Same Bird Next Year

It was just about a year ago, on a very cold day early in November, when a bird alert hit my e-mail Inbox informing me of a Eurasian Wigeon in the waters off a place called Thickson Point.  I had never been there, and hadn't even known about it but I was doing a Big Year and I needed that bird.  It was my 552nd species of 2012.

This year,  a couple of days ago, in fact, a report of a Common Eider in the same spot, had me planning a morning trip back to Thickson Point, only to hear that the bird had not been relocated that morning.  No worries, as the Eurasian Wigeon,(very likely the same bird from 2012), had reappeard in the same place within a couple of weeks of it's previous visit.  So, off I went in search of both birds, yesterday morning.

I walked the cliff edges, just as I had last year, hoping not to fall to my certain doom, on what turned out to be a sunny, warm autumn morning.  I spent an hour looking for the Eider, a bird on my ABA life list from Massachusetts, but one that would have been nice for my growing Ontario list, but with no success.  Eventually I came to the spot where there be Wigeons, and over the next half hour scopped the bay off the point until a redhead with a mohawk sawm into my field of view.  And thanks to the perfect angle of the sun and its relatively close distance, I was able to get a few nice photographs.

I also returne to Fort Erie and got a look at the Brown Booby from the Canadian side of the boarder, so was able to add it to my Ontario list, and I did, finally, make it to Algonquin Park and found a small flock of Lapland Longspurs, which were quite tame and allowed me close access for some nice photos.  I also  got to feed Grey Jays while up there and enjoyed the nice fall colours as the leaves were just at their peak.  In between I've been out and about as we've had excellent weather for birding.

I'm off to Florida tomorrow, just on time as the weather is turning colder and wetter here, so the nice Florida weather should be good for birding when I have some free time down there.  For now, some photos from the past week since the excitement of seeing the Brown Booby, including Lapland Longspurs in Algonquin Park and the above mentioned Eurasian Wigeon.

 Lapland Longspur: