Some First of the Year Birds

February 27, 2924 - Gibbons Park. This is the first Red-winged Blackbird I've seen this year.

Red-winged Blackbird

Common Mergansers

February 28, 2024 - Started to go out birding.  It was 14c. this morning.  It suddenly got dark NW London at Hyde Park  I was taking photos of the ducks when the wind picked up so strong it just about knocked me over.  It started to rain a bit.  I can feel the temperature dropping.  After 10:30 going home the temperature was 4c.  The temperature continued to drop and by the afternoon it was -1c with snowflerries. 

My photos are dark but I saw a Redhead and some Ring-necked Ducks.

Redhead

Ring-necked Ducks

This is when the wind gusts were strong and the ducks were all of a sudden swimming in waves.

What a change in weather the next day, February 29, 2024, -7c, feels like -15c, mostly cloudy, W wind 28 km/h, gust 48 km/h.  I went to a Hyde Park Pond and saw my first of the year Killdeer.

Coves and Greenway Park, March 1, 2024, 7c, sunny, a nice day.  Some birds were singing such as the Red-winged Blackbirds, Song Sparrows, Northern Cardinals and a Carolina Wren.  I saw these Great Blue Herons at the Coves sleeping.

At Greenway Park, I saw this beautiful Red-tailed Hawk.

This is the only Common Merganser I saw at the river.

Common Merganser (female)

It was nice to see the Wood Ducks.  First of the Year.

Wood Ducks

Mallard (female)

First Week of September 2023 - Feeling more like Fall

 Week of September 3, 2023

I went to a few places....a pond out Wonderland Rd. South, Hyde Park and Uplands Wetland.  I'm not getting many shorebirds...hopefully this week.  Not many butterflies were seen.  The trees are starting to turn slightly.

At the pond south of Wonderland Rd, Double-crested Cormorants were swimming around, Greater Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Belted Kingfisher, Cedar Waxwings, American Goldfinches, Song Sparrows and Black-capped Chickadees.  I did see one Monarch.

Killdeer

Green Heron

Great Blue Heron

Pied-billed Grebe

I popped into Springbank Park one morning and found a female Common Merganser on the rocks.  Also saw a few Yellow-rumped Warblers.  

Common Merganser

Yellow-rumped Warbler

At Upland Wetlands, there was a Great Egret and two Great Blue Herons.  The only shorebirds I've seen there recently are Killdeers.  The water level is high.  Other birds I saw were Belted Kingfisher, lots of Cedar Waxwings, Song Sparrows, American Goldfinches, House Finches, Common Yellowthroat, Mourning Doves, Mallards and Canada Geese.  I have seen more Turkey Vultures flying over lately.

Mid-April Findings

Here are some images of birds I've seen the last couple of weeks at  Westminster Ponds, Coves, and Fanshawe CA.  Nice to see some Spring birds arriving.

Killdeer

Great Blue Heron

Barn Swallow

Blue-winged Teal

Turkey Vulture

Bufflehead

Ring-necked Duck

Eastern Phoebe

Canada Goose

Northern Shoveler

Sandpiper Surprise

I thought I would go to Greenway Park, November 23, 2022 for a walk along Thames River.  The weather was nice 7c and sunny.  A lot of Canada Geese and Mallards around. 

A very large Canada Goose

It was nice to see some Common Mergansers and Hooded Mergansers.  

Common Merganser

Hooded Mergansers

While looking at the ducks, I scanned the other side of the river along the bank.  I noticed something small moving and realized it was a Spotted Sandpiper.  I've never seen a Spotted Sandpiper this late in the season.  It was moving around and feeding like crazy.  I tried my best to take some photos along the river bank where the Spotted Sandpiper was moving along.  

Spotted Sandpiper

Not far from the Spotted Sandpiper, I saw something else.  It was a Wilson's Snipe!  I've never seen a Wilson's Snipe this late in the season.  They both blended very well with a background of leaves, branches and rocks.  I did get some photos but not great.

Wilson's Snipe

There was also a couple of Killdeers.

Recent June Outings

I'm birding around London area and exploring other wildlife.  I can't believe it's mid-June already.  One day at one of parks here in London, I saw four Great Blue Herons....one in a pond, two were in trees and the other in a field. As you can tell, I love Great Blue Herons.

This bird above and below is a Willow Flycatcher.  

Killdeer

Purple Crownvetch

I have not seen too many dragonflies yet.  I've only seen the Common Whitetail and some damselflies.  The butterflies I saw this past week are the same ones I saw the previous week...Cabbage Whites, Little Wood Satyr, and a lot of European Skippers.  I hoping to see some different ones next week.

Eastern Forktail

Barn Swallows

Midland Painted Turtles