Hawks, Owls and Lights

That pretty much sums up the last few days in the Sault! First, some highlights... Red-bellied Woodpecker, Hoary Redpoll, Boreal Chickadee, Bohemian Waxwing and an early Orange-crowned Warbler, all on the bigby list! Hoary Redpoll is an extremely late bird. Warblers haven't quite shown up yet - there have only been 4 species reported so far which isn't all that surprising given it isn't May.

Now, on to the hawks. Did some hawkwatching from my deck and roof yesterday and today, with quite a bit of success! Totals were:

Broad-winged Hawk - 240

Sharp-shinned Hawk - 8

Turkey Vulture - 6

Red-tailed Hawk - 3

Bald Eagle - 3

Merlin - 2

Singles of Osprey, Northern Harrier, American Kestrel, Northern Goshawk, and Peregrine Falcon. The majority of these were today, ahead of a storm that's moving into the area now. Peregrine and Goshawk were both new for the yard list! Some other yard birds I got while hawkwatching were: Double-crested Cormorant, Bohemian Waxwing, Cliff Swallow and Northern Rough-winged Swallow.

Ken and I did one of his owl routes last night, with some success: 6 Barred, 2 Long-eared, 1 Northern Saw-whet, 1 Short-eared and 1 Boreal Owl were on the route, and part way through we were treated to a display of the Aurora Borealis (northern lights)!!! They were pretty faint with not much colour, but still cool to see. We also had decent numbers of ducks and some Brewer's Blackbirds on the drive out, along with 24 Greater Yellowlegs.

February...

Probably one of our weirdest months for weather here in the Sault. Lows of around -30ºC (-22ºF) and highs of 6ºC (43ºF) or so have been normal these last few years, and it can be snowy, rainy, cloudy, or sunny - with no two days exactly the same! At least the days are getting longer, and it stays light until after 6 p.m. now!

On the 14th I hitched a ride with John Ralston to see what was around across the river. We had a great day, with 40 species including Northern Hawk, Snowy, and Great Gray Owls!

Northern Hawk Owl

Snowy Owl in Rudyard

Other than that, I haven't been out birding much - although I have been skiing a couple times and managed to land the biggest jump in the park - a 65 foot gap. I have some videos of me and my friends skiing - they haven't been wanting to upload to the internet though.

Owls and Thunderstorms

Despite massive downpours yesterday evening, I went across the border to do an Owl Prowl with the Sault Naturalists. Only 4 people showed up (including me and Ken), but it stopped raining around 6, and didn't start again until 10:30, luckily for us. Some new migrants were pushed up by the system, plus more of the migrants that have already appeared. Short-eared Owls were surprisingly nonexistent, they're usually back by now, although the vole/mouse crash of the winter that meant there were no Rough-legs or Snowy Owls here may mean they won't breed here this year. Who knows? Anyway, we ended up with 47 species for the evening, 5 of which were new for the year list, being American Bittern, Le Conte's Sparrow, Pectoral Sandpiper, Barn Swallow, and Northern Saw-whet Owl. We also found 3 Barred Owls and a Long-eared on the outing. Right after the Saw-whet called, the sky opened up, with massive thunder and lightning bolts, and torrential rain. Needless to say, we headed home after that, and the rain followed us all the way back. I managed to pick up laryngitis, and was sick all day yesterday, and again today, so it is unlikely I will get much birding done in the next few days. It's supposed to be cold with strong winds all week anyway, not the greatest weather for birding.

More recent birding

Tundra Swans - April 8 - Bar River

Haven't posted for a while, but I have been getting out! On Saturday I went out east of town for a while with Kirk, and found Blue-winged Teal, Redhead, and a Great Black-backed Gull in the way of SSM yearbirds, along with 2 pairs of Canvasbacks at Pumpkin Point - this is the most I've seen in one year in the Sault area! We also went to Kirk's place where his feeders found us Northern Cardinal, Boreal Chickadee, and Hoary Redpoll. Not yearbirds, but good sightings nonetheless.

Sandhill Cranes - April 13 - Bar River

Monday night I did an owl survey route with Ken and Stan, and found Wilson's Snipe and Long-eared Owl (ABA year #100!) for yearbirds, plus quite a few Barred Owls, American Woodcock, and an Eastern Meadowlark, right as Ken was about to say we should be seeing one soon!

After school today I headed down to the Locks, finding Northern Flicker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and some Yellow-rumped Warblers, along with a few migrant hawks and sparrows. Also found the first Garter Snake and Mourning Cloaks for the year, along with the resident Red Fox whom I haven't seen for a while.

Garter Snake - April 16 - Locks

Red Fox

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker pair

Also, the weather is starting to warm up (18ºC today!!!!), and all the snow that fell April 11th and 12th is now melted, along with some of the stuff that was there before that.

Here's my list of recent species (April 13-16).

Canada Goose - 2500+
Tundra Swan - 7
Wood Duck - 10+
American Black Duck - 100+
Mallard - 300+
Blue-winged Teal - 2
Northern Pintail - 4
Green-winged Teal - 2
Canvasback - 4
Redhead - 5
Ring-necked Duck - 40+
Greater Scaup - 30+
Lesser Scaup - 50+
Bufflehead - 10+
Common Goldeneye - 30+
Hooded Merganser - 100+
Common Merganser - 100+
Ruffed Grouse - 1
Double-crested Cormorant - 10+
Great Blue Heron - 5
Turkey Vulture - 9
Osprey - 3
Bald Eagle - 7
Northern Harrier - 5+
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 3
Rough-legged Hawk - 8 (2 dark phase, 2 intermediate)
American Kestrel - 15+
Merlin - 2
Sandhill Crane - 60+
Killdeer - 4
Wilson's Snipe - 7
American Woodcock - 24
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull - 1
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 2
Downy Woodpecker - 4
Hairy Woodpecker - 2
Northern Flicker - 2
Barred Owl - 12
Long-eared Owl - 1
Northern Shrike - 1
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Boreal Chickadee - 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 2
White-breasted Nuthatch - 1
Brown Creeper - 3
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 1
American Robin - 100+
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 8
American Tree Sparrow - 30+
Fox Sparrow - 2
Song Sparrow - 30+
Dark-eyed Junco - 50+
Northern Cardinal - 1
Red-winged Blackbird - 30+
Eastern Meadowlark - 2
Common Grackle - 30+
Brown-headed Cowbird - 5+
Common Redpoll - 40+
Hoary Redpoll - 2
American Goldfinch - 4
House Sparrow - 10+

Number of Species: 70