Lake St Clair wetlands

I've been able to spend a bit of time at various points along the wetlands of eastern Lake St. Clair. Mitchell's Bay, the Angler Line trail and St. Clair NWA are all great spots to visit.

A few weeks ago a Common Gallinule set up a nest within sight of the shoreline....well within sight if you can see through the vegetation. The platform is slightly visible, and some of the taller Juncus sp have been bent over by the adult to break up the appearance of the nest from avian predators.

This nest had at least one egg and one chick on August 14, which likely makes it the latest nesting record for Common Gallinule in Ontario.

A couple of days later the nest was empty, and some photography friends of mine who have a trailer very close by began seeing the adult and chicks poking around the vegetation and openings. I wanted to get in on the action, but for various reasons was unable to get there right away. However the gallinule family have persisted in the wetland, and have still been seen regularly up until the last few days.

Last Tuesday, I got out to see what I could see. I did get some very distant shots of an adult and also one of the mostly grown young, but just barely as a record shot, and hardly worth posting here.

But there was other action in the area. A small number of Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons are almost constantly present, feeding in the wetland.

Monarch butterflies were busily feeding and resting on the abundant yellow flowers that occur in wetlands this time of year. The flowers are one of the species called Beggar's-ticks.

After a couple of hours I decided to move on, so my next stop was the Lake St Clair trail, starting at Angler Line and going north to Mitchell's Bay.

Almost immediately after starting along the trail, I noted a beautiful Osprey begin to circle right overhead.

Osprey

An adult Bald Eagle also put in a brief appearance, but I let him go and concentrated on getting a bunch of photos of the Osprey.

A little farther along, an adult Green Heron was perched motionless on a small branch at the water level, waiting for something of interest to venture within striking distance.

 After a few minutes, it struck out and grasped a small fish, which it gobbled down in seconds.

At the north end of the trail, there was a fair sized flock of Canada Geese resting in the field and also a Great Egret. Looking closer at the flock of geese, I noted a single Snow Goose. This was on September 23, and quite an early date for Chatham-Kent. It wasn't very close and after getting only a couple of shots, it moved into heavier vegetation and eventually into the nearby pond. One or two Snows were seen in the days following by Blake Mann.

As I returned to the car, I noted a pair of adult Bald Eagles circling well to the south. Not a great opportunity for a close-up, but this is what I was able to capture before they got too far to attempt any other shots.

Later in the day, I checked out St. Clair NWA in preparation for a hike I was leading in a few days. The evening is often a good time to see birds on the move, but not normally is it great light for photography. I was also looking for Great Egrets, which when the water levels are low, can be seen roosting in large numbers. In 2012, there were as many as 150 egrets spending the night in quiet solitude, arriving just before dusk and leaving at about sunrise. The following image shows part of a group, taken in late September, 2012. It was taken under challenging and cloudy conditions, just before official sunrise. It was taken with a Canon 5D, a 400 f4 DO lens, at f/4, 1/25 sec, ISO 800.

This year the water levels are too high to attract roosting Great Egrets. There is the occasional one flying through or feeding, but they are roosting elsewhere. One did show up on the day of the hike, but not at the NWA....instead it flushed out of a roadside ditch into the adjacent field.

Waterfowl were on the move during the evening hours, such as this small mixed flock of American Wigeon and Northern Shoveler.

A pair of Sandhill Cranes flew by, one of which is shown here. The sun had set, and against the grey sky, the photo conditions were again quite challenging.

Recent North Lambton travels

I've been out a lot these last few days, so it is time to catch up on some blog posts.

A few days ago I was doing some inventory type of field work with a couple of colleagues at a site in northern Lambton County. The weather was great, and we found some interesting things, including a small tallgrass prairie type of site. There wasn't anything really exceptional in the site.....it hadn't burned for quite some time, and a regular occurrence of fire is absolutely essential for the long-term and short-term health of the prairie and its inhabitants. Nonetheless, we did find a few stems of a rather rare orchid called Great Plain's Ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes magnicamporum), which is provincially ranked as S3. I look forward to re-visiting the site at another time of year to see what other goodies might be present.

There are several other Ladies'-tresses types of orchids, but this is one of the later flowering species, and it is distinctive by its larger size compared to most of the others. It also has a very distinctive fragrance reminding me of a combination of hot plastic and vanilla!

On our lunch break we observed several Sharp-shinned Hawks, a 3rd year Bald Eagle, a Red-shouldered Hawk, a Red-tailed Hawk, one or two common Nighthawks and a couple of Sandhill Cranes.

Back on site, we found a few snakes (Northern Brown and Eastern Garter) as well as frogs (Leopard and Green) and American Toads, but nothing exceptional. Some of the plants we were on the lookout for we encountered, including American Ginseng, Green Dragon and Butternut, all officially Species At Risk. Due to their significance and legislated rarity, I will not divulge their locations. 

