Lots of Things With Wings!

Just like a scene out of Alfred Hitchcock's, "The Birds", Deryl found an estimated 20,000 Blackbirds south of Wallaceburg. The majority of the birds were Common Grackles. In winter, Common Grackles forage and roost in large communal flocks with several different species of blackbirds. Sometimes these flocks can number in the millions!

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

As Deryl continues his "Big Green Birding Year", he cycled approximately 120km one day and photographed a Sandhill Crane hunting for food at Kettle Point.

As many as 30 Horned Grebes have been fishing off Canatara Beach in Lake Huron. Sometimes they come surprisingly close to shore where Deryl was able to photograph this one.

A Merlin landed in the tree above me while I was standing on the west end of Canatara Beach. Merlins are falcons and are slightly larger than American Kestrels. Merlins are fierce, energetic predators that patrol shorelines and open areas looking for small birds and sometimes dragonflies.  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/merlin/id

Based upon the amount of whitewash we found on the edge of our backyard waterfall, we think we may have had a Great Horned Owl as an overnight visitor!