Avocets at Waterloo April 30, 2020

We were on our way to get a Wellington year bird. We also hoped that we were going to get another year bird in a different county. Our first stop was not too far from Ponsonby, in a field where we hoped to find some American Pipits. As we got there, Dad pulled out his spotting scope, I toke out my bins, and in a few minutes Dad had found a few. By the end we had located seventeen.

American Pipits- Wellington, Ontario- April 30, 2020 at 12:45PM

As we drove to the next spot (not in Wellington this time) we stopped over to see some Purple Martins at a Purple Martin nesting box. After a few moments we drove on, this time to our destination.

Purple Martins at a Purple Martin house- Waterloo, Ontario- April 30, 2020 at 1:13PM

As we got there we parked in a small parking lot, got out and went to the bridge to find at least 8-10 birders, and of course the birds.

American Avocets- Waterloo, Ontario- April 30, 2020 at 1:35PM

They were American Avocets-seventeen of them (the same as the number of pipets!) When we first saw them they were on the front of a little island, but some moved to the side of the river over time. The Avocets were found by Jim Burrell and many birders got to see them.  This bird will breed in the west of North America, in Marshes, but sometimes you'll find an Avocet where it doesn't usually go, like Ontario. These birds looked like they were in their breeding plumage.

American Avocets- Waterloo, Ontario- April 30, 2020 at 1:46PM

There were also a few Northern Rough-winged, Tree and Cliff Swallows flying around the bridge and river, catching insects here and there. 

We observed them for a few minutes before the Avocets all took off, showing off their beautiful wing pattern. A few minutes later on the other side of the river we saw one Avocet catch a leech or a minnow!  

American Avocets- Waterloo, Ontario- April 30, 2020 at 1:51PM

American Avocets- Waterloo, Ontario- April 30, 2020 at 1:43PM

Heres some more photos of the Avocets:

One our way home we stopped at a spot in Wellington that had a Purple Martin house and saw a few flying around! It was a Wellington year bird for me and it was also the first time I saw one at all in Wellington. 

Purple Martins- Conestogo Lake Conservation Area, Wellington, Ontario- April 30, 2020 at 2:30PM

Says Phoebe - April 25th, 2020

What started out be a normal day became an amazing day!

When I woke up I ate breakfast then went outside to play with my brother and my sister while my mom worked.

At about lunch time my mom came outside and said that my dad found a rare bird and asked if we wanted to go see it. Of course I said "YES!" so we packed some food for lunch and then we hit the road.

In the car my mom asked if I wanted to know what the species of bird was, but I said to only tell me the first letter of it and keep the rest as a surprise. She told me it started with an "S"and for the rest of the car ride I thought of different birds it could be while eating my lunch.

We met up with my dad at the spot and my brother, sister, dad and I started exploring the spot where my dad had found the bird earlier in the day.

He found it in Dundalk at a place where there was a lot dust and gravel with a few muddy ponds, so I asked my dad if it was a a type of shorebird that he found. He said "No" so I said a few more guesses (all of them wrong). Finally my dad said it was a type of Phoebe, then I asked "Is it a... Says Phoebe?" and finally I was correct.

After a few minutes of not finding the Says Phoebe we saw Barb Charlton and asked if she had seen it. She said yes and told us the location. We jogged to my dads work truck, got in and drove to a a little pond with some houses behind it and a fence going around the pond. As we got out of the car we met a few birders with their spotting scopes, bins and cameras all set up and as we followed Barb we saw it perched on the fence.

Says Phoebe- Dundalk, Grey County, Ontario- April 25, 2020 at 1:08PM

After a few seconds it flew down and perched on a metal railing, where it coughed up an insect or something else it had caught, then flew to another spot.

Says Phoebe- Dundalk, Grey County, Ontario- April 25, 2020 at 1:10PM

As I was slowly walking toward the end of the pond to get a better look at the Says Phoebe I saw some flowers with bees and flies on them and I knew that the bees were Western Honey Bees but the flies I was not so sure. Later on they were identified as Narrow-headed Marsh Flies. I moved on and got some more photos of the Says Phoebe.

