For birders like myself, those who live for those action packed days of migration, February can be a long and rather depressing month. When snow settles over the landscape in late November (or December in some years), it is a welcome sight and is a harbinger of a new season. The first Snowy Owls of the winter begin to arrive in numbers in Southern Ontario around this time, along with other sought after birds like Northern Shrike, Rough-legged Hawk and Snow Bunting. These species, along with the "winter finches", waterfowl, lingering fall migrants and the beginning of Christmas Bird Count season, make December an enjoyable month for birding. Sure, some people may not enjoy the cold and the overall lack of birds, but in southern Ontario at least it's not too bad.
When the clock strikes twelve at midnight on New Year's Eve it signals the beginning of a new calendar year, meaning the annual species list kept by a lot of birders resets to 0. For list crazed humans such as myself, this makes the first few days of the year quite exciting, as I race around trying to see all common birds and rack up a good January list (normally just in Bruce County, a much easier endeavor). This yearlisting, coupled with the fact that winter is still a rather new and novel thing at this point, make it a bearable, albeit cold and dark month. By the end of January the possible new birds are exhausted and this is often the time when we experience the coldest days of the year. If this were it for winter, and March was the next month, it would certainly help.
If you were to rely on a calendar for your information, it would tell you that February is the shortest month of the year with 28 days. I don't believe this however, as to me it seems like the longest month, with a seemingly infinite number of days. Most of the rare birds that have lingered since the fall have either left or perished, and the majority of the other interesting winter birds to be found in the winter were discovered back in January. I'll start reading blogs about spring migration this time of year, with photos of colorful warblers, tanagers and other eye searing species. I do this as a way to fill the birdless void of February, which in my mind is enough to drive a serious birder up the wall.
Migration begins in mid February in my area, sort of, with the arrival of Horned Larks along the shoulders of county roads. They show up gradually though, one day there will be two flushing off the road as I drive by and a few days later there will be a dozen. These small arrivals are imperceptible at first, as small numbers of Horned Larks spend the whole winter here. Unless you are really paying attention, it's easy to miss these new arrivals and shrug them off as wintering birds. It's false hope in a way, this mid February trickle of migration, as you think other spring birds can't be far behind. Then another winter storm hits, and convinces you that Ontario will forever be like the icy planet of Hoth. I am doubtful that it's the case elsewhere, where the species is common throughout the winter, but for me crows are always one of my first signs of spring. On the peninsula crows are uncommon in the winter outside of a few locations, with most migrating south in late fall. Around mid February they begin to appear in the sky, silent flocks in long straggling lines, flying north with a purpose. Sure, it may not be the more exciting spring migrant, but it lifts my spirits seeing them as the represent migration. It's just something, along with the lengthening days that convinces you that the seasons are still moving. Then in late February the first warm fronts of the year may bring Northern Pintails and Red-winged Blackbirds in small numbers, although most of these birds will retreat south again if the weather turns.
There was a large warm front that swept over the Great Lakes region yesterday, the first major storm of February, bringing strong south winds, 8 degree temperatures and rain. It was the foolish hope of spring mainly, that enticed me to drive down to Southampton yesterday morning and join the Bruce Birding Club for an outing around the area. I'm not really sure what I was hoping for, the outside chance of a Northern Pintail, more Horned Larks and American Crows? Nothing I could expect would be new for the big year, but I just needed something, anything to show me that spring was on the way. Plus I hadn't seen the birding club folks this year, so I figured it would be a good chance to catch up with them.
The morning was spent driving around the countryside around Southampton, scanning fields for hawks, gulls and turkeys and checking a few bird feeders for the usual suspects. We drove by MacGregor Point Provincial Park, where the Huron Fringe Birding Festival will be playing out in a few months. A Pileated Woodpecker flew over the cars, but otherwise it was a seemingly empty forest. Overall was a very damp and windy morning, which quite easily could have passed as late March. The sun remained hidden behind a layer of thin, dark clouds which seemed like they could begin raining at any point (luckily it held off). The birds were few and far between, although there were some groups of crows winging their way north. Part way through the morning I got a text from Richard Poort, which contained an eBird checklist from Simcoe County. The list was from someone's yard the previous day, and on it was a photo of a Northern Mockingbird... except it wasn't a mockingbird, it was a Townsend's Solitaire! I quickly messaged a few birders I know in the area to see if anyone could investigate, and luckily one of them (Anthony Glenesk) was only 5 minutes away from the location. He messaged me soon after and said that yes, the bird was still there and the homeowner was allowing birders. I bid farewell to the club, turned my car eastward and began the three hour drive towards Coldwater. My mom, who had come with me for the birding club outing and was probably beginning to regret that choice, was stuck in the car for the chase. This is the risk one takes by getting in a car with a big year birder :)
It was a pleasant, sunny drive, though I just B lined it there and didn't do any birding along the way. We arrived at the dead end, just after 2pm to find a small group of birders standing in a driveway beside the road. Anthony, who had been there for a few hours, informed me that the solitaire was periodically visiting the small berry trees that stood beside the house. 20 minutes later a grey songbird flew in and landed, solitaire check. It only remained long enough to gulp down a few berries before disappearing back into the forest.
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| - Townsend's Solitaire |
This is a code 3 species, and even though they show up annually in the province, it can be a tough bird to track down. There are decent odds that one will show up and be chaseable in the fall, however its risky leaving it until then. Two solitaires have been seen sporadically around Thunder Bay this year, unfortunately disappearing during the time when I was up in that area during January. I was tempted to drive up for it with Ezra in the near future, however the 16+ hour drive and high gas prices were not too enticing. This was a rather unexpected addition yesterday.
This Saturday I am leaving for Timmins with Ezra and Nathan, where we are meeting up with Jeff Skevington and two other cars of Guelph folks for some northern birding. We will bird Hillardton Marsh on Saturday in search of Hoary Redpoll and Great Grey Owl, then spend the night in Timmins, where we will be birding the following day. Monday and Tuesday will be spent around Cochrane in search of numerous other targets including American Three-toed Woodpecker and Sharp-tailed Grouse. After that we will begin the adventurous/crazy part of the trip... As we will be spending a few days driving the Weetum winter road past Moosenee in search of Willow Ptarmigans. This is a bit of a long shot, but we will see what happens! As far as big year targets go, I'll list them below
Main Targets
- Great Grey Owl
- American Three-toed Woodpecker
- Hoary Redpoll
- Spruce Grouse
- Sharp-tailed Grouse
- Boreal Chickadee
- Willow Ptarmigan
There are a few other possible new birds... with the most likely being Northern Goshawk, but I will have plenty of chances for this bird later in the year.
I'll end the post with a photo of a Ruffed Grouse I took a few days ago
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| - Ruffed Grouse |
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