Birding at Wetlands

Week of September 17, 2023

I have been visiting area ponds and wetlands.  I got some nice variety of birds lately.  Lots of Canada Geese, Mallards, Turkey Vultures have been going through in numbers, lots of Blue Jays, American Crow, Belted Kingfisher, Red-winged Blackbirds, American Robins, Northern Cardinals, American Goldfinches, Song Sparrows, Cedar Waxwings, Common Grackles, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Downy Woodpecker, Mourning Doves, and Black-capped Chickadees.

On this day, I saw a Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Killdeers, Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, Green-winged Teals, Northern Pintail, Rusty Blackbirds, Brown-headed Cowbird, Eastern Phoebe, Palm Warbler, and Yellow-rumped Warblers.  

Great Blue Heron

Green-winged Teals

Green-winged Teal

Belted Kingfisher

The Wilson's Snipe was a nice surprise.  I rarely see them.

Wilson's Snipe

Solitary Sandpiper

Rusty Blackbirds

Northern Pintail

Today, I saw a Red Admiral, a Monarch, Cabbage Whites and some Sulphurs.

I'm still seeing turtles and frogs sunning themselves.

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.

The Last Week of August 2023

Last week, I went to a couple of ponds. The whole time I was at Uplands Wetland, this Great Egret was feeding.  I was on the bridge so close to it.  It just ignored me and keep feeding.

I also saw 3 Great Blue Herons, Turkey Vultures, Red-tailed Hawk, Song Sparrows, House Finches, Northern Flicker, American Robin, and Mourning Doves.  

Double-crested Cormorant

Midland Painted Turtles

I went to the airport hoping to find the Northern Mockingbird.  I could not find it.  The Eastern Meadowlarks were gone too.  There was an Osprey, Ring-billed Gulls, lots of Mourning Doves on the wires, and the American Kestrel (a blurry photo below).

American Kestrel

At another pond east of Fanshawe Rd, there were flocks of Cedar Waxwings.  

Cedar Waxwings