Yard Birding - March 8th & 9th

 

 The past two days I've been catching up on some work at home, but since the weather was nice I spent a few hours skywatching. Both days were sunny with wind out of the west/southwest, but the temperature was hovering just around 0°C... making it feel very much like early March. Hawkwatching this time of year isn't exactly the most exciting... But after a long winter with no migration anything is welcome :)

March 8th

I spent a few hours out in the yard in the afternoon, and while it was pretty quiet overall I did have a few migrants.

- 85 Common Redpolls

- 1 Hoary Redpoll that flew over with a group of commons

- 3 Bald Eagles

So, yeah! Not the most exciting day ever : )

March 9th

The morning started off overcast and damp, but it cleared up around noon so I spent a few hours up the tower for a skywatch. The temperature peaked at 3 degrees, which along with the strong southwest wind didn't make it feel overly warm... But I don't know, something about it just felt like spring! I ended up seeing 18 species, my highest yard tally this year for sure. The highlights were;

- The first migrant flock of Canada Geese that I've had in the yard this year

- Northbound Horned Larks and Ring-billed Gulls

- 9 Bald Eagles

- 1 gorgeous sub-adult Golden Eagle

- 6 White-winged Crossbills

- Ring-billed Gull

- Bald Eagle

- Golden Eagle

- Golden Eagle

- Baldy

- Another

- Two together

- White-winged Crossbill

Another highlight from the tower was this Short-tailed Weasel that I spotted running across the yard. It stuck around for a few minutes hunting and checking out the vehicles. I only see a few of these cool little mammals a year, so this was a welcome sight.

- Short-tailed Weasel

 

- Hello there

- Vroom...

The biggest highlight of the day wasn't in the yard though. I was taking my dog for a walk down the road, when something burst out of the snow in the ditch. This is an area where I frequently encounter Ruffed Grouse, so that was what I was expecting it to be. But then why did it disappear in a big puff of feathers? Well I was partly right, it WAS a Ruffed Grouse, or at least it used to be. The grouse hadn't had a good day it seemed, because it was being carried off by an adult Northern Goshawk! Evidentially the goshawk had recently killed the grouse and was just starting to chow down when I flushed it up. The views were quite brief as it disappeared into the forest, nonetheless it was a very cool experience... and also a yearbird for me.

Ontario yearlist @ March 9th - 152