Back to Cottage Country on Thursday

...but instead of looking in on the family cottage on the south side of Sturgeon Lake, John and I had the pleasure of spending the day with Dan on the north side, in fact northeast of Fenelon Falls. It was a  fabulous day, thanks to Dan's hospitality as he shared his local birding hotspots and expertise with us until almost 4:00 p.m.

Seven new species were added to my Winter List, beginning with several Evening Grosbeaks that were in a tree but eventually returned to feed on the ground under Dan's feeders:  

The bright yellow eyebrow and forehead of the male, seen at the right rear, is maintained year-round. The female's colours are more muted, as seen on the two birds on the left:

It was a delight to see so many of these beautiful birds again, as the only other time I had seen one for a split second was during the OFO Algonquin outing in April 2009, their presence in southern Ontario each year is determined by the seed crops: 

Another winter bird for me were Snow Buntings perched on a wire, as seen from Dan and Susan's kitchen window. Yesterday afternoon Dan counted ninety-eight of them on this same wire, yikes! Hope he knows where his power generator is!

He also had an amazing number of American Goldfinches at his feeder, including one that had an orange cast to it! I noticed that the dull winter plumage of these Goldfinches were brighter than the ones in my own backyard, so not sure what's up with that- as John suggested, maybe cleaner air up there?? We also saw both Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, Black-capped Chickadees, and Blue Jays. 

From there we bundled up again in our winter gear and departed for a neighbour of Dan's who maintains over thirty feeders on his property, you have to see it to believe it! Here are just a few for you to count:

And this fellow also puts them away each night, I don't envy him that task, let alone the cost of maintaining their seed supply, based on the high numbers of birds we saw there, including numerous American Goldfinches mixed in with yet more Evening Grosbeaks verging on becoming our Trash BOTD:

These Evening Grosbeaks were much more vocal than the ones at Dan's home, the only way I could describe their chatter was like "House Sparrows on steroids":

From here Dan took us to another private home where we saw Red-breasted Nuthatches and more Goldfinches and Chickadees, and next we stopped on the side of a country road where we added a Common Raven, a Northern Shrike, and a Mad Maxine fly-by in a pick-up truck. Dan and John are grateful below:

We made a quick pit-stop back at Dan's and then tried for but dipped on Ruffed Grouse at two more of his neighbours, then if memory serves me well- how am I doing, guys??? drove north on highway 35 to the east side Balsam Lake to look for Bald Eagles on the edge of the ice, to no avail.

Yet another private home that Dan steered us to in the Glenarm area narrowed my lead on John for our Winter Lists, I was thrilled for him no I wasn't  when he added a Red-bellied Woodpecker to his tally, appearing almost on command as we pulled into the driveway. En route a Red-tailed Hawk was seen perched in a tree and Wild Turkeys were in a field contemplating an escape route, especially with Christmas right around the bend.

We drove back through Fenelon Falls, and while I topped up my car with gas by the locks, Dan and John scoped out Cameron Lake for Mallards, a very black American Black Duck, Canada Geese, and best of all, an adult Bald Eagle off in the distance on the edge of the ice, whoohooo! It stayed put on the ice for a while, but eventually took flight, seriously spooking the geese, and flying directly over our heads, then over the falls (yes, there are falls in Fenelon Falls) and along the channel where we paddle our kayaks in the summer! I thanked both god and Dan, as John just stood there shaking his head at yet another episode of my temporary insanity. No photos, though  don't ask  

Now that Dan was in on my Dirty Little Secret re my addiction to Bald Eagles, he directed us to another spot where they were known to frequent, but no luck didn't matter, I'd already had my fix, so we returned to his place and called it a day. A wonderful day, full of Evening Grosbeaks and a Bald Eagle, my personal highlights. 

My sincere thanks go to Dan for taking the time out to show two total strangers his home turf, and hopefully we can return the favour sometime when he's in our neck of the woods.   

As for yesterday and today, I had to be content with some of the usual suspects from Thickson's Woods including a White-throated Sparrow that I paid off in birdseed to hide from John, heheh:

A male Northern Cardinal:

This afternoon on Hall's Road, one of two White-tailed Deer who were grazing in a field:

I also made a quick stop at Whitby Harbour to look for and dip on my male Harlequin Duck, despite reported sightings of him this morning. But we now await a major storm system to hit the area, so let's see if he sticks around or bails on us. Then again, let's see what new treats may arrive, too!

My Heartbreaker Harlie!

