Some winter birds

Winter birding ... well that's an oxymoron if I ever heard one.

Growing up on a tiny Caribbean island who would have thought that I would end up chasing birds an -20C and trying to operate a camera with fingers that have lost all feeling and most or their mobility.

Also are birds not supposed to be heading South from whence I came?

But here I am and if you can't beat the weather you may as well try to enjoy it. So for the past few years I would take a drive to some of my favourite summer spots (in winter) and see what showed up in the season of ice and snow.

This isn't really 'winter birding'. Winter birders are listers who re-start their list on December 1st and try to see as many species as possible before the end of February. After counting the Blue-Jays, American Goldfinches, Mourning Doves, Mallards and Canada Geese one has to keep looking harder and further afield. A lost Warbler here, a Tufted Titmouse there, traveling and counting - but that's not for me.

My Feeders and the local Parks provide the lazy man's version of Winter listing.

This year the Redpolls showed up at my Nyger Feeder. At first 2 then a few more. By mid January they were clinging so thick on the Feeders with more waiting in the surrounding trees, that I spread Nyger seed on a table. This brought the throng up to at least 100 until the snow came and covered the table.


Looking through flocks of Redpolls hoping to find a Hoary Redpoll among the Common Redpolls is something that every birder does. Many novices get 'smacked down' by the birding elite so it's with great trepidation that I'm going to say that there was a Hoary among my flock.

I'm going to call this guy a Hoary. He was larger and paler that the others and also tended to feed separately sort of 'keeping to himself'. The Beak is definitely shorter and more conical than the others and the undertail coverts are pure white.

Here is a Common Redpoll for comparison.

Notice how much darker it is and how much more pointed the bill is. This Common Redpoll has an overall slimmer appearance and the position of the eye is higher (although that has never been mentioned in the field guides).

What about this guy?

I say Hoary but others have their doubts -  but there are hybrids.

It makes one wonder how bird species are decided (in North America by the AOU) when this kind of discussion can occur. Species so close in appearance that only experts can identify them, seem to defy normal logic, but I suppose that Ornithologists have to justify their tenure.

Horned Larks are starting to appear in Southern Ontario. These are the earliest returning migrants and their appearance heralds the start of birding 'spring'. Why did they ever bother to migrate only to return in the coldest and most inhospitable time of the year.

There are 2 sub species of Horned Lark that are seen in significant numbers in Southeastern Ontario. The larger Northern subspecies breeds around James Bay and is migrating now. This would be the most commonly seen as they are flocking during migration. The locally breeding Prairie subspecies is present as well but since they arrive sooner on their breeding territory, tend to be more dispersed.

Separating the 2 main subspecies is simple. Northern subspecies are larger and have a yellow brow and in the Prairie subspecies the brow is white and they are smaller.

So what if you have a Horned Lark the size of a Northern but with a white brow. It could be an uncommon but not rare (in Southeastern Ontario) Hoyt's subspecies. The Hoyt's is more Centrally located but are sometimes mixed with Northerns during migration. Is the bird on the right in the photo below a Hoyt's.

Horned Larks need terrain uncovered by snow (in February?) and one such habitat is the roadside shoulder that has been cleared by snowploughs. What did they do before snowploughs were invented?


Moving to a winter rarity ... a Pine Warbler continues to attend a feeder in Presqu'ile Provincial Park. This is the kind of bird that the winter listers seek out. The 'Sedgwick 5' - Warblers that remained in Sedgwick Park in Oakville well into the winter (now deceased). A Varied Thrush and Painted Bunting at feeders also in Oakville which have both caused confrontations between birders and homeowners. So I choose not to peer through someones fence or park in front of their house in order to see a rare bird, but when one shows up in a public park in my own backyard, that's different.

It's hard to believe that this was taken in mid January in Ontario.

It's so beautiful I can't resist another pose.

Winter birding is usually about waterfowl. Thousands of ducks flock to open water around inlets and bays as well offshore. These have been featured in previous winter post but here is a nice picture from the Moira River in Belleville. I seem to get many shots of other Mergansers but apparently the Common Merganser isn't so common.

And this strange hybrid showed up among the Mallards. I know that it is part Mallard but no idea what the other parent is.

Mr and Mrs Common Goldeneye. Green and Orange are always in fashion.

Even in the much ignored and maligned Mallard.

Mute Swans are not my favourite bird ... in fact quite the opposite. As an introduced species that does not migrate, they are incapable of surviving the harsh winters without help. However they have managed (with some help) to explode in population, displacing native waterfowl and destroying the marshes. As I was surveying the ecological disaster of over 100 large, aggressive birds in the small Wellington Harbour, I noticed a smaller bird in the distance. As it climbed onto the ice it's identity became clear - it one of our 2 native Swans, a Trumpeter Swan. Now someone should tell it to keep better company ... in fact, it should be enjoying the warm waters of a Florida lake instead of waiting for the lady with the bag of corn.

The other winter birds are the Hawks and Owls.

No retrospective would be complete without a Snowy Owl. This one at Amherst Island.

Last winter it seemed like Barred Owls were everywhere ... actually they probably are, I just haven't been out as much. I chanced on the back of this guy in the woods at Presqu'ile. It's the first time that I walked away from a photo opportunity. There was a lady photographer who was so intense that I didn't want to try to position myself and possibly spoil her shot so I just quickly took one between the trees and from the back, after all I had lots of Barred Owls and this was her first. Turned out to a nice picture after all.

And finally something quite mundane but interesting.  Wild turkeys were re-introduced into Ontario 25 years ago (after having been hunted to extinction). From the original 274 birds from Virginia Vermont and New Jersey which were traded for 50 Moose and 18 River Otters. The population is now over 100,000 with a controlled spring hunt. This flock of 30 birds was present in a field in Prince Edward County feasting on the corn stubble. Unfortunately they also feed on growing crops and some farmers are not too happy.

Lots more pictures to show but I have probably gone over my usual post length. Hope you enjoyed some of my winter birds and winter is not over yet.