A bone-chilling cold arrived this week with temps at -18 with a wind chill of -28. On Monday we just had time to do a drive locally through the fields on Paris Plains Church Road. It is a winter home to hundreds of Snow Buntings and usually there are a few Lapland Longspurs hanging with them. We found only a few Horned Larks with one Snow Bunting in a group. Jerry got his better pictures of a Snow Bunting and that was it.
Horned LarkSnow Bunting
On Tuesday we headed back to Toronto, I know, I know, I was NEVER going to bird that way again. BUT, the King Eider and Ross’s Goose were still being seen, a Common Eider was still hanging out near Peterborough and we had a location of an OWL! So I convinced myself to try again, it would be different this time and an OWL! It was the only day we would have available and it was, of course, cold and windy. We got to Tommy Thompson Park at 7:30 and trudged the 4 kms in the bitter cold, on the slippery, rough road. Did I mention it was BITTER COLD!? When we got out to the side with the lake the winds were gale force strength and trying to see anything while holding the scope somewhat stable was a ridiculous task. Not to mention my eye freezing from the onslaught of the wind. It is in these moments that my thoughts go to “what the F are we doing this for?” The ducks were reasonably close to shore and we scanned, and scoped, and scanned again. We moved from Pen D to the Pen C area where it had been reported. We took a break on the warmer path out of the wind, then went back out again. NO EIDER! Grrrrr! It was happening again just like last Tuesday. When we could not take the wind any longer we glumly gave up and trudged back to the car. There is nothing you can do to change the fact that the bird is not where you hoped it would be. One hour later a birder we met coming in when we left found the Eider in Pen B a further walk into the park! UGGGGG!
Our next stop was a newer location for the Ross’s Goose in a field instead of the lake and as we pulled up we could see the field was full of Canada Geese. We were looking for the small white goose among them. More scanning, more driving slowly the length of the field. The field was not flat so we knew there were hills that the small goose could be hidden from us but we tried our best to hit all the angles. Then a helicopter flew over and every bird took flight. Our job was easier as we quickly scanned through hundreds of geese looking for something white. NOTHING! Sigh! We were again dipping on the Ross’s Goose too, just like last week. Time was flying by and we still had two destinations so we opted to leave hoping to re-check the field late in the day. The Common Eider is a bird that is, well, common out East, so we will see this bird and I definitely do not need to chase it for this year but it is a great addition to our Ontario Life List and apparently it is the northern subspecies which is different than the eastern species. All that too say, birders can rationalize chasing any bird, LOL. We arrived at the Common Eider spot, pulled off the road, looked across the river with bins and saw a large duck in front of the yellow house as had been reported over a number of days. Jerry took pictures for two minutes, I scoped the bird to confirm and we were back in the car and driving off in 6 minutes. The one bird of the day I did not need and of course we got it. Why oh why could the King Eider not have been so predictable and stayed in one place?
The view from the carCommon Eider
The final stop was for an owl. I’m not even going to say what species it is. Birders can and will deduce what I am talking about. Owl locations are guarded and kept very quiet in the birding communities especially for the sensitive species. But, one person tells one person and they tell a friend and eventually two weeks later a whole lot of people know about the owl. We try to keep these locations on the down-low to protect the owl. I hope to get this species of owl out west in the summer but when you are counting birds you should take the opportunity when you get it, so we went. On the way we saw a woman taking a pic from the side of the road and stopped and saw a beautiful Barred Owl perched just off the road. Jerry got a couple of pics and we left. Barred Owls are plentiful and not on the sensitive species list. We have already seen a Barred Owl this year but Jerry got a great picture of this one.
Barred Owl
We got to the location for the other owl and joined a couple of other birders hoping for a glimpse…and an hour later, NOTHING! BIGGER, LONGER SIGH! We left to give ourselves time to get back to the field for one final check on the Ross’s. There were even more geese, probably 600 or more and just at dusk a helicopter went over again so all the geese lifted up with most leaving and no white goose was seen. So last Tuesday we were 0 of 4 and this Tuesday 1 of 4! That is dismal birding my friends, DISMAL! The drive home was quiet but at least the traffic, for once was good and we got home by 7. I swear to all of you right now that I am absolutely NOT making another attempt on that King Eider at Tommy Thompson. I can only hope that another appears anywhere else at year end.
