Ducks and River Ice! 

On a recent visit to the north end of the St. Clair River, a wall of ice could be seen extending from Lake Huron to within a few metres of the Bluewater Bridges. Several ducks were congregating in the open water. I slowly walked to the railing and this female Common Goldeneye popped up right in front of me. 

A female or immature Long-tail Duck was also photographed through the railing under the bridges.

4 Adult Male Long-tails and the ripples of a 5th one that dove as the shutter on the camera was pressed. All of the ducks then drifted away from the Canadian side of the river.

Edge of ice being pushed down from Lake Huron under the bridges.

The blue ice is a site to behold! Thick, compressed ice with no bubbles help to provide the conditions necessary to make the ice glow blue.

Common Goldeneye, 2 males and a female in an open patch of water. The shifting ice causes open areas to disappear quickly and the birds must be on the alert so they don't become trapped.

The species name of the Canvasback, Vallisneria, comes from Vallisneria americana, or wild celery. The winter buds and stems of wild celery are the duck's preferred food during the nonbreeding period.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Canvasback/overview

There's always one Mallard in the crowd! The standard duck's quack is the sound of a female Mallard. Males don't quack; they make a quieter, rasping sound.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mallard/overview

A male Hooded Merganser has been hanging out with the Mallards for a few weeks!

Redhead Ducks are strictly North American ducks, found nowhere else on earth!

https://www.ducks.ca/species/redhead/

Inland birds including this Red-bellied Woodpecker continue to be active but can be difficult to locate if they aren't vocal. Lucky for me, Red-bellied Woodpeckers are often vocal!

Protein rich food is difficult to find in the winter. This woodpecker "hit the jackpot" when he found a (possible) European Paper Wasp, tucked into a bark crevice. Perhaps it was an overwintering Queen!

A packet of suet attracted a number of songbirds to a branch for a few days. Chickadees, Nuthatches and Cardinals were regular visitors to the fatty food source.

 Superb Owl Day!!

Can you see the Long-eared Owl? It's in the centre of the photo, extending from the very top, down to the bottom. The body looks like a tree branch. It's right eye is looking out through a triangular shape in the twigs! Superb camouflage for a Superb Owl!

Over a 12 day period, we had a backyard visitor using our Screech Owl Box. We regularly saw it each morning and again at dusk. Early one morning, I took a photo through the glass window. Notice how large the pupils are! Large pupils let in more light to assist with night time navigation and hunting.

Half an hour later when the sun was higher in the sky, the pupils had noticeably reduced in size. Time for some sleep!

The backyard nesting box has been in our backyard for 5 years. Until 2 days ago, we believed it was squirrel-proof. Now that a squirrel has out-smarted us, we need to devise a plan to out-smart it!!

Another Screech Owl soaking up the sun from a distance!

A Few Winter Pics!

Ice build up near the mouth of Lake Huron.

 

Ice breaker cutting through the river! In some recent years, Ice Breakers have had very little work to do.

14 of 26 White-winged Scoters in an open patch of water off Canatara Beach.

Mallards taking a break on a chunk of ice in the St. Clair River

 Winter at the Pinery!

We were prepared for cold temperatures and Sunday was a gorgeous day to spend at Pinery Provincial Park!

It wasn’t a particularly “birdy” day, however birds, such as Tufted Titmice could be found at the traditional feeding stations. In total, only 11 species of birds were found in our 5 hour visit.

We began our walk at the Cedar Trail, which starts near the Visitor Centre. One branch of the trail leads to a boardwalk overlooking the frozen Old Ausable River Channel.

Lots of snowy branches lined either side of the trail.

The Cedar trail extension leads into the Dunes Campground where we had access to Lake Huron. The snowy dunes provide a blanket of warmth to critters sheltering out of sight beneath the snow.

In the campground, picnic tables were covered with a foot of snow. We stayed on packed down sections of the road as we weren’t keen to walk through deep snow.

More Snow!!

We were able to complete a walking loop and made our way back to the Visitors Centre where lots of birds including this Red-breasted Nuthatch were hanging out.

This Tufted Titmouse and Black-capped Chickadee appeared to be having a “stand off” as they stood on either side of a pile of sunflower seeds.

Snow scattered when a Chickadee dropped down for some food.

Our last stop was beach parking #9. There is often lots of "discussion" amongst the birds as they argue about the feeding order! 

Tufted Titmouse

Some people get hair extensions....This Red-tailed Hawk has a TAIL extension!! The hawk flew in with the squirrel and landed on the branch of a Spruce Tree. Other squirrels in the area were sounding the alarm, but it was too late for their "friend"!

 Stories in the Snow!

Animals are good at staying hidden from humans but their tracks in the snow tell stories that we might not otherwise witness. Above, a busy runway for a mouse or small rodent!

Mouse tracks leading to a hole under a log. The tail drag is noticeable.

Wing prints in the snow at the edge of a rural property, tell the story of a bird hunting for food. Based upon the size of the wing prints, and the fact that we saw the bird earlier, we believe the prints were likely made by a Northern Shrike. Wing prints are visible on the left and right sides of the photo.

The next day, I found a set of wing prints in the snow in Canatara Park, which were made by a  much larger bird. (Remnant of the prey is in the top left corner)

A closer view of the prey remnant shows that squirrel was on the menu. Based upon the size of the wing print, I considered Great Horned Owl as a possible predator.

However, a nearby Red-tailed Hawk was the likely predator of the squirrel! I saw this hawk about 5 minutes before discovering the wing prints.

Squirrels are part time sleepers and are active during sunny days in the winter. Lots of holes dug into the snow layer were created by squirrels looking for nuts that they had buried in the fall.

A White-tailed Deer stepped into a Cross-country ski track.

Wild Turkey tracks!

The size and shape of this scat is diagnostic of an Eastern Cottontail.

A Raccoon spent the night in the rafters of a pavilion. When I first heard noises as we walked by, I assumed it was a squirrel. He ran away from us in the rafters and then returned to have a look. It was probably hoping for food.