Narrow-headed Marsh Fly- Dundalk, Grey County, Ontario- April 25, 2020 at 1:29PM

Western Honeybee- Dundalk, Grey County, Ontario- April 25, 2020 at 1:26PM

Says Phoebe- Dundalk, Grey County, Ontario- April 25, 2020 at 1:45PM

At about 1:40 PM we decided to go check for some Upland Sandpipers with Barb and a couple of other birders. 

Oh! Here's one last photo of the Says Phoebe on a roof! 

Says Phoebe- Dundalk, Grey County, Ontario- April 25, 2020 at 1:50PM

Once we found the Sandpiper we got a few pictures. They weren't very good ones because they were far out in a field and since it was a hot day there was a lot of heat haze, making views and pictures not very good, but identifiable at least. After a few minutes we all headed our own ways, ending the day on the perfect note!

Upland Sandpiper- Dundalk, Grey County, Ontario- April 25, 2020 at 2:08PM

Osprey, Swallow and Grouse!

On the afternoon of April 12th, 2020 close to lunch my family went on a walk on our property.

When we got to the Sapsucker spot I, of course, checked where it's usually pecking but did not see it. This is usually the case after 9:00 am because it stops feeding at that tree and moves on.

When we got to the middle of the trail where there is a big clearing, we sat on the benches for a bit and I walked around the small pond then started making my way up the trail.

When we got to the spot where we saw the Fox Sparrow flipping over the leaves the other day I heard and saw nothing, except a Ruffed Grouse thumping away on a log somewhere in the bush which was pretty cool. When we got to another bush farther up the trail I heard some rustling in the leaves so I stopped and looked for a minute and finally discovered two Fox Sparrows flipping over the leaves but when I went on they flew away in the direction of where we saw them yesterday.

After, I turned right and walked down a pathway where I saw the male Eastern Bluebird, and in the middle of the walkway I heard something pecking away. I looked up and saw that it was a Downey Woodpecker.

I was going up the middle of the trail and saw one of the Phoebes flying around catching small insects.  I stayed around for a few minutes watching him/her fly around, got a few photos then when on, but when I was turning the bend it started raining. That was fine with me but in a few minutes I heard mom calling me to get back, so I took a short cut crossing through the field (on the path of course).

Eastern Phoebe- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- April 12, 2020, 11:40AM

When I was just in the middle of the path I heard some very loud pecking, and for a moment I thought it was the Downey, but when I looked up in the trees I discovered what it was...

a Pileated Woodpecker!

Pileated Woodpecker- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- April 12, 2020, 11:50AM

I know some people might see a Pileated Woodpecker almost everyday, and think it's normal and not very special. But where I live, we hear them a lot more than we see them. When we do see them it is only for a second or they're far away, because they're very skittish towards humans and will fly away even if the see you from faraway, but for this guy it was a different story. He/she was letting me get pretty close, letting me get some good views.

But what was really spectacular is that it showed a cool characteristic; it was still raining when I saw the Pileated, it opened its mouth and I thought, "Great! Now I can watch it call!" But that did not happen. Instead, it opened its mouth, made no sound and instead he/she drank the water droplets that were falling from the sky! Unfortunately,  I couldn't capture that moment on my camera but really what matters is that I got to experience that moment and I'll remember it when I look back when I am older.

Pileated Woodpecker- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- April 12, 2020, 11:50

Then I headed back with my mom and my siblings, told them about my finds then we had some lunch, and on the way back I saw a Brown Creeper climbing up a tree!

Shortly after lunch I decided to take another walk. When I got to the Sapsucker spot the Sapsucker was not there, and I didn't even see or hear the Fox Sparrows, though there were better things in store for me.

When I was walking down the fence line (separating my family property and the neighbour's field) I heard a high pitched shrieking sound. I put my head up to the sky and found a pair of Ospreys soaring in the sky, but they were getting out of sight so I ran down the fence to the dead end, where there's a small marshy area, and found the Ospreys again and got a few photos. I watched them until they were gone. That was a new 5-mile bird for the year so I was pretty happy, but I would get happier because there were still two more surprises awaiting me!

