County Tour

On a recent county drive, a road kill was found that had attracted a Bald Eagle. Although fish is a main diet staple for the species, they are scavengers and will eat most any available food. In this case, raccoon was on the menu!

While visiting Henderson Conservation Area, I had my first good look at 2 Pine Siskins this calendar year. I have heard them flying over but looks have been brief. They were busily eating White Cedar Cone seeds.

2 Song Sparrows feasted on seeds from plants in a marshy area.

Cattails provide shelter and food for lots of critters.

I had heard that a Belted Kingfisher was staying at Henderson C.A. this winter. (Very unusual, especially in this cold winter.) While standing at an open water patch, the Kingfisher flew in, circled and then left when he saw us standing near his fishing hole.

Snowy log, potentially providing shelter for small rodents.

Back to the River!

The St. Clair River hosts the largest concentrations of birds locally. A female Common Merganser was found “surfing” in the waves.

Double-crested Cormorant surrounded by steam in Talfourd Creek.

Iceland Gull flying overhead.

Iridescent colours on the head of this male Bufflehead are visible in the bright sunshine.

A Bufflehead dive is reflected in the calm water of the St. Clair River.

Common Merganser male in flight over St. Clair River ice.

A Canvasback Duck is dwarfed by a pair of Trumpeter Swans which are North America’s largest native waterfowl.

Behind the Trumpeter Swan is a row of 4 Ring-necked Ducks. I always think these ducks were misnamed because the ring around their bill is much more noticeable than the ring around the neck.

On Valentines Day, Mother Nature created a stack of 3 Hearts in lower Lake Huron. 

 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"!