Barren winter land

This was my first time birding the Montezuma in the new year and also in truly wintery conditions. The previous day brought 1-2 inches of snow and the pools were mostly frozen over. The towpath was pretty much devoid of birds. The marsh held a surprisingly low diversity of water birds with Canada Geese and large numbers of pintails but little else to speak of. Better duck diversity was found on the wildlife drive loop, which by the way was closed due to icy road conditions and had to be walked. The majority of dabblers were Ring-necks. Mixed in were 1 N. Shoveler, 2 Green-winged teal, 2 A. Wigeons, 2 Lesser Scaup, 1 Gadwall, several A. Black Ducks and A. Coots. The highlight was a vocal flock of around 20 American Tree Sparrows near May's Pool that added an additional species to the Montezuma patch list.

No signs of spring

Nipped by MNR briefly after work. A Great Blue Heron was stalking prey at the small pond. GBHs are common at Lake Needwood but I have never had them at Lake Frank or the small pond. A yellow-bellied sapsucker was a new MNR bird for the year and my second for the site. Time for birding has been agonizingly thin especially with goodies such as Virginia's Warbler and Pink-footed Goose in the state. As a consequence the blog has been mostly dead. Measures for resuscitation are under way...