Since my last post spring migration has progressed noticeably in Bruce County, with many species Heading North.
On March 24th I had a productive trip in South Bruce, seeing many new migrants. The best stop by far was the Kincardine Sewage Lagoons, where highlights were Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon and 5 species of geese (Ross's, Snow, Canada, Cackling and Greater White-fronted). Ross's Geese are pretty uncommon in Bruce county (and all of Southern Ontario), with only 5 records on eBird. I took a digiscoped photo of the Snow and Ross's Geese, unfortunately they were distant and the picture didn't turn out very good.
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| - American Wigeon and Nortern Shovelers |
- Green-winged Teal
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| - Ross's Goose (right) and Snow Goose (left) |
While at the Kincardine lagoons I also saw Eastern Meadowlarks, Turkey Vultures and a Red-shouldered Hawk.
- Red-shouldered Hawk
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| - (left to right) Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Red-winged Blackbird |
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| - Fox Sparrow |
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| - Sandhill Cranes |
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| - Sandhill Cranes |
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| - Double-crested Cormorant |
Large groups of Ring-necked Ducks, scaup, Mallards, Green-winged Teal and Tundra Swans are currently passing over my area as waterfowl migration nears it's peak.
- Ring-necked Ducks (left) Hooded Mergansers (right)
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| - Ring-necked Ducks |
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| - Tundra Swans |
Some winter birds are still in the area, including Snow Buntings, Common Redpolls and Bohemian Waxwings. I have had a flock of 30 Common Redpolls in my yard for the last week, giving me some chances to photograph them.
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| - Common Redpoll |
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| - Common Redpoll |
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| - Common redpoll |
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| - Bohemian Waxwings |
I have done a few hawkwatches in my yard over the last 2 weeks and have had a number of pretty exciting observations.
I've combined my raptor observations from the last 2 weeks below.
- 36 Turkey Vultures
- 46 Bald Eagles
- 1 Golden Eagle
- 3 Rough-legged Hawks
- 16 Red-tailed Hawks
- 2 Red-shouldered Hawks
- 3 Northern Harriers
- 1 Northern Goshawk (not in my yard, but on my road)
- 3 American Kestrals
- 1 Merlin
- 1 *Gyrfalcon*
The Gyrfalcon was the highlight raptor, it is a very rare for the area and was completley unexpected. It had been raining for most of the day on April 2nd and the only bird that I noticed fly over was a Turkey Vulture, so I was surprised when I saw a large falcon above my house. I was standing on my porch and as soon as I saw the bird fly over I ran inside to get my camera, but was in such a hurry on the way out that I didn't put my boots on. This resulted in me almost faceplanting in mud, then having to stand in a snowbank in my socks to get a photo of the falcon😅. My pictures are overexposed because I didn't have time to change my settings, but I am just happy that I got photos.
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| - Gyrfalcon |
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| - Gyrfalcon |
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| - Gyrfalcon |
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| - Bald Eagles |
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| - Bald Eagles |
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| - Bald eagles |
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| - Red-tailed Hawk |
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| - Merlin |
The weather forecast looks promising for the next week, with tempatures over 10°C. Some migrants I'm expecting back this week are Tree Swallow, Yellow-rumped Warbler and Eastern Pheobe. Exciting time of year for sure!
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