As per usual Sunday night at 9:17 a report came in that a Crested Caracara, a non-migrating vagrant (rarity) from Texas had been photographed near Amherstburg just at 6pm. We had already decided that we could not drive the car any distance and had booked a rental to pick up at 8 when we dropped our car to the dealer. It was not ideal as you usually want to be at a rarity first thing in the morning, but hawks often roost until it warms a bit so we figured it would give people a chance to refind it and hopefully it would be sticking around a bit. At 7 the bird was found not far from where it was photographed and 2 young birders were very happy! Jude who arrived a few minutes later, was not, as the bird had flown. A while later it was refound again, but by the time birders got to it, it had flown again. We were still driving at this time but there were a lot of birders there, driving roads and searching, slowing down, making u-turns. The locals were starting to complain on local FB pages. The bird was “seen” again at another spot and this went on until we arrived just at 11 with another “sighting ” that turned out to be an Osprey. People were pretty discouraged, a few lucky people had it fly over them but each report was a flyover and the bird did not seem to land and sit. We finally opted to head into the Conservation Area where it had been last seen sort of heading that way and added some birds to our year list while hoping it would be found nearby.
American White PelicanCaspian Tern
We met up with some local birders and photographers Noel and Mel and they offered us a tour of Holiday Beach CA since we had never been! I know, long overdue for us to hit this fantastic hotspot for migrating birds. Along the way we picked up Robert and Trish and so we had a lovely walk and some social time talking about our favourite subject – birds! I have said before that the best part of this hobby is the people you meet and I totally forgot to be bummed out at not getting to see the Caracara because of the company. We had seen this species many times in Texas but it would be a nice one to get for Ontario and for this year.
We stuck around into the mid afternoon and with no new reports and not seeing it as we once again circled the area we opted to cut our losses and headed to Pelee NP for a quick walk. It was raining/snowing as we drove but cleared up just as we got to the Visitor’s Center. We did a quick walk through Tilden’s hoping to see an early Louisiana Waterthrush but no joy. We were pretty hungry by this time having done our usual “bird diet” of not eating anything all day so we stopped for quick fast food before heading home. The food perked us up enough that we decided to stop at Erieau to see if we could scare up Lapland Longspurs that had been reported earlier and a Yellow-headed Blackbird as well. It was close to 6pm by this time and while it was still light out it was cold and really windy. No joy for either species. We did see a Wilson’s Snipe for a nice close-up photo though. Picture is further down.
Tuesday we were up and out the door by 8:30 doing the usual drive around the corn fields for our 7-8 attempt at Lapland Longspurs. We stopped at the side of the road when we saw a Vesper Sparrow and rolled down the window for better looks and suddenly a familiar song came in loud and clear. It was a Lapland Longspur. We confirmed the song with our Ibird Pro app and then started scanning with our binoculars. The birds are brown, the corn husks are brown, the ground is brown. When you are scanning you hope for movement but it was super windy so all kinds of leaves were blowing around making us think it was birds flying. Jerry got out thinking to scope but it was feeling like -16 with the wind and the gusts made it impossible to scope well. We drove down the road and then back again hoping we might see a flight or at least hear them again but after the initial song there was radio silence. Still we had it for the list as a heard only (HO) but hope to still see them in the next week.
Wednesday morning we returned the rental and picked up our car. They found a wire that was kinked and nearly broken off that was causing the problems. A mere $500 for two repairs and a rental LOL! We drove the roads for Laplands, hoping to see at least one this trip but there was very little activity and we didn’t hear or see any. It has continued to be windy and very cold. After a visit to Babi and on our way to Hamilton to meet with our new tenants a report came in from Chatham that the Caracara had been seen! We had a quick discussion while we continued in the wrong direction and opted not to go for it. We would not get there until after 4 and if we had to search it would not give us much time before dark. We figured if it stayed in the area and people knew where it was at dark we could try for it first light Thursday morning. Unfortunately, the bird remained for only about 45 mins and then it flew off again and despite people driving after it, it was lost from sight. It is not easy to chase birds like this unless they may be staying at landfills or sources of food, otherwise they are on the move a lot. The good news is that it is still in Ontario and we know it will not cross the open lake so if it continues its flight along the shore perhaps next stop will be Long Point.
Thursday was back to more of a winter/spring mix of snow/rain throughout the day so we opted to use the time to catch up on household chores.
