White-winged Dove, Acadian Flycatcher, Bald Eagle, Rondeau

A brief visit to Rondeau today proved more profitable than I had expected. After photographing a plant near the Visitor Centre late this afternoon, I heard the unmistakable call of a White-winged Dove. I knew that one had been seen and heard intermittently a bit north of the Visitor Centre between May 25-30, but I had not been able to catch up with it. As far as I know, it was last seen on May 30. So I was quite pleased to hear it and then find it. Fortunately I had my camera and telephoto lens relatively handy!

It was sitting about half way up in a White Pine tree, in very bright light with a dark background, making the photographic effort a little challenging. It remained in the area for at least half an hour, and is likely not far away given that it presumably has been in the general vicinity for more than three weeks.

A bit later, I checked on the two Acadian Flycatcher nests we had been monitoring. It seems that one right over the edge of the road that I reported on a few posts ago may be abandoned, as I have not seen any activity there in the last 4 visits. However the other nest is still active.....the contents are suspect, however.

I didn't stick around for a long time so as not to overly disturb the adults, and also because the mosquitoes were quite glad I was there! But the bird in this photo looks suspiciously like a Brown-headed Cowbird. Any thoughts???

Acadian Flycatcher

I also took a quick trip out the Marsh Road to check on a couple of things, including the pair of Bald Eagles that habitually nest within view in certain spots of the trail. They are using the same nest as last year, but with the higher water, it is more difficult to get to a suitable vantage point to photograph it even from a distance. But I did manage to get the next two images from the trail. They were taken with the equivalent of a 14X binocular, and even at that, were heavily cropped by at least 50%.

Adult Bald Eagle in White Pine

 The eaglet in the next photo isn't all that easy to pick out, but it is in the lower right of the nest.

Bald Eaglet in nest

All in all, not a bad day for a quick trip!