More Willet and some dragons.

A short post today. I went back to Rondeau, intending to photograph the Willet, which was still there yesterday (which answered one of my questions from my previous post). Sure enough, it was still in the area, although it had moved from the main pond at the Dog Beach Access on the weekend, to the smaller pond north of that yesterday, and today it was roaming the edges of the biggest pond, a.k.a. Lake Erie. I wanted to use a different camera/lens combination today, to see if I could improve on the overall photo regardless of the heavy overcast. I was relatively pleased with the results.

Some Sanderling were also using the shoreline, but they didn't stick around for long. Notice that this one is balancing on a single toe!

Lots of cormorants streamed by.....several thousand at least. And lots of Bonaparte's Gulls as well, in various plumages. I looked for something more exotic, such as Sabine's or even a Little Gull, but did not note any. I did encounter something even rarer......a former MNR colleague who had retired more than a decade ago and had not seen since, so we had a good visit for half an hour. I'm sure a good gull went by during that time.....:-).

While I was in the area, I hiked the South Point Trail to the end. Birds were quite few! It probably had something to do with Sharp-shinned Hawks and a Merlin that were flying through. But there were lots of dragonflies, most notably Twelve-spotted Skimmers (lots) and Common Whitetail (fewer).

Twelve-spotted Skimmer

Common Whitetail

And this one which is what I believe to be an Autumn (Yellow-legged) Meadowhawk.

Autumn Meadowhawk

The day was getting darker, and rain was on its way, but I wanted to check out the first part of the Marsh Trail. It was more out of the wind. I'm glad I did. There was quite a flurry of birds, including a few warblers. Most notable was a nicely marked male Golden-winged Warbler. I hadn't caught up to any of this species in the spring, so it was nice to see this one a couple of times today. Canada Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, American Redstart and Common Yellowthroat were all seen as well, in addition to others that were flitting through the dark and leafy conditions and remained unidentified. A few Empidonax flycatchers and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks were present as well as the more common resident species. Unfortunately the conditions were not suitable for many photos!

I did get this shot, but it isn't easy to identify. Guesses, anyone?

But out in the open were things like Monarchs. I only saw half a dozen today. And the goldenrods had lots of pollinators visiting them.

The rain that arrived just a little before 1 p.m. put an end to the day, since it was supposed to be steady with lots of wind as the day progressed. It just means I have a reason to return......