Friday we started with the Laplands again with no joy but did hear our first of the year Swamp Sparrow at Grass Lake. Then we headed down to Long Point to at least be in the area if the Caracara was refound. We scanned fields ourselves just in case it would materialize for us! We stopped in at Turkey Point and added Forster’s Terns to our list and then headed to Long Point. One of our favourite walks is through the old campground off the main road. In spring it can be full of newly arrived migrants. We quickly heard many Golden-crowned Kinglets and saw Eastern Phoebes and a Hermit Thrush. As we were following the Thrush and Jerry was trying to get a picture something else caught his eye – an American Woodcock! snuggled into the leaf litter. It was so close I could take a pic and video with my iphone. We seldom get to see these birds except when they are doing their dizzying displays at dusk. We stopped at a few more of the regular spots at Long Point but did not get anything else new.
Wilson’s SnipeAmerican Woodcock
My fav birds of early spring. Two similar looking birds with cool flight displays and noises. If you want a laugh google “American Woodcock or Timberdoodle walking”.
Saturday we did a local walk but did not add anything new to the year. Its a frustrating time of the year because I get hourly reports of new birds being seen across the province but they are not in significant quantity that I can expect to run across them. And as per last year, I am not chasing common species just to add them a few days earlier. I have to be patient and wait until the numbers increase and the birds are at more hotspots. Easier said then done but I am way more “zen” than I was last year.
Sunday was a family day and Babi joined us for dinner. We don’t celebrate individual birthdays for us, our kids and their partners anymore. Instead we have a guys celebration in the spring ( their birthdays are Feb/March/April) and the girls in late summer (ours are Aug/Sept). I expected that a rarity would no doubt appear but no reports came in other than Brett had 100 Laplands over at Paris Plains Church Road. I left the onions I was in the middle of chopping and we quickly drove over and within 5-10 minutes we had a group of about 20 fly over us. Not good enough for a picture but we have at least seen them now. Warmer temperatures and some south winds coming so things should pick up significantly this next week. And where is that Crested Caracara? Might it show up again?
Another fairly slow week as we spent the first few days selling things from the condo and donating the rest to various local charities where we know the proceeds or items will help others. Since it was March Break we had 3 of our 4 grandchildren stay with us for 3 days and that doesn’t always translate to birding. We did manage a hike in Brantford on Thursday and ran a checklist but no new species were seen. Finally, on Friday after the last one was dropped home we headed down to Port Rowan where a very obliging Red-throated Loon was still swimming in the narrow channel offering spectacular views! Bird #168 for the year. We likely saw many of these out in BC but because the Pacific Loons were always so far out we decided not to try to find the odd Red-throated that might have been among them. They are very similar in their winter plumage.
Red-throated Loon
One of the ways to distinguish the Red-throated Loon from other North American loons is the bill is almost always pointing upwards at an angle.
Saturday morning we headed back to the condo but stopped enroute for a Red-headed Woodpecker that was found by Flamboro Downs. It was a juvenile so had a brown head instead of red. We found it immediately on the same hydro pole it had been reported on yesterday. It is always nice when birds are so obliging.
Red-headed Woodpecker
We then did a quick stop at Flamboro because a Eurasian Wigeon and Greater White-fronted Geese had been reported the last few days but neither were being seen when we arrived and it started to rain shortly after. We had driven by yesterday with Evie in the car and opted not to stop because we wanted to get to Port Rowan for a year bird over two birds that we already have on our lists. I don’t want to have to see double the birds this year just so I can add species to my Ontario list or my Brant county list. It gets onerous really quickly trying to bird that way.
After work at the condo – will it ever end? we headed home for a quick dinner and a report came in of a Pink-footed Goose in Ottawa! A lifer, a rarity, and a year bird. It took a bit of time but it was refound and many Ottawa birders got out to it before dark. We discussed. We had talked earlier in the day about a trip to Quebec because there are again about 4-5 good birds to add to the list currently being seen in Quebec. Could we add Ottawa at the start and then continue on to Quebec. We figured out logistics and timing and it would mean most of the week, at least 5 days in Quebec. It was very tempting but the condo is hanging over us at this point. We really need to get it ready to rent and rented by May 1 as we are at Pelee and then out west until August. The reality is there has been a Pink-footed Goose in a pond in Newfoundland since 2020 and it remains there as of yesterday. What are the chances it will still be there in September? What is the life-span of a goose? And the birds that are currently in Quebec are likely to be there again in the fall and into the winter. It would be a nice bird for my Ontario Life list but I don’t worry too much about that list.
