Birding Brings Economic Benefit To Communites

According to the most recent study by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (2006) 20% of Americans are identified as birders and contribute $36 billion to the U.S. economy. This trend is not confined to the United States as these numbers are proportionately consistent and rising worldwide.

Many national and provincial parks as well as municipalities are cashing in on birders. Money generating birding events and festivals take place in various locations throughout the year. For instance, Point Pelee schedules their Festival of Birds annually in early May, taking advantage of spring migration. This festival attracts 45,000 people to the area over a three week period, pumping thousands of dollars into the national park and local economy. The annual Hawkwatch located at Hawk Cliff in Port Stanley, Ontario attracts thousands of birders each September, maintaining the town’s economy long after the hoards of beach goers have vacated following Labour Day.

14656868979 f785ce36e5 o - Birding Brings Economic Benefit To Communites — Hawkwatch in Port Stanley, Ontario attracts thousands of birders to the area looking to view the many migrating raptors.

Granted, these two festivals have been operating for many years and have ideal geographic locations behind them, but why doesn’t London, Ontario attempt to attract more birders or have a festival? With seven public ESAs, Fanshawe Conservation Area, the Thames River and the many city parks along its banks, London has no shortage of bird habitat and birds. I believe the city is missing out on an excellent opportunity. With careful planning and promotion, birders would be attracted to London to see our beautiful nature and spend money while here.

Visiting all the fantastic birding locations in one day would be a stretch, so local hotels and restaurants would benefit. Retail sales would increase as the influx of birders visit our local shops and explore downtown. These nature enthusiasts could enjoy the nightlife by taking in a game or concert at Budweiser Gardens, a show at the Grand Theater or a drink at a local pub. This is a whole new demographic of tourist that is virtually untapped by the City of London.

12485691964 ca7e0350e7 o1 - Birding Brings Economic Benefit To Communites — Reports of Red-throated Loons on the Thames River last February attracted birders from all over Southwestern Ontario and parts of the U.S.

Birders do an unbelievable job at spreading the word about great birding locations. With websites like eBird and others designed specifically for reporting bird sightings, news of rare or unusual sightings travels fast. As word spreads, birders quickly rush to these locations, often traveling hundreds of kilometers in hopes of seeing a new species for their life list.

This was apparent in London last February after I reported two Red-throated Loons on the Thames River. After news of these loons spread (the first reported sighting in Middlesex County since 1898) birding traffic along the Thames River greatly increased. The following day, the majority of people walking the Thames were birders, toting binoculars, spotting scopes, and digital cameras; all panning the river hoping to catch a glimpse of these rare loons. In speaking with fellow birders, where they were from often came up. People traveled from all over Southwestern Ontario and even crossed the border from the U.S. in search of these birds.

IMG 7400 1 - Birding Brings Economic Benefit To Communites — Hooded Mergansers are commonly found and easily viewed on the Thames River during winter months.

For local birders, the wonderful waterfowl that frequents the Thames River during winter months is no secret. The river’s current prevents water from freezing in many sections, attracting several species of diving ducks. Mergansers, Common Goldeneye, Canvasbacks, and Redheads are among the species observed during winter months. These ducks feed on fish and other aquatic life, making open water key to their survival. As northern lakes and areas of the Great lakes freeze, these birds move inland in search of food. Large concentrations of waterfowl are found in various sections of the Thames within the city. To view some of the beautiful waterfowl photographed on the Thames River, take a look at my gallery.

IMG 9014 11 - Birding Brings Economic Benefit To Communites — Red-necked Grebes were present on the Thames River last winter. Open water is critical to their survival.

Winter would be the perfect time for London to host a birding festival highlighting waterfowl along the Thames River. With proper planning, promotion and time the economic benefit to our city could be huge. Birders in Ontario regularly flock to the shores of Lake Ontario in Burlington and Toronto, as well as the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers during winter months in search of waterfowl. Why isn’t London attempting to attract them here? In the case of a waterfowl festival on the Thames, two thirds of the equation is already solved. The river is here, the birds will be here; it is simply a matter of attracting more birders, specifically birders from outside London to visit.

