Late April Action

Regular readers will notice the change in my header photo. Perhaps the Snowy Owl I've had on for months was partly to blame for the lingering winter and struggling spring :-). I confess my tardiness in updating the photo, so hopefully the change to a beautiful Great Egret might result in spring finally staying with us!

I've had to pick and choose days and times to get out, since there have been a lot of other things going on. But a few trips have been made here and there to see what is around. Clearly the bird migration is way behind.....I've only seen one species of warbler so far! There should be at least half a dozen or more around, and from reading other's eBird posts, there is a handful of species that have shown up, but everyone is struggling to find more than one or two warblers (if any!) and other spring migrants that we normally expect.

A couple of trips to Rondeau these past few days didn't turn up anything all that unusual. But it was nice to see lots of the expected species. With a bit of effort, it wasn't hard to find 50-60 species in an outing.

Brown Creepers have been fairly abundant. It is a species that normally breeds well north of this area, although there has been at least a couple of breeding records in the park.

Both kinglets are common right now, but are constantly on the move. This Golden-crown was motionless for the same 1/640 second as my camera shutter for a change.

 Northern Flickers are abundant. Normally they are a little shy for the camera, but since these two were more intent on asserting themselves to establish dominance, they let me get closer than usual.

 With the lack of greenery in the forest so far, colourful birds such as Blue Jays show up rather well...

 ...as do Northern Cardinals.

 This one decided to investigate what it considered a potential intruder in its territory, whereas in reality, it was seeing its own reflection in the truck mirror. Cardinals and robins are notorious for 'attacking' reflections of themselves sometimes for hours (and even days!) on end.

I got only my second Mourning Cloak of the season a couple of days ago...

 ...and my first of the season Red Admiral.

The White-winged Dove continues in some of its usual spots.

While walking through the campground, I noted several birds around a puddle in the grass. Some of them were American Robins, but I had my eye on one less commonly seen species. Can you see it in this next photo?

 It is an American Woodcock, which relies heavily on camouflage and being completely still so as not to be seen. This one hunkered down in the dead oak leaves and hoped I wouldn't see it. It let me get less than a metre away from a different angle and didn't blink an eye.

Later in the afternoon yesterday I decided to check a flooded field near the corner of Bloomfield Road and Hwy 401, where I had seen hundreds of gulls and a few ducks and shorebirds a few days ago.

I had my first of year Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs on that occasion.

Greater Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

However by this day, the water was pretty well gone, and only mud remained. I kept on going south, eventually getting to Talbot Trail when I decided to head to Wheatley where Willets and a Marbled Godwit had been seen earlier in the day. Both species are fairly uncommon to rare in southwestern Ontario, and they drew a lot of interest from birders both near and far.

When I got there I was told by the single birder there, that the godwit had left just a few minutes before, but the Willets were still along the lake shore. It was a treat to see them splashing and preening in the water, sometimes getting up and going for a short flight. A few other birders came and went while I was there.

There were Common Loons, a Black-bellied Plover and a Dunlin also around, among other species, and a bit later a flock of about 25 more Dunlin went flying by.

At first there was 'only' group of about 32 or 33 Willets. I got a few photos in the dim light. It was beginning to drizzle and a thunderstorm was brewing in the distance.

 A little later another group of about 25 joined the first group.

This next photo shows the entire group of 57 or 58 birds in a relatively tight group. (Update: in getting a closer look at the group on the computer screen, the enlarged view shows that there are more than 58 birds. Some are clearly overlapping, so it is hard to separate some of them, but a couple of us have examined it more closely and have come up with 59 or 60.)

 Today we went up to the Angler Line/Mitchell's Bay area. I was hoping to add a few species to my year list, including Yellow-headed Blackbird. I thought I heard one well out in the marsh, but with the wind it was not clear so did not count it. I did see at least 18 Great Egrets and 14 Black-crowned Night-Herons all out over the bay and Ticky Tacky Point off the end of Angler Line. No photos were obtained given the distance, so the photo of the Great Egret on the header will have to suffice.

A little later we came across one of the lingering Snowy Owls in a field just west of Winter Line, a bit south of Angler Line. It was feeding on something as it had its head down plucking away at its prey. Every so often a few white feathers would go floating off in the brisk northerly wind.

