Week 12 (March 16 - March 22)

This week has been very much a slow week. With the COVID-19 virus and the social distancing I haven't been out with anyone and I've been trying to avoid crowded areas, which for some reason right now is hard to do. Everyone when there is a pandemic has been deciding to see nature. Which for birders trying to social distance while still going to their local quiet spot is very hard.

I went to a little bit of private property owned by my family on Sunday. It's right beside Selkirk Prov. Park so I could see all of the vehicles parked by the gate and it was crazy! There were so many vehicles there were some that ended up parking along the side of the road. It's like people were thinking that with the current epidemic that they should just go out and go for a walk because going to a local park in "Social Distancing."

The week did see me going to a quite a few places after work, including Sayer's Park in Hamilton and Ruthven a few nights as well.

Ruthven was normal, nothing overly exciting. Most of the common birds. One thing is weird. I've been birding a lot after 5 and more towards 6 o'clock to be honest, and I have had a hard time finding Blue Jay at Ruthven in the evening. That is one thing I have never had a problem with before so it is definitely weird thing. Hopefully it's just the time of day and nothing overly serious.

Saturday saw me going to Sedgewick Forest in Oakville, a small spot where I seen my first White-eyed Vireo in Ontario. There I was able to bag the first Ruby-crowned Kinglet this year and an amazing view of a Cooper Hawk! Didn't see a whole lot of other birds probably due to the hawk scanning around.

Where I got the real excitement was at the wetland in the private property owned by my family! I only went for a little walk and I spotted a personal high of 13 Wood Ducks! With a box back there I am hoping we get at least 1 pair nesting back there. It was also packed with raptors! 5 Bald Eagle, 3 Red-tailed Hawk, and 2 Turkey Vulture all circling in the same place. The 5 baldies were all circling together and 3 of which were adults, 2 I thought may have started Kartwheeling but they unfortunately did not, nonetheless, it was still amazing seeing so many of the eagles all at once and I am pleased that their numbers are growing!

Weekly Totals:
Species: 42
Individuals: 470

Cooper Hawk - Oakville ON

COVID-19 and How it is Affecting the Birding Community

By now everyone knows about the COVID-19 virus going around putting the world in utter panic. This has put a big thorn into peoples' sides and panic in their minds. I want everyone to make sure they are safe in this turbulent time but that doesn't mean stop birding.

The biggest warning put out by organizations such as the American Birding Association is that birding is what will keep the calmness in your minds and the relaxation in your body. Now, this doesn't mean birding in large groups is still okay, I would strongly advise against it. Small groups (no more than 10 people max) should be going out at one point in time and any of those feeling and showing the signs of COVID-19 should remain on self-quarantine for 14 days as suggested by the Canadian Government. I'm sure this will all work itself out at some point we just need to be diligent and more importantly stay safe! I'm going to remain birding and posting in this time and I'm hoping soon I will be able to start talking more and more about migrants and the movement of birds though my local station (Ruthven) which is closed to the public (myself included) until the 6th of April.

If there are any people curious of the symptoms of COVID-19 then please read this form put out by the Ontario Health and Wellness website: COVID-19 Self Assessment

Here is a great statement put out by the Ted Floyd of the ABA on things we as a community should be doing in this time of emergency, I hope you enjoy: Five Things ABA Members and Other Birders Can Do and Should Do During the Ongoing COVID-19 Emergency

Stay safe everyone and good birding!

 

Week 11 (March 9th - 15th)

This is the week I hit 100 days straight birding, and with that came with an exciting new sighting! Greater White-fronted Goose and Snow Goose! Although I didn't get any pictures the flock of White-fronts was a good size one and very showy and easy to see.

The rest of the week was slow so let's move on to Friday when I had the day off. I didn't drive everywhere but I did drive to the Royal Botanical Gardens and made my way around the boardwalk, lots of Ring-necked Duck and even a Belted Kingfisher made an appearance.  Even seen my first Carolina Wren this year. From the boardwalk I headed back homewards to the Hagersville Quarry, caught a couple Hooded Merganser but didn't see much else unfortunately. Then I decided to move on to the bridge not too far from Peacock Point where I spotted a small group of Northern Shoveler in the flooded field.

Saturday was a long day of birding with a friend of mine. He and I drove all over Hamilton starting at Windermere where he and I spotted the Pied-billed Grebe that's been kicking around there and spotted a Green-winged Teal at the back bank. 2 new species for the year on both of our lists. Not to mention a large flock of Ruddy Duck (60)! Next off to the Burlington Ship Canal; nothing too notable, trying to look for the Red-throated Loon I seen earlier in the week, but we missed it! Here is the real kicker, there was a Red-throated Loon spotted a couple of hours later. From there we decided to move on to Stoney Creek (10th Rd and 8th Rd). On 10th we spotted a few Eastern Meadowlark and listened to their amazing calls for a while before moving on to 8th Rd. 8th was great, seen a whole flock of Northern Pintail (35) and a pair of American Wigeon swimming in a large puddle in the middle of the field. We then moved to a little quarry not too far away and seen our second Pied-billed Grebe of the day along with a male Wood Duck. From there he and I took a little drive to the Beamer CA Hawkwatch. Slow day there mostly, nothing too exciting other than an adult Bald Eagle that was migrating.

Sunday seen me heading out to Long Point with the same friend. We took a swing by Lee Brown WMA and seen a massive flock of Redhead (120 at least) and a flock of Sandhill Cranes (28) flew above us as well. We then moved on to the Old Cut Banding Station and "New" Provincial Park. Not too much to note at Old Cut, the typical Swamp Sparrow and Song Sparrow. The "New" Provincial Park drew up another 2 pairs of Sandhill Crane and a surprise Eastern Phoebe! Definitely a good day there's no doubt about that.

Definitely a nice week and I am thinking my best week so far!

Week's End Totals: 
Total Species: 77
Total Individuals: 2717

Black-capped Chickadee - Hamilton ON

Canada Goose - Hamilton ON

Carolina Wren - Hamilton ON

Downy Woodpecker - Hamilton ON