Finally February! I’m one of those people that struggle through winter – I hate the cold, hate the snow, ice, wind. Hate the multiple layers, thick mitts, puffy coats, big boots making movement and birding a huge effort. Birding at least gets me out of the house but I have to admit that this year without a goal its hard to get me out of PJ’s. I think I have hit a record number of days spent in my PJ’s this last month with the continual double-digit negative temperatures and constant winds and squalls. I’ve enjoyed watching the birds at our feeders and I have made an effort to get on the treadmill in the basement and shovelled snow to at least keep up some semblance of physical activity. I’ve also been reading a few books a week, completed 8 jig-saw puzzles and been making all our favourite comfort foods. Hoping my clothes still fit in another month LOL.
We put in a display at our local library for February titled “Blind Date with a Book” where we wrap up books and just write a little blurb on the front to peak interest so in that spirit I’ll share some book recommendations in case some of you are looking for something new – I am an eclectic reader and willing to read anything interesting.
Careless People – Sarah Wynn-Williams – memoir from a FB employee!
Three Days in June – Anne Tyler – classic relationship story from Anne Tyler
Atmosphere – Taylor Jenkins Reid – women and NASA!
All Her Fault – Andrea Mara – mystery with lots of twists
Whistle Linwood Barclay – thriller in the Steven King style
The Reason You Walk – memoir Wab Kinew (Premier of Manitoba) current read – future first Indigenous PM?
But you want to hear about the birding, right? We have only gotten out 8 times in the last month. Quite a difference from last year when we took a trip to BC and out birding most days. Back on Jan 12 we tried for local owls at Brant Park and flushed a Long-Ear Owl that was in a tree close to the road. We always feel bad when they flush as we know they need the rest. It flew out right overtop of us and went deeper into the forest where hopefully it was not disturbed again. A few days later on our way to a hockey game in Oakville we decided to actually “chase” a rarity and headed to Desjardin Canal where a Greater White-fronted Goose had been reported. Unfortunately it had flown off just before we arrived so we continued onto LaSalle Marina and checked through all the ducks again adding another 4 duck species for the year.
Pied-billed Grebe the consolation for no GooseHooded MerganserTundra Swan – note the yellow below the eye!
Two days later we were out again meeting up to bird with Angela and Michael. What a crazy day! Snow Squalls were in the forecast and boy did we get hit. We had been in beautiful sunshine at Bayfront Park and drove 3 minutes over to Pier 8, got out of our cars and were hit with a wall of snow. I wish I had taken a pic of us! We walked/ran to Williams Cafe and arrived looking like snowmen! We opted to grab hot chocolates and talk about birding instead of trying to bird. Once things had cleared up we headed to Windemere and Sayers Park adding another couple of birds for the year. The real purpose of the day was to grab some yummy Mexican food at Mesa on James Street. Always a fun time with Angela and Michael with soooo much laughter!
It would be another 10 days before we birded again due to the weather- lots of PJ days. We drove local roads for Snow Buntings, Jerry had added them to his list a few days before while running errands, and we managed to catch up with a few flocks but at a distance in the fields. We then headed to Waterworks Park and spent a lovely afternoon hiking along the river. We scanned carefully as you never know what rare goose might be tucked in with the hundreds of Canada Geese that rest along the riverbank.
Taking a “short-cut” back left us in deep snow
Two hours after we got home a report came in that a Snow Goose had flown in. Yeesh! The following day Bill saw it first thing in the morning, we headed to yoga, and he confirmed it was a Ross’s Goose – a “bigger” rarity. We headed out after yoga but worried the goose might have gone off to feed as they are apt to do and indeed it was not seen after 10:30. We opted to visit Babi first and then walked the river just before dusk hoping we would catch it flying back in but it was never seen again. Not having much luck chasing things.
Grand River – Waterworks ParkBrown CreeperWhite-breasted Nuthatch
A couple of days later, on a sunny, cold, calm day we opted to visit the Burlington Canal at the Liftbridge. In very cold winters with a lot of ice along the shores of Lake Ontario the wintering ducks will congregate in the canal giving birders close up views of thousands of ducks. We were hoping to find Surf and Black Scoter to add to our year list but again dipped on both species.
