River Ross's and Other Recent Ramblings

As the title references, I finally managed to catch up with the Ross's Goose which has been regularly showing for some at different locations around Stratford.  First stop was the storm water ponds where it had been reported at noon, but it was not to be found here.  It made sense to drive along the river where it was also sometimes reported.


There it was.

Although it may not be as unusual as the Barnacle Goose in Schomberg, it's still a good bird to find locally.


Last Wednesday I attempted to find another lifer by heading to the Ellice Swamp to look for the White-Winged Crossbills which had been reported there.

Although I struck out on the crossbills, it was a nice evening for a walk. 

The swamp usually hosts at least one pair of nesting sandhill cranes and they could be heard trumpeting somewhere in the marsh.

Looking over the marsh.

The swamp feels like a piece of the north here in southern Ontario and it is one of the few areas around here where Ruffed Grouse and Common Raven can be found somewhat regularly.




Last weekend I was down in the Long Point area.  A wide variety of waterfowl provided good views at close range.  A single snowy owl was also found on the dock in Port Rowan.

Sounds like some warmer spring weather is on the way.

Weekend Wetland Walk

With the spring season fast approaching, I decided yesterday to check out the West Perth Wetlands for the first time this year .  Part of my decision to do so came from hearing on Saturday about a Greater White-Fronted Goose that had shown up here.  This would be my first Ontario sighting of the species and I was anxious to try and find it.

  I couldn't get there until later in the day and so the sun was getting low as I arrived.  Not ideal conditions for spotting when the sun is at eye level.

There were lots of geese but no sign of my target.  It didn't help that the flocks seemed skittish and were constantly flying back and forth between cells and surrounding corn fields.

A few other early season waterfowl were present.

A Killdeer flew over as well, my first of the year.

Mallard nest tubes are a new addition to the wetlands, something I hope to try at home someday.

The sun was definitely starting to set and I was prepared to leave when I saw that the majority of the geese had landed in the corn field again and perhaps I should try scoping them again from a distance.

Finally!!

Not great conditions for photos, but I could some great views through the scope of this new Ontario lifer.

A Great Horned Owl was hooting somewhere in the trees as I walked back to the truck in the evening dusk and just before leaving I was treated to several massive flocks of Tundra Swans flying overhead.  I estimated nearly 200, a good number for around here.

It was a great evening at the wetlands and I look forward to more as we move on into spring.

And because I haven't had a chance to share any Snowy Owl photos this season, I'll conclude with one I saw on a January drive through the Linwood area.  We saw five in total on this particular evening.