Checking out eastern Lake St. Clair areas

There are lots of good birding areas in the Lake St. Clair area. So a couple of days ago Fred Johnson, a fellow MNR retiree, and I spent a few hours checking some of them out.

Angler Line was our first destination, hoping for the Yellow-headed Blackbirds to put in an appearance. A bonus would be an American White Pelican, which had been reported a few days earlier as well.

The wetland along Angler Line looked as appealing as ever, so we watched and waited. A couple of other fellows had been there earlier with the same ideas in mind.

Pied-billed Grebes were making themselves heard loud and clear.

Several Great Egrets passed by.

But no Yellow-headed Blackbirds showed while we were there, not even in the nearby fields as far as we could tell.

Yellow-headed Blackbird from a previous year

Checking out the lake from the very end of Angler Line didn't result in any thing else of note....there was no evidence of a pelican, but I am sure it was out there somewhere....it is a decently big lake!

We went to the Mitchell's Bay North Shore Nature Trail next. There was a smattering of ducks out on the lake, including several hundred Ruddy Ducks, a few Gadwall and lots of scaup. An Osprey flew through, hovering and hunting for a fish.

Caspian and Forster's Terns were busily foraging or resting.

Caspian Terns (l) and Forster's Terns (r) share a log

 There was the usual gathering of Mute Swans, with upwards of 80 or more scattered around. One would have thought that they would have been paired up with the female on the nest and the male close by keeping guard. Are these late nesters? Failed nesters (unfortunately, not likely)?

No pelican was seen from this vantage point, either.

Since we were relatively close by, we swung around by the Bear Creek Unit of St. Clair NWA. Surprisingly, there wasn't a lot of bird life there; the brisk NE winds were keeping the smaller birds under cover. But we did see several families of recently hatched goslings. Most appeared to be less than a week old. I'm sure with the density of them in some of these marshes, some will end up as food for a Snapping Turtle, which in recent years has been declared a Species At Risk ranked as Special Concern due to their decline.

We also checked out St. Clair NWA, and walked the entire cross dike and back. Waterfowl was scattered and mostly a fair distance away. The recent clearing of the Phragmites along the trail has been a boon for the quality of the wetland, but it leaves hikers quite exposed, and the waterfowl adjust their proximity to the trail accordingly. There were Blue-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead and of course the usual Mallards and Canada Geese.

A Northern Harrier flew by.

A few Midland Painted Turtles were out basking in the bright sun.

We also saw a young Northern Water Snake, but it was quite active and did not stick around for a photo op.

In the mpales and willows, the latter of which were just beginning to flower, there were insects that attracted a few warblers. We saw several Yellow-rumped Warblers

as well as a few Palm Warblers.

White-throated Sparrows have recently arrived in southern Ontario in good numbers.....

...and half a dozen Cedar Waxwings were flitting about at the trail entrance.

All in all a decent day and great weather to be out in.

Earth day and the demise of prairie?

Okay...maybe I'm stretching it a little bit.

For what it is worth Earth Day, now an internationally celebrated event, is connected to Arbour Day (a.k.a. Arbor Day in the USA), which is connected to prairie, and Tallgrass Prairie in particular, which is connected to Windsor, Ontario.

Let me explain.

Julius Sterling Morton spent most of his early life in Michigan, but in 1854, he and his new bride moved to Nebraska City, Nebraska, where he became the newspaper editor of the first newspaper in that territory. During his time there, he missed the trees of the east, and so he planted numerous trees, many of which were not native, around his own property.

J. Sterling Morton became quite prominent in business and politics and eventually became the Secretary of Nebraska Territory. While the prairie soil of the territory was productive, once it was tilled, it blew away easily, and the area became known as The Great American Desert. In order to hold down the soil and improve the dusty, treeless plains to make it more appealing to future settlers, in 1872 he convinced the State Board of Agriculture to proclaim a tree-planting day, with prizes awarded to the counties that planted the most trees. The date selected was April 10, 1872 and over one million trees were planted during the first event.