In the field across from St. Clair NWA was a single Sandhill Crane feeding in last year's corn stubble, while a couple of Bald Eagles were at the nest in the line of trees on the far side of the field.

A nicely marked male Ring-necked Pheasant was skulking along the roadside as I passed by the entrance to SCNWA. They used to be quite common in Chatham-Kent and Essex, but are now a rarity. This was my first of the year.

Exploring natural areas around earth day weekend

Spring is inching closer. Hopefully it will be with us for awhile when it arrives, allowing for a sustained bird migration. If it arrives full tilt and then jumps immediately into summer as has happened on occasion in the past, the bird migration (and spring wildflower season, etc) may be compressed into a very short time period giving very little time to enjoy it fully. Every year is different, so we must be prepared for whatever unfolds. Maybe if I changed my Snowy Owl header photo, spring might feel it is more welcome :-).

One evening recently I enjoyed meandering the dike trail at St. Clair NWA. There was only a light wind and excellent light. There were lots of American Coot......

....and no shortage of Canada Geese.

Pied-billed Grebes hooted and hollered from the safety of dense cattails. I heard my first American Bittern of the season. It was off in the distance of the NWA, and likely even if it had been close by, I wouldn't have had a photo op as they successfully rely on camouflage. I had hoped to hear either Virginia Rail or Sora while I was there, or even a King Rail. It is likely all three rail species were present somewhere in the NWA, but unless they are calling they are impossible to detect.

Sandhill Cranes on the other hand, are typically much more visible, and even more frequently, audible. I heard at least 5 and one flew by, although at a distance.

As I was leaving the NWA, I noted that at least 4 Great Egrets had decided to roost for the night in the shrubs and trees along the entrance roadway. It was challenging to photograph them through the density of the vegetation but managed to find a window of opportunity. I took this from inside the vehicle.

While driving along Winter Line, a bit south of Mitchell's Bay, I noted a lingering Snowy Owl perched atop of a grain bin. It didn't look as sleek as they normally do when they first arrive in the late fall. Perhaps it had a hard winter.

Yesterday I was back at Rondeau. A Virginia Rail had been noted by several birders the day before right near the beginning of the Tuliptree Trail. It was an odd place for one to show up; it must have just arrived from farther south, and misjudged the habitat. No one saw it yesterday, so hopefully it moved over to the much more suitable marsh. I did see a few birders along the trail, all anxious for evidence of some early bird migrants. As it turned out, there were lots of the typical species, but nothing unexpected.

I was going to check out the South Point Trail, as the mix of open and forested habitats lends itself to a good variety of species, and a good spot to see my first Blue-gray Gnatcatcher of the season. But it was still at least partially underwater, so I headed over to the west side of the trail, which doesn't have the same habitat variety and doesn't get birded as much. However it is a nice walk through the centre of the park's extensive forest, and is wonderful for solitude and sometimes some excellent birding.

On this day, it was evident that things like Hermit Thrush had recently arrived in good numbers. I estimated a minimum of 35 along the trail.

 Golden-crowned Kinglets were also plentiful, as were Ruby-crowned Kinglets. The latter species did not provide as good of a photo op.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

 Red-bellied Woodpeckers must be in full nesting mode. They aren't nearly as vocal as they were a couple of weeks ago, so aren't as often encountered.

 Tree Swallows are by far the most abundant swallow species currently around, and some are busily examining potential nest holes.

 At the very south end, the trail takes a sharp turn to the east where it eventually joins up with the other side. However as is common on the east side of the trail, this section is under water. The slough is very wide in this southern part, and amongst the tall vegetation, a Pied-billed Grebe was quite vocal.

I continued the last 100 metres or so out to the lake instead of wading through the flooded trail. However there were only a few scattered water birds in sight out on the lake, so I retraced my steps back to the trail entrance. On the return I saw an occasional spring wildflower trying to stay on schedule. Both Bloodroot....

....and Hepatica were noted.

There was a lot of water in the sloughs on either side of the trail, much to the delight of many amphibians I am sure. Leopard Frogs were heard in good numbers. This one decided the trail was the place to be.

