April 11th
The day started off cold and overcast (1°C) and there weren't many birds around. The sun came out around 11am though and activity started to pick up soon after that. I went outside for a quick skywatch and saw the following;
- 1 Common Loon
- 26 Double-crested Cormorants
- 50 Turkey Vultures
- 1 Northern Harrier
- 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks
- 1 Cooper's Hawk
- 2 Northern Goshawks
- 17 Bald Eagles
- 1 American Kestral
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| - Northern Goshawk (this continues my pattern of bad gos pics) |
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| - Sharp-shinned Hawk |
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| - Double-crested Cormorant |
The wind shifted just after 1pm and it clouded over again, so that was it for hawkwatching. I did hear a Great Horned Owl in the evening, which was my first one in a few months.
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April 12th
Got up early to see if anything new was around, but didn't turn up anything besides a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Since I was already up, I decided to walk down the road to Kiah's Marsh to see if there were any new arrivals there. Again it quiet for birds, however I did have my first Greater Yellowlegs of the year fly over.
Mid-afternoon the wind shifted to the South, so I decided to skywatch for a bit. It turned out to be fairly decent and I ended up with 44 species for my effort. Not overwhelming numbers, but it was nice just to see migrating birds. Highlights below..
- 3 Tundra Swans
- 10 American Black Ducks
- 1 Pied-billed Grebe (yard FOY. Heard calling from Kiah's Marsh)
- 2 Sandhill Cranes
- 1 Killdeer
- 1 Common Loon
- 32 Turkey Vultures
- 4 Northern Harriers
- 4 Sharp-shinned Hawks
- 12 Bald Eagles
- 2 Red-tailed Hawks
- 2 Belted Kingfishers
- 2 American Kestrals
- 3 Merlins
- 2 Tree Swallows
- 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler
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| - Tundra Swans |
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| - Bald Eagle |
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| - Northern Harrier |
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| - TVs |
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| - American Kestral |
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| - Yellow-rumped Warbler |
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April 13th
A huge low pressure system swept through Ontario with winds up to 100 kph all day, so I was hoping some birds got blown up with the storm. I got up early and birded around the yard for a bit and while it was quieter than I had hoped, I did see some new migrants including; Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Fox Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow and White-throated Sparrow.
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| - Chipping Sparrow |
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| - Northern Flicker |
It rained on and off all day and the temperature slowly dropped, so birding wasn't very pleasant. I tried skywatching a few times, but didn't see much besides a Great Egret.
I added 7 species to my yard yearlist over the weekend, bringing me up to a mighty 77.
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That's it for now! This week looks like it'll be cold with N wind.. so I probably won't see many new birds.. Hopefully the weather improves soon!
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