The advantage to being able to bird the whole country this year means I have these kinds of choices where many rarities are not as crucial to get because they can be seen somewhere else and at another time. I am still taking a chance but I think I will roll the dice on this one and choose to get the condo done first and then worry about those species later in the year. This might be a regret down the road – we will see…
After dinner we headed into Brantford and met up with Robert and Sue for an evening’s entertainment of displaying American Woodcocks. We had 3 “peenting” just after 7:30 and then one zipped past us before they started doing the display flights called a “sky dance” or a “timberdoodle”. Launching themselves as high as 200-300′ in the air they then spiral down while the wind through their wings makes a whirring noise and then land near where they took off. In the video below you can hear the continual “peent” “peent” if you turn your volume up . We tried to take pictures and video of the flights but with the fading light and the speed of the birds we did not manage to get anything.
So two new birds on Saturday takes us to 170 species for the year. Slow and steady. Of the 217 common species in Ontario we have seen 113 so we are half-way there. Warmer weather this week should start to bring shorebirds through and with the rain this weekend there should be plenty of flooded fields to check for them.
2024 Photo Gallery can now be viewed in larger slides ( just click on the pic) to enjoy the birds we have seen better! Check it out!
It was bound to happen! The birding has been slower with my “needs” list shrinking and few new migrants arriving. We went 6 days without adding a new bird to the list. I don’t want to chase common birds that I know I will see and the few birds I need have just not been co-operating LOL. We headed to Erieau on Monday to try for a Eurasian Wigeon, a duck, that required us to scope through a few thousand other ducks in a “Where’s Waldo” scenario.
Lets find the one Eurasian Wigeon!
Most of the ducks were Redheads with, well red heads and the Eurasian Wigeon also has a red/rust head but with a buff/white flash on the forehead. The scope does give you good views of those black specks in the picture above but it is a challenge to move through all of those ducks looking for the one that is different from all the others. And they often have their heads in the water while they feed. We scoped for 3 hours from 7am until 10, moving down the bay, gave up and did some birding at Rondeau and then headed back in the afternoon for another 2 hours of scoping. There were other birders scoping as well so we are pretty sure we did not miss it and it is for sure still out there as birders found it again a few days later. It will probably be there till April so we will most likely try for it again unless another one is found under better viewing circumstances. I ended up with pretty achy legs and neck from all that scoping so spent some time on the yoga mat for the next few days. We took advantage of the birding slowdown to spend time with family, a rare lunch with our son and daughter, a sleepover with two of the grandkids and we care-give for Jerry’s mom 2-3 times a week in Hamilton. When we go to Hamilton we try to fit in a walk or two of birding but those did not yield anything new. Saturday I wrote the beginning of the blog resigned that this would be the first week with no birds added.
Late Saturday a report came in of a Eurasian Wigeon at Long Point with the potential of not having to scan through thousands of Redheads. The alarm was set.
Sunday morning was quite foggy and arriving at Long Point around 8 yielded us a view into the marsh of fog with glimpses and flashes of potential Wigeons and Pintails. We took a walk and came back just before 10 and scanned for a few minutes and found the rust/red head of a Eurasian Wigeon.! Yes!!! The week of no new birds was broken with a rarity that is one of the more difficult to get. Bird #147. Jerry even managed a picture, a bad picture for sure, because it was quite a ways out. Below you can see the difference between the two ducks, both have a flash of white/buff on their foreheads but the American has a green/brown head and the Eurasian has a rust/red head.
Eurasian WigeonAmerican Wigeon
Because of the unseasonable warm weather I had been seeing reports of American Woodcock over the last few days and we had checked our local spot around the corner on Saturday night but heard nothing. Sunday night we headed out just before dusk to another local spot in Brantford to see if we could hear and see their flight displays. The American Woodcock is a strange looking bird, see the picture below from a few years back, that is difficult to see for most of the year but in the spring the male performs these dazzling arial flights. The male starts by making these “peent” noises on the ground right at dusk and then after a few minutes will quickly fly up 250-300 ft in a spiral where you can hear this twittering sound as the air passes though his wings. Then he will start to descend in a zigzag pattern coming down like a football to land close to a female, if they are around. The “peenting” starts again and then another flight. These displays can go on late into the night.
American Woodcock
In Brantford, just at dusk, the “peenting” started and we decided there were at least 4 birds in the scrubby field. Shortly after they started their flight displays and it was one of the best displays we have seen because it was still quite light so we could easily see the bird way up in the sky and watch it as it came back to the ground. I forgot my camera in the car and taking pics or videos was still quite challenging for Jerry so we have nothing to show for it. The reports are coming in from across Southern Ontario for the Woodcocks displaying and some of these are the earliest records ever. Last year, our local bird started displaying April 2 so this year they are a full month earlier.
And so from 6 days with nothing new we added 2 new birds on the 7th day. We are now two birds away from the half-way mark and this 12th rarity means if I get all the common and migratory birds I will hit the 300. Woohoo!
Week 9 12 rarities 2 new birds added 148 species seen by J&E
