Happy New Year!

A New Year means a new bird list and we have had a good start to 2023!

A Harris's Sparrow was first discovered in late November in North Lambton. It is a mid-western bird that is rare for our area. Luckily it stayed over the New Year and we can also count it on our 2023 bird list! The Harris's Sparrow is the only North American songbird that breeds in Canada and nowhere else in the world! They will return to breed in the tundra when it's still pretty cold and not many insects are active. With fewer insects available, they will eat crowberries which are not as protein rich as insects. Researches calculated that an egg-laying female needs to eat 675 crowberries daily to meet her energy needs!

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

White-crowned Sparrows were hanging out with the Harris's Sparrow. An adult male is in the centre of the photo and either a female or immature male is in the foreground.

While in North Lambton, we paid a visit to Pinery Provincial Park where the birds were happy to see us, including this Tufted Titmouse. 

A Red-breasted Nuthatch made an appearance. 

A small flock of Cedar Waxwings "drank" melted snow. With today's rains there should be lots of puddles for fresh water access. We didn't find any Bohemian Waxwings on the visit.

A White-breasted Nuthatch was eager to snatch seeds from our hands.

Our daughter was available to join us on this trip. She had 3 Black-capped Chickadees land on her outstretched hand at the same time!