Wednesday morning we had a meeting with the staff at Memory Care and then we headed up to Kitchener for the annual Snowy Owl hunt. I was a tad nervous that the bad karma from Tuesday would carry over but we went anyway. Last year it was very difficult to find a Snowy anywhere in Ontario as they did not move down from the Arctic but this year they are back in some abundance and there had been a number of reports from the Linwood area. Hunting for Snowy’s involves driving up and down gravel roads looking at fields covered in snow for a lump of white with black “bits”. It was still windy so we were also dealing with blowing snow. There were many false stops for buckets, bags, snow covered rocks that looked like owls. There were a couple of other cars driving around and we stopped and shared info. No one had seen any. I had 3-4 spots that had been reported on ebird and we know the regular roads to find them. At the end of the second area I saw a lump near a fence, lifted my bins, and it was a Snowy! Yes! the curse had been lifted!
Can you see the Snowy?Snowy Owl
I was also scouting for Jude who was on his way to try for Snowy’s too so I quickly sent him the pin and pics hoping the owl would remain in that spot a bit longer. We continued up the road and turned onto the main road and both of us saw another lump in the first field. Sure enough, a second snowy minutes after the first! Things were looking up.
I was happy with seeing two and after sending Jude the second location we headed home. A Short-eared Owl had been seen in Brant County the last couple of nights 10 minutes from home so we wanted to try for that at dusk. We headed out at 4:30 and went up Paris Plains Road first and had a flock of about 150 Snow Buntings fly out of the field around our car and then back into the field. It happened too quick for photos but what an awesome sight those birds make. A bit further along the road we saw this strange bird flying low over the field, it had a strange lob-sided flight and the shape and size were strange to us. We both said “what was that?” and I quickly turned the car around to follow after the bird. It landed in a tree, we got bins on it to realize it was a Northern Shrike with a dead Junco! That was why it looked so strange in flight. It pecked at its dinner a few times, perhaps the death blow, and then hopped down into the thicket with its dinner. Jerry got out and walked over hoping for a pic and the Shrike popped up and sat for a minute and Jerry got some nice pics of it before it dropped back down and we left it to enjoy its meal. This bird is known as the Butcher Bird as it preys on small birds, lizards and frogs and it often impales its victims on thorns or barbed wire to keep for later and I assume making it easier to eat.
Northern Shrike with feather from Junco dinnerLook at that deadly beak!
We then stopped to chat with a birder that had seen the Short-eared Owl the night before and got the exact location and Jude arrived, having gotten the Snowy and decided to join us in the Short-eared hunt. We headed down to show him the Shrike and he got pics of that. Jude has been going full speed this year and the Snowy and Shrike were year birds for him. He says he is not doing a Big Year but I think he will end up doing one by default. He is already in the number one spot. We headed over to Watts Pond Road where the owl was seen the last few nights and waited. I was nervous about where we were parked, it didn’t give very good “long” views and the evening before it was seen farther down the road. We drove down and back and then around 5:20 we drove down again. On the way back up the road we stopped at an open area near the beginning of a large berm. Jerry said wait here, it has good views and 30 seconds later a Short-eared Owl flew right out and near our car before turning back and moving through the field. I quickly honked for the guys further down the road and they moved down to see it. Jerry got pics, I watched the owl and a few more people arrived. We have always known there were Short-eared Owls in Brant County but we have never had consistent reports from one location. Perhaps this area might become that spot where they are reliable each winter.
