Waterfowl Festival at Presqu'ile

March 19th and 20th marked the annual Presqu'ile Provincial Park Waterfowl Festival, the second one that I've had the pleasure of volunteering at.  Unlike last year, this year it was incredibly warm and lacked the vast amount of ice usually at Presqu'ile this time of year. 

Since the entire bay and lake was open water, ducks were not in as concentrated numbers as people were used to seeing the last few years.  Mind you, it didn't mean that they weren't there; they were just not concentrated into tiny patches of open water as usual.

A group of my labmates and I were stationed at Calf Pasture where there was a fairly close group of Lon-tailed Ducks to look at.  Once in a while a Goldeneye or Bufflehead would join the mix, but usually they would fly off just as quickly as they arrived.  It was really nice to be able to give many visitors, young and old, a look at these beautiful ducks before they start to head north again for the summer.  In the far (and I mean far!) distance we could spot some Scaup, Redheads, Canvasback, and a few American Widgeon.  Quite a few times throughout the day boaters would scare all the ducks up creating amazing flying clouds to look at.  It was always fun when this would happen since most people wouldn't believe us when we said there were thousands of ducks out on the lake!

Once the day ended we spend a bit of time birding in the marsh and other nearby areas at Presqu'ile.  I saw my very first Golden-crowned Kinglet of the year and also a Pied-billed Grebe out in the marsh!  Song sparrows all over were also in full singing mode.

Also floating around in the marsh were Mute Swans (what a surprise!) and a few Buffleheads!

April is just a few hours away now and I couldn't be more excited!  Take advantage of all the amazing bird festivals and outings that will be going on in your local areas...there will be plenty to see!

Fishing on Simcoe

The other weekend Mike and I took off to Lake Simcoe to get in a little bit of ice fishing while the season was still "somewhat" on!   With all the warm weather this winter we were a little worried that we wouldn't be able to get out at all.  Really sketchy ice conditions have left us with limited days where it was safe to walk on ice.  By the time we decided to head out, temperatures had been in the negative digits for only a couple of days, this this was enough to thicken the ice and allow for safe (ish) walking!

We ended up walking out from Sibbald's Point Provincial Park.  The original location we had wanted to try had warmed up enough over night that there was a large hole in the ice, stranding some of the huts.  This didn't make us feel too, too safe, however once we arrived at Sibbald's, the ice was perfectly safe for us to walk out on and the ice, once drilled, we saw was about a foot thick.

It was so much fun getting out and getting some fresh air.  Spending a day with my eyes away from the computer was a nice relaxer to the otherwise usually strained vision. There is definitely something about sitting out on the middle of a lake, in the middle of winter that is just so much fun! 

The water was so clear that we were able to see right through to the bottom of the lake. While the fishing was fun, I had almost as good of a time just sitting on the ice and watching the fish swim underneath me, trying to figure out where they were going, and the guessing game of whose hook they would bite. After a full day of fishing, we ended up with about 13 Perch, including a number of them that were jumbo!  

It was such a great day out and I really wish that winter wasn't already coming to a close.  In fact, I wish that we even had a winter! As people who love to ice fish, we were truly spoiled last winter with the amazing deep freeze that we had.  With that said, I am still so excited that the spring is coming, opening the windows once again, and feeling that amazing sunshine.  Oh, and seeing some birds too!  

Sneaking around Shrewsbury

This is quite a late blog post, but it's better late than never!

About two weeks ago now, I went on a little road trip to Shrewsbury, Ontario, while I was at home in Chatham for reading week.   I met up with an old high-school friend, Sean Tilden (Photography Website).  I had heard on ebird about a bundle of Snow Geese, Tundra Swans, and diving ducks in the area and figured it would be an awesome break from some work.

We started out by heading to the Shewsbury waterfront/boat launch.  There was a tiny opening in the ice where hundreds of Tundra Swans, Canada Geese, and Redheads were.  We could spot a few Canvasback ducks too, however anything else was lost in our binocular vision.  I definitely need a scope!  Eating something on the ice was also a Bald Eagle, and we also spotted a Northern Harrier flying above.

