The Addicted Birder: 2013

Saturday 28 December 2013

Niagara River and surrounding area trip!

So, I went to Niagara-on-the-lake for non-birding purposes yesterday, but managed to fit some time in to do so. I got three lifers at the river!

Here's what I saw at the

Niagara River:

200 Ring-billed Gull
1 Glaucous Gull
15 Great Black-backed Gull
50 Herring Gull
1 Mute Swan
40 White-winged Scoter
30 Long-tailed Duck
2 Common Merganser
1 Red-brested Merganser
1 Hooded Merganser
1 Greater Scaup
10 Bufflehead
1 American Coot

In a wooded area with a creek and a large pond:

3 Red-tailed Hawk
1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
4 Blue Jay
20 American Robin
5 Northern Cardinal
15 Black-capped Chickadee
1 Northern Flicker
3 Downy Woodpecker
10 Dark-eyed Junco
5 American Goldfinch
30 House Finch
10 Mourning Dove
15 White-throated Sparrow
1 Great Blue Heron

Here are some shots:

Lifer #175 - White-winged Scoter!

Lifer #176 - Great Black-backed Gull!

Second year Glaucous Gull - lifer #177!

Many White-winged Scoters were present

Lone female Hooded Merganser

Lone female Greater Scaup

The only American Coot seen

One of two Common Mergansers

Herring Gull with a Ring-billed Gull in the background

There were also many Long-tailed Ducks

Wooded area with a creek - the large pond is behind me

There were many White-throated Sparrows on the banks of the creek

A nicely perched American Robin

An American Goldfinch near a feeder placed in the woods

American Robins ate the few berries/fruits that could be found

Female House Finch

Very cold Great Blue Heron

He's going to have a hard time getting a meal - he landed right in the middle of the frozen pond.

Comments appreciated!

Happy birding!

-Owen

Sunday 22 December 2013

Tommy Thompson Park - two lifers and three Snowy Owls!

I went to Tommy Thompson Park on Saturday hoping for a Snowy Owl and any other lifer that could be seen! It was -2 degrees Celsius, had semi-freezing rain, and the large ponds that I saw all the waterfowl last time were frozen! However, I had a great time and was successful!

Here's what I saw:

30 Canada Geese

5 Ring-billed Gull

10 Herring Gull

10 Gadwall

20 Red-breasted Merganser

3 Common Merganser

2 Common Goldeneye

3 American Black Duck

20 Mallard

10 scaup sp.

20 Bufflehead

40 Long-tailed Duck

40 American Tree Sparrow

1 Song Sparrow

3 Black-capped Chickadee

1 American Kestrel

1 Great Horned Owl

3 Snowy Owl

1 Red-tailed Hawk

Here are some shots:

Lifer #173 Common Merganser was the first bird we saw!

5 Bufflehead were also present

Hordes of American Tree Sparrows were always around me

We then found and subsequently accidentally flushed this Snowy Owl! Lifer #174!

Then this Snowy Owl was found right afterwards! I'm sure it's a different individual.

Female American Kestrel perched atop a tree

Long-tailed Ducks in the rain

Greater Scaup? Lesser Scaup? Ring-necked Duck? Leave your opinion in the comments!

American Black Duck

A Great Horned Owl was perched nicely 25 feet up in a tree. It allowed me to get extremely close and get some great shots! I walked right under it, waved my arms, jumped up and down, and it didn't even flinch.