Short-eared Owl
We were all cold, hungry and happy to have seen the owl and we were happy to have seen two owls added to our list. The Short-eared owl was Judes 130th bird of the year! We headed home and as we turned off West River road we saw a bird up on the wire above the road. It was dark by this time and hard to see but we could tell by the shape and tufts that it was an Eastern Screech Owl! A three owl species day! and it put me at 100 birds for the year. Jerry took some pics in the dark and we continued the short drive home. What a difference from the day before. From low, low to high, high. And I guess that is why we do this – always a mystery as to what will happen, and what you will or won’t see…
Eastern Screech Owl
The next few days we had things to do for Babi and to organize for our BC trip next week. We needed to buy a tripod that we could fit in our carry on bag as we hate to check luggage when we fly and had to head to a store in London to get it. On Sunday we took a few short local hikes and went out to see a Greater White-fronted Goose in Brant Waterworks Park. Last week we had driven to Simcoe to see one for our list and of course this week one showed up 20 minutes from home. It is a Brant County Life bird for me though so worth the walk in beautiful sunshine and warmer temperatures.
Week 4 4 species added Ellen 100 species Jerry 99 species
The strategy for these early weeks is much the same as last year in that we don’t want to chase common species just to up our numbers quickly. There are birders that go full out in January and amass as many species as they can as fast as they can but the reality is eventually everyone else catches up as they see and add the common species. Our time is still somewhat limited as we deal with Babi things so we are trying to be efficient with when and where we bird.
On Tuesday we opted to try for a couple of rarities that we need to get in Ontario and that have been reported since the new year. A Ross’s Goose has been hanging in Whitby for awhile and a King Eider has been seen off Tommy Thompson park in Toronto. Instead of fighting traffic we made some stops along the way to see what else we might add to our list. The Lakefront Promenade in Mississauga has been host to a Snow Goose and Harlequin Ducks and usually has some good numbers of birds around so we stopped there first. We don’t particularly need Snow Goose or Harlequin as we will likely see both somewhere else but the more we take off the list now the easier it is later. It was a frigid -10 feeling like -18 but we set up our scope and started going through the Geese hanging around and did not find the Snow Goose. We then walked quickly along the lake and did not turn up the Harlequin Ducks either. Uh-oh, not a great start to the day. We added a few common species for our year, Redhead and Winter Wren, and then we opted not to spend any more time as they were not the target for the day and we headed off to Whitby Harbour in hopes of the Ross’s Goose.
There were about 500 Canada Geese to sift through in Whitby at scope distance away and we were looking into the gusting west wind making it difficult to keep our scope steady so we could view the geese and again, no white goose. There were a number of other spots that it had been seen so we heading back to the car when we spotted a raptor in the channel. It was a Peregrine Falcon hunting the gulls and it spent a number of minutes right in front of us chasing the gulls as they squawked and flew and tried to evade it. We had fantastic views with Jerry snapping pictures and I totally forgot to pull my new 16Pro phone out and take a video! I think I could have gotten some decent video as it was super close to me. It never managed to get a gull and gave up and landed in a tree.
Peregrine Falcon
After checking a few more spots for the Ross’s Goose which involved looking through hundred’s more Canada Geese we headed to our next destination, Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto. This is a premier destination for birders but it is a huge area and requires a looong walk in to get to the birding spots. Luckily the King Eider had been seen just past the marina so only about half-way in. We added Ruddy Ducks on the way in and then American Wigeon but alas, once again we came up empty with this duck too. What can you do? Timing is what it is all about. We scoped thoroughly, was it just diving and we kept missing it or was it farther out? At 4:00 we gave up and headed back to the car.
Tommy Thompson Park with the Toronto skyline
Out of 4 species we had hoped to add we found 0! To add insult to injury we were leaving Toronto at 4:30 and due to construction sat in gridlock for an hour before getting on the highway so we arrived home at 8:00! Ugggh! we swore never to bird in Toronto again. LOL, or at least until the next rarity .
