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There was a rare incursion of these spectacular northern owls into southern Ontario this winter, but despite diligent searching I was unable to find one. The wanderers are now heading back home, so I thought I had missed my chance. Then late news arrived about the reoccurrence of one seen in February.

After a suitably tense 45 minutes of searching we were able to locate the bird (no where near the generic PEC location I pinned in the map). So I was very happy!

The bird was hunting actively, moving from low tree to low tree and at one point catching a small rodent. The area was very brushy and the bird resolutely refused to look at us (for the most part), so no chance for a perfect photograph. But, as noted above, I was (and am) very happy.

A Merlin this morning at the Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada. I walked up to it and it didn’t fly away, so I was able to get a photograph.

Usually I don't display images in which the bird is looking directly at the camera. In this case the stare was so intense I decided to make an exception. Makes me think of "Blue Steel" from Zoolander.

When I started birding many decades ago, Merlins were vey rare. But they have made a remarkable comeback and are now one of the commoner local raptors.

In the spring and fall they patrol headlands along the shore of Lake Ontario, watching and waiting for small migrant songbirds struggling to get back to land after being caught over the water at dawn. Terrible scenes and feathers drifting down from the sky.

I wouldn't say I actively dislike them, but the carnage can be disturbing. They also catch and eat migrating Eastern Red Bats.

All the Long-eared Owls I had seen over decades of bird watching had been daytime birds hidden in thick cover waiting for night to fall. This one was my first encounter with a day-hunting individual, quartering back and forth in a light snow over a snowy field.

Although Long-eared Owls are fairly closely related to Short-eared Owls I had thought of them as being very different in both appearance and behaviour. Upon seeing this bird, I was surprised that the distinction was not as great as I expected. The flight and feather pattern were similar, but upon consideration the Long-eared struck me as slightly smaller, less buoyant, and darker overall than Short-eared Owl.

A Long-eared Owl, usually very reclusive, was calmly out in the open this afternoon in the Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area, Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada.

I had found two Harlequin Ducks earlier in the day in the refuge and was searching for them with some other birders. Our effort was unsuccessful, so the owl was a wonderful consolation. It was also a source of solace, as earlier in the week I had recovered one killed by a vehicle, a sad event.

On November 24, 2024 I was proceeding north at speed on County Road 24 through Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada when I saw a small herd of cows. I glanced over and gave them a quick pro forma check for a Cattle Egret as I passed by. I've been doing this for years and years, never with any success.

Although Cattle Egrets are very rare hereabouts (they are a tropical to semi-tropical species), they do have a pattern of late fall incursions into southern Ontario from the USA. So, when I saw a small, bright white, angular shape on the ground amidst the cows I decelerated rapidly, pulled over, and backed up. There it was ... a Cattle Egret! A great birding moment after imagining the encounter for so long.

As noted, Cattle Egret are pretty rare in Canada but they do sometimes show up in November, which is a bit odd for a warm weather bird. When they do appear, they are often seen associating with cattle (hence the name) and feeding on the insects that the cows stir up. So what is going on?

Cattle Egret are not native to our continent, but arrived in South America from Africa in the 1870s, probably carried across the ocean on hurricane winds. They did well and by the early 1950s reached North America, where they have thrived in the warmer south, but not so much in colder Canada. Perhaps the birds are still carrying an Africa navigation chart in their DNA that tells them to head north in November to find better habitat in their old home. Unfortunately, this program is suboptimal here, sending them north into freezing temperatures. Hopefully the bird will reorient itself. In the meantime it seems it found a new friend.

Not rare in North America (in fact common in the summer on the western prairies) but rare hereabouts in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada. This is the first local record since May 2009.

The bird was resting at the north end of Outlet Beach in Sandbanks Provincial Park, associating with about 200 Ring-billed Gulls and 12 Herring Gulls.

It stood out pretty well, being smallish (smaller than Ring-billed Gull) with a dark bill and dark legs, an extensive dark hood, broad white eye-crescents, and a dark grey mantle (darker than Ring-billed Gull).

The only real confusion species was Laughing Gull, from which it can be distinguished by its generally more delicate appearance, more extensive hood, broader white eye-crescents, more extensive white in the wing tips, and finer bill.

A Long-tailed Duck confidentially rides the winter waves at Sandbanks Provincial Park in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada.

For me, chance plays a large role in acquiring a photo like this. The birds are are diving for food, and even on the surface they are constantly appearing and disappearing behind the surging surf.

So when I can briefly lock focus on one, I fire off burst after burst, hoping something works out. In this case I took about 300 pictures over a 15 minute period, of which two were successful. The others went immediately in the delete bin, with the frame showing no bird at all, part of a bird, or a ridiculously unfocussed bird.

A greater degree of skill went into finding a location to photograph from. We saw the birds from high ledge above the shore, but the site was exposed to blasting wind and driving sleet, and provided only a sharp downward angle for photography (not my favourite for water birds). Carefully picking our way down closer to the lake’s edge, we found shelter below a large rock overhang and in that shelter were able to work on the birds.

A Whimbrel on Swetman Island in Lake Ontario off the eastern tip of Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada.

Swetman Island, together with Timber Island, is part of a two island group known as the False Duck Islands. They got that time because mariners would confuse them with Main Duck Island to the south, become disoriented, and come ashore in a wreck. The fact that the location features a magnetic anomaly that messes with compasses probably didn’t help the situation.

Anyway, I’ve been visiting Swetman Island fairly regularly as of late, as it is an excellent birding spot. Case in point is this Whimbrel, which is fairly rare in Prince Edward County. Only a few show up briefly each spring and fall as they pass between their arctic nesting grounds and South American winter homes.

On July 14 mother Gadwall brought six downy babies out into the harbour at the Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada.

A week later on July 21, five of the ducklings remained, which rates as really good success in the duck world. It can be heartbreaking to monitor the progress of such families, counting fewer and fewer youngsters as the days go by.

Today, July 28, two weeks later, five are still alive and growing bigger and stronger, their chances of making it to adulthood increasing with each passing day.

I took this photo on July 21, so the duckling is eight days old. I was holding well back, attempting to secure a portrait of the whole family, but the group moved resolutely towards my position, showing no wariness. They eventually came ashore next to me, huddling up almost on my boots. The harbour is not very busy, but I guess the birds had had enough positive interactions with humans to lose their fear.

Ducklings of different species can look fairly similar and can be tricky to identify without the parent immediately visible. If you are doing a writeup on the Gadwall and need an image of a young one, get in touch for permission to use this one!

July 30 Update - Mother and five ducklings still going strong!

August 9 Update - Five ducklings now 2/3rds size of mom.

August 26 Update - Five ducklings still going strong (although not really ducklings anymore)!

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Growing up, we didn't have a marsh nearby, so this was a mythical bird, poured over in books but not seen in the wild. Now, in an area with lots of wetlands, it is abundant locally and easy to find. That mystique from youthful days still lingers, however, and it continues to always be a bit of a thrill to see one.