Bird festivals not only generate revenue and boost local economies, they help preserve habitat. With established money generating festivals, governments place more priority into protecting and preserving the area in which they are held. Point Pelee National Park is a perfect example of this. A Thames River waterfowl festival would increase the use of our river in its natural state, having long term economic and environmental benefits for the city. Not only would the local economy see a nice boost, the Thames River would be appreciated for its nature, placing more focus on preserving it and less on developing it. Perhaps just the thing our city needs.

Good birding,

Paul

Fanshawe Conservation Area; A Paradise For Birders

Located in the northeast corner of London, on the shores of Fanshawe Lake, lies one of the best places for bird watching in the city. Fanshawe Conservation Area’s mixed habitat make it the perfect place to find resident birds and migrating species alike.

A series of marked hiking trails ranging in length from 1.5 kilometers to the 20 km Fanshawe Lake Trail, which circles the entire reservoir, will take you through the various habitat ranging from: coniferous and deciduous forest, open meadows, and low lying wet areas. These mixed habitats are what attracts so many birds, making it such an incredible place for bird watching. Fanshawe Conservstion Area is listed on eBird as one of London’s hotspots for birding with 155 species being reported.

IMG 8927 1 - Fanshawe Conservation Area; A Paradise For Birders — Ring-necked Ducks are one of the many species of migrating waterfowl that stop over on Fanshawe Lake to rest and feed.

Birding at Fanshawe Conservation Area is great year round, but with spring migration now underway I highly recommend a visit in the near future. As the lake becomes free of ice, many species of waterfowl will be found including both dabblers and divers. Canvasbacks. Ring-necked ducks, Wood Ducks, and American Coots are a few of the species I’ve observed on the lake in early spring. Tundra Swans are also known to stop over on the lake while migrating through Southwestern Ontario. Returning songbirds such as sparrows, blackbirds, and orioles can also be found. The open areas of the conservation area are a great place to find the Eastern Meadowlark, a species at risk in Ontario. As April passes and we move into May, look for many warblers to be flitting around the conservation area.

IMG 8992 1 - Fanshawe Conservation Area; A Paradise For Birders — The Eastern Meadowlark, a species at risk in Ontario, can be found within the conservation area.

Fanshawe Conservation Area is home to some wonderful resident species too. Birds of prey can be found throughout the area, including several species of owl, as well as Bald Eagles that nest on the shores of the lake. Cardinals, nuthatches, and woodpeckers are all readily seen. Don’t forget to bring some seed with you as the Black-capped Chickadees on the various trails will land right in your hand to accept your offering. This is particularly exciting for children.

IMG 6374 1 - Fanshawe Conservation Area; A Paradise For Birders — Hand feeding Black-capped Chickadees is wonderful way to get others, especially children, interested in birds.

If you have never visited Fanshawe Conservation area before, you are missing out. For more information including directions, maps, and other activites, visit their website here. Whether you are looking for a wonderful place for birding or to spend quality time in the outdoors with your family, Fanshawe Conservation Area is the perfect place.

Good birding,
Paul

Red-necked Grebe Provides Interesting Views

As many of you know, I am a huge fan of birding along the Thames River. The series of paths and trails are easily navigated and the birds and wildlife along the river are remarkable. The Red-necked Grebe is a bird that I just added to my life list this year, thanks to the extremely cold temperatures we have experienced. These birds usually winter on the Great Lakes, but with so much ice coverage many have moved inland in search of open water.

On recent walks along the river I have viewed as many as four Red-necked Grebes in the section of river between Greenway and Springbank Parks. These birds don’t seem to be too shy around humans as many times I’ve had some pretty good views from close range. On one particular day I got quite lucky as one of these grebes was feeding in the shallow water right next to the bank. I managed to get in a position where there was a clearing in the shrubs and watched as the grebe hunted for food. Red-necked Grebes feed on small fish, aquatic insects, and crustaceans and must dive underwater in order to catch it. For whatever reason this grebe liked this small section between a sheet of ice and the river bank. I watched as it dove repeatedly in search of food, but unfortunately for the grebe it came up short every time. It was interesting to watch the grebe swim with its face in the water searching before every dive and as it cruised along the bottom in the shallow water.