The Horvath's have already warned me to stop getting attached to this little Harlequin Duck in Whitby Harbour, but today's sunshine drew me back down to the pier, only to have him work his magic on me:

I think I'm beginning to see a teeny litttle smidge of chestnut colour on his side (you may want to double-click on the photo to enlarge it so you can see  that I'm not insane what I'm referring to, then hit the "back" button to return to the Blog)...

...as a comparison, here's what he'll eventually look like once he's all grown up, this spectacular Harlequin is from the Tsawwassen ferry terminal in B.C. back in May (one of my best unexpected birding days EVER!):

So now do you get it why I'm really hoping he stays put??

Here's my local sweetie again:

So let's see how long he stays in Durham Region before he ends up abandoning me us!



A Few New Winter Birds, plus a Correction

At Thickson's Woods this morning, I added two more species to my Winter List: a White-breasted Nuthatch and a female Red-bellied Woodpecker that was moving around from tree to tree. Her conspicuous "churr" calling made it easier to locate her:

This is yet another one of those nasty species whose descriptive name is a stretch to see when the bird is flitting around high up in a tree. One of my field guides indicates that the "faint wash of red on belly is rarely visible". That would be a yes, but in fact you can see the "red-belly" here:

But normally this is how we usually see them, no "red-belly" here!

  

Other than that it was quiet, and not even the huge raft of Greater Scaup from the past few days were out on the lake anymore!

A beautiful female Northern Cardinal stocked up on berries:

A male Downy Woodpecker frantically searched for insects:

As for yesterday's Harlequin Duck in Whitby, it turns out that "she" is in fact a "he", a first winter male to be specific. Many thanks to the Horvath's for helping me out with this, as I was puzzled by the amount of white on its face (the left side had more white on it than the right side). They tell me that if he continues his stay here, we may have the good fortune to watch him gradually change over to his stunning adult plumage, now wouldn't that be abfab??!! Fingers are crossed.

Here's are yesterday's photos again. This view shows a white line from the white patch over his eye starting to creep up over his crown...

...but is not so obvious on this side:

This view shows the start of a white breast side vertical bar. Huh. Not so easy, is it??!!

Here's a new photo which also shows the white side vertical bar:

Winter Nerding Kick-off!

...so here's the deal: I have gone so far over to The Dark Side that I'm now maintaining a winter bird list of any birds that I see in December, January, and February. This is what we do.

Yesterday's snow squalls have  driven me into hibernation mode put me into a marvellously festive mood, so much so that the extra hour it takes me to get bundled up in winter gear Ann: bite me! no longer upsets me. Even if it means I spend hours in the cold and wind to see nothing new, I'm just fine with that my meds have obviously kicked in, shhhhhh.

So to ensure my Winter List was ahead of Master John's heheh, I spent Saturday morning with the TOC at Humber Bay Park, and it was another great outing led by Dave Milsom. Here's a view of the city from the park:

The highlights from the morning included several Hooded Mergansers, Mute Swans, Gadwall, Mallards, a Song Sparrow, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, and Black-crowned Night-Herons flying overhead, here's just one of them:

As expected, Long-tailed Ducks were out on the lake, the female on the left is trying to keep up with the boys:

It almost looks like white icing has been drizzled along the backs of these males. I adore these birds, so expect lots more close-up photos of them think HOODED MERGANSER! over the next few months, consider yourself warned:

Here we all are under a bridge, at the foot of the Humber River, in fact Lakeshore Road, to get better views of whatever. We added a Belted Kingfisher to our list- make that winter List. Another Check, whoohooo! But this also proves, once again, that THIS IS WHAT WE DO.  

A beautiful Red-tailed Hawk flew overhead and checked us out as we returned to our cars:

The west side of Humber Bay Park saw extensive goober marks on my bins from the the dogs in the off-leash park Long-tailed Ducks, Greater Scaup, and Redhead:

At this point I decided to leave the group and hit the Leslie Street Spit as it had been almost eighteen months since my last visit there. Plus I was feeling pumped and energetic to add to my Winter List:

I was not disappointed: it was dead, dead, dead. What a total tragedy that I didn't run into Norm Murr, as I certainly would have done better than chickadees, and yup, more Long-tailed Ducks:

In the end I calculated that I probably walked at least ten kilometres, armed with sixty pounds of equipment, i.e. my scope, my camera, and my binos, to see virtually nothing:

This photo is included as proof that I WAS THERE, as well as to somehow justify schlepping all of my equipment that distance. Notice no birds whatsoever, despite Ian Cannell tempting me with owls and shrikes, grrrrr:

Another "I-was-there" shot of the cormorant trees:

Thank goodness I made it back to my car before they locked me in for the night!! I returned home to Whitby, stopping in at the harbour for the reported female Harlequin (another Dip for the day), only  to freeze what-was-left-of-my-butt off in the company of a Common Loon out on the lake, and a closer Red-breasted Merganser:

But that's ok, I was somewhat on my way with my Winter List, despite being crippled from walking so far with so much on my shoulders.