In 1882, the state proclaimed Arbor Day as a legal holiday, and established the date of April 22, in honour of the birth date of J. Sterling Morton. At one point the state legislature wanted to declare Nebraska as 'The Treeplanter State'. Eventually Arbor Day became celebrated in all 50 states, and many countries.

Mixed grass prairie in Nebraska

Mixed grass prairie in Nebraska

J. Sterling Morton became the Secretary of Agriculture under the presidency of Grover Cleveland, from 1893-1897. It was during that time when the US Dept of Agriculture was interested in introducing hardy plants from parts of eastern Asia, that would survive the challenging growing conditions of the Great Plains. As a result, one or more representatives of the USDA visited those countries and in the next couple of decades brought back over 2500 species of herbaceous and woody plants. Some of those species did quite well, and have since become highly invasive on the mid-western landscape. In the western part of Nebraska, mixed grass prairie is dominant, but in the eastern part of the state, it is mostly tallgrass prairie. Nebraska City is at the extreme eastern part of the state, and there are some fabulous, but very small, tallgrass prairie remnants. They would be not that dissimilar to the tallgrass prairie of western Iowa and Missouri.

Iowa restored tallgrass prairie

Iowa tallgrass prairie

Missouri tallgrass prairie

Planting trees definitely helps reduce soil erosion, from both wind and water. But establishing trees, in combination with the breaking up of the prairie sod, suppressing naturally occurring and necessary fire as well as the introduction of numerous invasive species, has greatly compromised the integrity of tallgrass and mixed grass prairie.

Tallgrass prairie overgrown with shrubs and trees

In 1970 Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson recognized the seriously deteriorating natural environment, and was one of several people to push for an Earth Day. (It has been described as a grassroots movement, which is ironic, as one of the main activities of Arbor/Earth Day is to plant trees, which impairs the grasslands.) He suggested it to be held on April 22, to build on the concept of Arbor Day.

Don't get me wrong......I am a strong supporter of anything that gets people to pay more attention to improving the quality of the natural environment. But it is interesting to see how some of these events got started.

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher: a denizen of the mid-western tallgrass prairie

Dickcissel: a denizen of the mid-western tallgrass prairie

Elk: a successful re-introduction on a Nebraska prairie

And that connection to Windsor and tallgrass prairie? It isn't as detrimental as Arbor Day. For years, beginning in the mid-1970s, I was involved with the resource management of one of Ontario's best known tallgrass prairies: Ojibway Prairie Provincial Nature Reserve, in southwestern Windsor. While doing field work there, one would often hear a muffled boom and a gentle tremor in the ground, usually about 4 p.m. Several hundred metres below my feet, salt was being mined, and the blasting at about 4 p.m. was deemed to be the least disruptive to the residents living above. The mining company was none other than the Morton Salt Company, situated just down the road from Ojibway Prairie PNR. It turns out that J. Sterling Morton's son was one of the founders of the Morton Salt Company, today known as Windsor Salt.

A high quality tallgrass prairie in Missouri

Before there was ebird......

Once upon a time, there were no computers, no cell phones, no Ontbirds, no ebird........none of a lot of things that we take for granted now. Hard to believe, isn't it, especially for the generation that has grown up with all of these technological advancements literally at their fingertips. But birders back then were still plentiful, and got out to enjoy the natural world unencumbered by the myriad digital devices we can't seem to live with out nowadays. Instead, we heard about good birds by the proverbial grape vine.....a.k.a. a telephone land line. Or by reading the weekly column of writers such as Peter Whelan (Globe and Mail) or Tom Hayman (London Free Press). Just imagine......