Upon arriving home at the end of the afternoon, I received a text that a Townsend's Solitaire had been found at the entrance to the campground. I guess I left the park too soon! It would have been nice to see, of course. However it would not have been a new species for the park for me. I managed to catch up to one on April 30, 2011 near the Visitor Centre and got a photo or two.

Loons, eagles, sandhills and trail damage

I'll try not to jinx things, but I think it is evident that spring is here. At least for the next 10 days or so.

A bit of excitement was the discovery by Jim Burk, a few days ago, of a Red-throated Loon in a flooded field across the road from McGeachy Pond, just outside of Erieau. Not exactly the place you would normally expect to see such a bird. They have been seen in small numbers flying out over Lake Erie. But the extensive rain of last weekend caused many low lying fields to look like small lakes, and this bird decided to settle down in one. I saw it on Wednesday morning just after daybreak....well it was a very gloomy daybreak, and the light conditions weren't great. I had to use up to 3200 ISO to get some photos. The bird looked a little dishevelled and clearly is not in prime breeding plumage.

Later that day, Steve and Pilar were able to capture the bird and release it into McGeachy Pond, and it seemed to prefer that spot. It has not been seen since, so hopefully it has moved on towards its northern haunts.

I checked the water front at Erieau, and didn't see anything new, but I did notice that the high water and wave action had played havoc with the south beach of Rondeau. Instead of the occasional narrow breach of the sand barrier, which happens occasionally, it looked like there were extensive stretches of the beach that were being completely washed over. It will be interesting to see the condition of the beach when it eventually goes down

Wednesday was an excellent day for loon movement. While lake watching off the east side of Rondeau, there were easily over 125 Common Loons and 6-8 Red-throated Loons noted flying through in a space of a couple of hours. There were almost 500 Horned Grebes on the move as well. No doubt if we had the fortitude to watch all day, the numbers would have doubled or tripled.

Some Common Loons ran into problems as well. At least three birds were found grounded in various locations near Ridgetown, and were captured and then released at the Ridgetown Sewage Lagoons. Two of them didn't stay long, but one bird was still seen there this morning by several of us. This bird was in very nice breeding plumage.

After the stop at the Ridgetown lagoons, I headed for Rondeau and the South Point Trail. The previous time I tried that, I was clearly not prepared.

Entrance to the trail

 Much of the trail looked like this, with up to 15 cm of water over it in places. I brought my boots this time and everything was fine. Others who attempted without rubber boots, decided to turn back before getting too wet.

It wasn't just water over the road one had to contend with. There were several medium sized ash trees that had come down over the road.

There were lots of kinglets, mostly Golden-crowned of course this early in the season, but a few Ruby-crowns.

 Eastern Phoebes are common and widespread in the park.

 Rusty Blackbirds are a declining species in Ontario, so it was nice to see several dozen of them in various wet spots.

I got some excellent looks at sub adult Bald Eagles, including this one that came by a couple of times.

The very south end of the trail has been hammered by the wave action. The 'Trail Washed Out' sign is gone, and the end of the trail has moved inland several metres.

There is no way to get out along the shoreline to hook up with the western side of the trail at this point. Probably hacking ones way inland might work, but I didn't try it.

I had heard Sandhill Cranes on several occasions while on the trail, mostly from the direction of the Rondeau Marsh. However at one point I heard their voice coming from over the lake. Looking up....way up...I eventually saw two birds coming my way. I could barely see them even with the binoculars for awhile, but eventually they came within a photographic distance. Even at that, these photos were taken at a magnification of about 13X, and then cropped heavily so that it would be the equivalent of at least 25X.

It is nice to see the beginning of wildflowers. I saw a few pussy willows.....

....as well as Coltsfoot, which is not a native species.

The oak savanna is attractive at this time of year, in its simple colour scheme.

A lone Black Oak growing well out on the open dunes has very open branching since it has no competition for sunlight.

 The White-winged Dove is still around. It isn't as predictable as it has been in previous years. This time it was found almost to the Beach Access #11 (Dog Beach) but it moved north and continued calling. I also had an Eastern Bluebird in the area, but it did not cooperate for the camera today.

I got my first Eastern Comma of the season, but no photos to show for it as it was very much on the move. The weather for the next few days looks promising for bird movement as well as butterflies, and even emerging snakes! And just in time for the weekend!