This post is coming a bit late, but better late than never right??
November 26th started out like many late November days, damp and overcast with light rain. Normally I wouldn't be too motivated to go birding in this weather, but a Gyrfalcon had been found in North Bruce the day before so obviously I had to go looking.
Anyway at 7am I left my place and headed north on Highway 6, aiming to be at the said location around "sunrise". The rain had stopped, but the fog was quite intense on the way up, which didn't bode well for scanning distant fields with my scope..
The visibility had improved marginally by the time I arrived, but it was still quite poor. I started out by driving the concessions near where the bird was first seen, stopping occasionally to scan the fence posts.. which produced nothing besides a Rough-legged Hawk.
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| Rough-legged Hawk |
Another half hour passed and a few cars of birders from South Bruce arrived to join in the search . I stopped to talk with them (I've found that most birders are quite chatty, maybe more so since the pandemic began) and we had just started discussing how to best search the area when BAM ~ I scanned over an adjacent field and spotted the Gyr barreling in! Everyone was able to get on it as it circled the field a few times, before eventually landing on a post. The views were actually quite good through my scope, but getting photos was almost out of the question. I decided to take a video with my camera... which turned out basically how I expected a handheld video with a 500mm lens would.. but I'll share it anyway.
Gyrfalcon was a lifer for the south Brucers, so the group was thrilled to get the bird almost as soon as they arrived. These faclons of the high arctic are notoriously hard to chase, as they are fast fliers and rarely remain in the same location for long.
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| - Foggy Falcon |
Next our small convoy headed to a neaby field where Short-eared Owls had been seen the previous day. The visibility was starting to decrease, so we were lucky to see one fly up from right beside the road. The owl flew alongside us for a brief moment, then disappeared into the fog. I was a bit slow with my camera response time, so these are the best shots I able to get.
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| - Short-eared Owl |
I rarely see Short-ears in Bruce, so this was a nice treat.
Our group then went our separate ways, target birds out of the way. I headed to the Lion's Head Harbour with James Turland and Becky Grieveson (no birds of note), then headed down the coast towards Wiarton. Bluewater park was my first stop, as it often has decent congregations of waterfowl and gulls. The gulls & waterbirds were a no show however.. the only things around were Mallards and a lone Common Loon.
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| - Common Loon |
Next I headed on to the Wiarton Sewage Lagoons. Unlike the park, the lagoons were bursting with waterfowl; close to 200 Bufflehad, 50 Common Goldeneye, as well as a few scaup and Long-tailed ducks. As I was scanning the 2nd cell a small gray bird that was swimming in the middle the water caught my eye ~ a Red Phalarope! Luckily James and Becky had decided to follow me to the lagoons and were able to see this bird too.
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| - Red Phalarope and Long-tailed Ducks |
It was mid afternoon and the rain had started, so I decided to call it a day and head home. Definitely one of my most productive November days on the Bruce. Gyrfalcon, Short-eared Owl and Red Phalarope.. not a bad set..
*scroll down for quiz answers*
WARNING SPOLIERS AHEAD
#1 - adult Iceland Gull (Kumlien's ssp)
#2 - 1st cycle Black-legged Kittiwake
#3 - adult Glaucous Gull
#4 - adult Great Black-backed Gull (rare yellow legged variant)
#5 - 2nd cycle Ring-billed Gull
#6 - 1st cycle Herring Gull
#7 - 1st cycle Black-legged Kittiwake
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