Sure the optics weren't great by today's standards. In fact just earlier this week I was reminiscing with a former colleague with whom I worked at Rondeau 42 years ago, that the old Bushnell Spacemaster telescopes and the Bushnell Sport Custom binoculars, both of which were the industry standards for birders of that era, aren't much better than museum pieces or door stops now (packrat that I am, I still have my original Spacemaster, and both of my original Sport Customs (7 X 35 and 9 X 36) from the 1970s, but not my even earlier two pairs of binoculars...a Kmart special 7 X 35 and a model of Tasco 7 X 50 :-).

Prothonotary Warbler, first discovered nesting in Ontario and Canada in the early 1930s

Why this bit of 'recent' history? Well, if you have been keeping up with the latest information on ebird as it pertains to the milestone reached by Ontario birders, you will be aware that just a few weeks ago, the one millionth ebird list for Ontario was entered onto the site.

It was submitted by yours truly.

I didn't realize it at the time, of course, but was contacted a short time afterwards to inform me of that event. (I didn't get any prize, just the notoriety :-) And interestingly it was an historic checklist that I submitted. You can read about that occurrence, and the way ebird has taken off in Ontario by clicking on this link.

Just like birding, I was at the right place at the right time to have submitted the list that reached this significant milestone for Ontario birders. In reality, I have only been submitting to ebird for about a year and a half, with a total of 522 lists submitted in that time. Some of them are historical ones.

American Avocet, June 2013

 Like many birders who collect data in one way or another, I have stacks of old checklists and field notes going back to the early 1970s. I began birding about a decade before that, but never bothered to keep lists until the early 1970s. One wonders if all of those notes and lists would ever be useful, so rather than just put the checklists into the recycling bin, I decided to put that data to some use (hopefully!). That is how I happened to submit the one from September 26, 1984, which was the one millionth list.

Black Vulture, March 2009

(Note to self: get busy with all of those other historical lists!)

Just like optical equipment, bird checklists have evolved. In digging through Rondeau's historical files, the park staff very recently came up with the two featured in the next photo. The one on the left is dated 1956, and had accumulated 268 species by that time, and the one on the right is dated 1959, with 275 species. The park naturalist of that era, R. D. Ussher (RDU), was a forester by training, but a pioneer in natural history interpretation of Ontario's provincial parks, and he was at Rondeau from 1952-1969. He compiled and maintained checklists of birds, mammals, plants (both woody and herbaceous) as well as reptiles and amphibians. There were records from Rondeau even back into the 1800s, all of which he or others scoured through to come up with these lists, and were the basis for checklists that followed.

There was a handful of seasonal naturalist leaders at Rondeau from the time that Dick Ussher retired, until the time that I came on in a full-time capacity which, including some summer positions while I was at university, went from 1973-1986. I valued the checklists that RDU had compiled, and did my best to build on them. My first effort was this booklet, shown below, produced in 1976. I borrowed the B&W illustration of the Black-crowned Night-Heron from the 1974 checklist that was produced by Howard Coneybeare, a talented and prolific illustrator of many Algonquin Provincial Park publications, who was supervising Rondeau's natural history interpretation program in 1974. I looked for a copy of that list but it must be buried too deep.

By 1976 there were 301 species on the list.

1976 checklist

Instead of just a list to check off birds that had been seen, I decided to put some seasonal information along with it, as is shown in these open pages of that checklist.

That was popular, and we quickly ran out. That design was also more expensive, so we went back to the folded card stock in 1977, which by now had 303 species.

By 1980, it was time to update the checklist once again, as it now had 317 species.

1980 checklist

By 1984, we had accumulated 332 species.

1984 checklist

By 1992, the list had grown to 334 species, and had a slightly different look to it.

This one was reprinted a few times, until the Friends Of Rondeau began producing it and selling from their bookstore. It now looks like this, although it has had a few reprints/updates with more or less the same cover:

The cumulative total for the Rondeau checklist area at the point of the most recent printing, in February 2015, stood at 362 species. With the addition of the Say's Phoebe of September, 2015, the next update will be at least 363 species.