We then picked up from this area and drove around nearby cornfields to try and spot the Snow Geese that had been reported earlier.  We eventually located a flock of nearly 400-500 Canada Geese and within them we could see a few Snow Geese, but not nearly the hundreds of them that were reported earlier!  With a scope we may have been able to spot the Ross's Geese that had also been reported or the Greater White-fronted Geese that were reported shortly after we were there. 

Just around the corner from the geese we stopped to watch and take some photos of Snow Buntings and Horned Larks.  These are probably two of my favourite winter birds, so camouflaged and yet so colourful against the snow.  I would love one day to be able to band one!

Horned Lark

Snow Bunting

Just as we were getting ready to leave, we noticed a really dark Snow Bunting fly by and land.  of course, it was not a Snow Bunting, but nothing other than a Lapland Longspur!  It was bird lifer #236 for me!  How adorable are they!  For the rest of the drive I suddenly started noticing more and more of them throughout the area.  It is always funny how after you see something for the first time, suddenly you see them everywhere!  If you are out for a drive and see a flock of Snow Buntings, look for ones that seem just a shade or two darker.  If you look closely with binoculars you will be able to see the darker-rusty colouring, less white on the underside, and a yellowish eye stripe (starts at the brow and curves around to the neck).  They look so beautiful on the wintering grounds, I couldn't even imagine how they would look in their breeding plumage!

Lapland Longspur

We then went to try and spot some Short-eared Owls (with no luck!), but we did get to see a Sharp-shinned Hawk who had recently eaten a Junco! It's always a little fun when you find a bunch of feathers and a predator, and you try and figure out what they had just eaten.  It's very CSI like! 

 We then continued on our way to the Erieau Marina where we were greeted by quite a number of ducks, gulls, swans, and coots!!  Coots have always been one of my favourite birds since I've seen them, just the look of them is so goofy and confusing.  Are they ducks...or are they shorebirds?  What is with that bill!?    We were lucky enough to see about 30-40 of these birds slip and sliding around on the ice.

A final "rarity" that we were able to spot was a Great Black-backed Gull! This beauty was flying around the harbour and generally sitting with a group of Herring Gulls.  

Hope everyone is having a great first day of March!

Happy World Wetland Day!

Wetlands; a favourite habitat for many birders, hikers, conservationists and hunters, and yet many others likely have never seen or possibly even heard of one.

Had I been asked back in early highschool what a wetland was, I likely would have fallen into the last category. I am going to guess that my answer would have sounded something like: "Uhm...an area of land that...is wet? Oh, and probably has a lot of bugs." In fact, growing up in Chatham-Kent, I was surrounded by some of the most well known and productive wetlands in southern Ontario, and yet I didn't even know they existed.  Little did I know a few years down the road I'd be back in the area and working in them.

Big Creek NWA Wetland

Now, while that is technically not wrong, it really doesn't encompass all that wetlands are. It wasn't until taking courses in my undergrad, going on field trips to various wetlands, and working at two major southern Ontario wetlands, that I really understood them and loved them.

Just as the boreal forest can be represented as the lungs of the world, wetlands can be represented as the kidney or digestive tract.  While those do not sound like the most pleasant, both are dire to our survival.

St. Clair National Wildlife Area, Chatham-Kent

Coming from Chatham-Kent, it is hard to imagine that at one time, much of this land was tall grass prairie and wetland.  In fact, according to Ducks Unlimited Canada, wetlands once covered 56.4% of the county area. With the rise of agriculture, most of this area was drained to make way for fields and crops. While necessary to grow food for an ever growing population, it really leaves a void for other ecological needs. Today wetlands are making a bit of a comeback! Ducks unlimited and other hunting-conservation organizations are placing so much effort into restoring these ecosystems, and townships are even incorporating wetlands into sewage treatment plants as we are only now realizing how amazing they are at cleaning our waste water. 

Marshy edges to this sewage lagoon in Lakefield, Ontario. 

