Winter this year was a really good one!
December
I made a few trips in December that really made my winter.
The first one was a major dip. I went for the Glaucous-winged Gull in Barrie. This was an interesting trip since Barrie is now only an hour and a half drive from my new place and it had been reported there in the past few days. I showed up in the morning to hopefully catch it coming into the dock it was reported one and stayed for 2.5 hours, lots of birds showed up including some Iceland Gulls and Common Loons, in really close, but after 2.5 hours I decided to call it a day. On the bright side I got a 2nd chance at seeing the Rufous Hummingbird!
Another trip I took was to Algonquin Park, this was so much fun! I took my girlfriend with me and we left around 4 am to get up there 8 o'clock. I've never been here before so I decided to to check the Visitor Center first for winter Finches, the first day was only so-so there but I managed to see ~60 Evening Grosbeak! They were loud and everywhere!
After the Visitor Center I visited the Spruce Boardwalk to look for Spruce Grouse, didn't find any! But we did get followed by Canada Jays and Red Crossbills! Quite a few White-winged Crossbill hanging around as well!
We also got word of a bird I was really hoping to see on this trip, a Northern Hawk Owl! I won't disclose exactly where the bird was but I will say it was quite the hike! 7 km round trip through some real rocky terrain, but I saw it! What a phenomenal bird, it never moved from it's perch the entire time. Made the walk well worth it!
Day 2 went swimmingly too, dipped on Spruce Grouse and Black-backed Woodpecker again unfortunately, but managed to see another lifer and target bird, Pine Grosbeak!
I took 1 last trip before my week of CBCs ran: Niagara one last time in 2021. With amazing birds like Razorbill and a 2nd year male King Eider showing up in Niagara I had to take the drive down there. Starting out in Nelson Park I got on the Eider and a Red-throated Loon almost immediately! Closest I've ever seen one!
After the Eider I looked for the Razorbill and nailed it after missing the ones in Hamilton at Lakeland Center. The views were absolutely trash but a lifer is a lifer!
I ended my last trip with a little visit to the local Black-bellied Whistling-Duck and he did not disappoint as per usual. Coming right up to shore and putting on quite the show!
January
January was interesting to say the least. I attempted something that can be pretty difficult in Ontario, January 100. It's kind of a fun little self-competition to see how far you can really get. And not only did I see 100 species I actually saw 110! Including 2 lifers, and a new Hyrbid species!
My first real chase of 2022 was on the 2nd when Liam and I managed to find a Boreal Owl that overwintered in Niagara, this is a bird that doesn't come this far south often so I had to go see it! Along with the Boreal Owl we managed to see a bunch of Northern Saw-whet Owls and a Long-eared Owl to go along with it!
The next trip I took was another trip to Niagara, I managed to see all the birds I saw in December with the inclusion of Black Vulture. Not much to report beyond that though.
Rarity #5 and #6 I twitched were a pair of sparrow thrillers that showed up in Southern Ontario this year. Starting with one close to home; a Harris's Sparrow our towards Copetown! This little guy had been coming around for a few months by this point and was the talk of the town for a short while, though the homeowners around the sparrow really weren't thrilled with it's arrival to say the least.
The 2nd sparrow was a sweet Golden-crowned Sparrow! This marked the 4th Zonotrichia species I'd seen in December and the only ones ever reported in Ontario! The homeowner for the Golden-crowned was a really great guy and allowed birders to come into his yard to see it, and I didn't have to wait very long to see it!
One week after the stunning Sparrows I managed to find my very first Mallard x Pintail hybrid! Liam and I were trolling around LaSalle park when we thought we found an interesting looking Mallard. After some discussion, turns out to be Pintail hybrid!
January was the month of waterfowl! Another chase I took was my first trip to Brampton to find a Snow Goose! Was hoping for a Greater White-fronted Goose as well but unfortunately missed that, but the Snow was up close and just chillin!
February
This was my slowest month of the winter. Preferred to sticking around the area rather than driving all over the place.
One of the highlights was a Red-shouldered Hawk that overwintered in Valens CA, so I met a friend of mine up there and decided to look for it ourselves! Didn't take much either, it was right around the corner and sat perfectly still!
I also did a little driving around Haldimand and managed to see a few Rough-legged Hawk including one up close!
I managed 2 more FOYs in the Hamilton-Halton area in February.
Starting with a Hermit Thrush in Dundas Valley, this guy was pretty sweet and sat for a little bit to let me photograph it!
The 2nd being a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in Hendrie Valley, while this bird sat it was a little harder to get good photos as it moved around quite a bit.
Just gonna finished off my post with some more photo highlights!