This next image features a fruiting individual of American Ginseng. It was not taken at the site we found it, but is one I had in my photo files. I did take a photo with my cell phone, but on the chance that someone could obtain the location from the cell phone pic via some internal GPS reading, I decided not to use it here (aside from the fact that it is a relatively poor quality). I do not have my main camera connected to any GPS coordinate software, partly so no one can track the location where I have taken my photos. American Ginseng is highly sought after by collectors for its apparent medical benefits, and the major illegal collecting problem is the reason it is now a Species At Risk.

Towards the end of the day, we were travelling near Kettle Point, and noted an obvious movement of raptors. In a matter of minutes we recorded several kettles (appropriately near Kettle Point!) of Broad-winged Hawks totalling more than 500 birds, a juvenile Bald Eagle, 2 or more Red-tailed Hawks, more than 20 Sharp-shinned Hawks and 20 Turkey Vultures. Later in the day, I read where a resident of the area had reported a total of 15,600 hawks passing through between 1-4 p.m., just to the north of where we saw our birds a bit later.

Broad-winged Hawk

I had heard from another birding friend that large numbers of hawks can be found migrating along the Lake Huron shoreline during periods of brisk east to northeast winds. The brisk southeast winds of this particular day had pushed migrating hawks up along the Lake Huron shoreline, so we were at the right spot at the right time to view this phenomenon.

Before heading back home to Chatham, I stopped in at one of my favourite places in north Lambton to view one of the area's relatively well-kept secrets. 

One doesn't normally associate waterfalls in the extreme southwestern flatlands of the province. If one wants to see such landscapes, one has to go to the more rugged part of the country along the Niagara Escarpment or central/northern Ontario, right? 

Not!! 

This waterfall is located at Rock Glen Conservation Area, at the NE edge of Arkona. The Ausable River Conservation Authority manages this site which is famous for its fossils in the sedimentary rock that are exposed along this stream. There is a parking area, picnic area, rustic washroom facility, museum and best of all, a hiking trail compete with stairway to reach the bottom of the gorge to see the falls up close. The first photo shown above was taken from 2/3 of the way down the stairway.

Side views are generally my preference, but one can get downstream a bit to see it from different vantage points and angles. One has to be cautious, of course, because the wet rocks are slippery!!!

Venturing a bit farther downstream, one can get intimate views of some of the minor sections of the falls.

A few days earlier, I had noted a plea for help posted on ONtbirds to track down a certain Great Egret which had been spotted in the Petrolia area. This egret had a blue wing tag, but the tag number was not easy to determine. So while travelling down hwy 21, I stopped where Black Creek flows under a bridge immediately north of Oil Springs. My primary goal was to photograph the flooded creek, overflowing with water from recent rainfall events. 

As I looked at the flooded pasture, I noted a Great Egret, and upon a closer view, noted it had a blue wing tag. Out came my 'scope and telephoto lens.

Part of the individual identification alpha/numeric code was visible, but even in looking at the bird for several minutes with my 'scope, it was clear that the letter was hard to discern. I sent the photos to the individual with Environment Canada who did the banding. We agreed that it was likely bird 95K rather than 95R. This bird was banded this year on June 26. The colony was on an island in southern Georgian Bay and the bird was too young to fly when it was banded.

Monarch migration, etc

Monarch butterflies are iconic symbols of a late summer phenomenon, notably their fantastic migration behaviour as they begin a southwestern journey to their wintering grounds in the mountains of Mexico. As they head southwest through Ontario, the Great Lakes are a major blockage, so they travel along the shoreline and build up in numbers at points along the lake shore, such as Long Point, Rondeau and Point Pelee. Some will continue to travel southwest until they cross the Detroit River. If the numbers build up at one of the major sandspit points, they wait for suitable weather, such as a good wind from a northerly direction, to carry them across the lake.

It wasn't that many years ago that some huge numbers were recorded from some of these points. I have read of astounding numbers, such as half a million butterflies, leaving Point Pelee and heading across the lake on a northerly wind in a matter of hours.

What do bison, Passenger Pigeons and Monarchs have in common? A serious and in some cases, fatal, loss of numbers.

Sadly it appears that we may never see those numbers of butterflies again. Think about the many millions of bison that formerly roamed the mid-western parts of the continent. Or the billions of Passenger Pigeons that at times darkened the skies as they passed overhead. The bison population was salvaged from complete annihilation, and remains in protected areas across parts of the mid-west. Several state/provincial and national parks and private agencies have various sized herds they manage.

This first image depicts part of the ~2500 bison herd that roam freely across part of the almost 30,000 acre (12,100 ha) Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in northeastern Oklahoma, owned by The Nature Conservancy.

The next two images feature bison from Prairie State Park, where a herd of about 130 bison occur within this almost 4,000 acres (1,600 ha) park in southwestern Missouri.

The Passenger Pigeon is, as you undoubtedly are aware, extinct and at the beginning of this month we unfortunately marked the 100th anniversary of when the last known Passenger Pigeon died, in the Cincinnati Zoo. (No, I'm not quite old enough to have acquired any personal photos of Passenger Pigeon.)

While the two examples mentioned here don't necessarily seem to fit with the situation of the Monarch, the comparison is eerily relevant. Monarchs were present by the countless millions not that long ago. A National Geographic magazine of the 1970s described them as so numerous on their wintering grounds, that branches of the trees where they were roosting would break under the cumulative weight!

