Migration?!

This afternoon I feft like getting out for a drive, so I took a tour of a few county roads around Paris to see what I could turn up. It was a gorgeous day.. sunny and -5C... which felt nice after the cold week we’ve had here. 

Anyway long story short; there weren’t that many birds around. A flock of Snow Bunting and a few Red-tailed Hawks were some highlights. The bird of the day was Horned Lark though, I encountered 6 small groups on the gravel shoulders of the road, totaling 68 birds. 

Horrible Horned Lake digibin

Here in Ontario, Horned Larks are among the earliest migrants to arrive, with the first birds showing up in early February and numbers starting to swell near the end of the month/early March. Now yes, some do overwinter, but I’ve been driving around these roads since December and my highcount was 13 birds.... so I think it’s safe to call these migrants.

Not the most exciting thing ever.. but it lifted my spirits to see my first migrants of the year! spring is coming...

In other news I will be returning home to Bruce with my parents on the weekend, so I *should* be posting more as I\"ll be out birding again. For those wondering, my yearlist is at 80.. woot woot😅😳