Winter Wonderland

The temperature had fallen to around minus ten and the blowing wind and snow was making it seem even colder but that didn’t stop us from bundling up and heading out the door. We were curious to see what kinds of birds were hanging around. Instead of walking down by the river in the Park we decided to walk on the TJDolan trail further up the Avon but well protected in the woods. Once we got walking we didn’t feel the cold so much.

We saw about 10 Mourning Doves sitting quietly in the trees.

As we walked along the river we saw a few dozen Mallards near the open water and a Great Blue Heron. It wouldn’t let us get close enough for a photo but kept moving along down the river as we approached. I don’t recall ever having seen any herons in this area during the winter before so we were quite surprised to see it.

And there was lots of activity at the feeders with Juncos, Chickadees, Cardinals and Finches.

 Redbreasted Nuthatch

Not bad for such a wild, wintery day!

Long Point

After a busy couple of weeks and a late night on Saturday, we wanted to do some birdwatching but didn’t have the time to go too far. So we settled on Long Point as we make our way east along the Lake Erie shores.

The day started out cloudy and mild but the sun made an appearance as we walked along the beach!
(as well as the strong winds!)

There were only a few gulls on the beach at the water’s edge but there were quite a few smaller birds in trees where they were sheltered from the wind.

American Tree Sparrow

Downy Woodpecker

We dawdled out to the point as long as we could but headed decided to head back to the Marsh area just outside of the Conservation Area before the sun started to set. It gets dark so early these days!

There were hundreds of American Coots on the east side of the point along with some geese.

If you look really closely in the photo below you can see a couple of Herons, one on each side along with a large number of Hooded Mergansers.

The marshes were lively with loads of ducks, geese flying overhead and gathering behind the grasses and a Red-tailed Hawk.

Finally the sun disappeared and the sky started looking threatening so we headed home. But it really was a gorgeous day to be out watching the action.