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!

Birding in London Parks

I got around to some London parks this past week.  A very cold week.  At Gibbons Park, there were the usual Canada Geese and Mallards.  I also saw some Hooded Mergansers swimming around and fishing.  They are fast little swimmers.

Hooded Mergansers

Other birds I saw were White-breasted Nuthatches, Black-capped Chickadees, Downy Woodpeckers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Cardinals, Dark-eyed Juncos, American Goldfinch, Blue Jays and 5 Robins, which is always nice to see.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Some scenes of Thames River.

Greenway Park - Lots of Canada Geese (over 200), Mallards (over 200) along the banks of the river, Bufflehead, Hooded Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes, Great Blue Heron, and some Black Ducks.

Black Duck to the right

This Bald Eagle was flying around and landed right above me!  Magnificent birds!

This poor thing (Great Blue Heron) is really tucked in to stay warm.  It was really cold, feeling like -19c.  

Yesterday, I went to Fanshawe CA to see what was around.  I walked to the dam.  The lake was frozen the one side but there was water below the dam where I saw the Common Goldeneyes, Canada Geese and Mallards.  Really cold!  I mainly watched the birds at the start of Tamarack Trail.  People leave bird seed there.  Lots of nice birds, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Dark-eyed Juncos, White-throated Sparrows, Tree Sparrows, Black-capped Chickadees, Cardinals, Blue Jays, and Downy Woodpeckers.  

At one of the parks, the Great Horned Owl just started nesting last week.