult Glaucous Gull nearby and I ended the day with 82 species for the year.
Today we took the Amherst Island ferry to try for some owls and other wintering raptors. Driving along the roads we saw several raptors, including Snowy Owls, Rough-legged Hawks, Red-tailed Hawks, Northern Harriers and American Kestrels.
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| distant Snowy Owl - Amherst Island |
A walk around Owl Woods was next on the agenda. A flock of 4 Common Redpolls greated us near on the walk in.
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| Common Redpolls - Amherst Island |
Thar be owls in them woods....
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| owl pellet - Amherst Island |
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| Northern Saw-whet Owl - Amherst Island |
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| Northern Goshawk - Amherst Island |
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| House Finch - Amherst Island |
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| American Robin - Amherst Island |
Eastern Ontario highlights
Im making this brief cause I'm typing on my phone making use of the free wifi at McDonald's. A full report with photos will be up tonight!
I spent the last two days birding eastern Ontario with Andrew Keaveney. We missed the Varied Thrush yesterday but got most of our other target birds in Ottawa including:
Gray Partridge (Kanata)
Barrow's Goldeneye (female at Bate's Island)
both Crossbills (Larose Forest)
Today we went to Amherst Island. Highlights:
Northern Saw-whet Owl
3 Snowy Owls (9 already for the year)
Northern Goshawk (adult)
This brings my year list up to 89. My first visit to Niagara for the year will be tomorrow and I hope to hit 100. Hopefully the Black Vultures fly over the river so I can count them.
I spent the last two days birding eastern Ontario with Andrew Keaveney. We missed the Varied Thrush yesterday but got most of our other target birds in Ottawa including:
Gray Partridge (Kanata)
Barrow's Goldeneye (female at Bate's Island)
both Crossbills (Larose Forest)
Today we went to Amherst Island. Highlights:
Northern Saw-whet Owl
3 Snowy Owls (9 already for the year)
Northern Goshawk (adult)
This brings my year list up to 89. My first visit to Niagara for the year will be tomorrow and I hope to hit 100. Hopefully the Black Vultures fly over the river so I can count them.
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Great Gray Owl in Kingsville
Brett Fried and I headed down to Kingsville to look for the Great Gray Owl which has been seen well for several weeks. When we arrived first thing in the morning, there was already a group of 30 or so photographers on scene. Brett and I had great looks as it hunted and flew between perches, and everyone was respectful of the owl while we were there. I took a few poor photos (lighting wasn't the best) which I'll post later.
The rest of the day was a tour along the north shore of Lake Erie from Kingsville to Ridgetown before going back home. We didn't have too many highlights, however we did have a flyover White-winged Crossbill on DeLaurier Trail in the late morning. We ran into Richard Carr here and he put us on to some owls in the vicinity. We got the screech owl at the tip and a Snowy in the Onion fields north of the national park before continuing.
The only other bright spot of the day was near Erieau as Brett and I counted 4 Snowy Owls in the same field. Too far for photos unfortunately! The Ross's Geese at Ridgetown (which hadn't been reported in a while) did not show, though there was a huge flock of 100+ Tundra Swans.
I didn't add as many year birds as I had hoped, but the main goal of the trip was to see the Great Gray Owl. I'm currently at 72 species for the year.
Pics will be up soon. I have school all day tomorrow so no birding, but if the Varied Thrush in Ottawa is seen tomorrow that's where Andy Keaveney and I will be headed on Tuesday! The craziness has begun (who really travels 6 hours one way for a Varied Thrush???).
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| flight shot of Great Gray Owl - Kingsville |
The rest of the day was a tour along the north shore of Lake Erie from Kingsville to Ridgetown before going back home. We didn't have too many highlights, however we did have a flyover White-winged Crossbill on DeLaurier Trail in the late morning. We ran into Richard Carr here and he put us on to some owls in the vicinity. We got the screech owl at the tip and a Snowy in the Onion fields north of the national park before continuing.
The only other bright spot of the day was near Erieau as Brett and I counted 4 Snowy Owls in the same field. Too far for photos unfortunately! The Ross's Geese at Ridgetown (which hadn't been reported in a while) did not show, though there was a huge flock of 100+ Tundra Swans.
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| late Bonaparte's Gull - Ridgetown Sewage Lagoons |
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| Tundra Swans - Ridgetown Sewage Lagoons |
I didn't add as many year birds as I had hoped, but the main goal of the trip was to see the Great Gray Owl. I'm currently at 72 species for the year.