Part of a small Monarch roost at Rondeau a few years ago

However in the last several decades, the effects of loss of wintering habitat in Mexico, combined with chemical sprays and the efficient eradication of milkweeds here in North America, have brought the population perilously low. In 2013, the numbers in Ontario at least, were probably as low as they have ever been since the glaciers left! It was almost a novelty to see a Monarch last year. And the Monarch Migration Festival at Point Pelee NP, where just a few years ago hundreds of thousands of butterflies could occasionally be seen in a single day, was cancelled due to the lack of butterflies.

The current year has not seemed quite as dismal. One can normally see at least a few Monarchs on outings to natural areas.  I have noted more than a dozen caterpillars on milkweeds in my yard. The Hawkwatch sites at Hawk Cliff, Holiday Beach and Detroit River Metropark, record Monarch movements just like they do hawks, and sometimes several hundred are seen in one day. With milkweeds being removed from the noxious weed list, people are planting milkweed now, instead of being charged for not removing them from their property.

This coming Sunday, September 21, there is a Monarch Migration Festival going on at Rondeau Provincial Park. From the park's web site:

 "Come out to Rondeau and join us for the day to send off our Monarch Butterflies as they migrate down to Mexico for the winter season! Activities include Monarch Tagging demonstrations, guided hikes, native plant sale and local artisan fair among much more! Stick around for lunch as the Friends of Rondeau will be BBQing up a storm from 11-2:30pm!"

This festival starts at 10:00 a.m. and goes until 4:00 p.m.

Banded Monarch

So whatever your weekend activities entail, whether it is visiting one of the aforementioned Hawk Watch sites to join in with the activities and hawk watching opportunities there, keep in mind the plight of the Monarch and wherever you see one, take time to reflect and enjoy part of this dainty yet resilient critter's migration!

Some hawk migration observations

Hawk migration is just getting well underway these days, as one can see from the various hawk watching reports. Hawk Cliff just south of St. Thomas, Holiday Beach in southwestern Essex County and the Detroit River Hawk Watch in eastern Michigan adjacent to the Detroit River, are the best known and most prolific sites in the region. Daily watches since about the first of September have resulted in between 1300 and almost 2000 birds being recorded passing through so far.

These migrating raptors follow the Lake Erie shoreline, since they don't like to cross large open stretches of water, and exit the province where the water is the narrowest. Hence places along the Detroit River are where the birds are eventually most concentrated.

However before the birds get to the Detroit River many pass through southern Chatham-Kent, and near the shoreline is often a good place to watch from. Winds from the NE-N-NW are typically good conditions to help the birds to move.

Yesterday, Saturday Sept 13, the winds were fairly brisk from the N-NW which is usually favourable. However the heavy overcast conditions were not the best for hawk watching, at least initially, but when the forecast indicated some clearing in the afternoon, I ventured out. But I went to a more local place. The shoreline east of Rondeau and south of Morpeth is one of the better locations. And since a rare Swainson's Hawk had been reported from the Hawk Cliff site the day before, I was hoping I could find it passing through the Rondeau area!

Initially there wasn't much movement. Almost immediately a single Sharp-shinned Hawk flew through fairly low down. I decided to get my camera ready in anticipation of more action. The raptor movement was rather sporadic, which is par for the course. From time to time, there were several birds in view, and then there were stretches of 10-15 minutes or so without a single bird to be seen.

As the sky cleared a bit, the birds got a little more active. Overall in the almost two hours I was there, I observed 34 raptors of 7 species: Sharp-shinned Hawk--14; Cooper's Hawk--1; American Kestrel--2; Broad-winged Hawk--2; Merlin--1, Bald Eagle--7; Turkey Vulture--7.



Photography wasn't the easiest, since much of the sky was still partly cloudy. And the birds were on the move, of course, and mostly quite distant. However I got a few shots.

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Broad-winged Hawk

 This isn't the normal profile one expects of a Broad-wing on migration. However due to the brisk wind and cloudy skies, there weren't any thermals of rising air to float upwards and along on. So today their wings and tail weren't showing the typical look.

Broad-winged Hawk

Bald Eagle juvenile

Bald Eagle adult

It is possible that one of the sub-adult eagles I saw was double counted, so I may have only seen 6, not 7. At one point I did have three eagles in view simultaneously. Photos of these birds were a challenge. Even though the camera set-up I was using was the equivalent of a 12X binocular, with the birds being mostly a kilometre or more away, I had to do some heavy cropping to even get these!

Alas, I didn't see a Swainson's Hawk. But I did see this.

Gashawk (not a raptor :-)

The Broad-winged Hawks should be moving in large numbers in the next week or so. Mostly sunny skies with light NW winds are ideal for them to move in substantial numbers. Usually upwards of 100,000 of them are recorded from one or more of the hawk watch sites over the course of the season. On one occasion several years ago, the Holiday Beach site recorded about 80,000 in one day! Kettles of them can be seen almost anywhere slightly inland from the Lake Erie shoreline. I am looking forward to getting out again soon!