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.
To highlight 2024, I only got one new lifer back in January - Black-billed Magpie. It wasn't a good year for butterflies or dragonflies. There were not many around. I had to really look for them through the Summer and Fall.
I started the new year 2025 going to Fanshawe CA to see what was around. There were a nice variety of birds at the Tamarack Trail. Lots of Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays, Mourning Doves, Dark-eyed Juncos, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-throated Sparrows, American Tree Sparrows, Red-bellied Woodpecker, and Black-capped Chickadees. I also saw two juvenile Bald Eagles fly over.
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| Northern Cardinal |
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| Black-capped Chickadee |
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| Red-breasted Nuthatch |
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| Dark-eyed Junco |
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| Mourning Dove |
Yesterday (January 4), I went to Greenway Park for a walk. It was really cold feeling like -15c and a strong, cold West wind. There were snow squalls too. I walked along Thames River and saw lots of Common Mergansers, some Hooded Mergansers, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneyes, American Black Duck and lots of Canada Geese and Mallards. The Ring-necked Duck is still there. Two juvenile Bald Eagles were flying over the river. I will go to Greenway one more time this coming week before the area is closed down for construction until mid-March.
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| Blue Jay |
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| Ring-necked Duck (centre) |
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| Common Mergansers |
Greenway Park - December 24, 2024
I saw a nice variety of ducks today at the river. The weather was milder, 0c and overcast. The snow on the ground was wet and slushy.
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| Green-winged Teal |
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| Bufflehead |
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| Hooded Mergansers |
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| Common Goldeneye |
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| Common Mergansers |
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| Green-winged Teals |
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| Common Goldeneye |
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| Bald Eagle - 3rd yr |
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| Bald Eagle - Juvenile |
London Christmas Bird Count (CBC), December 14, 2024
Weather -11c, feels like -17c, very cold, sunny, snow on ground
Time 8:00am to 1:00pm - 4 1/2 hours, a break at 10:30 to warm up at Tims
Where Greenway Park
Distance 6.4 km
Species: 28
Participants - 4
We started at the Greenway Park parking lot across from the lookout at Thames River. We saw the usual resident birds, the white Domestic Goose, some Domestic Mallards and 2 Cayuga Ducks. There were many Mallards, Canada Geese, Ring-billed Gulls, American Herring Gulls, and some Common Goldeneyes.
Some of the birds we saw along the river were Canada Geese, Mallards, Common Mergansers, Hooded Mergansers. lots of Ring-billed Gulls at the water or flying above in flocks, American Herring Gulls, Common Mergansers, Hooded Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes, Bufflehead, American Black Duck, Green-winged Teals, Northern Pintail, and a female Lesser Scaup.
There were one adult Bald Eagle and 3 immature Bald Eagles flying over. A Red-tailed Hawk that just caught a mouse.
Never seen so many Great Blue Herons (12) at this time of the year. Saw some flying over individually and six resting in trees at the cove with some flying off towards the Coves.
In the smaller bird category, 3 Golden-crowned Kinglets, American Goldfinches, Dark-eyed Juncos (18), Black-capped Chickadees, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpeckers, Northern Cardinals, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Mourning Doves, House Sparrows and Starlings. There were 5 American Crows.
We missed the American Robin and a Blue Jay!
We also saw 4 White-tailed Deer.
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| Common Mergansers |
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| Common Goldeneyes (females) |
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| Common Goldeneye |
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| Hooded Mergansers |
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| Green-winged Teal |
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| Northern Pintail |
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| Great Blue Herons |
December 11, 2024
We got our first snowstorm this week in London. About 2 ft of snow. I went to Springbank Park the day after the heavy snowfall. There were Canada Geese, Mallards, Common Mergansers, Ring-billed Gulls and it was nice to see a Northern Pintail. I don't see them to often. Lots of Dark-eyed Juncos, American Goldfinches, and Northern Cardinals.
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| Common Merganser |
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| Northern Pintail |
I went to Greenway Park to see what was around. There were lots of Ring-billed Gulls and some American Herring Gulls. Some Common Mergansers were around, Hooded Mergansers, Green-winged Teals (8), Great Blue Herons (6), and a couple of Bald Eagles flew by.
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| Common Mergansers |
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| Hooded Mergansers |
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| Great Blue Heron |
