Yesterday I decided to join the Bruce Birding Club for an excursion around the southern part of the county. The weather didn't seem overly promising to me ~ light west wind with a temperature hovering around 0°C, but it called to be sunny for the majority of the day so I figured it would be an enjoyable day outside if nothing else (plus always fun hanging out with the club).
At our meeting spot in Southampton, a calling Merlin flew low overhead, a nice springy way to start the day. Now yes, some Merlins do winter in the county... but I don't know, this just felt like a newly arrived bird! Cannot explain.
The remainder of the day was spent working south along the Lake Huron shoreline, visiting Baie Du Dore, Kincardine Lagoons and a number of locations with feeders. Like I said it wasn't that warm ~ only 0°C... but I was pleasantly surprised with the number of migrants we saw! Highlights were;
- northbound Ring-billed Gulls (they leave Bruce all winter)
- a lone northbound American Robin
- Horned Larks and American Crows flying overhead at every location we visited
- numerous northbound Canada Geese. One flock I picked out flying at Baie Du Dore contained 5 Cackling Geese, a new bird for the yearlist.
It doesn't seem like a huge list, but spring was definitely in the air and it was a fun day to be out. Another highlight of the day was seeing two Eastern Screech-owls roosting in owl boxes. We also saw a Tufted Titmouse by Point Clark near the end of the day. Like Carolina Wren, titmouse was formally a rare bird in Bruce, but in recent years they have gained a foothold in the southern end of the county and are even breeding now!
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| - Eastern Screech-owl |
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| - Common Mergansers |
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| - Purple Finch |
This Pileated Woodpecker was at my feeder today, a bird I hardly ever get close views of
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| - Pileated Woodpecker |
Ontario yearlist @ March 3rd - 146
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