Monday was Thanksgiving and we had our family dinner so there was no birding happening and of course it was a beautiful day to bird with nice winds for hawk migration. I joked with Jason in the morning saying that since I wasn’t going to be at a Hawk watch a Swainson’s would go through and just after lunch one went through at Hawk Cliff!! Family comes first, family comes first I kept saying to myself LOL. I’ve missed many birds this year because family absolutely does come first and always will. Now, the Swainson’s Hawk was headed west from Hawk Cliff so if I was really smart I would have headed to Holiday Beach Hawk Watch on Tuesday, near Windsor and west of Hawk Cliff, but we were a bit lazy and late getting up so we went to Hawk Cliff for the day and just after lunch the same Swainson’s Hawk went through over Holiday Beach! Oh why did we not drive the extra hour or so and do the hawk watch there? A mistake that cost me a really good rarity. Future Big Year birders take note! While we were at the Hawk Watch Brandon, an excellent birder decided to do a lake watch on Lake Huron near where we had been the previous week. He ended up seeing an extremely rare Ross’s Gull but did not get pictures and no one else re-found the bird that headed out into the lake. There was a bit of frustration that I missed two in one day. You get the birds or you don’t. And you shake off the misses and move on.
We had a lovely day at Hawk Cliff though and the company was very pleasant. Jerry and I click-counted our way through 2,092 Turkey Vultures for the day and others clicked 422 Sharp-shinned Hawks.
Two Golden Eagles and Bald Eagles, one Rough-legged, Coopers, Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks were all seen as well as Northern Harriers and American Kestrels. A total of 3,187 individual birds were on our list for the day.
The winds changed to southwest mid week and shut down most hawk migration and possible pelagic sightings so we switched to duck watching hoping to turn up those Common Eiders we think are still on the lake somewhere. We started at Fifty Point and worked our way along the lake at the various roads and parks with lake access all the way to Van Wagners beach. We spent time sifting through rafts of ducks just off shore looking for the unusual. We had our best views of Black Scoters we have ever had and nice views of Surf and White-winged Scoters too. Off Fruitland Road we found a beautiful male Harlequin Duck still in breeding colours. The picture Jerry took did not do it justice as it was quite a way out but our scope views were very nice. Google what it looks like – a very handsome duck!
Friday, our nephew Roman offered to take us out on his boat for a bit of a lake search. We invited Margaret, Jude and Rick to join us. It was a beautiful calm day but as we headed further off shore a bit of chop came up. We threw some bread out to some gulls that appeared hoping to entice some pelagic species to join in but didn’t see anything noteworthy. Lake Ontario is a huge lake and Roman’s boat is small and slow. We covered a very small area of the lake from Port Weller to Jordan Station. We decided to head a bit closer to shore and saw a number of large rafts of Long-tailed Ducks but didn’t manage to see anything different. This was a bit of an experiment and the consensus was that it would be better to have the boat docked in the Hamilton/Burlington area (we left from Port Weller) and that way we could get into the Hamilton end of the lake where we would be more likely to see rarities. We had a very enjoyable time and will work with Roman to set something up for next fall at the end of his salmon fishing season (Deep6ix Sportfishing).
Saturday afternoon two reports of rarities came in. Yellow-throated Warbler, at the Prince Edward Bird Observatory, 4 hours away and a Tropical Kingbird, in Rossport, 13 hours away. We knew we would head for the warbler first thing Sunday but going for the Kingbird? We have a half-packed suitcase always ready so we threw some stuff in with the idea we would decide in the morning. We also would be only an hour from Presquile PP and a possible Purple Sandpiper. We arrived at the Bird Observatory around 8:30 and had already got a report from Rick that the warbler was there. Thanks Rick! We walked a trail to the lighthouse and there was this beautiful little warbler with a bright yellow throat gobbling up all the bugs from the eavestrough on the lighthouse. Bird #325. A couple of other local birders arrived and we all enjoyed views of the bird for a short while. This was the warbler I missed at Pelee in the spring when we had left the tip to go for the White-faced Ibis and I had figured I would not have another chance at it so it was a nice surprise!
We should have got in our car then and started the drive to Thunder Bay. But we thought we should at least check for the Purple Sandpiper. That involves a bit of a hike and we had to carefully scope the area. We were hoping that during that time we would hear that the Kingbird was re-found and I was hoping that would convince Jerry to go for it. No reports came in though so we decided to at least head up north to Barrie where a Pacific Loon, a bird that we have but don’t have a picture of has been seen regularly. By this time we had discussions back and forth, and back and forth as we birded. Should we go or not go?
Jerry did not think a total of 26 hours of driving over two days was worth the one bird and I could not really disagree. Oh, I wanted to add the Kingbird to my list very badly, but both of us were dreading the drive and time involved. This is supposed to be about fun after all, we reminded ourselves, and it didn’t sound like fun. We headed home instead, disappointed we couldn’t summon the motivation and determination to do the hard stuff required of a Big Year.
We both have “hit the wall” so to speak and are physically and mentally tired this week. It is not just the birding but all the other things happening in our lives right now. Too little sleep or sleep interrupted by phone calls, lots of missed meals. Jerry has driven or been the passenger for 43,000 kms just for birding this year and has recently had to go back on medication for a blood clot in his leg that is getting bigger. He suffered a Pulmonary Embolism in 2022 and driving for long periods is not the best thing for blood clots. His Mom continues to decline faster than we anticipated and requires our input numerous times, every day. Every visit and phone call is heartbreaking.
We are going to take this week to regroup a bit. We have appointments to get additional help with his Mom. We need to relax a bit, get enough sleep and eat well. Birding is our happy place so it will continue but maybe only local. I might combine the next couple of blogs. Only 10 weeks left. Instead of a sprint to the finish of this year it might be a bit more of a limp but it is what it is.
Week 42 1 new species 325 species for the year E&J