March Revival

Spring has come to the county and things are really starting to roll. This (last) month has been a great month for both the Big Year and genuinely flavourful birding. Let's break it all down.....

The Breakdown:

New Code 4s +5s:   :(

New Code 3s: 

Lapland Longspur (1)

Canvasback (8 birds, 3 sightings!)

Tufted Titmouse (1)

Other Monthly Notables: 

Eastern Meadowlark (1) - March 2'nd!

Long-tailed Duck (4) - Has shaped up to be a banner year for this species in the county

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - March 28

Cackling Geese (8)

Horned Grebe - March 10

Red-breasted Merganser - March 10

End of March Total: 95

Enough about numbers, let's get to some county outings.

The month picked up on similar grounds as the previous, making frequent commutes down to the Grand River. On one early March trip there was a nice selection of birds including a Red-breasted Merganser, Long-tailed Duck and Horned Grebe that made for excellent showing, a true sign of spring movement. The Long-tailed Duck most certainly stole the show.

 Long-tailed Duck almost too close to the camera!

Birds aren't the only things hooked to the allure of the Grand. These two coyotes seemed to enjoy a clear path, appearing a little too comfortable around people.

A fun kickoff to the month was finding a large flock of Common Redpolls in the south of Cambridge. This species has irrupted into southern Ontario this past winter and although it is not an uncommon sight it was neat to see these birds in large numbers in the county. One can only dream to see the much frostier and much rarer Hoary Redpoll mixed in.

Common Redpoll's (Some looking rather pale?!)

As large numbers of waterfowl begin moving through Southern Ontario starting in early to mid March, the Hespeler Mill Pond became one of my favourite morning stop overs before work. Nothing quite compares to the sun's first light casting beams on a hearty mix of freshly fallen waterfowl. I'll include a few of these findings here.

 Canvasback! (Code 3)

Find the Cackler's! (hint: it's the tiny ones) 

Greater + Lesser Scaup

For a few mornings two Sandhill Cranes took up residence on the mill pond mudflats, putting on a great, noisy show. 

Sandhill Crane

After hearing reports of a Tufted Titmouse at Riverside Park, I indulged in this twitch, obtaining long looks at a very cool county bird both in looks and in range. Tufted Titmouse occurs annually in the county with only a few records each year, making it a challenging bird to pin down. This one decided to hang around for a few days.

Tufted Titmouse

A big theme of March consisted of weekly trips up to Linwood....a land of vast wilderness...emptiness....and pristine beauty. Well, maybe it doesn't quite encompass these terms, but it sure feels wild in Waterloo County standards. The Linwood and surrounding area take up a large chunk of this county and although farmlands occupy most of this area, I can't think to wonder what birds go unnoticed. On one venture, a very early (March 2'nd) Eastern Meadowlark made a surprising appearance in the snow. I think we weren't the only one's surprised....

A very confused Eastern Meadowlark

There is no doubt that Linwood is the best place in the county to witness Snow Owls. On one morning I had 15 trolling the side roads, including seven along a stretch of road spanning a few kilometres. Strangely enough these one's were all on the Wellington County side :(  

Snowy Owl

The primary purpose of these trips however, was in hopes of bearing witness to the alleged Lapland Longspur spectacle that happens here for a few weeks every year in late March (according to legends that is!). While visiting this area with another birding friend around this time, we began to hear the familiar songs of the Longspurs and it sounded like a lot more than just one! It didn't take long to locate around 60 of these beauties, some just beginning to show their marvelous summer colours. In my opinion these birds have one of the most beautiful and tranquil songs out there. This was a nice switch from the many hundreds of Horned Larks that had been streaming through the area over the past visits.

A (slightly out of focus) Lapland Longspur 

Lapland Longspur sporting it's (somewhat) breeding plumage 

Of course with always being on the search for the harder to find birds, it's often easy to lose sight of the more common species that make up the bulk of life and spring vibes in this county. It wouldn't be the same without you commoners....

American Robin

Great Blue Herons

Common Merganser Duo (More on winter vibes here)

That's all for now. It's been a busy April so far in the bird department, but I'll save that for a future post!