Either a bunch of OFO'ers did not heed the winter storm warnings or were
lead down the garden path with the sunny sunrise. 17 showed up for the trip
this morning. A far cry from the nearly 80 of last year but a nice group to
handle.
We proceeded to the Irish Line where a keener had been before the trip
started but the N. Mockingbird, Eastern Bluebirds and the Red-headed
Woodpecker he has seen had disappeared. We did manager to hear a couple of
Red-bellied Woodpeckers back in the woods.
Going east to the River Rd. we stopped at the good feeder just around the
corner. Here we were rewarded with a Tufted Titmouse, a White-throated
Sparrow on the ground and a Red-bellied Woodpecker that landed and stayed on
a feeder for several minutes.
At the back end of the Drag Strip 4 Short-eared Owls put on a display even
though it was mid morning.
Proceeding over to the Raptor Preserve a flock of Brown-headed Cowbirds flew
by. There was little activity at the Raptor Preserve with a distant Harrier
the only thing of interest. Going west along the 6th we encountered a flock
of about 500 birds with nearly 99% cowbirds. This flock was out feeding
beside the road and kept moving west ahead of us for a ways. At almost the
end of the road we stopped for a light phase Rough-legged Hawk which kept
moving further and further out into the field along the hedge row.
From out of the west a Peregrine Falcon swooped low out in front of us going
like a shot out of hell across the field. At the east end of the field a
huge ball of blackbirds/starlings rose high over the far trees. The
Peregrine rose above the compacted ball and did a stoop into the centre of
the ball of birds. It was too far to be sure the Peregrine caught anything
but it a spectacular sight.
By now the rain had started and we headed over by the power plant. It was
too windy and rainy to get out at the favourite spots and do any scoping. At
the stone bridge a good size flock of Common Mergansers were in close alone
with a small number of Red-breasted Mergansers. A good size flock of
Bonaparte's Gulls were also in close feeding.
After a pit stop and some soup at Floyd's we proceeded east along the lake
shore as ducks were basically the best option in the rain. A couple of
flocks of Greater Scaup were found as well as many Common Mergansers with a
few Common Goldeneyes and Buffleheads mixed in. Just west of Featherstone
Pt. the winter flock of Tundra Swans were just off shore. The rest of the
drive along the lake did not produce much and other than a flock of Common
Goldeneye at the mouth of the Grand River there was very little along the
lake. The lake was wide open, the fields bare and flooded or were flooding,
consequently the puddle ducks and most of the Canada Geese were not to be
found. They were well inland hidden in the corn fields.
We proceeded back to the Raptor Preserve. Since we had already had
Sort-eared Owls, and there was no guarantee that any would fly in the rain
and the fact the rain was being pushed horizontally we packed it in about
3:15. At least 34 species were recorded on the trip and 4 more species were
found in the area by OFO'ers before the trip started.
John Miles
Jarvis
On
