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By Janice Boussey

Planning a field trip in February comes with challenges. The largest of which is the weather. The club planned a winter walk through Wheatley Provincial Park on February 8, 2025. The weather for the week leading up to this outing came with days of cold rain. Once the temperature dropped it left a frozen landscape behind.

Not to be deterred, a small but dedicated group of club members decided to brave the elements. Warm winter coats, hats, scarves and mittens were adorned. A few group members also sported slip on crampons on their boots, which was a wonderful asset to those that had them. Preparedness is a must when trekking out in unpredictable winter weather.

Meeting at gate of the park we paused to watch the chickadees that gathered there. This proved to be the park hotspot of activity for the day. A common visitor during the coldest of months it’s always amazing to think how these little birds survive the worst that winter throws at them.

We started off slowly down the frozen wonderland. Everyone did their best penguin walk along the ice covered road. Pausing to look at some interesting tree bark patterns and the odd woodpecker passing by, both downys and flickers, we made the best of the morning. After it proved to be too much of a task to keep going we all turned around and headed back to the gate.

Two Creeks Conservation area was chosen as a back up destination. We were not going to get off that easy, however. This area too experienced the same level of ice covered trails. Out of abundance of caution it was decided not to venture any further into the park.

Reconvening at a local coffee shop for some hot beverages and conversation, it was time to warm up. With full bellies and warmed fingers a few individuals decided to brave the elements for one last chance to see nature at it’s most challenging.

To finish off the day a stop to Wheatley Harbour was our last destination. Large numbers of geese were found sheltering as well as a handful of tundra swans. Unfortunately several white winged scoters were lying dead on the beach. Suspected victims of bird flu, they served as a reminder to be mindful of its growing presence in the area. Amongst the geese were small numbers of ducks who didn’t seem at all to mind the cold winds and icy waters. Everyone then parted ways before the next bout of nasty weather was scheduled to roll in later that day.

A reminder to get out there despite the weather! Winter can be an incredible time to explore your surroundings. A huge thanks to those who were brave enough to take a chance and join us. As always, use your best discretion and most of all be safe out there.

By Jeremy Hatt 

On January 11, 2025, eleven birders enjoyed near perfect conditions for the Winter Birds of the Detroit River Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) outing. This is an annual hike held around the same time each year and is open to ECFNC members. The aim of the hike is to showcase waterfowl, gulls, and other winter birds that rely on the open waters of the Detroit River as well as two of Windsor’s major city parks, Little River Corridor and Ojibway Park. 

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 to look for more waterfowl and search for passerines. Surprisingly four more Wood Ducks were present on the open waters of Little River w/ hundreds of Mallards. A Belted Kingfisher called noisily along Little River, one of the reliable spots in the county to find this species overwintering. 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 Cooper’s 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 w/ 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 essentially 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 w/ 52 species and 6,318 individual birds. Our eBird trip report can be found at https://ebird.org/tripreport/319121.

By Jeremy Hatt

The 2024 Holiday Beach CBC took place on Saturday, December 28^th. The count includes Holiday Beach Conservation Area, Big Creek, the Lower Detroit River north to LaSalle (Lower Detroit River IBA), Boblo Island and surrounding areas. Boblo Island continues to be inaccessible due to construction on the island but the rest of the count circle received great coverage. 26 participants volunteered for the count, tallying a whopping 93 species and 48,107 individual birds. This species count beats the previous record of 88 set in 2023 and was the highest species count of all the CBC’s in Essex County this winter!

Volunteers experienced unseasonably warm weather w/ temperatures ranging from 9C in the morning to 13C in the afternoon. The sky was sunny all day and winds were a moderate 20-27km/h SW. By mid-afternoon, one could comfortably wear just a sweatshirt or light jacket. Lake Erie, the Detroit River, and inland waters were all open, which resulted in a good diversity of waterfowl. Significant counts of several dabbling ducks were made and southwest winds encouraged a good movement of waterfowl on Lake Erie as well.

The best bird of the count was a long overdue species add for the Holiday Beach CBC, a lone White-winged Scoter flying west past the Delta Trail (spotted by Michael McAllister w/ Cameron Chevalier and Harrison Priebe and subsequently seen flying past Holiday Beach by Jacob Stasso).

A stunning number of record high counts were set this year:

Cackling Goose – 19 (previous high of 8)
Trumpeter Swan – 4 (previous high of 1)
Tundra Swan – 1,505 (previous high of 1,438)
American Wigeon – 42 (previous high of 35)
American Black Duck – 718 (previous high of 364)
Northern Pintail – 34 (previous high of 18)
Bufflehead – 286 (previous high of 183)
Hooded Merganser – 86 (previous high of 33)
Red-breasted Merganser – 1,446 (previous high of 1,003)
Eastern Screech-Owl – 7 (previous high of 6)
Peregrine Falcon – 3 (previous high of 2)
White-throated Sparrow – 349 (previous high of 124)
Common Grackle – 441 (previous high of 376)
Purple Finch – 16 (previous high of 2)

Other notable sightings included:

Wood Duck – 2 (often missed on this count)
Green-winged Teal – 1 (seen on only one previous count)
Northern Shoveler – 23 (often missed on this count)
Canvasback – 28,394 (second-highest count behind 40,501)
Iceland Gull – 1 (seen on only one previous count)
Lesser Black-backed Gull – 1 (seen on three previous counts)
Northern Mockingbird – 1 (seen on three previous counts)
Killdeer – 1 (seen on two previous counts)
Sandhill Crane – 7 (seen on three previous counts)
Northern Saw-Whet Owl – 1 (seen on three previous counts)
Belted Kingfisher – 1 (often missed on this count)
Lapland Longspur – 5 (seen on two previous counts)
Eastern Towhee – 1 (often missed on this count)

Notable misses this year include Snow Goose (seen the previous four years of the count), Double-crested Cormorant (often at least one found on the Detroit River), Rough-legged Hawk, American Coot (sometimes found in the Holiday Beach marsh), Short-eared Owl (abundant in the county this winter), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (several wintering this year), Eastern Phoebe, Northern Shrike, Marsh Wren, American Pipit (many persisting into the winter this year), Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, and Pine Siskin.

The Holiday Beach CBC also got some local media attention. Jeremy Hatt and Kory Renaud were interviewed at the Big Creek Conservation Area during the count and an article appeared in the Windsor Star covering some highlights of the CBC. The article can be read here: https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/mild-winter-brings-high-windsor-essex-christmas-bird-count

Many thanks to all the Area Leaders and dedicated volunteers for their efforts, and to Kory and Sarah Renaud for hosting another great roundup and serving a much welcomed hot meal at the end of the day! Everyone really stepped up this year and helped make it a fantastic count.

Jeremy Hatt & Kory Renaud