On Friday there were milder temperatures and we opted to bird for the day so we started checking a few spots in Brant County as we worked our way to Simcoe where a Greater White-fronted Goose had been reported. The park area in downtown Simcoe has been there since the 50’s and I have fond memories of family picnics there in the 60’s with my family and a stop at Hewitt’s Dairy on the way back to Hamilton. There were about 500 Canada Geese to look through to find the “one thing that was not like the others”. Our first scans turned up nothing and Jerry moved further up the canal while I turned back to give the area we had just scanned another look and suddenly there was the orange bill of a Greater White-fronted Goose in my bins! I called Jerry to let him know and then could not re-find the goose! It blended in so well and so it took a few minutes to find it again and by then Jerry was back so we both had great views of it. Last year our views of this goose was across the bay at Rondeau and we could barely make out the orange, but here there was no mistaking it.
Greater White-fronted Goose
We then headed to Hamilton, driving farm roads through Haldimand towards Hamilton but saw nothing too much and ended up along the Lake. We found two more year birds, Black Scoter and Surf Scoter off of Millen Road but too far out for pictures. Decent scope views though. We then called it a day around 2 and headed home. Just as we pulled in the driveway, a text came in from Bill letting us know that he had found a Northern Saw-whet Owl in Brant Park and giving us directions. We had missed one last week when we were moving Babi so it was nice to get another chance. We made a quick bathroom stop and headed back out again. We met up with Jason and Jenny who had also missed it last week and we walked quickly to the area we know these owls often roost in. Neil was there looking and told us that he had not found it and the owl must be gone. We all stood in the area and I glanced up at a cedar right beside me and I saw that familiar lump and there was the tiny owl sitting near the trunk of a cedar tree! It is always super exciting to find or re-find one of these owls. They are only 5-9″ tall and weigh in at 2.5 ozs so it is difficult to find them when they are tucked into evergreens. We backed up to allow viewing without encroaching and the ones with cameras took a few photos and then we left the owl to its rest.
Northern Saw-whet Owl
So unlike Tuesday when we batted 0 of 4 we managed 4 of 4 on Friday. You just never know what kind of birding day you will have when you head out. We opted not to make the Cochrane trip because we have a very good chance of seeing Willow Ptarmigans in Newfoundland in the Fall or even BC in the summer and most of the other birds we would get on the trip can also be had somewhere else. The Quebec trip is on hold for the moment and might not happen until the end of the year depending on what is still around later in February. We have booked our flights to BC leaving in a week to get winter birds and there are a few rarities that we hope will still be there when we go. My focus has been on reading ebird reports and setting up where we need to go in Vancouver and on the Island so that we can maximize our time there. Barb introduced us to David out in BC, who has been most helpful in giving us information not always readily available.
We had our Grandkids for a sleepover on the weekend so didn’t get out to bird again this week. Oh, and the ducks we missed on Tuesday were all seen the rest of the week so it was just timing that we missed them. And it probably means we do have to make another trip back to Toronto to try again…
Week 3 11 species added Ellen 96 species seen Jerry 95 species seen
Monday we had to be in Hamilton so we went early to Fifty Point and try and do a bit of lake watching to get some common ducks but the winds were coming off the the lake so fast that it was next to impossible to see anything in the waves. So we opted to search some pines for a Northern Saw-whet Owl that are often found in the area but came up empty. We decided to check more sheltered areas along the lake and added species as we went and ended up at LaSalle Marina where the proximity of the ducks makes it easy to get decent pictures. We ended up adding 11 new species for the year, all common.
The next five days were a whirlwind of getting things ready to move Babi into memory care but we managed to see a few species new for the year. On Wednesday we picked up a Northern Mockingbird that is spending its 3rd winter in my brother’s backyard when we dropped some things off. Heading home from the hospital late afternoon we were on Bay Street when a discord report of a Cackling Goose at Bayfront Park came in so we detoured quickly, grabbed our bins and saw the Goose within 15 minutes of the report! One of those great twitches! Jerry added Turkey Vulture on Thursday while I was at home and then I saw one the next day to even us out again. These early months are when it is most likely that we have different numbers because we know the other will see these common species soon enough.
Babi moved into memory care on Friday after a month in hospital and it gave us an immediate sense of relief that it is no longer just us trying to care for her. It will be a huge adjustment for her as she grieves for her apartment and all her precious belongings but we hope that she will eventually enjoy the social aspect of the place.