Burlington Canal at the LiftbridgeThousands of Long-tails,Golden-eyes, Scoters, MergansersRedheads, Common Goldeneye, White-winged Scoter, Long-tailed DucksRed-breasted Mergansers
The next day we drove up into Mennonite Country northwest of Kitchener the known spot to see Snowy Owls. We headed to the road where reports had come in and saw another car pulled over. That is almost always another birder and sure enough it was Bob who we have run into before around Hamilton and up in Rainy River.
Screenshot
They had not seen any owls although people had 5 the day before. We drove around and then ended up crossing paths again with none of us seeing anything. Shortly after I saw a weird lump out in a field and stopped for a look. I asked Jerry to take a pic to confirm and he said it was just a lump of snow.
This is what you are looking for if you are not lucky enough to have an owl sitting on a pole or fence
I couldn’t let it go. Something about it just did not seem like a lump should be there and the colouring was more white than the blue-white of snow. I insisted we get out the scope and IT WAS A SNOWY OWL – a beautiful Male, pure white.
Snowy Owl looking like a lump of snow
I called Bob and he headed to where we were. It was so far back in the field but it was our first Snowy this year and we sure were not disturbing it. Bob had family with him and they had nice views in the scope. We got back in our car and drove a bit more and then headed a bit further north where other owls had been reported. Turning onto another gravel road a car was pulled over with a birder out of the car so we pulled over. He had 2 Snowies, one female on a silo and a male in the tree line. A Rough-legged Hawk flew past at a distance. The Owls were also quite a distance away but we got out and got the scope out and suddenly cars were stopping all over and I had a line-up at the scope for people to view the owls. It was bitter cold but I love sharing those moments with people that are thrilled and excited to see something for the first time. They are always amazed at how close the bird is in the scope. We finally moved on as did the owls and drove up a bit further to see our 4th Snowy of the day up on another silo at the next crossroad. A fun-filled birding day.
Number 2 SnowyNumber 3Number 4
So here we are closer to spring every day. While Bluebirds overwinter in this area their bright colour at the feeder makes us think of warmer days. We have been leaving some mealworms for the Virginia Rail that made it through the coldest week and Jerry got a cute pic of a curious Tufted Titmouse doing a drop-off.
Eastern BluebirdTufted Titmouse
I have spent many, many hours in the last month planning a trip to Costa Rica in March and that has been a tad overwhelming. The number of bird species typically seen over a few weeks can top 3-400 and the vast majority would be lifers for us. The birds come in every colour and the names are crazy – Golden-browed Chlorophonia, Bare-necked Umbrellabird, Three-wattled Bellbird, Scaly-throated Foilage-gleaner, Checker-throated Stipplethroat, Purple-crowned Fairy. And hundreds of other names that are hyphenated and similar to other names. We are scrolling slideshows every few days hoping that some of the names and pictures will stick so we will not be totally overwhelmed when we get there. I am taking the approach of quality over quantity and just planning on spending time at the different eco lodges that offer birding on their grounds with guides. Most people take tours where they can see hundreds of birds over a short period but I hope to make this a bit of a relaxed tour with time for afternoon swims and leisurely drives. It will be tough to get great pictures in rain forests but we hope to have the time to be patient and wait around to see and get as many pics of birds as we can, a luxury that many of the tours do not have.
I promised in my last blog a Birding Spectacle Blog coming but I still have not composed it so bear with me and I hopefully will get to it in the next few weeks or it can wait till later in the year.
Most of you know when I post a blog because you follow on FB but I know a few of you have left FB or do not have it. I plan on setting up a notification with email so if you would prefer to sign up for an email notification when I post a new blog let me know and I can add you. Send an email to ellyhorak at gmail dot com.