Best of all, it's creating habitat for the many creatures that call wetlands home. Year round, wetlands are called home by a variety of birds, mammals, herptiles, insects and plants, many of which are species at risk. Winter time, wetlands are a great place to practice your mammal tracking, spot some wintering waterfowl, and take in some amazing sunsets. 

Great Blue Heron at Mississippi Lake NWA

Bufflehead and Ring-necked Duck at St. Clair CWA

American Tree Sparrow at St. Clair NWA

Scouting for birds at Lakefield Marshes

In wetlands, my personal favourite time of year is in the early spring; it's when I believe the true magic of wetlands happens. I experienced this magic a few times while at St. Clair National Wildlife Area and Rondeau Provincial Park; the magic of migration.  Every year swans, geese, and ducks funnel into these wetlands for shelter and fuel.  If you are able to pin point the right day, you can sit and look at the sky to see clouds, not those big fluffy white clouds, but clouds of birds. It is a magnificent sight. 

Tundra Swans nearby St. Clair NWA

No words can really describe how amazing it is to see thousands upon thousands of ducks, geese, and swans flying in and at the same time during dawn watching clouds of blackbirds and other migrants streaming into these stopover areas. Every person should attempt to make a trip to these areas, as it really shows you how important these places are to thousands of individual birds.

I have tried a few times to photograph and film these "bird clouds", but nothing seems to do it justice.  During one visit to Rondeau Provincial Park, I got as close as possible to getting a photo of the vast number of birds we see (below).  In the Bay at Rondeau Provincial Park, we could see hundreds of Tundra Swans and many different species of ducks including: Scaup, Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-neck, Bufflehead, and Mergansers.  I had brought my father for a "Wings of Spring" event at the park, so this was the first time he got to experience not only waterfowl but also the Park itself.  At this event I attempted recording a video to capture the sounds these birds can make in a group.  My father and I could even hear from from a kilometer away on a forest trail.  This was back in 2014, so while the visuals are crappy (this was before I invested in a camera!), the sound still works and only captures a portion of what we could really hear.

Birds at Rondeau Bay

Wetlands are a special and necessary habitat. For World Wetlands Day, I highly suggest we all make a pledge to visit one this year! 

Have you visited a wetland? What are some of your favourite areas and memories? 

Sunsets at Long Point

Petroglyphs Provincial Park - A Winter Wonderland

Last weekend, it was one of my friend's birthdays and as an avid hiker she suggested that we all go for a winter hike out at Petroglyphs Provincial Park.

It was my very first time visiting this beautiful place.  Over the last two years in Peterborough, I have been planning to make it out here, but just never got up to it.  While we didn't get to see the actual Petroglyphs (apparently they are in a building now!  And that building is closed for the winter) we did do about three hours of hiking through the back trails.  Boy, was it ever a winter wonderland.

While I don't remember the names of the exact trails we hiked on, I believe we cut across the West Day Use Trail and then took the Marsh Trail.  We hiked through valleys, up hills, around frozen marshlands, through tall beautiful forests, around shrubby areas, over bubbling creeks, it was beautiful.    There was a really nice snowfall the night before our hike too, while made all the trees look almost magical, everyone had a dusting of snow.

The walk was amazing and there were even quite a few birds out on the trails too!  Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, and Red- and White-breasted Nuthatches were everywhere we went.  There were a few year firsts for me such as Brown Creeper and Common Raven.  Common Redpolls were also very common flying in flocks over the tree tops, these were also the first ones I have seen this year.  The most exciting bird was a lifer for me! 

My first lifer of 2016 is officially the Red Crossbill.  They were in fairly large flocks floating above the tree tops.  I snapped a quick photo of them flying, it is likely one of my worst photos ever too!  We happened to come across them when we were stopped for a quick water break.  We heard bird sounds from up in the tree and assumed that it was more Redpolls.  However, they sounded just a wee bit different.  Since they were so high up in the pines it was really difficult to get a good look. We saw hint of yellow and thought maybe a Cedar Waxwing?  But then they looked like a finch body shape....so maybe Evening Grosbeaks?  We listened a bit more and took out our sound apps to see if we could match the sound.  Suddenly, Crossbills came to our mind.  After looking their sound up....it was a match! Then looking up photos in the field guide, these all matched as well.  Finch-like beak, slender body, larger size, yellow (for females or immature males) colour, some also a orangey colour (for adult males). 