Pics will be up soon. I have school all day tomorrow so no birding, but if the Varied Thrush in Ottawa is seen tomorrow that's where Andy Keaveney and I will be headed on Tuesday! The craziness has begun (who really travels 6 hours one way for a Varied Thrush???).
Saturday, 7 January 2012
Mountain Bluebird, King Eider, and more
Lots of photos today, so I'll try to keep the text brief.
This morning I woke up and headed straight to where the Mountain Bluebird has been reported. It only took a few minutes after arriving to see it as well as a male Eastern Bluebird. My first rarity of the year (and my 7th bird for the year).
After that success I booked it down to Hamilton, hoping that I could work some magic and turn up the Black-throated Gray Warbler that hadn't been reported in several days. No luck there (actually, no warblers of any kind!) but I did see a few things.
I'm trying to photograph most of the species I see this year so I grabbed some shots of even the common stuff.
When doing a Big Year, a House Sparrow counts just as much as a Laysan Albatross! They are each worth "1".
I really cleaned up on invasive species at Bayfront, getting a grand slam! Mute Swan, House Sparrow, European Starling, and Rock Pigeon.
These guys were a nice surprise. I'd never seen one before in the winter.
An adult Bald Eagle flew over, possibly patrolling the waterfront for ducks.
After all of that shutterbuggery, I headed on over to Port Weller in search of a reported male King Eider. I've never seen an adult male before, plus it's a good bird to get "out of the way" when doing a big year in Ontario. After setting up the scope, literally the first bird I looked at was the one I was looking for!
The Snowy Owl was also present, sitting waaaay out at the end of the west pier. A boat spooked it so I grabbed a crappy flight shot. Very cool birds!
On my way home, I stopped in Stoney Creek to try to turn up a Short-eared Owl at dusk. No luck, but I did see the long-staying Bobolink, a Northern Shrike, and a bunch of Harriers. A Great Horned Owl hooted in the distance, and I drove home with 59 species in the bag.
Tomorrow - Kingsville for the Great Gray Owl and who knows what else!
This morning I woke up and headed straight to where the Mountain Bluebird has been reported. It only took a few minutes after arriving to see it as well as a male Eastern Bluebird. My first rarity of the year (and my 7th bird for the year).
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| Mountain Bluebird - Puslinch |
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| Mountain and Eastern Bluebirds - Puslinch |
I'm trying to photograph most of the species I see this year so I grabbed some shots of even the common stuff.
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| even Mallard's are fair game! |
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| Bufflehead - Bayfront Park |
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| Greater Scaup - Bayfront Park |
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| Northern Mockingbird - Bayfront Park |
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| Herring Gull - Bayfront Park |
When doing a Big Year, a House Sparrow counts just as much as a Laysan Albatross! They are each worth "1".
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| HOSP - Bayfront Park |
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| Red-breasted Merganser - Bayfront Park |
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| immature Mute Swan - Bayfront Park |
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| Belted Kingfisher - Bayfront Park |
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| cormie - Bayfront Park |
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| Black-crowned Night-herons - Bayfront Park |
An adult Bald Eagle flew over, possibly patrolling the waterfront for ducks.
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| Bald Eagle - Bayfront Park |
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| male King Eider - Port Weller |
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| Snowy Owl - Port Weller |
Tomorrow - Kingsville for the Great Gray Owl and who knows what else!
Friday, 6 January 2012
Kicking off the year right
After arriving at the airport in the dark, my parents drove me back to Cambridge, I got my stuff, and I headed up to Guelph. On the way I made a few stops trying for owls. Near Puslinch Lake I heard an Eastern Screech Owl trilling - a great way to start off the year! Tomorrow I am going to try for the Mountain Bluebird before checking out Hamilton. Good birding!
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
The big list
I stated earlier that I would make my bird list available as the year goes on. Apparently, Blogger (the site that my blog is hosted on) doesn't allow someone to upload a file directly to their blog. Instead I'm using a file sharing site. Essentially I upload my spreadsheet containing my big year list to the file sharing site, and this site hosts it and makes it publicly available. I've created a link in the upper right hand corner of my blog (above my photo and short bio) that lets you download the spreadsheet. I'll update it frequently as the year goes on. Hopefully this works!
The first tab of the big list contains a list of all the species of birds on the Ontario list. I have the species ranked based on how likely I am to see them (remember the codes?). As you can see by scrolling down to the bottom I have 215 species ranked as code 1 (meaning that these 215 species are guaranteed on my big year), 66 as code 2, 38 as code 3, 39 as code 4, 63 as code 5, and 62 as code 6.
