I'm taking a break from the recent black-lighting posts. There have been some interesting bird occurrences to highlight, not surprising at this time of year.
I hadn't been to the Erieau area for quite awhile, so decided to check it out on Saturday. The winds were favourable for some hawk movement. Turkey Vultures, although technically not a raptor but fly in with many raptors on the fall migration, were fairly common.
There was a smattering of Sharp-shinned Hawks and the occasional Northern Harrier passing through.
Well out along the Rail Trail was a bit of mud flats, which shorebirds were making use of. On this day there were a few Killdeer, a Least Sandpiper and a Baird's Sandpiper. They were all a bit distant, so the photos are as well. We saw two Peregrine Falcons, one of which swooped over the shorebirds scattering them to who knows where.
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| Baird's Sandpiper (L), Least Sandpiper (R) |
A few Yellow-rumped Warblers, the most common species this time of year, were also around.
On Sunday I got word from Steve Charbonneau that there was an abundance of Nelson's Sparrows at the Keith McLean Conservation Area. In a way this was not surprising. I lived right across from the KMCA for more than 5 years when Keith was alive and farming the property. He always left some natural habitat, especially near the wetland areas, and even planted several acres of tallgrass prairie on the east side of the property as well as the east side of the creek system. After Keith passed away and the property was given to the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority several years ago, the property has increased in wildlife values and I knew it would draw a greater diversity of wildlife and therefore a greater number of birders. To date there have been 173 species of birds seen here, and likely other species that have not yet been reported.
With the high water levels of this year resulting in much more extensive wetland habitat, it was only a matter of time when some rarer species of birds showed up. It has not been disappointing in the least, as species like Snowy Egret, American Avocet, Willet and Red Knot have put in an appearance for birders this year already. Looking at the grassy/weedy field edges adjacent to the creek system, it looked perfect for Nelson's Sparrow. The species migrates through southern Ontario every year from their Hudson Bay Lowlands breeding range, but are very secretive even in the usual spots one finds them. A conservative estimate was on this day was 15, with the likelihood of at least 20. However they were always on the move flitting back and forth between the grassy area and the cattail vegetation and being the very furtive species that they are, it was difficult to get a precise number. I headed out in the afternoon, and although I did see several, it was so windy that even on the rare occasion that a bird was visible, it wasn't visible for long. They dropped into the grasses and out of sight very quickly. I did not get any photos.
Yesterday was another windy, blustery day but I decided to try again for some photos of this relatively elusive species. While searching for the target species and waiting for one to pop up and remain in some kind of view for more than a split second, I saw lots of other species.
One of the less expected species was Indigo Bunting. Most would have departed the province several weeks ago. There were actually at least 4 and possibly 5 or 6 individuals, all sporting the female/immature plumage. It is entirely likely this was a family group, and perhaps raised locally.
I also saw things like Tennessee Warbler, a late warbler species, as well as Marsh Wrens, but did not get photos of either.
Sandhill Cranes are not unusual, as they nest nearby, with some persisting into early winter. But they are a photogenic species so I often try and get a photo when the opportunity arises.
A couple of Tundra Swans came by. Their numbers are building now here in the southwest and should be here in the thousands in a few short weeks.
A couple of Northern Harriers also went through, causing some of the waterfowl a brief bit of consternation.
A Bald Eagle soared through. It is encouraging to see the numbers of
Bald Eagles continue to increase. Hawk Cliff, along the north shore of
Lake Erie south of St. Thomas, has already recorded 170 of them passing
by that Hawk Watch station since early September.
In spite of the windy, blustery conditions there were a few butterflies quite literally hanging on. I noted a Monarch and this Bronze Copper.
I was much more successful in photographing my target species than on the weekend. But the birds flushed up quickly from the weedy patch and headed to the stand of Typha and Phragmites where they often dropped out of sight almost immediately. Some of my early attempts resulted in photos like this:
Then finally one popped up and instead of dropping down into the Typha, remained in view.....sort of. This photo is what you would see with an equivalent 16X binocular, so not all that close and even at that, with vegetation partially obscuring it. But at least it was identifiable.
Unfortunately with the 35-55 km/h wind blowing the vegetation in front of the sparrow which played havoc with the focus, as well as blowing my telephoto lens slightly off target, many of my photographic attempts resulted in this next one.
But thank goodness for digital photography rather than film. Out of about 50 shots, a few turned out relatively unobscured and then with significant cropping, got some worthwhile results.
On the way home I wanted to stop in at the Blenheim Lagoons, where Jim Burk had noted a Hudsonian Godwit there on the weekend, along with a few other shorebird species. They were reported to be skittish, so before I went to far, I scoped out the muddy edges. There it was along the far shore, along with a few Pectoral Sandpipers, etc. This photo is likely the equivalent of about 60X.
As the shorebirds were reported to be skittish, I cautiously headed over to a closer vantage point where I might get a better shot. All of a sudden the shorebirds took to flight chattering loudly. I knew it wasn't because of me, as I was not in view of them at the time. The shorebirds wheeled around, and this is the only other photo I got of the godwit, cropped significantly.
It was only seconds later that I noted a Peregrine Falcon swooping after the shorebirds, although I did not see it successfully capture anything. Peregrines used to be extremely rare and legally endangered throughout eastern North America, and seeing one swoop after shorebirds was an infrequent and awesome sight. It still is to some extent, but it seems that it happens all too often when one is trying to get a better look at the shorebirds. Oh well.
The last time I saw the godwit it was heading southwest. Whether it returns or not remains to be seen, but given that it will be heading a long way south on its migration, perhaps it was using this event to be a good reason to vacate this area altogether.
