Yesterday, January 9 2015, approximately 30 birders participated in a great day of birding in Windsor, Essex County, led by Jeremy Hatt, Kory Renaud, and I (Jeremy Bensette). The eager group found and identified a grand total of 44 bird species, an impressive count for such an abnormally warm winter day. We began at Lakeview Park Marina and Sand Point Beach where the Detroit River meets Lake St Clair, visited Little River Corridor Park nearby for a bit of trail walking before lunch, then a stop at the Ambassador Bridge and Ojibway Park in the afternoon.
The birds were few and far between at the first few sites, but the exceptionally mild and rainless weather combined with great company made for a lovely morning! Highlights from the morning include two rather late Bonaparte's Gulls still hanging around on the river, three Great Blue Herons, and a nice close flyover by a local Bald Eagle pair (Lakeview Marina is one of the best places in Ontario to see overwintering Great Blue Herons and Bald Eagles, with around 50 of each seen here at once a few years ago). A great highlight that caused a few of us to finish lunch early was the news of a Snowy Owl sitting on a roof in a nearby residential neighbourhood! At the Ambassador Bridge we were treated to quite the air show by the local breeding Peregrine Falcons, who were fooled into thinking it's spring time with the nice weather and were courting each other! As if this wasn't entertaining enough we soon noticed our first Canvasback ducks of the day flying overhead, followed by a constant stream moving downriver from Lake St Clair, totalling over 4000 individuals!! This sighting was long overdue this winter because the lower Detroit River is designated as an Important Bird Area by Bird Studies Canada for its high concentration of overwintering Canvasbacks. Ojibway Park's feeders were great as always, with that area's concentrations of Tufted Titmice, Hairy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, and a single Fox Sparrow that a couple members of the group managed to see. Overall it was a great day of birding and a lot of fun. It was great to meet some new faces and catch up with some old friends. If anyone would like a copy of the day's bird lists by location (thanks Jeremy H for being so diligent with the lists!) or have any questions or comments about the day, feel free to reply to this email. I can send links to the ebird lists (for non-users of ebird) or share them with your ebird account. Thanks to everyone who came out and helped to make it a super day, and thanks to Kory and 'the other' Jeremy for co-leading! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. See you back in Essex County soon enough for spring migration, and good luck birding this winter! Jeremy Bensette Leamington _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
