Mostly River Stuff: 

 The U.S. Coast Guard headed into Lake Huron on Wednesday. Both Canada and the U.S. continue to monitor ice conditions on Lake Huron and the St. Clair River.

Long-tailed Ducks are amazing divers. They are able to dive as deep as 200 feet to forage for food. (Cornell Lab, All About Birds)

A dozen Long-tailed Ducks were hanging around in the river, 

just south of the Bridges. These two appear to be doing Duck Yoga!

A Common Golden-eye catching up with the rest of his flock.

A Mallard Drake and Hen resting at the edge of the busy river.

Bottoms Up! Mute Swan searching for food: All Mute Swans in North America descended from swans imported from Europe from the mid 1800's through early 1900's. Mute swans have enormous appetites. A Maryland study found they ate up to 8 pounds a day of submerged aquatic vegetation, removing food and habitat for other species faster than the grasses could recover. (Cornell Lab, All About Birds)

A pair of Northern Pintail Ducks were found in the Suncor Trail reservoir. Northern Pintails migrate during the night at speeds around 48 mph. The longest nonstop flight recorded was 1,800 miles! (Cornell Lab, All About Birds)

Spring is just around the corner! The Sap was flowing this week!

And...Deryl found a Red-winged Blackbird on Friday!

A definite sign of spring!!

 Some Recent Winter Things:

A walk along Blackwell Trails on a "blue sky" day provided a view of a small group of Cedar Waxwings. The tip of the tail is normally yellow but this tail is tinged with orange. The orange colour is the result of a red pigment picked up from the berries of an introduced species of honeysuckle. If a waxwing eats enough of the berries while it is growing a tail feather, the tip of the feather will be orange. (Cornell Lab, All About Birds.)

The difference in tail colour is evident between these two Cedar Waxwings.

Early one morning, we saw a large flock of Canada Geese resting on the pond ice.

Many gulls can be found at the Point Edward Lighthouse. Binoculars are needed to see many of the birds, but this Glaucous Gull flew right over my head!

"Blue" Ice at the mouth of the St. Clair River.

Deryl captured this photo of a Lapland Longspur on a recent county tour. In the winter we find them mingling with flocks of Horned Larks and Snow Buntings. Lapland Longspurs breed in tundra habitats across the arctic. The name "longspur" refers to its unusually long hind claw. (Cornell Lab, All About Birds)

 Canatara Park and Suncor Trail:

On one of the colder afternoons this week, I found a cute Golden-crowned Kinglet busily looking for food. I hope he found enough to stay warm through the night as adults only weigh 5.5 grams! Surprisingly, these tiny birds are able to tolerate night time temperatures of -40 degrees. (Cornel Lab, All About Birds) If you look closely at the bottom picture, there appears to be an insect on the tip of his tongue. 

We found the Wood Duck Drake again. This time he was out of the water, eating plant seeds. He jumped to reach them but I wasn't able to capture the mid-air bird. In the bottom photo, the snow is flying after his webbed feet made contact with the ground.

My favourite wren, the Carolina Wren, popped up in front of me on a Canatara trail. Although they are often very noisy, I didn't hear a peep out of him.

A Red-tailed Hawk sat in a tree keeping an eye on the skaters on Lake Chipican.

 Duck Traffic Jam!

During a driving tour down the St. Clair River on the weekend, many ducks were gathered in the open water near Guthrie Park in an apparent traffic jam. Redheads, Canvasback and Goldeneye were the most abundant species.

Perhaps this sign was the reason for their confusion in the water?

 Some Common Goldeneyes avoided 

the duck congestion by taking flight.

Canvasback Ducks splash landing in the river.

Further inland, a Great Blue Heron was spotted near a ditch of open water.

I always admire Jack Frost's tree and plant artistry! 

It was plentiful on Sunday morning!

 Cedar Waxwings in February:

Despite the dark skies and snow flurries, the yellow on this pair of Cedar Waxwings appears to glow. Although the Multifora Rose is invasive, the waxwings enjoyed feasting on the Rose Hips.

Today we returned to see the waxwings eating Highbush Cranberries. This berry is often a last resort for birds as they have a sour taste. I recall many years ago stringing popcorn and Highbush cranberries. It wasn't long before an unpleasant odour filled the room and I learned to never do that again!

The Common Goldeneye on the right, is performing a courtship display. In winter and early spring, male Common Goldeneyes perform a complex series of courtship displays that includes up to 14 moves with names like "masthead", "bowsprit" and "head throw kick" in which the male bends his head back to touch his rump, then thrusts forward and kicks up water with his feet. (Cornell Lab, All About Birds). I guess he was practicing for the next time they meet up with the ladies!

There were at least a dozen Great Black-backed Gulls near the grain elevators.

At the end of January, I found an Iceland Gull (Thayers subspecies).The bird above is also a young Iceland Gull (Kumlieni subspecies). The Iceland Gull has been a headache for taxonomists. It is divided into 3 subspecies. The main difference between the Kumlien's and Thayer's subspecies lies in how dark the wingtips are in the adults. (Cornell Lab, All About Birds)

An individual Ruddy Duck had been reported down river and when we went looking, we managed to find two! I wonder if they are a mated pair?  Ruddy Ducks get harassed by both Horned and Pied-billed Grebes during nesting time. The grebes sometimes attack Ruddy Ducks from below the water, a behaviour known as "submarining"! (Cornel Lab, All About Birds)

Looking towards Lake Huron from Canatara Beach - No Birds visible out there!!

Happy Valentine's Day! Cupid decorated a few of the Canatara Trails on Friday.

Mid-Week, Brrr!

 Many birds visit our backyard feeder looking for food energy to stay warm. 

The Northern Cardinal is one of the last birds we see before night falls.

An inverted White-breasted Nuthatch checking out the menu!

A Pine Siskin has been a regular visitor to our platform feeder.

A row of Cedar trees sheltered many bird species, but House 

Sparrows were the only ones who would pose for the camera.

While checking out the river ice, a Long-tailed Duck came in for a landing.

A White-breasted Nuthatch snagged a spider that was hidden 

behind a piece of bark. While I watched, he ate a second spider! 

Digesting his meal!

 Superb Owl Sunday!

Just in time for Superb Owl Sunday, we unexpectedly found a Long-eared Owl sunning on a very, very cold day! I think this is the best view I have ever had of this well camouflaged species.

The drain at the Suncor Nature Way provided shelter for 2 new species for this year's bird list. Above is an American Wigeon. These ducks are also known as "Baldpates" because the white stripe resembles a bald man's head. (Cornell Lab, All About Birds)

We made a few visits to the Suncor Trail before finding this male Wood Duck. Hard to imagine that something so colourful can hide so well!

Seeing this Glaucous Gull is almost as hard as finding a Polar Bear in a snow storm! Although they have a shorter wing span than the Great Black-backed Gull (mentioned in a recent post), they are probably the heaviest gull in the world, weighing over 5 pounds. (Cornel Lab, All About Birds)

We were pleased to find a Horned Lark "willing" to have his picture taken from the side of the road. His "horns" are even visible.

We found a flock of exactly 460 Common Redpolls.

How do I know there were 460?...Because Deryl counted each and every one of them!