On Sunday we met up with Jason and Jenny for a walk through Brant Park hoping to find owls. It was a lovely day with some sunshine and warm enough as long as we kept moving. We spread out and wandered through the evergreen trees looking for any tell-tale owl shapes in the trees. Jerry was lucky enough to find 2 Long-eared Owls but they flushed as Crows mobbed them, Jason saw one of them flush but both Jenny and I missed them. We walked further down the road and went back into the trees where we heard Chickadee’s mobbing something and again Jerry got to the spot and saw a Long-eared Owl and I managed to have a quick look at it before it flushed. We stopped looking at that point not wanting to bother the Owl as it was obviously being irritated by the birds around it. We continued our walk and over 4 hours we ended up seeing 28 species, 4 new species for my year list and 7 more to my Brant County list. Jerry missed a couple of birds, Pileated Woodpecker and Red-Shouldered Hawk that the three of us heard so he will be behind me for a bit and I still need to see them as well. We ended the walk seeing a beautiful adult Bald Eagle, one of the pair that nest on the Grand River and Jerry got a lovely picture of it.
Bald Eagle
We should be able to get out and bird a bit more over the next week and see if we can catch up with some more of the common winter birds that are around. I had hoped to be taking a trip to Quebec for winter owls and ducks but I think that might not happen at this point. We are talking of a trip to Cochrane because the Ptarmigans are back up there this year and it would be easier than trying for them in Quebec. We are also starting to plan a winter trip to BC. More to come next week…
Week 2 20 new species added, no rarities Ellen 85 Jerry 83
Just my thoughts on different aspects of the Big Year, in no particular order…enjoy!
Stats and Costs of the Big Year
We drove 49,449 kms! and since we drive a hybrid plugin some of our travel was “free” so assuming average gas prices we figure we spent approximately $2,650 on gas and we spent $9,095 on accommodation and some restaurant meals although as a rule we took food with us. We walked 1,145 kms and that was truly disappointing – I had thought we would be hiking much more than that. I suppose you could suggest that we were efficient in our walking but very inefficient in our driving LOL. Jerry managed to get pictures of all but 11 birds and 7 of those were “heard only” birds anyway so he only missed pictures of 4 which is very good! We birded in every one of the 50 Counties in Ontario and found some very cool places to bird that we had never been to before.
In the beginning we were putting in long days and hiking for hours but as the year went by and the species needed were fewer and fewer we found ourselves driving many hours to spend a few minutes seeing one bird. I had hoped we would be able to bird the areas more but inevitably there were time constraints on us to get back for caregiving or other life needs. If we did not have the caregiving I imagine that this would not have been as much of an issue and we would have been able to just bird more and try to find more species for ourselves.
This hobby is really not about the numbers but instead about spending time in the company of birds and often other birders. I tried not to get sucked into the numbers too much BUT it is a Big Year after all and the expectation is that you will be trying to be the top birder in Ontario. Somehow, we have managed to stay at the top until the end with Jeremy Hatt only 3 birds behind and Margaret Hough and Jude Szabo placing 3rd and 4th in numbers. Remember that for most, if not all of us we have an extra bird with the Hoary Redpoll that was lumped with the Common so the counts are 1 bird more for the official year count. Huge Congratulations to Jeremy who managed those numbers working full time and to Margaret and Jude who are relatively new birders and managed those numbers. Margaret, Jude and ourselves often ended up at the same birds and if we were not we were cheering each other on and sharing information so we could all get the same rarities. Thirteen people have made it over the 300 this year and there have been 372 species seen in Ontario (373 if you count the Hoary Redpoll). We have seen 89.8% of the birds seen. Can I just round it up to the 90% that I wanted to achieve? There have only been 12 birders, including us, that have seen 335 or more in an Ontario year. This was far more than I thought we would achieve.