Osprey- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- April 12, 2020, 3:30PM

                                                               
I had not yet seen a Tree Swallow this year at that time, though they had been showing up and even my dad had seen them. I was looking out for them on wires or seeing if they were gliding and flying in the air but still I had not yet seen them.

Shortly after I had seen the two Ospreys I walked farther down the fence line feeling happy about my find and out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw something flying above me, so I looked up and found... a Tree Swallow!

I followed it down to the dead end where I lost it! I was bummed, because that was a year bird and a new 5-mile bird for the year, but I stopped at the dead end for a bit and birded there hoping I would see the Tree Swallow. I had no luck and slowly started going back up the trail when suddenly I saw something flying behind me! I looked around and found the Tree Swallow flying towards me, so I ran after it on the main trail where it started swooping and diving, catching bugs and chirping (which I got a recording of) and it even checked out a nesting box!

Tree Swallow- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- April 12, 2020, 3:40PM

Then it slowly flew away, leaving a very happy Desmond with a few poor record shots!
                               
After I found my brother Jackson, soon followed by my sister and my mom, and we went over to the benches and I told them what happened. I then decided that I would walk the back loop, where I would have my last surprise...

When I when I was at the spot where I had photographed the Tree Swallow I spotted the Tree Swallow, only one thing was different- there was not one, not two but three Tree Swallows! I followed them up the hill where I got a few pics. Afterwards I did the back loop of my property and I flushed a pair of  Wood Ducks, saw and heard a few Wood Frogs and Spring Peepers, then I went on until I found a Butterfly, which was later identified as a Milbert's Tortoiseshell. It was the first of the year for me. 

Tree Swallow- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- April 12, 2020, 4:00PM

Wood Frog- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- April 12, 2020, 4:10PM

Milbert's Tortoiseshell- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- April 12, 2020, 4:20PM

When I was going to turn the bend I heard something rustling in the field where there were a few trees. I followed the sound and found a beautiful Ruffed Grouse. I stood just staring at it holding in my breath!

Ruffed Grouse- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- April 12, 2020, 4:30PM

Yes, yes I know they are common and I even heard one this morning, and many people have seen them multiple times and blah blah blah, but usually whenever I see a Grouse they see me first and take off (except at Algonquin) and usually it's just foot prints or scat or your just hear them doing their displays. But, this time I saw it first.. and it was only 20 feet away! Later on I would discover that I was the only one who got a picture of one (that wasn't scat or a foot print) for our yard!

So there I was rooted to the spot staring at the Grouse. It now saw me and was slowly making its way back to the main part of the forest, but then I snapped out of it, got out my camera, got a few photos, then slowly turned my head the other way so the Grouse would not think I had spotted it, but kept my eyes trained on it as I slowly walked past it. Then he/she flew away and I resumed my normal pace and finished my walk.

Ruffed Grouse- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- April 12, 2020, 4:30PM

        

Driving around April 18, 2020

On April 18, 2020, shortly after breakfast my dad and I decided to go drive around and see what we could find. We were going to drive around first at a swamp, not too far from Guelph Lake where there are Sora, Virginia Rail, Least & American Bittern, Common Gallinule and Swamp Sparrows.

When we were driving around we heard lots of Swamp Sparrows and I got my first picture of one for the year. We saw some waterfowl, including American Wigeon, Northern Shoveler, two Green-winged Teal, some Mallards, Canada Geese, lots of Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, two Brown-headed Cowbirds, a pair of Ospreys but not much else, and so we moved on to a different spot.

Swamp Sparrow- Guelph, Wellington, Ontario- April 18 2020, at 9:55AM

Northern Shoveler- Guelph, Wellington, Ontario- April 18 2020, at 9:59AM

Our second spot was at Guelph Lake, Kaine Hill Drive. 

When we were going up the hill towards the lake, we heard a bird song that we assumed was a Chipping Sparrow at first, but it seemed less mechanical and more musical. We started thinking it might be a Pine Warbler. We did some pishing and about ten seconds later we saw a Pine Warbler swoop down in front of us and we got some amazing views of it.

