January 11 2025 (Saturday) Winter Birds of the Detroit River
Leader: Jeremy Hatt, Kory Renaud.
Eleven birders enjoyed near perfect conditions today for the Winter Birds of the Detroit River OFO outing. Subzero temperatures left Lake St. Clair completely frozen, which concentrated many waterfowl at the Detroit River mouth at Lakeview Park Marina where the outing started. Large numbers of Canada Goose, Canvasback, and Greater Scaup were present along w/ several Mallard, American Black Duck, Redhead, Common Goldeneye, and Common and Hooded Mergansers. Two Ring-necked Ducks and singles of Lesser Scaup, Red-breasted Merganser, and Ruddy Duck were also present. Gulls were unfortunately low in number but a Trumpeter Swan, two Wood Ducks, and 36 Great Blue Herons roosting together on the ice were additional highlights.
After Lakeview Park Marina we left for the Little River Pollution Control Plant and Little River Corridor Park to look for more waterfowl and search for passerines. Surprisingly four more Wood Ducks were present on the open waters of Little River with hundreds of Mallards. Here we also picked up a few American Robins, a Hermit Thrush, flyover Snow Buntings, several White-throated Sparrows, and another highlight of the day, an "Oregon" Dark-eyed Junco. A perched Sharp-shinned Hawk gave everyone great scope views.
After lunch we visited St. Rose Beach along the Detroit River where 1,400 Canvasback and 500 Redhead were present along with a good assortment of expected wintering waterfowl, and another highlight of the day, six Long-tailed Ducks; a good count for the Detroit River at any time of year. Our next stop was the Ambassador Bridge for Peregrine Falcon but for the first time on this outing this 100% guaranteed species wasn't found despite a lengthy search.
We finished the day w/ a walk through Ojibway Park enjoying close looks at regulars like Red-bellied Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, and Tufted Titmouse. Five Fox Sparrows was a great count for the winter and a Golden-crowned Kinglet offered close views. Our final highlight was a resting grey morph Eastern Screech-Owl that gave everyone a good opportunity for photos.
In total we ended up with 52 species and 6,306 individual birds. Our eBird trip report can be found at https://ebird.org/tripreport/319121.
Jeremy Hatt & Kory Renaud
January 1 2025 (Wednesday) Peterborough Area
Leader: Dave Milsom, Cathy Douglas, Brian Wales.
The annual OFO New Year's Day fieldtrip attended by 9 participants was quite successful despite heavy snow in the morning and a daily lack of winter finches. Meeting at the Peterborough Zoo, we quickly found a Pilieated Woodpecker. We then journeyed along the Otonabee River as far north as Lakefield : best finds were 8 Trumpeter Swans, a male Ring-necked Duck, a Belted Kingfisher, 27 Common Goldeneye and 3 Common Mergansers. We then drove north on County Road 6 to a set of feeders where daily throughout December Evening Grosbeaks could be seen.Unfortunately they did not show for us but we did see 40 American Goldfinch, 2 White-breasted Nuthatch, 2 Common Ravens and a Hairy and a Downy Woodpecker. On our return we found a Northern Shrike and a flock of 18 Wild Turkeys. At Katchewenooka Lake at the foot of Stenner Road were 2 Mute Swans, 4 American Black Duck and many Mallards . The highlight here was a group of 3 Bald Eagles in the air together. We ate lunch in Lakefield at Tims. In Peteborough city we viewed an Iceland Gull with several Herring gulls on Little Lake; and a pair of Peregrine Falcons roosting on the Quaker Oats building. At Squirrel Creek Conservation Area we encountered a flock of 38 American Robins. Our final birding was around the Peterborough Airport where we saw 2 Red-bellied Woodpeckers, 2 American Kestrels, another Northern Shrike, and a Northern Harrier. Our day total was 35 species. Many thanks once again to our co-leaders Cathy and Brian.
Dave Milsom
December 21 2024 (Saturday) Colonel Sam Smith Park
Leader: Raspberry Yow Fairs.
15 participants attended for a fairly productive, if cold, morning of birding Colonel Sam Smith park. The walk started with ten Mourning Doves flushed up from the ground by a dog. Along the edge of the marina towards West Point, we observed a adult male Red-breasted Merganser with a flock of Canada Geese and Mute Swans. At West Point, there was a large, quite distant flock of Greater Scaup and goldeneye, along with several more Mute Swans, though surprisingly no Redheads.
We then went across to Whimbrel Point, where we saw a Horned Grebe , as well as a flyover adult Great Black-backed Gull.
Walking down the eastern beaches, there was a large flock of European Starlings, a few Robins, and a Downy Woodpecker.
The walk finished back at the parking lot with a surprise White-throated Sparrow and a couple of American Tree Sparrows feeding on a rock.
Raspberry Yow Fairs
December 8 2024 (Sunday) Niagara Gull Weekend
Leader: Sarah Lamond, Bill Lamond.
OFO staged another successful Gull Weekend On Decemeber 7th and 8th in the Niagara area.
On Saturday Bob Highcock and Jean Hampson led a group along the Welland Canal. in the afternoon Justin Peter gave an informative talk on Gulls. Many birders then attended the late afternoon gull flyby at Niagara On The Lake.
On Sunday Dec. 8, two fieldtrips were organized : Sarah and Bill Lamond's group had a successful outing: Sarah's report attached : https://ebird.org/tripreport/299468
A second group led by Gis Segler and William Konze birded from Dufferin Islands. The 30 people on session 2 of the Niagara Gull Weekend trip on Sunday December 8 were greeted with a balmy +7C with only a light breeze. We spotted all 8 expected gulls on the river including 1 Little Gull (seen at the flyby in Niagara on the Lake) as well as 1 Glaucous Gull. The most interesting gull of the day was likely Lesser Black-backed x herring gull hybrid seen at the control gates. In total we manged 57 species including the long staying Black-throated Gray Warbler which was still flitting about in the tree tops in Port Weller.The warbler and Little Gull were lifers for several birders. https://ebird.org/tripreport/300012