The second tab of the spreadsheet contains all the Ontario species in phylogenetic order.
The third tab of the spreadsheet contains all the species in chronological order. Whenever I see a new year bird, I'll add it.
Good birding!
The first tab of the big list contains a list of all the species of birds on the Ontario list. I have the species ranked based on how likely I am to see them (remember the codes?). As you can see by scrolling down to the bottom I have 215 species ranked as code 1 (meaning that these 215 species are guaranteed on my big year), 66 as code 2, 38 as code 3, 39 as code 4, 63 as code 5, and 62 as code 6.
The second tab of the spreadsheet contains all the Ontario species in phylogenetic order.
The third tab of the spreadsheet contains all the species in chronological order. Whenever I see a new year bird, I'll add it.
Good birding!
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
Still counting down
I'm still in Nova Scotia! I have gotten out and done a bit of birding around here and have seen a few interesting things. A Dovekie, Northern Goshawk Harlequin Duck, and group of 6 Black-headed Gulls was nice on December 29. Today, while walking around the lake that Laura lives on, I found a Northern Saw-whet Owl, White-winged Crossbill and Boreal Chickadee.
Its now the evening of January 3. I'll be in the province late on January 6 and out birding the next day. Here are the statuses of the 4 "code 4 or higher" rarities that are in southern Ontario at the moment. If you can recall, in a previous post I mentioned that I would need to see at least 20 rarities (code 4 or higher) to break the record.
Mountain Bluebird (code 4)
I had a bit of a "scare" this morning when I read an ONTbirds post stating the Mountain Bluebird didn't show. The nighttime low was WELL below freezing so perhaps the bird had succumbed. However, it has been reported all day today, so there is still hope it will hang around to the morning of January 7! This will likely be the first bird I chase.
Black-throated Gray Warbler (code 4)
I hadn't seen any reports of the Black-throated Gray today, but a quick check of ebird showed that there was a sighting today.
Black Vulture (code 4)
The Black Vultures were still being seen coming to the roost along the Niagara River (January 2 report).
Black-headed Gull (code 4)
The only recent report I've heard of from Buffalo did not mention whether the BHGU was there. The Kittiwake (code 3) was reported, however.
Several other birds I'm keeping an eye on and will likely chase once I get any of the previous rarities include Great Gray Owl, Spotted Towhee (way up north but I'll likely chase it later in the month), King Eider, Barrow's Goldeneye, Greater White-fronted Goose and Ross' Geese.
=============================================================
Its now the evening of January 3. I'll be in the province late on January 6 and out birding the next day. Here are the statuses of the 4 "code 4 or higher" rarities that are in southern Ontario at the moment. If you can recall, in a previous post I mentioned that I would need to see at least 20 rarities (code 4 or higher) to break the record.
Mountain Bluebird (code 4)
I had a bit of a "scare" this morning when I read an ONTbirds post stating the Mountain Bluebird didn't show. The nighttime low was WELL below freezing so perhaps the bird had succumbed. However, it has been reported all day today, so there is still hope it will hang around to the morning of January 7! This will likely be the first bird I chase.
Black-throated Gray Warbler (code 4)
I hadn't seen any reports of the Black-throated Gray today, but a quick check of ebird showed that there was a sighting today.
Black Vulture (code 4)
The Black Vultures were still being seen coming to the roost along the Niagara River (January 2 report).
Black-headed Gull (code 4)
The only recent report I've heard of from Buffalo did not mention whether the BHGU was there. The Kittiwake (code 3) was reported, however.
Several other birds I'm keeping an eye on and will likely chase once I get any of the previous rarities include Great Gray Owl, Spotted Towhee (way up north but I'll likely chase it later in the month), King Eider, Barrow's Goldeneye, Greater White-fronted Goose and Ross' Geese.
Monday, 2 January 2012
Mountain Bluebird photo
Brian Husband, one of the original finders of the Mountain Bluebird, kindly allowed me to post a photo of his that he took of the bird yesterday. Good birding!
Photo is copyright Brian C. Husband, 2012. Do not use without permission from him.