If anyone is in the Peterborough-Kawartha's region and in need of an amazing winter hike.  I would definitely suggest heading out for a hike at Petroglyphs!  You can learn more about the park by visiting their website.

Happy Naturing!

Greater or Less than...Little Lake Visit

Last weekend I went on my first birding outing of the year.  I only wanted to take a hour or two break from work, so I went off to Little Lake in Peterborough to see some gulls and waterfowl.

It was a fairly quiet afternoon!  The Lesser Black-backed Gull that had been reported earlier in the week was no longer there, instead all I could see was a raft of ice full of Ring-billed Gulls.  Chickadees did not make a single peep, nor were there any woodpeckers.  It's always just a tiny bit eerie when even birds aren't making any noise!

There were four species of waterfowl out on the water that day.  Mallards, Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, and then a Greater Scaup, although at the time it was just Scaup sp.

Common Goldeneye

Common Merganser

Greater Scaup

Scaup are always a tricky species for any kind of birder to tell apart from Lesser or Greater.  When in a large flock, I've always been able to figure out which are which, especially because they do look very different when together!  However, when they are in singles it really is difficult!

I posted the following screenshot of one of my silhouette photos to the Facebook site "Ontario Birds".  A number of friends are on this site and they, along with the other members, are always so great and so keen to help out with Bird ID.  After posting the photo I got a number of tips and tricks to identifying the two different kinds of Scaup.  Tips such as: peak at the front of the head, overall a fairly rounded head, larger in size all lead to the identification of a female Greater Scaup.  

And then from the Little Lake cemetery we departed to go back home with only one more stop.  It was still strange only having about 8 or so species on our list, especially in an area that is usually a little more lively, in terms of birds.

Mike and I then stopped at two locations on the way home to feed some hungry Mallards!  We had stopped at TSC earlier in the day to buy some cracked corn and now stopped at a spot on Little Lake, and then again at the boat launch off Monaghan Road.

The boat launch was the place with definitely the most activity.  We threw out a little bit of corn for the few ducks closest to us and within a minute we were swarmed with quacking, hungry mouths.  It was a super nice Sunday afternoon break!

2015 - A Natural Reflection and Year List

Blogging for me has always been as much about sharing nature with others as it has been about personal reflection. I have never written a year-end post before, however after learning about NCC's  Creative Conservation Challenge, I was intrigued and motivated to write one!

For me, 2015 was an amazing year for birds. I explored so many new wildlife spots around the Peterborough, Ontario area, was out every single day in the summer doing field work for my Master’s degree, and even squeezed in a little bit of bird banding.  It was a year full of hard work, very tiring days, and great opportunities.

I saw a total of 190 different species of birds in 2015 (see below for the complete list).  My first species of the year was a Black Vulture on the drive back to Ontario from Nashville on New Year’s Day, and my last species of the year was a Vermilion Flycatcher in Wallaceburg, Ontario

A highlight of the year was adding 9 species of birds I had never seen before to my “lifer” list:  Glaucous Gull, Iceland Gull, Thayer's Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Vermilion Flycatcher, White-faced Ibis, Whimbrel, Red-throated Loon and Purple Sandpiper.  A final lifer was a Least Bittern, but it was found as road kill. In this instance, I consider it an "on the fence" lifer. While I am a bird nerd, I also love herpetology.  I was ecstatic to also add Yellow- and Blue-spotted Salamanders, as well as my very first Red-bellied Snake to my “lifer” list.

What natural areas were you able to explore for the first time?  
For the first time, I explored Presqu'ile Provincial Park, Warsaw Caves and Darlington Provincial Park, three places that had been so close and yet I hadn't put the time into exploring.  I would recommend a visit to Warsaw Caves to anyone wanting a really cool landscape, and Presqu’ile for waterfowl and shorebirds.


