Week 52 Whew! It’s Over!
At the beginning of the week we had some discussions about a final chase into Quebec to try for a Boreal Owl but family plans, weather and another illness just before Christmas made the decision not to go pretty easy. We celebrated with half the family on Christmas Eve leaving us free to bird on Christmas Day. We went out to one of our favourite spots – Brant Waterworks Park and had a nice 5 km hike that only involved me coughing some of the time. The inner paths were all ice so we opted for the safer asphalt path and did not see as many birds as we would have on the other paths. Still, it was nice to be out enjoying nature.
We still hoped to add the pesky White-winged Crossbill and on the 26th we got another chance. Two were seen in Oxford County just 30 minutes away. They had been reported in the same area five days before and I should have checked the area but we had family gatherings to prepare for and Christmas shopping to do so it didn’t happen. On the 26th freezing rain was starting just as we headed out. The birds had been seen only 30 mins before we got there. We carefully checked the tops of all the spruce trees along the road hoping to see movement but just had freezing rain in our faces. We walked up and down a few times carefully scanning and listening but had no joy. We opted to head home as the weather deteriorated and planned on going back the next morning. We were up and out early arriving just after 8 at the same spot. Dave was there already and had not seen anything. We walked, chatted, listened for the next couple of hours. No Crossbills. I finally saw some movement deep in a spruce off the road but could not find anything when I got my bins up. We waited. Eventually Dave and I saw parts of a bird as it quickly appeared and disappeared into the next spruce tree. We both had very good looks at a forked tail and a light underbelly and were pretty sure we had a Crossbill. Dave managed to get on it as it flew to another spruce and had nice views of the side of the bird – olive coloured. We had our White-winged Crossbill. Jerry only managed to see it without bins as it flew from one tree to the next and disappeared. Not very satisfactory views at all. Disappointing even. We waited despite the cold starting to creep into our hands and feet. And waited, no movement, no sounds. We had plans with family so we needed to leave. It was bird #431 and probably the last one to be added for the year. The Crossbill was the last of my 2nd ranked birds to see. There was little celebration because the three of us were carefully discussing the identification to make sure we did indeed see the Crossbill. The consensus was that we had but again the view was not great. The birds were seen again the next morning out clearly on a branch and Jerry headed back out again in another freezing rain storm to try and get pictures but was unsuccessful. We left it for a day and decided to try again on the 31st. One last chance for a nice view and picture. Our 4th trip out there.
We heard them this time, calling multiple times and I managed a few recordings on Merlin. I saw two birds fly up the driveway and into a tree closer to us but we could not trespass on the driveway so we could not get close enough to see the birds. So frustrating. Right to the end we are schooled in the lesson that “it is all about timing”. Just as we were leaving another birder, Scott, arrived, who was the finder of the birds, and the only one to get lovely pictures. We chatted and waited a bit more but had no luck with them coming closer. We were happy to have heard them well and seen them in flight to confirm that first crappy view. I’ve added the audio I recorded and a couple of pics from 2021 when we had them out our window so you can see what they look like.
And so the Canada 400 year ends at 431 species. I’ll unpack all the stats and reflections in another blog tomorrow. For now we plan to enjoy our New Year’s Eve at home with a nice meal after 2 years spending it in cheap hotels with pizza. I think I will be sleeping in tomorrow as those numbers all reset back to 0 and we start counting again. I’ll be in no hurry to add birds next year but I will, of course, be birding…
Week 52 1 species added 431 species seen in Canada 2025 Jerry and Ellen