Say's Phoebe, Sept 17 & 18, 2015

Magnificent Frigatebird, 2012

Sunny days in the forest

Sunny days are here....I'm sure you noticed!

The forests of Rondeau are looking more like spring every day. The sloughs are full of water, with green plants starting to appear.

 I noted my first of season Ribbon Snake along the Tuliptree Trail. It looks much like an Eastern Garter Snake, but the yellow stripes are brighter and the contrast with the black is more distinct. It also spends more time in wet woods, unlike the garter.

Wildflowers are starting to appear. Hepatica, of which there are both Sharp-lobed and Round-lobed types, are fairly abundant along some trails, especially the Spicebush Trail. The leaves are slower to develop than the flowers, but the six-petalled flowers are obvious. They can be bright white or have a bluish or purplish tinge to them.

Butterflies have been active on the sunnier days. Yesterday I saw Eastern Comma, Mourning Cloak and Red Admiral.

Eastern Comma

Mourning Cloak

The Red Admiral didn't stick around long enough for a photo. It was trying to get to the tree sap that was flowing out of the holes this Yellow-bellied Sapsucker had made, but the sapsucker was busily chowing down on the sap as well as some of the smaller flying insects that were attracted to the sap, so the butterfly didn't take any chances. Sapsuckers are getting more abundant these days.

In the more open areas, I came across a pair of Killdeer. One of the adults was at the nest until it saw me heading its way.

My first Killdeer nest of the season

This nest is in the parking lot near the churches and tennis courts. A nest close by in 2015 did not survive. Maybe this one will have better success.

Also in the grassy areas nearby were at least 3 Vesper Sparrows and a dozen Chipping Sparrows. The Vespers do not stay in the park for long, as they nest in open and grassy agricultural areas. Chippies are common and widespread throughout the open area of the park, especially where there are coniferous trees.

Three White-tailed Deer were grazing nearby. Their winter coats are looking a little rough these days, as their heavy brown coat is beginning to shed. By late May, they will be their usual reddish-brown.

In some of the sheltered grassy wetlands, Leopard Frogs are noticeably abundant as they are in full mating season. One pond I noted had at least 36 frogs, and some egg clusters were visible as a result of some successful mating. The one in this next image is in full 'song'.....its pouches just behind the eye are inflated, as it gives its snore-like call.

I have almost stopped measuring trees these days, now that the weather is getting warmer and ticks are out. I've tracked down a few more big trees, however, such as this Red Oak that measures 95 cm dbh. It is located just a bit south of Bennett Avenue.

This next one is a Tuliptree, and at about 125 cm dbh, is the largest one of that species I've measured so far. It is located along Rondeau Road, a bit north of Gardiner Avenue.

Enjoy the great weather in southwestern Ontario over these next few days! And beware of ticks...I've already has some Black-legged Ticks (a.k.a. Deer Ticks) on my pants!

Photogenic water birds

The water front is the place to be these days. There is still a lot of water fowl around, with many of them in their prime breeding attire. Since they are either hungry for sustenance in order to continue their migration, or vying for a mate, they are quite busy with those things in mind, so are more tolerant of photographers. Of course it helps that the hunting season is not on. At the Erieau harbour, the birds are quite used to vehicles coming and going, so staying in the car and using it as a blind, really works well.

Bufflehead are one of the most numerous ducks within 'shooting' distance at Erieau these days.

It is a species that one has to look through carefully when one is trying to find the local pair of Harlequin Ducks, since the female Bufflehead are mostly dark bodied with white facial markings. Compare with the female Harlequin in the image below. The Harlequins have been around for several weeks.

One can sometimes spend quite a bit of time scanning from the main channel area and not see them. Case in point: a couple of days ago I was at Erieau for the better part of two hours, mostly photographing whatever water birds I could find in order to fine tune my camera's autofocus. I didn't see the Harlequins at all, and eventually left. However an hour later, Jim Burk had one of them in their usual spot at the far eastern end of the rocks across the channel.

