Well we're past the halfway point of February but you wouldn't know it from a birding perspective. We're in the middle of the grips of one of the most desolate birding winters I can remember. Part of that is because we've had such warm winters the last few years that have seen lots of lingering species and lots of open water for ducks and the like.
This article illustrates how frozen the Great Lakes are this year and all those ducks and grebes that normally spend the winter on them have been desperately trying to find any last bit of open water to cling to. The result has been a real lack of some species while other species that normally never stray from the big water of the Great Lakes have moved into the remaining bits of open water - in most cases rivers.
Long-tailed Ducks on the Conestogo River
As usual, we can turn to eBird to get a bit of a measure of how impressive this winter's impact is on waterbirds.
Here's an interesting personal stat: despite living near the shore of Lake Ontario and having some fairly large areas of open water on the Cataraqui River, I have seen a total of 4 individual gulls this month. That's not to say there aren't gulls in Ontario- there are lots, just not where I am. There are fewer than last year for comparison though, with eBird frequencies about 50% lower this year compared to last year.
Herring Gull frequency this year and last
Belted Kingfisher is an even more striking example, with eBird frequencies about 3 times lower this year compared to last year at this time.
Belted Kinfisher frequency this year and last
I'd say those are a couple species that may be a bit under the radar as far as effects of the cold winter go. What is much more conspicuous are the big water ducks showing up on rivers. Compare a couple of eBird maps for Long-tailed Duck, Greater Scaup, Red-breasted Merganser, and Red-necked Grebe.
Long-tailed Duck Jan-Feb 2013(top) and 2014 (bottom)
Greater Scaup Jan-Feb 2013(top) and 2014 (bottom)
Red-breasted Merganser Jan-Feb 2013(top) and 2014 (bottom)
Red-necked Grebe Jan-Feb 2013(top) and 2014 (bottom)
I'd say it is pretty obvious that these birds are turning to inland water bodies in fairly high numbers (keeping in mind that eBird is far from a complete listing of records). While this is exciting for birders in land-locked areas like Wellington, Middlesex, Waterloo and Peterborough it is a very dire situation for the birds. Many are winding up injured on roadways (which can be mistaken as water by a desperate waterbirds at night) and those that make it to open water might be too weak to recover. Several wildlife rehab centres are reporting higher than normal numbers of these birds (here's a video interview with the director of the Toronto Wildlife Centre about this issue). If you happen to come across one of these birds on land, see if it is OK and then get it to some open water, if it is injured find your nearest wildlife rehab centre.
Hopefully relief for the birds (and us) isn't too far away. The calendar is ticking closer to March and the warm spell we are just starting in southern Ontario, while likely not enough to open the lakes up, is hopefully a bit of a sign of things to come.
I decided yesterday that I was overdue for a trip into "the county" as people around here like to call it. My first stop was Charwell Point, an amazing spot that Brandon showed me not long ago - it has a nice mix of habitats: a good duck/heron pond, a beach, and an area of big willows that attracts migrant passerines. It is also a small peninsula in Lake Ontario.
I was happy that I brought rubber boots; even with them I almost got wet crossing the "gull pond" that is in the middle of the point. I suspect that because the water is so deep there this year, duck hunters weren't using the spot as frequently. It was quiet for birds, so I decided to do a short lake watch at the end of the point. I'm glad I did! After not seeing much I noticed a big white bird coming in from the east - I put up my binoculars and was floored to see an adult Northern Gannet! I snapped a couple photos as it flew by. I pulled my scope off my tripod and set my camera on it to get a video of the bird once it had landed on water. The bird continued further and further back to the east, where I eventually lost it. The entire duration of this was 5 minutes (9:25 - 9:30 am).
Here are some pics and a video (you need to watch the video in HD otherwise you don't see much):
That was the highlight of the day, however, bird activity did pick up: I saw a couple nice flocks of warblers and I finished at Charwell Point with a decent 63 species. See my complete eBird checklist.
Gannets, while common at breeding colonies (like Bonaventure Island) and elsewhere on the east coast are very rare here in Ontario, with usually only a few per year at best. Of those, the vast majority are first year birds that presumably wander up the St. Lawrence and eventually make it to Lake Ontario. In fact, prior to 2013 there were only 3 records of adult gannets accepted by the OBRC:
-May 13, 1983 at Prince Edward Point, Prince Edward County found by RKF Edwards
-November 24, 1990 at Moore Point, Durham Region found by Brian Henshaw
-October 23, 2012 at Netitishi Point, Cochrane District found by Josh Vandermeulen and Alan Wormington
The bird I saw is quite likely the same adult gannet that has been "stuck" on Lake Ontario for several months. Here's the eBird map showing gannet sightings in the past year:
Adult gannet sightings from Lake Ontario in eBird since last fall
Those records, plus a couple not shown on this map that I knew of (please contact me if you know of others) are listed below in chronological order:
2012:
-September 1 at Hamlin Beach State Park, Monroe County, NY by Dave Tetlow
-October 13 at Gravelly Bay, Jefferson County, NY by Antony Shrimpton
-October 21 at Derby Hill, Oswego County, NY by Bill Purcell and Ken Burdick
2013: -May 1 at Prequ'ile Provincial Park, Northumberland County, ON by Fred Helleiner
-May 7 and 18 at Hamlin Beach State Park, Monroe County, NY by Andrew Guthrie
-July 25 at Presqu'ile Provincial Park, Northumberland County, ON by Steve Oswald
-September 1 at Brandon's Condo, Hamilton, ON by Brandon Holden
-September 10 at Colonel Sam Smith Park, Toronto, ON by Garth Riley and David Pryor
Given the rarity of adults on Lake Ontario, there is a strong argument to be made that these all involve the same bird.