IMG 9000 1 - Red-necked Grebe Provides Interesting Views — Grebe’s bodies are designed for diving and swimming underwater. The rear placement of their legs makes walking on land quite difficult.

Grebe’s legs are set back far on their bodies which helps them dive and swim underwater but makes walking on dry land extremely difficult for them. It puts their balance off and they tend to fall on their breast as they try to walk. This particular grebe saw an open section of water in the middle of the sheet of ice and decided to try it’s luck there. Reluctant to dive and try to resurface in the hole further out in the ice, the grebe decided to walk. The grebe popped up on the ice and tried walking. Between it’s front-heavy body and the slippery ice it wasn’t making much progress. It reminded me of watching a child on skates for the first time. It tried using it’s wings for balance, but still continued to fall forward. The grebe eventually gave up and got back into the river alongside the sheet of ice. it was clearly hungry and was trying anything to find something to eat. I carried on with my walk and hoped that the grebe would soon find something to appease it’s hunger. These birds have travelled many kilometers this winter in search of food and mortality rates among all waterfowl are up due to starvation in many areas.

IMG 9014 11 - Red-necked Grebe Provides Interesting Views — Struggling to walk across the slippery ice, this Red-necked Grebe tried using it’s wings to help balance.

If you have yet to see a Red-necked Grebe or some of the other waterfowl species that have overwintered on the Thames River, time is running out. As the Great Lakes thaw these birds will be making their way northwest back to their breeding grounds. Try to get out next week and experience some of the wonderful birding we have close to home.

Good birding,
Paul

Thames River Providing Excellent Views For Duck Lovers

This winter’s cold weather has lots of people wishing for spring to arrive. For many it feels like winter is lasting forever, but for me this winter has been perfect. This year 86% of the Great Lakes are now covered in ice, compared to 35% on average years. Many species of waterfowl that typically winter on these lakes are showing up inland in their quest for open water as open water is scarce this year. Even the St. Clair river, another popular location for wintering ducks, has more ice coverage. The recent closure of the Lambton Generating Station has resulted in less warm water being discharged into the river and thus more ice formation. Many of these ducks are now forced to migrate to the Atlantic coast as these lakes and rivers freeze. The Thames River is located right in their flyway and is an excellent place to stop over to feed and rest or set up shop for the rest of the winter.

IMG 5299 1 - Thames River Providing Excellent Views For Duck Lovers — Red-necked Grebe

The number of species on the Thames River has increased almost daily and is a great place to get excellent views of waterfowl that would otherwise appear as tiny specks out on the big lakes and rivers. In London, on the stretch of river between Springbank and Greenway Parks there is plenty of open water and waterfowl. This past week alone I have added four new species to my life list and had some incredible close-up views of many others. A complete list of waterfowl I’ve seen in this area are:

American Black Duck
Bufflehead
Canada Goose
Canvasback
Common Merganser
Common Goldeneye
Greater Scaup
Hooded Merganser
Horned Grebe
Mallard
Muscovy
Red-breasted Merganser
Redhead
Red-necked Grebe
Red-throated Loon
Long-tailed Duck
White-winged Scoter

IMG 6692 1 - Thames River Providing Excellent Views For Duck Lovers — Horned Grebe

Several access points for this stretch of river are available. There are multiple parking lots in Greenway Park by turning on Greenside Avenue off of Springbank Drive. Other access points are from the parking areas in Springbank Park off either Springbank Drive or off Commissioners Road West at Springbank Gate.

Once the warm weather arrives and the melt begins, several of these waterfowl species will be gone. If you are wanting some great views of these waterfowl species now is the time. Don’t leave it too long as this has truly been an amazing year on the Thames. There is no telling how long it will be when we see ice levels like these on the Great Lakes again and have such an abundance of waterfowl species move inland.

Good birding,
Paul

Waterfowl

Male Redhead duck in a pond against a stick covered bank.

gwfg - Waterfowl — Greater White-fronted Goose

loon - Waterfowl — The highlight of this past week was seeing this Common Loon in the Thames River at Greenway Park.