Yesterday, I was on a grand tour ranging from southern Lambton County, then to Rondeau and eventually ending up at Erieau. I purposely left Erieau until later in the day, since by 3 or 4 p.m., the commercial fishing tug and associated activity is over for the day, leaving the waterfront along the channel as well as where the fish tugs are moored, very quiet and the water birds have relatively free reign over the area. Another bonus is that when the sun is out (not often these past few days!) the angle of light is much better later in the day.

I initially checked the channel, but only saw Bufflehead. I then moved a bit farther towards the lake so I could scan the lake side of the far rocks. Almost immediately I saw a male diving in the relative calm of the lake. I looked for the female, and a few minutes later saw another Harlequin a short distance away...but it was a male as well. Did the first bird just dive and swim farther away than I expected...but no, it was a second young male! And the female was in the area as well!

A little later Steve Charbonneau arrived, and I told him we had three Harlequins, and sure enough, they were all still there, although still a long way off for the kind of photo we hoped for.

 

They were well out in the lake at one point, but eventually came back in and hung out around the rocks. They were still in that location when we left after 7, so presumably they were getting ready to settle in for the night.

The last time anyone had this many Harlequin Ducks in the Rondeau checklist area was way back on May 17, 1960, when 8 birds were seen at Erieau. That was at a time when the overall population was healthier than it has been for a few decades.

The Willet which I found on April 8 is still there, but now it seems to spend all of its time on the tip of the south beach of Rondeau across the channel, affording only distant views and photo ops.

Photo of April 8

Photo of April 12

In spite of the lure of these two rarities, there are other water birds to enjoy, including lots of Horned Grebes in various stages of plumage development

 This next one is coming along nicely.

 This next bird seemed to be injured. Its one leg was continuously dragging behind, and it swam a bit sideways. Maybe it will linger for quite awhile before it succumbs, since it may not be able to fly to its normal breeding ground.

There are a few Greater Scaup still around, most of which are well out in the lake or the bay,

Lesser Scaup are more abundant right at Erieau. They are told from the very similar Greater Scaup by a slightly different shape to the head, and a narrow black tip of the bill which isn't always visible in a side view. Greater Scaup have a relatively wider black tip to the bill.

Lesser Scaup

Lesser Scaup

Greater Scaup

Mergansers are less common than they were a few weeks ago it seems, but both Common and Red-breasted Mergansers are still around. Red-breasteds are easily told by their darker breast in the male, and their unruly 'hair', compared to the white breast and sleeker look of the Common.

 This one is in the beginning of a dive, to go fishing.

Red-breasted Merganser female

Common Merganser

Gulls are building in numbers, and in spite of them being a noisy nuisance at times, are attractive in their own way. The adults are quite immaculate looking.

Herring Gull

The sub-adults are much less immaculate looking!

Herring Gull

Bonaparte's Gulls, that dainty member of the gulls, are starting to build in numbers. This one will have an all black hood over its head in a few weeks. When a birder sees a smaller gull with a slightly pinkish hue to its breast feathers, such as on the one below, it makes one think of that ultra rarity, the Ross's Gull in breeding plumage. Alas, the pinkish hue on this bird is a reflection of the boardwalk decking. There has never been a confirmed record of Ross's Gull in the Rondeau checklist area, although there is an unconfirmed record for one about 15 years ago. We keep looking and hoping....as all optimistic birders do.

Bonaparte's Gull

Forster's Terns, which used to be quite a rarity back in the 1970s since they were generally a more mid-western species, are now fairly plentiful. They started nesting at Rondeau in the early 1980s, with dozens of nests present at times in the cattail marshes of the park. They do not breed as regularly now for some reason, perhaps due to high water levels, or more likely due to the expansion of that horribly aggressive and non-native wetland plant known as Phragmites. At least 15 Forster's Terns are present at Erieau these days, with more to come.