But things turned the corner on Sunday, Master John tossed me a bone e-mailed me with news of a reported King Eider off of Thickson's Point, amongst thousands of Greater Scaup. I was in, as Robert was out, so I braved the snow squalls and fortunately arrived in time to find Dan and Betsy still there to locate this first winter male for me. Alas, no photos as he was so far out, but he was identical to David Sibley's sketch on page 83. A Lifer, a Year Bird, and a Winter Bird to boot, my aches and pains from the day before began to heal! 

Today I returned to Thickson's Point at 9:00 a.m. but was unable to re-locate the King Eider, but scooted over to Whitby harbour once again in search of the female Harlequin Duck. Jim arrived shortly after I did, and sure enough, there she was, braving and coping with the elements much better than we were able to:

  

So my Winter List now stands at forty-three species, but no doubt Master John will kick my frozen butt soon enough!

  

Confessions of a Lazy Birder

Last week-end, on Sunday, November 28th, I tried once again, I really, really did, to be amazed by the wonders of Niagara gulls, but alas, they just don't rock my world.  Maybe that's why it's taken me almost a week to come clean and post my update on the trip. 

Jean: please forgive me! I truly salute you for your patience and tenacity in deciphering these nasty suckers as they congregate by the thousands at this time of year in the Niagara River Corridor:

See what I mean??

Yup, there's a really rare gull out there on the rocks, can you not see it?? As if.... 

 

In spite of my negative attitude, a good time was had by all, as members of both the Pickering and Durham Region Naturalists travelled to Niagara Falls for our annual gull outing! A Bald Eagle on the wing by the Burlington Skyway Bridge was an early treat for us on the drive down, as well as several Red-tailed Hawks perched in trees along the highway.

We began our day in the Dufferin Islands area and were immediately greeted by a Belted Kingfisher and Golden-crowned Kinglets by the parking lot: 

The waters and concrete barriers were carefully inspected for rare birds amongst the Herring and Ring-billed Gulls...

...and a Lesser Black-backed Gull was seen:

...as was a Great Black-backed Gull is anyone feeling my pain yet?:

I rejoiced when, amongst some beautiful Gadwall, several Hooded Mergansers were seen on our way back to our cars:

Our next stop was in the residential area of Chippawa for reliable feeder birds, including Black-capped Chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatches, and a Tufted Titmouse, secretly my non-gull target bird (and a year bird, no less!) for the day, whoohooo!!

From there we went to the "Engineerium" building and our best birds here, albeit far off in the distance grrrr, were Bonaparte's and Little Gulls, American Wigeons, Buffleheads, and Goldeneyes. Here's a group shot of the gang, we're all still smiling in fact we've all been blinded by the whiteness of so many gulls:

By now we had all heard the rumours of an unexpected roosting Eastern Screech Owl from the OFO gang, so we dashed off to the parking lot at the Whirlpool to see this red morph owl, a lifer for several of the group, what a thrill!

Our final stop in the Niagara area was at the Sir Adam Beck Overlook, adding an Iceland Gull to our day list, I challenge you to find it below- hah!

Look carefully, don't be discouraged...

...it's the one that's dead centre, what's wrong with you??

Is the juice worth the squeeze? I DON'T THINK SO, have I made my point??

We didn't bother to chase the reported California Gull up the road, instead opting to head home, stopping in at Gray's Road in Stoney Creek/Hamilton to see a female Surf Scoter, as well as White-winged Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, and Red-breasted Mergansers out on the lake at dusk.

Despite my snarkiness in this post, I did have a great time that day, and my species tally for the day was thirty-four, with the Tufted Titmouse and Eastern Screech Owl as my personal highlights.

As for gulls? I'm admittedly just too lazy to sift through them all! Tomorrow I'm back to my kind of birding, as I look forward to re-visiting the lakeshore at the west end of Toronto.