HSA Big Year - Weekly Summary (January 23 - 29)

This week has been very eventful with a little more sunshine than last week and six new species added to my HSA Big Year! On the evening of Tuesday, January 24, Rich Poort found a Pacific Loon in Hamilton Harbor off LaSalle Park. To me in the HSA, this is considered a (Code 5) species because they're not always chaseable, not annual, and you would have to be in the right place at the right time to get them in late fall/early spring during a lakewatch. Forecasted for the next day (Wednesday) was heavy snowfall & rain all day, making for very poor road conditions and terrible visibility on the lake, so there was basically no point in trying to see it. That night, as I was studying in my room, I heard some sort of odd low pitched, sound coming from outside and couldn't really figure out what it was. My mom and I quickly stepped outside and heard the calls of a Great Horned Owl! On Wednesday, my sister drove me home after finishing up an exam and I saw a Red-winged Blackbird feeding at someones feeder just a few houses down the road from me. I walked back to the spot, where I found three of them sitting together in a cedar tree. On Thursday, the Pacific Loon was thankfully found again in the evening, swimming way out in the bay. To make it even more exciting, there was also a Snow Goose hanging around the large rocky islands with the Canada Geese! These would both be new year birds for me, so thankfully after school my sister drove me to LaSalle Park. We arrived to see a few birders scoping out the bay looking for the loon, but none were confident that they had seen it. Luckily, the Snow Goose had stayed the night at LaSalle and actually continued for the rest of the day! It was swimming very close to shore with a small group of Canada Geese so we took the opportunity to get some great photos of it!

Snow Goose

After that, we went back over to the parking lot to look for the Pacific Loon. 15 minutes of searching did not turn up our target loon, but we did see a few Common Loons! We then walked over to the path that takes you a little further out in the bay (over the closed bridge), where we actually located the Pacific Loon very far out. The strong wind combined with the distance of the bird made views not so great, but enough to see key features that made it a Pacific and not a Common/Red-throated Loon. I really wanted to see this bird closer, and it seemed like it was slowly drifting more towards us, so we decided to wait about 25 minutes to see what would change. The loon never came closer, but something else came closer, it was the Great Cormorant!! It flew in from the bay and decided to land and have a snack just about 50 meters away from us. What a treat it was to see this cormorant from the Atlantic coast up so close. It was joined by three of this smaller friends, Double-crested Cormorants. When I had seen this bird before at the start of January, it was basically just a dark blob sitting on the wave tower, but now I could really see this bird well & up close. It was a lifer for my sister and for the other birder we were with. So yeah, everything worked out in the end and I added two difficult birds to the year list that day.

Great Cormorant (left) Double-crested Cormorant (right)

Great Cormorant (white cheek patch, large blocky head, thick silvery bill)

The next day in the evening, my mom and I visited Oakville Harbor to see if any Cackling Geese had come to roost there for the night as usually hundreds of geese are present there during the winter months. Didn't see many geese, but stumbled upon a small group of five Snow Buntings foraging in the snow basically right at the base of the pier which was very neat. Today, after following up on a lead for a Long-eared Owl; unsuccessfully finding it, I did observe a tiny Cackling Goose flying with a group of Canada Geese. He was actually leading the group, which I found interesting as I usually see them near the back of the group. A very good week I would say!

HSA Year List: 90

Recent rare bird sightings (green text means I've already seen this species, this year; orange text means added this week):

Eastern/Western Meadowlark in Haldimand; An "interesting meadowlark" says Ken Burrell - https://ebird.org/checklist/S127205456 (not sure what to think of this just yet) 

Snow Goose in Burlington - In a pond (43.405341, -79.812840) (Jeffrey Huang; Jan 29) 

Pacific Loon - Likely still off of LaSalle Park (don't think it was seen today though) 

Great Cormorant - Seen on the piers at the Hamilton Yacht Club today (Alvan Buckley; Jan 29)

HSA Big Year - Weekly Summary (January 16 - 22)

With exams starting up this week and next week, I've had to cut back a bit on birding but you can always find time to bird even if it's just glancing out to your feeders for a few minutes, or going for quick stroll around the neighborhood. I've made it a routine for me to check some storm water ponds just across the street from my school, and have actually found some neat things in them, including a Snow Goose in 2022! Usually the ponds consist of Mallards, Canada Geese (large numbers only on very cold days), and the occasional Bufflehead and Hooded Merganser. So on Wednesday I made the quick trip out to check the ponds again, as the key to finding rare birds is being consistent! This time of year combined with recent weather systems have resulted in constant overcast days throughout Ontario. When I arrived at the ponds I was astonished to find a group of Wood Ducks (two males & one female), bringing me some joy to a gray, gloomy day. 

On Saturday, my mom and I finally got out to Fifty Point CA, hoping to lay eyes on the King Eider that has stuck around since January 1st. We arrived just after 9am, and began our search on the Niagara Side of Fifty Point, scoping from a nice observation deck. Dave Don had arrived just a few minutes before us, also searching for the eider. The lake was choppy, making it a bit easier for eider to hide but we were determined to find it! About 20 minutes later, Dave spots it way out with a group of White-winged Scoters. It takes me a quick minute to find it in my scope, but eventually we are seeing it, a successful chase! Our luck didn't end there for the day, we also saw a Red-necked Grebe, a Black Scoter and two Northern Saw-whet Owls, all being new year birds. 

Northern Saw-whet Owl - Fifty Point CA

After wrapping up at Fifty Point around 11am, we headed up the escarpment to hopefully find a Northern Shrike that had been reported in the general area. After driving around for about an hour, we finally located it perched at the very top of a tree! Took a picture of it, then headed back home. 

Northern Shrike - Stoney Creek

It wasn't only a good day for birds, we also had quite a nice time observing some mammals! A beautiful Red Fox was the first one we saw, followed closely by a coyote and then a deer! 

HSA Year List: 83

Recent rare bird sightings: Snow Goose at Valens CA (Rowan Keunen; Jan 22)