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

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)

End of February Birding

I have been out birding but have not seen anything different for the past few weeks.  We've had some really cold days in February.

Last week, I went to Greenway Park to see what was around.  It was a little milder today and sunny.  Most of the ducks were along the banks of the river trying to keep warm.  Lots of Canada Geese, Mallards, some Black Ducks, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye,  Hooded Mergansers and Common Mergansers.  

Common Mergansers and Mallards

Common Goldeneye

Common Merganser (female)

Always nice to see a Robin.

One day, I went out to Killarney Ponds, east London.  There were reports that a Redhead and a Greater Scaup were there.  I saw both of them, first of the year for me.

Redhead

Greater Scaup

While I was out the east end of the city, I went to Fanshawe CA.  It was a very cold day, feeling like -14c so I didn't stay too long.  I checked out the Tamarack Trail Area.  There were lots of Dark-eyed Juncos, Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays, White-throated Sparrows, Mourning Doves, Tree Sparrows, Black-capped Chickadees, and Red-breasted Nuthatches

White-throated Sparrow

Northern Cardinal

Dark-eyed Juncos

Tree Sparrow

Yesterday, I went to Canterbury Park.  I have not been there since the Fall.  The pond is still frozen over.  I saw some Blue Jays, American Robins, Mourning Doves, Northern Cardinals and American Crows.

Red-tailed Hawk

Looking forward to seeing some signs of Spring next week!

Variety of Nature

This past week I was at Hyde Park and The Coves, London, Ontario.

I saw a nice variety of birds, lots of turtles, frogs and butterflies.

Great Blue Heron

Northern Flicker

Indigo Bunting

House Wren

White-crowned Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Nashville Warbler

Redhead

Great Egret

Double-crested Cormorant

Midland Painted Turtle

Red-eared Slider

In a shallow little pond, I counted 11 Northern Leopard Frogs at the surface of the water. Here are a few photos of the different frogs.  They were enjoying the warm sun.

Northern Leopard Frog