Pine Warbler- Guelph, Wellington, Ontario- April 18 2020, at 10:14AM

            

 

After we made our way to the top of the hill we did not see much except a singing Winter Wren, about thirty-five Ring-billed Gulls, a few Loons and not much else, so we moved on to our next place.

The next spot was the bridge across Guelph Lake. We slowly drove across it and saw six Tree Swallows, three Common Mergansers and two Belted Kingfishers diving into the water catching small fish.

Our fourth spot was at the bridge in the Grand River, closest to the dam. We parked at the side of the road and walked the rest of the way to the bridge. The first thought that came into my mind was "Wow!" Across the bridge flying around was about three hundred or more Tree Swallows!

 Swallows- Bellwood, Wellington, Ontario- April 18 2020, at 10:48AM

They were all here because a big batch of a type of insect or insects where emerging and taking flight out of the water, probably Mayflies though I might be wrong; and the Tree Swallows gathered here to feast on them, helping themselves to the thousands of insects taking flight. You could see that the insects kept on moving around, because one second a giant group of Swallows would be flying up river and the next second they would take a sharp turn to the right following the insects, which to me is very cool!

Other than the Tree Swallows there was a Cardinal hanging around in the bush, one Barn Swallow mixed in the group that we could see (which was a year bird for dad and I), an Osprey flying over at one time, a pair of Green-winged Teal, a few Song Sparrows singing away, some Wood Ducks and Mallards.

Next we went beyond the dam, though still close to the Grand River. My dad drove slowly down the road. We saw a Great Blue Heron flying and our fourth Osprey of the day overhead. Then we stopped at the side of the road, where on the other side beyond the fence was a pond where my dad had once seen a Greater-white Fronted Goose, so we slowed down and checked it.

Unfortunately there was no Greater-white Fronted Goose this time, but there was an American Kestrel flying around catching insects. It would catch an insect, then go back and perch on the fence line with its catch, then flew off for another round.

    

American Kestrel- Bellwood, Wellington, Ontario- April 18 2020, at 11:10AM

After a few minutes we turned the car back on and made one last trip to another spot before we would head home.

On the way there we detoured around Douglas Park and found the second Pine Warbler of the day, bathing in a puddle. I got even better views of it than I did of the first Pine Warbler that morning. 

Pine Warbler- Belwood, Wellington, Ontario- April 18 2020, at 11:23AM

The last place we went to was a spot at Belwood Lake. Last year a lot of water dried up leaving a muddy spot where you could walk to the island and along the beach, and it provided a lot of shorebirds, like Greater & Lesser Yellowlegs, Dunlin, Pectoral Sandpiper, Semipalmated Plover, Least Sandpiper, lots and lots of Killdeer and even once a Curlew Sandpiper was found not to far down the river.

Of course there were no Shorebirds except maybe a Killdeer, because there wasn't enough mud and spring migration was just starting. We did look for some Tiger Beetles but didn't find any, though a Ruby-crowned Kinglet was perched at a spot for a minute or so, singing away, and it provided excellent views and pictures. 

Ruby-crowned Kinglet- Bellwood, Wellington, Ontario- April 18 2020, at 11:54AM

On the way home we passed some fields where we flushed a few Horned Larks from the ditches and sent them into the field as were passing by.

Horned Lark- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- April 18 2020, at 12:13PM

No one was at the house when get got there. My dad messaged my mom and she replied that she was at the back with my brother and sister playing there. We decided to make lunch, put it in a cooler and have it out back. We had wraps and a few hotdogs, and also brought wood for a fire. 

We made a nice fire out back and had our delicious lunch! 

After that we walked around a bit and found a caterpillar, a small insect, two species of Water Beetles and an Eastern Newt.

Grousewinged Backskimmer- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- April 18 2020, at 4:15PM

Acilius semisulcatus- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- April 18 2020, at 4:12PM

Butterflies or Moths- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- April 18 2020, at 4:35PM

Ampedus nigricollis- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- April 18 2020, at 4:30PM

Eastern Newt- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- April 18, at 4:22PM

After getting our photos we went back to the house to find a Muskrat standing on two of its feet looking at us!

Muskrat- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- April 18, at 7:03PM