Mid - February Birding - 2026

I have been birding at the Coves and Greenway Park most of February.  There are a nice variety of ducks at the river. We have had lots of snow through February and some very cold days. Right now (Feb 23/26) the river is very high and fast moving as we had a few mild days and rain/freezing rain.  Here are some of my photos I took recently.

 

Canvasback

Common Goldeneye - female

Bufflehead

Great Blue Heron

Greater Scaup

Redheads

Mid-November Birding 2025

I have seen a few new winter ducks lately.  Common Mergansers, Hooded Mergansers, Bufflehead, and Common Goldeneye.  Not in big numbers though.  The London area has had some heavy snowfalls...heavy, wet snow lately.

Hooded Merganser

Bald Eagle

Hooded Merganser

Buffleheads

East London Area

Last week, I decided to go to Fanshawe CA.  I have not been there for awhile.  It was fairly quiet.  At the lake, a raft of Buffleheads...about 80 were together.  At the pond, a Great Blue Heron and lots of Mallards.  I didn't see anything at the Dam area.  At the Tamarack Trail, there were lots of Black-capped Chickadees.  I fed them seeds from my hand..they enjoyed the treats.  There were Blue Jays, Northern Cardinals, White-breasted Nuthatches and Dark-eyed Juncos.

Raft of Buffleheads

I went to a wetland off Fanshawe Rd.  It was kind of quiet there too.  There were some Mallards, one Canada Goose, lots of finches flying and feeding on the weed seeds along the walkway.  Also, sparrows.  It was nice to see a Fox Sparrow!

Belted Kingfisher

Fox Sparrow

Fox Sparrow

Red-winged Blackbird

American Tree Sparrow

House Finches

I spotted a butterfly.....Clouded Sulphur Nov 8!

Birding - Some Frosty Days

I went to Greenway Park a few times this week.  Wednesday, January 12, it was -12c, feeling like -20c....really cold.  I saw some nice ducks along the river.  Lots of Canada Geese, Mallards, some Black Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, Common Mergansers, Buffleheads and Common Goldeneyes.  Also, along the river were some Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Downy Woodpeckers, Black-capped Chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatch, Cardinals and Blue Jays.

Common Goldeneye (female)

Then I came across 10 Great Blue Herons.  Eight resting at the north side of the river and two at the south side.  I just look down the river bank and there they were!   I've never seen so many at one time!

These two were just below from where I was standing.

Hooded Merganser

Common Merganser

Common Goldeneye (male)

Yesterday, January 15 was bitterly cold, -17c, feeling like -25c.  Again there were lots of Canada Geese, Mallards, some Buffleheads and Common Goldeneyes.

Muscovy Ducks -  there were 3 of them

Common Goldeneyes

I was watching the adult Bald Eagle and a juvenile came flying in and landed in the same tree.

Mild January Weather

 January 4 to 9, 2021

I saw a nice variety of birds in the Coves this day.  A Carolina Wren was singing, Mallards, White-breasted Nuthatch, House Finch, Black-capped Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, Mourning Doves, American Robins and some Canada Geese flying over and Ring-billed Gulls.

American Robins

House Finch

Fanshawa CA - The gate is closed to cars at the dam because of the Covid-19 lockdown, so I walked halfway down the dam area to see what was in the water.  The one side is frozen and the other side half frozen with open water in the middle.  I can see Canada Geese and there were 3 ducks but they were too far to ID.

I went over to the Tamarack Trail area to see what was there.  There were Northern Cardinals and Blue Jays flying in and out.  Other birds were Black-capped Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, White-throated Sparrows, Downy Woodpeckers, and White-breasted Nuthatch.

White-throated Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Coves - Finally a nice sunny day.  It's always nice to see American Robins in January.  There were White-breasted Nuthatches, House Finches, Carolina Wren, Downy Woodpeckers, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jays, Northern Cardinals and a Red-tailed Hawk.  

So far, we have had mild weather around -2c to 4c (day temperatures) with overcast skies.  The winters sure has changed from years ago when I was a kid.  We haven't had a frigid cold snap yet. 

I went over to Greenway Park to see what was in the river.  Lots of Canada Geese in the water and flying over.  Lots of Mallards, some Buffleheads, Common Mergansers, Ring-billed Gulls and a Herring Gull.

Buffleheads

Buffleheads

Common Mergansers

Common Merganser  (female)

Birding - Week of January 20-24, 2020

Tuesday, January 21, 2020 - Fanshawe CA, London, Ontario

I decided to go to Fanshawe this morning to see if I can find the Chipping Sparrow.  Watching the birds feeding at the entrance of Tamarack Trail, there were lots of Northern Cardinals, Dark-eyed Juncos, Black-capped Chickadees, White-throated Sparrows, and Mourning Doves.  I did finally see the Chipping Sparrow.  It was nice.

Dark-eyed Junco

Northern Cardinal

White-throated Sparrow

Northern Cardinal and Chipping Sparrow

Chipping Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Northern Cardinal

I went to the Dam to see what was in the water.  The one side the water was frozen.   The other side was open water.  All I saw was Canada Geese.  I scanned around the edges looking for ducks and found a busy Muskrat...swimming around and eating.
 

Wednesday, January 22, 2020 - The Coves

It was quiet at the Coves this morning.  The water is frozen again.  I saw Downy Woodpeckers, Dark-eyed Juncos, Tree Sparrows, heard Carolina Wrens, Northern Cardinals and the Red-tailed Hawk.

Thursday, January 23, 2020 - Greenway Park

There were a few ducks in the Thames River today.  Lots of Canada Geese, Mallards, some Common Mergansers, Bufflehead, and Common Goldeneyes.  Along the edge of the river, the Red-bellied Woodpeckers were active, Downy Woodpeckers, White-breasted Nuthatch, Blue Jays, heard a Carolina Wren and an American Robin.  

Bufflehead

Bufflehead, Common Merganser, Mallards and Canada Geese

 

Common Goldeneyes

 

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Red-tailed Hawk