First column is checklists Second column is species of birds
Once I had got the 300 so early and I realized I could likely hit 320 I was far more relaxed as we chased a rarity and meant it when I intoned my mantra “we either see the bird or we don’t”. It is crazy to me that if I had just gone for the 4 birds I now regret not going for and maybe taken on a few of the long distance chases I could have hit 340! I’m not sure how it will feel to not bird this intensively even next year with doing Canada and I don’t really feel that I will be trying to hit 300 again but I know many people that find they go for that benchmark every year now. So we will see how the numbers and listing manifests for us…
One of the absolute best things to come out of doing this Big Year is the people we have met and the friendships that have developed. It pushed me to talk to people more, to give out my card with my blog on it, to message birders I did not know and ask for help and information and overwhelmingly birders wanted to help, wanted to cheer us on, wanted to make sure we had seen a post. I won’t name you all as I don’t want to miss someone but you all know who you are and your advice, cheering and thumbs ups kept us going through the tough times. Many kept birds in scopes, stayed with birds until we and others arrived and shared in our excitement. I love this community of passionate, interesting people with sometimes just one thing in common – a love of birds! It was only through all of the birders out there that we achieved that number. Big Years are always a communal effort and the result belongs to all the birders in Ontario. The birders who go out every day, often to the same patch are usually the ones to find the rarities or the ones that stop at a new area for the first time and find something fantastic all contribute. There are many non-birders that find something that looks different and think to post it to a facebook group so that others can see that bird too. I have enjoyed helping other birders doing big years in past years and have always gotten a thrill from helping them achieve their goals in a small way.
Another hope was that our birding improved doing these years and I feel happy with our progress, particularly in learning bird songs and calls. We used Merlin a lot at the beginning of the year and especially in the spring when the bird song is strongest. I have managed to learn quite a few more songs and I certainly am way better at recognizing a “different” call and stopping to investigate what it is. We spent a lot of time on the lakes and I can proudly say that I can identify a Jaeger from a Gull and Cormorant now LOL. I can’t tell you what species of Jaeger but I feel much more comfortable looking through a spotting scope at far away dark spots! Whenever we birded with the elite birders we tried to ask questions as much as we could and they always graciously answered our queries and that translated to learning a lot more about many species. Both of us have upped our “pishing” game and I have managed multiple times to get birds to pop up for a look. We keep saying we want to record a really good pisher and then just replay it when we are in the field but doing it yourself and getting the response is waaay better.
Historically, Big Years have been a young man’s game and certainly the record holders generally show that. But I wanted to show that you can be older, have other responsibilities and not necessarily be that knowledgable and still post great numbers. Technology has enabled that with up to the minute posting of rarities, ebird allows you to search where any species can be found at any given time, and apps can help you identify birds you see by song or pictures. If anyone is thinking it might be fun to try one I urge you to give it a go and take a chance. There were other birders who had committed to doing their own versions of Big Years and/or trying to get over the 300 number and I like to think maybe we inspired them to keep at it just as they inspired us to keep going. It was often the same group of us chasing rarities and that made it much more fun when we could celebrate others with their own numbers and lifers.
I absolutely loved doing this Big Year, yes, there were times when I wanted to give up and that it just seemed too hard, BUT, the fun times far outweighed the bad. The joy I still feel every time I am out and raising my binoculars to see a bird clearly is the same joy from the first years we started this. The thrill is still there. The peace I get from being out in nature and the calmness that comes when I’m in the woods has kept me grounded for the three years we have been caring for Jerry’s mom.
And finally, I have to give a massive shout out to my husband and partner of 46 years, who to be honest, I dragged into this by saying we would just be trying for 300 knowing full well I would want to go as hard as I could. Way back in 2013 it was my idea to get off the couch and start listing and then I suggested he could start taking pictures so we (I) could establish my reputation as an honest birder and it was my crazy idea to do a trio of Big Years when we realized we would be caregiving for a number of years and not able to travel far. He has embraced these goals of mine and happily (for the most part) come along for the ride and I think he is now hooked just as I am. He did the vast majority of those 49,500 kilometers of driving this year as I was navigating, checking updates and making plans as we traveled this province and he did it with me often criticizing his driving – too fast, too slow, watch the road, that’s the long way! etc etc. I promise I absolutely won’t do that for the Canada year….as much! LOL Love you! Thanks for helping me reach my goal!
