Birding fun at the Keith McLean Conservation Area

The Keith McLean Conservation Area (KMCA) is often worth checking out. This place has a bit of history for me, since there was a time quite a few years ago that Marie and I lived right across the road from it, when Keith was still living there and farming. Since he passed away a few years ago, it is nice that the property has been turned (at least partially) into a naturalized area for vegetation and wildlife.

With the very high water this spring, along with a partially flooded field, several of us had commented that if this keeps up, it will likely attract something rare as the season goes on. Of course in the spring, it had several Willets and American Avocets stop in for a visit.

The flooded field is perfect for waterfowl and shorebirds right now. With a little bit of searching, one can find up to a dozen species of shorebirds. In the last couple of days, one of the highlights has been a Red Knot, a species we used to see regularly on migration to and from its high arctic breeding grounds. For various reasons, the species has declined significantly and it is now an endangered species. The last time I saw one was several years ago on a sandy island at the south end of Rondeau Bay. So it was nice to hear of one that showed up at the KMCA.

When I got there this afternoon, it had not been seen for several hours. There were four other birders there while I was there, and none of us had seen it. After the others left, I decided to check a slightly different vantage point. The usual viewing spot was right across the small bridge that crossed the creek. While watching birds come and go, it was apparent that some birds found another spot just out of sight from our normal vantage point. I decided to go along the field edge before crossing the bridge, where I could get a look into one of the little alcoves. Sure enough there were some shorebirds there, including the Red Knot! It had undoubtedly been there all along, busily feeding.

It was a long way away, and I could only see it reasonably well with the scope at high power. I took a few shots with my camera gear, hoping I was aiming at the right bird and had it reasonably in focus. This photo, showing a Killdeer on the left and the Red Knot on the right, with various ducks in the foreground, is probably at the equivalent of about 75X.

The other highlight was a Snowy Egret, which Steve Charbonneau found today and put the word out. It was never very close, but seemed to be unconcerned with the few birders viewing it from across the wetland. All of these are highly cropped as well.

 This next photo shows a bit more of the yellowish legs, with black on the front part of the leg.

This next one shows the yellowish feet. In good breeding plumage, the legs are black and the feet are bright yellow.

A shot comparing the much larger Great Egret on the right with the Snowy on the left.

There were other birds of course including this Stilt Sandpiper.

A couple of Belted Kingfishers were foraging in the area. They are always so skittish, so any photo of them is a challenge. This one is hovering just before it plunged into the water below. I think it came up empty.

With post breeding wandering birds, who knows what might turn up next. So far there have been some awesome herons in southwestern Ontario in the past few days, including Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Little Blue Heron, Reddish Egret and now Snowy Egret. Any guesses as to what might be next?