After more days on the couch we finally ventured out for a short hike at the end of Week 50. A wintering Virginia Rail was found at F.W. Dickson just 5 minutes from home. The boardwalk is a favourite spot in the winter to hand feed the chickadees and nuthatches and a family of Titmouse have been in residence for a number of years now. The Rail was coming to a very small opening of water just off the boardwalk allowing for great pictures and some videos.
We don’t always appreciate the common birds we see everyday so I’ve added this video of a Blue Jay .
On Sunday another Purple Sandpiper was reported on Gull Island at Presquile and so we made plans with Margaret to try for it on Tuesday. Monday is a duck hunting day so there is no access to the area. Would it still be there by Tuesday? We left at 4:30am, as per usual, and arrived just at 7:30. Normally, you have to use rubber boots or hipwaders to wade across a shallow channel on Lake Ontario between the mainland and Gull Island but with freezing temperatures in the last week the channel was completely frozen making the crossing a lot less treacherous and less anxiety-inducing. It was still very slippery but we crossed without mishap and I was very grateful I took my hiking stick.
Leaving the mainland to walk out to Gull IslandThe view from Gull Island back to the mainland
Can you believe that people would subject themselves to the conditions in the pictures? – cold, windy, slippery with the possibility of getting wet normally, to just see a bird? Ugggh! the things we do for this hobby!
Michelle from Ottawa had given us the location they had the bird (Thanks Michelle!) so we headed to that spot as soon as we got on the island. I checked along the rocks and ice along the edge and peeking out from behind a piece of ice was a lovely little Purple Sandpiper feeding voraciously on the icy rocks just at the waters edge. #430!!!!! Wow! Wow! Wow! I was convinced that we would not find the bird for some reason but there it was. We waited for Margaret to arrive 30 mins later and made sure she got the bird – #335 Ontario this year for her!
Purple Sandpiper
Purple Sandpiper feeding in the freezing water
We also had some nice views of a Snowy Owl that was flying around the area.
Snowy Owl
Then we decided since we were out and suddenly at 299 for the year in Ontario we might as well hit the 300 so we stopped at Lakefront Promenade Park in Mississauga to see the Harlequin Ducks that have wintered there the last few years. It was another easy get with Jerry stepping out of the car along the canal and the ducks were right there. I didn’t even need to do my coat up or put on gloves.
Harlequin Ducks
On the way home we made another quick stop for a Dickcissel that was coming to a feeder in Harrisburg adding that species to our Life Brant County list. Not a bad day when you can get 3 for 3 in December and without too much effort. Ok, we did get up at 4:30am and walk out onto Lake Ontario but when I think back to all of the hours and things we endured for many birds this was a really easy, successful day.
Dickcissel
The next day we opted to head north a couple of hours to see if we could track down a White-winged Crossbill. We were still pumped after our 3 bird day and hitting 430 so you get silly forgetting that most birding days do not go that well. But we went anyway… The Crossbill is the only #2 ranked bird that we have missed this year and apparently it should have been more on my radar back at the beginning of the year. Because we were busy with Babi and the Condo our winter trips just did not happen and I really believed that we would not have a problem finding one somewhere in Canada but here we are with a week left and no White-winged Crossbill. It is an irruption year for finches meaning that there is little food in the Boreal forest for these pinecone eaters and so they move south to find food. Usually, Southern Ontario is far enough south but it would appear that our cone crop is not much better and there have not been the reports I expected in this area. I suspect that they travelled further into the States to find sufficient food. Anyway, there had been a large group of Pine Grosbeaks up at Earle Rowe Park and some White-winged Crossbills in that flock and so the chances were good that they might stick around. When we arrived around 10 there was Margaret walking the trail! We had not even discussed it at the Purple Sandpiper the day before but here we were searching for the same birds two days in a row. Another birder heard a Crossbill in the early morning so we were hopeful, but despite our best efforts we only managed to see Pine Grosbeaks at a distance that would not allow us to correctly ID a Crossbill in the flock. The Crossbills move around to forage a lot and so it is difficult to chase down reports that most often are just fly overs. Will we get lucky in the coming days? The clock is ticking…
So we now have 10 days left. One last blog coming for the year. Three years and it is almost over…crazy!
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