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| Mountain Bluebird - south of Guelph |
January 2nd and winter bird list update #4
*Edit. Breaking news - A female MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD was found and photographed yesterday just south of Guelph. It is still being seen today. Of course, I am still away in Nova Scotia visiting Laura. While I definitely am not regretting spending this time with her, it is a little frustrating that the Mountain Bluebird couldn't have waited a few days before showing up/being found...at any rate I hope it hangs around! What a bird and a great find by Paul Kron, Brian Husband, and John Garreth.*
At the end of the year I made the 4th post about the Ontario winter bird list. We had already recorded 200 species at that point, just short of the all time high (201 species) that was actually set last winter. The Ontario winter bird list has only been "officially" kept track of for several years, but still, this year we were off to a blazing start. My latest post detailed the 7 species that have been brought to my attention since. Since that post, I have heard of a Pectoral Sandpiper seen at Wheatley harbour on January 1 (Dean Ware and Adam Pinch). Brett Fried and Erika Hentsch also had a probable Fish Crow at the Niagara River on January 1. Brett is a top notch birder and fairly confident in his sighting, but since it would be the first winter record for Ontario, perhaps the first record not during the spring migration, I am going to hold off adding it to the winter list unless it is seen again.
From my ONTbirds post:
There were two major highlights this past week - the Bobolink in the Hamilton Study area (second winter record in over 100 years - the only other was December 5, 1971), and what will be Ontario's third record of Smew, if the Whitby harbour bird is accepted by the OBRC. This Eurasian species is a mega rarity anywhere in North America outside of the Aleutian islands in Alaska so that fact that Ontario already has 2 accepted records is incredible. An additional bird was seen at Mountsberg Reservoir on April 15, 1982 but that record hasn't been submitted to the OBRC for review yet.
I have send the list to Blake Maybank and he has posted a link to his webpage: http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/maybank/other/onwinter.htm
The new species to the 2011-2012 Ontario winter list are as follows:
Smew (December 26) - Whitby harbour
Gray Partridge (December 18) - Woodhouse CBC
Barn Owl (December 23) - Durham Region
Townsend's Solitaire (December 17) - Manitoulin Island and Aurora CBC
Pine Warbler (December 24) - Hamilton area
Bobolink (December 24) - Stoney Creek
Brewer's Blackbird (December 18) - Port Burwell (correction - one was seen by Bill Lamond on December 17 at Long Point)
Out of the missing species to the winter list, the most likely to be added include:
Eurasian Wigeon
Gyrfalcon
Virginia Rail
Vesper Sparrow
Yellow-headed Blackbird
So there you have it. 209 species so far on the winter list, and its only January 2nd! 210 if the Fish Crow can be confirmed.
I'll be back in Ontario on the 6th and I'm itching to do some birding! The Black-throated Gray Warbler is still being seen and if I'm really lucky it will hold until I arrive. The -15 degree C temperatures that Ontario is getting soon is not looking too good...
At the end of the year I made the 4th post about the Ontario winter bird list. We had already recorded 200 species at that point, just short of the all time high (201 species) that was actually set last winter. The Ontario winter bird list has only been "officially" kept track of for several years, but still, this year we were off to a blazing start. My latest post detailed the 7 species that have been brought to my attention since. Since that post, I have heard of a Pectoral Sandpiper seen at Wheatley harbour on January 1 (Dean Ware and Adam Pinch). Brett Fried and Erika Hentsch also had a probable Fish Crow at the Niagara River on January 1. Brett is a top notch birder and fairly confident in his sighting, but since it would be the first winter record for Ontario, perhaps the first record not during the spring migration, I am going to hold off adding it to the winter list unless it is seen again.
From my ONTbirds post:
=====================================================================
I have send the list to Blake Maybank and he has posted a link to his webpage: http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/maybank/other/onwinter.htm
The new species to the 2011-2012 Ontario winter list are as follows:
Smew (December 26) - Whitby harbour
Gray Partridge (December 18) - Woodhouse CBC
Barn Owl (December 23) - Durham Region
Townsend's Solitaire (December 17) - Manitoulin Island and Aurora CBC
Pine Warbler (December 24) - Hamilton area
Bobolink (December 24) - Stoney Creek
Brewer's Blackbird (December 18) - Port Burwell (correction - one was seen by Bill Lamond on December 17 at Long Point)
Out of the missing species to the winter list, the most likely to be added include:
Eurasian Wigeon
Gyrfalcon
Virginia Rail
Vesper Sparrow
Yellow-headed Blackbird
=================================================================
So there you have it. 209 species so far on the winter list, and its only January 2nd! 210 if the Fish Crow can be confirmed.
I'll be back in Ontario on the 6th and I'm itching to do some birding! The Black-throated Gray Warbler is still being seen and if I'm really lucky it will hold until I arrive. The -15 degree C temperatures that Ontario is getting soon is not looking too good...
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