Susan's Birding and Nature Blog

Showing posts with label Great Blue Herons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Great Blue Herons. Show all posts

Sunday, 14 December 2025

Winter Birding in December 2025

 December 14, 2025

I have been out birding.  I'm seeing all the regular birds the last few weeks.  Winter is here as we have a lot of snow now, ponds are frozen over and the Thames River is starting to freeze in some sections.  The ducks I've seen lately are Mallards, Common Mergansers, Hooded Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes, Buffleheads and American Black Ducks.

Red-tailed Hawk

American Robins finding a little opening in the frozen pond for a drink.



Hooded Merganser

Bald Eagle


Hundreds of Mallards and Canada Geese in the parks.  Someone was feeding them corn.


Common Merganser

This was this morning, December 14, really cold, feeling like -22c and heavy snow squalls.  These poor Robins.


Sunday, 29 December 2024

Ducks and Herons - December 29, 2024

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.     

Green-winged Teal


Bufflehead

Hooded Mergansers

Ring-necked Duck

Common Goldeneye

Common Mergansers

The Great Blue Herons were high in the trees today.  There were 9 of them and one flyover.





December 26, 2024  - I was at Greenway again looking at the ducks and Great Blue Herons.

Common Mergansers

Green-winged Teals

Common Goldeneye

Bald Eagle - 3rd yr

Bald Eagle - Juvenile



December 28, 2024 - At Greenway again looking at the Great Blue Herons. Today there were 10.  I went to the Coves but nothing much there.  We actually had some sun today.







Sunday, 15 December 2024

London CBC - December 14, 2024

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.

Common Mergansers

Common Goldeneyes (females)

Common Goldeneye

Hooded Mergansers

Green-winged Teal

Northern Pintail

Great Blue Herons




Tuesday, 3 December 2024

Winter has Arrived - December 2024

November 30, 2024, I walked along Thames River to see what was around.  A Bald Eagle was up in a tree above me.  There were lots of Canada Geese, Mallards, Ring-billed Gulls, Green-winged Teals, Northern Flicker, Norther Cardinal, Black-capped Chickadees, Downy Woodpecker and Blue Jays.

The weather has been overcast and temperature around 0c to 2c.  We had no snow in November.





The photos below are from yesterday, December 2, 2024 in the snow storm.  There were eight Great Blue Herons together. 







Sunday, 27 October 2024

Warm Weather Continues End of October 2024

 Week of Oct 21-27, 2024 

Monday at Komoka North - It was sunny and warm 12c to 24c close to a record temperature.  The pond was quiet today with a few Canada Geese, Mallards, Green-winged Teals, Pied-billed Grebes and Gadwalls.

On the trail, lots of Dark eyed Juncos, American Goldfinches, Yellow-rumped Warblers, House Finches in the goldenrods for the seed.  I was pleased to see an Eastern Bluebird up in a tree.  Also saw a Red-tailed Hawk and two Turkey Vultures.  A few Clouded and Orange Sulphurs were flying around.

Gadwall

Pied billed Grebes

Eastern Bluebird

Clouded Sulphur

I have not been to Fanshawe CA for awhile.  At the pond, Pied-billed Grebes and Mallards.  A Bald Eagle flew by.  At the dam, in the distance a group (15) Common Mergansers were together.  

Bald Eagle

Dark-eyed Juncos were everywhere.

At the Coves was another nice day.  Lots of smaller birds were around, Song Sparrows, White-throated Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, Black-capped Chickadees, House Finches, and American Goldfinches.  There was a Bald Eagle that flew by very high and a couple of Red-tailed Hawks.  

Hairy Woodpecker

Two Great Blue Herons in the trees.



I had a nice opportunity to take a close photo of a Cooper's Hawk.  My camera did not cooperate.  I had photos that were too dark and ones that were washed out.  This was the best I could do.


Photos in Hyde Park...beautiful colours.