Mid-March Birding

It's good to see Spring migration has started.  Killdeers, Song Sparrows are singing, Red-winged Blackbirds singing, Cardinals singing which is so nice to hear.  March has been mostly cold with the odd warm day.  The snow has melted but we keep getting more snow.  Now mid-March, the snow disappears fast through the day.

The ponds are ice free now.

Birding - First week of November 2025

The first week of November, we had some nice weather...temperature around 10-12C. Through the week, I checked some ponds around London to see what was around.  

Coves - Nov 1/25 - I saw lots of birds this day....American Goldfinches, House Finches, Dark-eyed Juncos, White-throated Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Black-capped Chickadees, Golden-crowned Kinglets.  There were also flocks of Cedar Waxwings, American Robins and a singing Carolina Wren.  

Great Blue Herons

Wood Ducks

Nov 2/25 - I checked out the ponds in Hyde Park.  It was nice to see a Great Egret this late in the season.  A few Clouded Sulphurs were flying around.

Clouded Sulphur

Nov 4/25 - I went to some ponds South London.  Great Blue Herons, Bald Eagles, and some Hooded Mergansers. There was some Clouded Sulphurs flying this day too.

Nov 6/25 - Went to Greenway Park.  I saw one Greater Yellowlegs and one Double-crested Cormorant.  Getting late for them.

Nov 8/25 - Fanshawe Lake - Flocks of Canada Geese flying over.  I saw some ducks out in the lake, Common Mergansers, Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes.  There were other groups of ducks but could not identify them as they were so far out.  I also saw one Great Blue Heron and Ring-billed Gulls.  There were some smaller birds around American Goldfinches, House Finches, Black-capped Chickadees, White-throated Sparrows, Cedar Waxwings, American Robins, Blue Jays and Northern Cardinals.

First Week of March 2025

These are photos from last week and this weekend.  I was at Greenway, Springbank, The Coves and Fanshawe CA.

Really nice to see Spring birds arriving.

Red-winged Blackbird

American Robin

Great Blue Heron

Northern Cardinal

Horned Lark

With rain last week and now snow melting, the Thames River is very high and fast flowing right now.

Very Cold Days in January 2025

 January 30, 2025

All the ponds in the area are frozen right now.  The only open water is the Thames River.  I was out birding in temperatures that feel like -28c.  We had more snow too.   Here are some birds I saw the last few weeks.

Redhead

American Robin

Common Mergansers (females)

Bufflehead

Green-winged Teal

Red tailed Hawk

Bald Eagle (immature)

Bald Eagle

Common Goldeneyes

Great Blue Heron

Birding at the Coves - December 2024

December 16, 2024, The Coves

The water in the Coves are all frozen.  The Great Blue Herons I saw were in the trees.  

I was watching 8 Robins in the berry bushes.  All of a sudden, a Sharp-shinned Hawk came swooping down over the Robins and flew off.  The Northern Flicker was hanging around with the Robins, too.  Then from another direction, the Sharp-shinned Hawk came flying in again and scattered the Robins and Flicker and landed in a small tree.  I noticed it looking down at the ground and it flew down to a lower bush and started chasing a Northern Cardinal.  The hawk was right behind the cardinal following it around the field and the cardinal went low into a bunch of weeds and the hawk flew off.  The cardinal got away.  It was close!

Sharp-shinned Hawk

I stayed round and watch the interaction of the birds.  After a bit of time, the cardinal came out from the weeds and flew up to a bush.  This is the cardinal that was chased. He is safe.

Birding - Week of February 19, 2024

I went birding at Greenway Park two different days last week.  - Feb 19 & 22.  

February 19 was a very cold day, -12c but sunny.  There was a nice variety of bird at the river.  Canada Geese, Mallards, Common Mergansers, Hooded Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes, Bufflehead, Green-winged Teal, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Ring-billed Gull, White-breasted Nuthatch, Downy Woodpeckers, Mourning Doves, Northern Cardinal, Blue Jays, Black-capped Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, and American Crows.

Great Blue Heron

Common Merganser

Common Goldeneyes

Common Merganser

Green-winged Teal sleeping

Common Goldeneyes

Green-winged Teal

Pied-billed Grebe

Bald Eagle

February 22 - A difference in weather.  Today was 8c, overcast.  I found the Pied-billed Grebe again which was nice.  Also I saw some American Black Ducks, Common Mergansers, Bald Eagle, heard my first of year Red-winged Blackbird, a Song Sparrow and Northern Cardinals were singing.

Pied-billed Grebe

I watched 2 Red-tailed Hawks flyover. One of them dived to the ground and by inches missed a squirrel then flew up in the tree.  

American Black Duck

Red-tailed Hawk