What three things did I do this year that helped the natural world?  While I try to help the natural world through field work volunteering, much of what I do comes down fostering a love of the outdoors and natural world in other people.  Here are some highlights from 2015:

• Teaching a local Peterborough Grade 3/4 class about birding: Through updates from the teacher, twitter, and going to see their final projects, I was able to watch interest grow amongst these young kids and the natural world around them.  Their "Big Month" challenge was met with eagerness and even their parents got in on the excitement.
• TAing for an Ornithology Class: This year I had the pleasure of being a Teaching Assistant for Trent University's Introduction to Ornithology class.  This had me out with students every Thursday morning, teaching them to ID by sight and sound, and trying to get them interested through fun and weird facts, tricks to remembering bird songs and names, etc. It has been very satisfying to look back on positive student course evaluations, especially when students say that the course encouraged them to pursue birding and wildlife conservation as a hobby or a career (or both!)
• Master’s Field Work:  I really hope that the work I have done through two field seasons working with bank swallows will be beneficial from a conservation standpoint.  During this work, I met and spoke with several gravel operators, landowners and locals about the bank swallows that live and feed on their properties.  Everyone responded with enthusiasm, asked plenty of questions, and often shared their own personal nature stories with me.  Since we visited our sites so frequently, I ran into these people multiple times, and sure enough they would remember “the bird girl”. They enjoyed telling me new stories about bank swallows and other birds they saw, often showing me photos so I could help them ID birds (especially within a retirement community near one of my field sites).  One of the things I love most about this line of work is that it’s not just a job or a hobby; it’s an entire community that often includes people who don’t even realize they are part of it. 

Now for the fun part!  I’ve put together my total bird list for the year with some of my favourite species photos from 2015!  They are listed in the order that I saw each species throughout the year.  I can’t wait to see what my 2016 list will look like!

Cheers to an amazing and birdy 2016!

Total 2015 Year Bird List:

1. Black Vulture

   

   Ring-necked Ducks

2. American Crow 
3.  European Starling
4.  House Sparrow
5.  Mourning Dove
6.  Ring-billed Gull
7.  Blue Jay
8.  House Finch
9.  Coopers Hawk
   
10.  Rock Pigeon
11.  Canada Goose
12.  Mute Swan
13.  Greater Scaup
14.  Redhead
15.  Bufflehead
16.  Common Goldeneye
17.  Downy Woodpecker
18.  Black-capped Chickadee
19. American Goldfinch 

    

    Barred Owl

20. Mallard
21.  Dark-eyed Junco
22.  Red-breasted Merganser
23.  Barred Owl
24.  American Kestrel
25.  Snow Bunting
26.  Bald Eagle
27.  Common Raven

    

    Snowy Owl

28.  Snowy Owl
29.  White-breasted Nuthatch
30.  Wild Turkey
31.  Red-tailed Hawk
32.  Common Merganser
33.  Herring Gull
34.  Glaucous Gull
35.  Great Black-backed Gull
36. Northern Cardinal
37. Common Redpoll
38.  American Robin

    

    Common Redpoll

39.  Long-tailed Duck
40.  Canvasback
41.  Hooded Merganser
42.  Ring-necked Duck
43.  Turkey Vulture
44.  White-winged Scoter
45. Red-throated Loon
46.  Red-winged Blackbird
47.  Rough-legged Hawk
48.  Song Sparrow
49.  American Tree Sparrow
50.  Osprey

    

    Belted Kingfisher

51.  Pied-billed Grebe
52.  Lesser Scaup
53.  Belted Kingfisher
54.  Cedar Waxwing
55.  Iceland Gull
56.  Great Blue Heron
57.  Brown-headed Cowbird
58.  Tundra Swan
59.  Common Grackle
60.  Tree Swallow
61.  Northern Harrier
62.  Bohemian Waxwing

    

    Bank Swallows

63.  Red-necked Grebe
64.  Northern Flicker
65.  Killdeer
66.  Savannah Sparrow
67. Double-crested Cormorant
68.  Barn Swallow
69.  Bank Swallow
70. Eastern Meadowlark
71.  Eastern Phoebe
72.  Field Sparrow
73.  Pine Warbler
74.  Wilson's Snipe

