After my last blog February 8 we continued to only bird on nice weather days. We opted to drive into Hamilton on a sunny but cold day to traverse the Lake in hopes of Scoters and some Owl species. It has been a strange year with Lake Erie almost completely frozen and Lake Ontario with huge areas close to shore frozen. Standing at the lake you can hear loud “KRACKS” as the ice cracks along the shore. We had our best views of Black and Surf Scoters because the ducks were in small areas of open water surrounded by ice which meant no waves! Usually our views are far out and glimpses in the scope between waves. They were still quite a distance for Jerry’s camera but he did manage some recognizable shots and the looks through our scope were lovely.
After checking all the openings to the Lake we eventually ended up at 50 Point, the known spot for owls in the winter. We walked the usual area but did not find any Saw-whet owls and so headed to another area. Carefully scouting pines and spruce we checked for any visible lumps. Jerry found a carcass of a rabbit and a medium size owl flushed from a nearby tree. A Long-eared Owl. Margaret texted to ask about owl sitings and to let me know she was at 50 Point so we quickly spoke and met up. We continued along the path and another birder alerted us to a Long-eared Owl and as Jerry moved closer to the tree to see if he could see the Long-ear on the other side he came face to face with a tiny Northern Saw-whet Owl! Two owls in the same tree. We quickly backed away and quietly managed a few pictures before leaving it in peace. Angela and Michael also joined us at Fifty Point so they got to see the Saw-whet too. These owls are seen by a lot of people – there exact where-abouts are not posted on Discord and many people hide their lists on ebird but it is a known park for photographers, birders and just locals that like seeing nature. The owls return year after year and despite the popularity of the place we have not witnessed large gatherings of people disrupting the owls. Hopefully, like us, they snap a bad pic and then go on their way.
We met up with Angela and Michael the next day to see the celebrity Virginia Rail at F.W.R. Dickson and had quick looks, but no pictures as it scurried out to grab a peanut we had just brought to help it through the continuing cold. We then headed to Brant Park but only a bit of the main road was plowed and it was really tough going through the softening deep snow on some of the more popular paths. There were few birds and no owls and as we headed out a small snowstorm arrived so we opted to call it a day and head out for dinner.
On the Family Day weekend a rare Barrow’s Goldeneye was reported in Cambridge only 15 mins away from us so we had to take a look at it. We were heading to Keira’s for a family dinner but my food was ready to go and we had an hour before we needed to leave. We arrived at the Blair Lookout where birders had it in their bins so I got the scope out and after some time managed to get on it as it constantly dove for food. Eventually, everyone had good scope looks and Jerry walked down the road to access the river at another spot to get some pictures. While we were there an Iceland Gull flew by so we added 2 birds to the year list. I am interested in just how birding like this will pan out in real numbers, no chasing great distances but just waiting for the birds to show up close to us or by accident when we are out seeing other things. We had parked down a bit of a slope in some snow and with the warmer temps the snow was super slippery so with our “seasonal” tires we could not get back out onto the main road – it was super silly, not even that much of a hill. After repeated tries we needed a helping push from the birders that had congregated for the Barrow’s. Thanks Guys!
The next day we walked local trails following reports of some interesting birds in the neighbourhood. There was a Long-tailed Duck down at the trail head which is unusual on the river and in Brant County but certainly we had seen thousands of them on the Canal in Hamilton.
Then we headed onto the rail trail walking up from Paris towards Glen Morris as a Red-shouldered Hawk had been seen in the morning. We ran into Bill and had a nice chat and saw a number of species while we chatted but no Red-shouldered Hawk after the initial report. This is the first year that we have not had one in our yard after 6 consecutive winters of a Red-shouldered Hawk visiting. I’ve certainly been home more than other years but have not managed to see one.
A week or so later we were heading to Benson’s hockey game in Beamsville in the late afternoon and decided to quickly stop at 50 Point to try for a third owl species – a Great Horned Owl. Apparently, there was a possible nesting pair. We walked the area we had heard they were known to roost in but did not see any large lumps. We scanned another area, chatted with a local that said they had not seen them that day and so we decided to head out as the light was fading. Just as we started to drive along the road, I looked to my right and saw a lump in a small evergreen just off the road. We got out of the car and had glimpses of an alert Great Horned Owl through the branches and trees. Jerry took a picture and then the owl started moving around placing his back to us and stretching a bit and then he flew off back to the area they have been seen in probably to start the night’s hunt.
Jerry was struggling with his photography through most of the month after getting new lenses in his glasses and discovering that they had made them transitional lenses by mistake. With any sunlight or daylight the glass darkened on him and he had great difficulty seeing through the camera lens. It has been a frustrating few weeks for him. Thankfully they have now been changed again so he can finally see through the viewfinder.
Since then we have not birded except for our backyard feeders. We have added a few early migrants, the first Red-winged Blackbirds have arrived and today we had our first Common Grackle and a Sharp-shinned Hawk chased after the Doves in the yard. There is the “feel” of spring. A warmer day here and there, then another cold spell but we are closer to spring every day. The days are getting incrementally longer and the worst of winter should be behind us. The pajama days have come to an end. With as little birding as we have done this year we are still at 90 species seen since January 1. This is about average for us most years in Ontario, and as expected, quite a bit below our big years where by this time in 2024 we were at 145 and last year we were at 107 species in Ontario.
In other news…We have been busy finalizing all our travel plans for Costa Rica, trying to find required items for our trip and making sure we have most eventualities covered. Our focus most evenings has been to learn as many birds of Costa Rica as we can, or at least familiarize ourselves with the bird families and some calls. We will have guides for many of our outings but we also plan to bird on our own as well. Many birders opt to just write a cheque (a big cheque) and take a tour so that they need not worry about anything but seeing the birds and it is very tempting to travel that way but for two of us the cost is hard to justify. Certainly there are countries that a tour would make the most sense but Costa Rica is safe, we have heard, and easy to find your way around so we will give it a go. I do not think I will be blogging while we are away, but you never know. I suspect that evenings will be spent figuring out pictures and calls of species seen so that we can submit accurate ebird lists as least. I plan to journal our whole trip and then put together blogs when we get back with hopefully some great pictures and stories to share. This will likely not be until April when it will truly be spring here! Until then….
Happy Birding!