And a big thank you to all of you for reading along, hope I have been mildly entertaining and made you feel like you came along.
I thought the year might be over, and then the stars all seemed to align after Christmas. Jerry’s mom’s unit in the hospital was locked down due to Covid and so, sadly, we could not visit for a week and then on Friday we finally found a memory care unit in Brantford that has one room available for her in another week or so and suddenly we had a bit of freedom at the end of the year. We thought we might head to Wolfe Island to try for a Gyrfalcon but a friend had already checked the area and had not seen anything. On Dec 27 a Gray-crowned Rosy-finch was seen 7 hrs away up in Matachewan but at a private residence. I made some inquiries about access and waited and nothing was reported until the 29th when it was confirmed it was still coming to the feeders and the owners were fine with birders having access. Thank you to Jared and Kari for welcoming birders and sharing this rarity! We made plans to head up on the 30th with a hotel booked until Jan 1 so that we might also get the bird for 2025.
We left at our usual 4am with rain and strong winds for most of the 7 hour drive until the last 40 kms when it switched to light, wet snow making the driving a bit slippery. We arrived at the house at 11 and there were Evening Grosbeaks and a couple of Pine Grosbeaks feeding but a quick look confirmed that the Rosy Finch was not present. We anxiously panned the area over the next few minutes and then all the birds took flight and left. We kept scanning with our bins checking every movement but no Finch. We waited and I said, “I think we might have an hour or so wait until the next feeding” and 30 seconds later a bird flew into the tree by itself and IT WAS THE GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCH!!!!. BIRD #335!! We were very excited but had to be quiet so we didn’t spook the bird and Jerry had to try and get pictures. It stayed around for only 5-10 minutes and moved to a few spots where Jerry got better pics and then it flew away without feeding. We left some black-oil sunflower seeds and a thank you note for the home owners and went on our way.
Gray-crowned Rosy Finch
The weather had deteriorated and the snow was staying on the road so we opted to head for the hotel and find a Tim Hortons to work on blogs until check in rather than trying to continue to bird although we are always on the look out for owls in Northern Ontario. We saw a few grouse on the roads and Jerry got a pic of this nice Ruffed Grouse. They come to the roads to pick up grit and unfortunately do not move fast. Further along we saw the remains of one that had been hit by a car.
Ruffed Grouse
On the last day of the year we headed a bit south to Hilliardton Research Station where we had seen the banding of Boreal and Northern Saw-whet Owls in September. We were hoping to see a Boreal Chickadee or a nice owl but it was pretty quiet. We did get out of our car and walk the roads and had great views of Canada Jay and later a Northern Shrike. I love this kind of birding on a quiet northern road with little traffic, easy to walk and easy to see as birds cross over the road. Animals love to use it too as we saw tracks on both sides of the road of fox or coyote.
Road BirdingCanada JayNorthern Shrike
At 10:15 the familiar ping from Discord interrupted that lovely walk on that northern road announcing that a Eurasian Tree Sparrow was coming to a feeder on Wolfe island near Kingston. Crap!, my nemesis bird was giving me one last opportunity but not quite chaseable when I was 8 hrs and 22 minutes away. We had discussed leaving to head home an hour earlier when we saw snow in the forecast for tomorrow but even if we had the timing would just not work out. The sparrow was one bird I was not going to get this year but perhaps it would stick around and I could get it for 2025? At the end of the day we found four more Ruffed Grouse on the side of the road and one male was showing his namesake, lovely black ruff. We could not resist more pictures and video.
Ruffed Grouse
We drove slowly back to the hotel and finished up these blogs satisfied and happy with how it all went.
And so we come to the end of this crazy year, at midnight on the 31st there will be a reset and all of us birders will be back to a count of 0 for the year 2025 until the alarm goes off and we rise from our beds, open the blinds and click “Start a checklist” and see what birds we can find …
