Sunday, April 26, 2009

Waiting for those Warblers

Yesterday, we decided to go to Tommy Thompson as we didn't want to go out far. It was an incredibly beautiful day, it went up to 26 degrees Celsius. For the past while, we have been having very cold weather.

We had gone to Colonel Sam Smith Park, and Humber Bay East Park during the week, and we were lucky enough to see a Pied-billed Grebe, and a Ruddy at Humber Bay.

At Tommy Thompson, my husband spotted an American Woodcock, not only close to the gate but also close to the road. Woodcocks are almost impossible to see without almost stepping on them. The dig into the earth with their long bills in order to get at the earthworms. Generally, we only manage to get a glimpse of them flying away.

This one just sat there and allowed us to approach it. As we crept closer, it would continue to keep a baleful eye on us, and crouch down closer and closer to the earth.
We left it undisturbed for a change. It was nice to actually get a good look at one, this time.

By the wetlands, we managed to get close to some canvasback ducks who were busy competing for the attentions of one female. There were also some terns, and some shovelers. The terns are busy getting their nesting sites ready. The platform on the lake doesn't seem to interest them at this point, but that may change.

We did see a huge perch flopping out of the water, several times. I have no idea why it would do this, but it was a pretty interesting sight.

We didn't get to see much, because the weather started to change significantly. The wind whipped some clouds, and dust, and we decided to high tail it out of there.

The next day, it was cold and raining, and we changed our minds about going back. It turns out that, at least, ten warblers species had blown it with the storm. D'oh.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Saying Hello to an Old Familiar Face

Yesterday, my husband and I decided to go birding at High Park, Humber Bay East Park, and Col. Sam Smith Park.

The weather was fantastic for a change, and the sky was free of clouds. At High Park, we took a lot of pictures of the returning Wood Ducks. Both the male and female of the species are quite beautiful. We did not see much else, so we went to Humber Bay East Park.

We did not find the Harlequin Ducks from the previous day, we did see our first Pied Billed Grebe of the season.

From there, we went to Colonel Sam Smith Park. In one of the bays, we saw the King Eider juvenile male that we had seen in the winter. It got pretty close to shore, and it was in spring plumage. It looks like a second year male. We also managed to get close up shots of the male Common Merganser, which is difficult to do, normally. The female mergansers seem to look upon the King Eider as some kind of rock star, as they hung around him so closely, and they stared at him a lot. He would just chase them off, as did the male merganser.

Another big surprise was the sight of pair of Common Loons so close to shore. They were great to see; especially as it has been a long time since we have seen any.

Yesterday, of course, we saw the Harlequin Ducks at Humber Bay East. We also went to Col. Sam Smith, and saw Tree Swallows, Barn Swallows, and perhaps, a Bank Swallow, yesterday. The highlight of the day for me, was the sight of some Little Gulls flying close by us, on their way to who knows where.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Slow Start to Spring


Well, Spring is here, more or less, but the pickings are still pretty slim. We saw our first new species for our spring checklist, and also a new species for both my husband and I.

We went up to the Holland Marshes, last Thursday, in the hope of seeing some Snow Geese stragglers. Well, there wasn't much to see, as the vernal ponds were drying up. In the last place we decided to look, we were greeted with a lovely surprise.

At the end of one country road there was a swamp on one side, and the road ended in another swamp. On the opposite side of the road was an old barn, with a window propped open in the upper storey.

Two little birds swooped over to check us out. They were our first Eastern Phoebes of the season. They found us very curious, and stuck around long enough for us to take some pictures.

When we turned back to go to the car, there were a pair of ducks swimming right beside the road. (The other ducks we saw were largely Pintails, but they were too far away for good viewing.)

At first, I thought we were looking at some widgeons, but then I realized that we were looking at Blue-winged Teals; a first for us. We managed to get a couple of shots before a nearby Kildeer screamed with alarm, and set the pair flying.

Today we went to Lasalle Park in Burlington, in hope of seeing some Tundra Swans, or yes, Snow Geese. It was a long shot, and we were disappointed again, but there were some Trumpeter Swans still hanging around, as well as some American Coots, and Widgeons.

Along the trail we were fortunate enough to see a Golden-crowned Kinglet, and a Winter Wren which was darting in and out of the leaf litter.