Watermark 1 51 - Waterfowl — Male Harlequin Duck in flight.

IMG 5992 1 - Waterfowl — White-winged Scoter

Watermark7 - Waterfowl — Hooded Mergansers taking flight.

IMG 7151 1 2 - Waterfowl — With so many species calling our region home during the summer months, birding can hardly be described a s low.

IMG 9603 1 - Waterfowl — Canvasback female

IMG 9842 1 - Waterfowl — American Wigeon

IMG 9014 1 - Waterfowl — Red-necked Grebe

Watermark 18 - Waterfowl — Harlequin Duck

IMG 8740 1 - Waterfowl — Greater Scaup male

IMG 7451 1 - Waterfowl — Redhead male and female

IMG 5504 1 2 - Waterfowl — Red-throated Loon

IMG 6282 1 - Waterfowl — Common Goldeneye female

12363000555 d3d0575c89 o1 - Waterfowl — Long-tailed Duck male

IMG 6720 1 2 - Waterfowl — Hooded Merganser female

12239704183 b7d0ddc4f8 o1 - Waterfowl — Bufflehead male

11592680035 f440768406 o1 - Waterfowl — American Black Duck

IMG 6099 1 - Waterfowl — Common Goldeneye male

IMG 6179 1 - Waterfowl — Red-breasted Merganser

IMG 6369 1 - Waterfowl — Bufflehead male

IMG 7400 1 - Waterfowl — Hooded Merganser male

IMG 7429 1 - Waterfowl — Common Goldeneye

IMG 8916 1 - Waterfowl — Red-necked Grebe

IMG 5498 1 - Waterfowl — Red-throated Loon

London, Ontario Birding Report January 26th – February 1st 2014

IMG 4330 1 - London, Ontario Birding Report January 26th - February 1st 2014 — The most unique observation of the week was this leucistic Black-capped Chickadee.

This past week turned out to be a rather productive one for observing birds along the Thames River, especially waterfowl. In the stretch of river between Greenway and Springbank Parks I recorded twelve species of waterfowl, with a couple of highlights being a Canvasback and Long-tailed Duck. Temperatures were in the negative teens with wind chills ranging from -20C to – 30C most days so dressing for the weather was a must, but well worth getting out for any birder.

The city of London does an excellent job plowing and salting throughout these two parks so walking isn’t an issue, in fact the paths here are better maintained than most neighbourhood sidewalks. Other notable species from the week were a Northern Shrike, regular appearances by the resident bald eagles with both adult and juvenile birds observed, and a leucistic Black-capped Chickadee. Identifying such a unique bird was quite tricky, as at first I believed it to be a Boreal Chickadee. Luckily I managed a few photos, and with the help of two London bird experts deemed it to be a leucistic Black-capped.

One of the most interesting views of the week was watching a male Red-breasted Merganser feed while looking down from a bridge above. The water in this particular section of river is quite shallow and clear so the bird was easily seen swimming underwater each time it dove in search of food. I managed several photos of the bird underwater, as it surfaced, and a couple of times with a crayfish in it’s grasp.

A large flock of Robins was seen feeding on Buckthorn berries on the river bank.

A complete list of birds observed is as follows:

gspost - London, Ontario Birding Report January 26th - February 1st 2014 — Greater Scaup male and female.

American Black Duck
American Coot
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Robin
Bald Eagle
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Bufflehead
Canada Goose
Canvasback
Common Goldeneye
Common Merganser
Dark-eyed Junco
Downy Woodpecker
European Starling
Great Blue Heron
Greater Scaup
Hooded Merganser
House Sparrow
Long-tailed Duck
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Muscovy Duck
Northern Cardinal
Northern Shrike
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-tailed Hawk
White-breasted Nuthatch

Birding during cold winter months can be the only time of year to see some of these species. Invest in some good quality warm clothes and enjoy the outdoors twelve months a year. The physical and emotional benefits of birding are unbelievable and I encourage all to get out whenever you can.

Good birding,
Paul