    

    Ruffed Grouse

75.  Golden-crowned Kinglet
76.  Wood Duck
77.  Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
78.  Chipping Sparrow
79.  Trumpeter Swan
80.  Caspian Tern
81.  Ruffed Grouse
82.  Pileated Woodpecker
83.  Northern Shoveler
84.  Red-breasted Nuthatch
85.  Brown Creeper
86.  White-throated Sparrow
87.  Northern Rough-winged Swallow

    

    Yellow Warbler

88.  Spotted Sandpiper
89.  Brown Thrasher
90.  Vesper's Sparrow
91.  Eastern Kingbird
92.  Yellow Warbler
93.  Yellow-rumped Warbler
94.  Hairy Woodpecker
95.  Horned Grebe
96.  Grasshopper Sparrow
97. Bobolink
98.  Broad-winged Hawk
99. Orchard Oriole

    

    Magnolia Warbler

100.  Gray Catbird
101.  White-crowned Sparrow
102.  Black-and-White Warbler
103.  Nashville Warbler
104.  Baltimore Oriole
105.  Northern Mockingbird
106.  American Wigeon
107. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
108. Sandhill Crane
109.  American Redstart
110.  Red-eyed Vireo
111.  Common Yellowthroat
112.  Merlin
113.  Warbling Vireo

     

     Ovenbird

114.  Tennasee Warbler
115.  Black-throated Blue Warbler
116.  Black-throated Green Warbler
117.  Common Tern
118.  White-eyed Vireo
119.  Scarlet Tanager
120.  Chimney Swift
121.  Chestnut-sided Warbler
122.  Palm Warbler
123.  Bay-breasted Warbler
124.  Indigo Bunting
125. Common Loon
126.  Solitary Sandpiper
127.  Wilson's Warbler
128. Green Heron
129.  Ruby-throated Hummingbird

     

     Olive-sided Flycatcher

130.  Magnolia Warbler
131.  Ovenbird
132. Eastern Bluebird 
133.  Great Crested Flycatcher
134.  Olive-sided Flycatcher
135.  Swamp Sparrow
136.  Cliff Swallow
137.  Least Sandpiper
138.  Northern Waterthrush
139.  Least Flycatcher
140.  Lesser Yellowlegs
141.  American Bittern
142.  Eastern Towhee

     

     White-faced Ibis

143.  Gadwall
144.  House Wren
145.  Sharp-shinned Hawk
146.  Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
147. Blue-winged-Warbler
148. Blackpoll Warbler
149.  White-faced Ibis
150.  Swainson's Thrush
151.  Gray-cheeked Thrush
152.  Philadelphia Vireo
153. Canada Warbler
154.  Eastern Wood-Pewee
155.  Purple Martin
156.  Willow Flycatcher
157.  Marsh Wren

     

     Dunlin

158.  Black Tern
159.  Wood Thrush
160.  Dunlin
161.  Semipalmated Sandpiper
162.  Semipalmated Plover
163.  Whimbrel
164.  Horned Lark
165.  Least Bittern
166.  Hermit Thrush
167.  Veery
168.  Greater Yellowlegs

     

     Eastern Screech Owl

169.  Blue-winged Teal
170.  Bonaparte's Gull
171. Northern Parula
172. Blackburnian
173.  Eastern Screech Owl
174.  Ruby-crowned Kinglet
175.  Green-winged Teal
176.  Northern Pintail
177.  Northern Saw-whet Owl
178.  Sanderling

     

     Red-bellied Woodpecker

179.  Surf Scoter
180.  White-rumped Sandpiper
181.  American Black Duck
182.  Snow Goose
183.  Red-bellied Woodpecker
184.  Black-billed Cuckoo
185.  Lesser Black-backed Gull
186.  Thayer's Gull
187. Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher
188. Tufted Titmouse
189. Purple Sandpiper
190. Vermilion Flycatcher

Vermilion Flycatcher