It's been awhile since I wrote about birding on the peninsula, so I'll add a few recent sightings.
Matt Parsons found a Harlequin Duck at the Lion's head Harbour in late December and I hadn't had a chance to chase it since I returned from visiting family in southern Ontario for the holidays. Erik was driving me home (after our Niagara trip the day before), so we made a quick "detour" to Lion's Head on the "way" back. The duck was just chilling with Common Goldeneyes in the harbour, so it was a pretty easy find.
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| Harlequin Duck |
When I arrived back at my house I was greeted by my overwintering flock of Purple Finches. These finches have been growing in numbers since early December and I can now see up to 75 during a walk around my property. Normally PUFI are an uncommon winter bird around my area, so having them so plentiful this winter is exciting.
A few days ago I went on a drive around South Bruce with my dad to try and find some new birds for the 2020 yearlist. First we went to MacGregor PP, where Andrew Keaveney had found an Eared Grebe during the Saugeen Shores CBC. After scanning the lake for a few minutes I spotted it diving on the other side of the inlet. It was too far away for good (even ok) pictures, but it was still a county lifer so I'll take it.
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| Eared Grebe "record shot" |
We then drove around the Paisley area looking for overwintering raptors, which turned out to be a good decision as we found a Golden Eagle and a dark morph Rough-legged Hawk. Golden Eagles have become regular winter residents in South Bruce in recent years, with 6-10ish birds hanging around from Decmember to April. The one we saw decided it was going to come closer for a picture, which was nice of it. While we were pulled over for the eagle I also saw a Northern Shrike beside the road.
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| Golden Eagle |
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| Golden Eagle |
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| Golden Eagle |
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Northern Shrike |
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| Rough-legged Hawk |
Bruce birding in the winter is pretty quiet most of the time and species lists won't be anywhere near those of more southern counties, however there are still some cool birds around if you spend time looking. In few weeks before things start to pick up, with Horned Lark being the first noticeable arrival in mid February.
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