Flakey Friday

Okay I realize that many people look forward to Friday as it means the weekend is almost here. My title is in reference to the snow flakes that are gently falling on this Friday as I write this, and winter is still more than three weeks away. But if every year and season were identical and predictable, it would be boring, right?

I've been out and about a little since my last post. The former Dover Twp between Chatham, Mitchell's Bay and Lake St. Clair is often worth checking at this time of year. Snowy Owls are arriving in larger numbers, at least for now. On the day I was out looking, I came across 5 of them. Whether they stay for most of the winter or keep moving farther south, remains to be seen. There have been 4 or more along Lagoon Road, a bit north of Rondeau Bay as well.

Most of the Snowies that I have seen tend to be out in the partial shelter of a recently harvested cornfield.

 Once in awhile, one is a little closer to the road.

While out looking for Snowies, I came across a large number of Tundra Swans. Large numbers of them have been a little slower arriving in the Lake St. Clair area than some years, it seems. On this day I saw an estimated 7000 or more in several fields. This first photo is of a very small portion of one of the larger fields.

 They were frequently on the move, seeming to be startled when vehicles slowed down or ATVs roared by.

I looked for other birds mixed in such as Ross's Goose or Snow Goose, but did not see any at the time. However there have been Trumpeter Swans hanging out in southern Chatham-Kent in the last few weeks, sometimes at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons or McGeachy Pond or somewhere in between. These were photographed at McGeachy Pond one cloudy, late afternoon.

A Great Blue Heron was at McGeachy Pond as well, taking shelter from the brisk westerly wind.

The forested landscapes are generally quiet these days, although they are still attractive in their own right.

Harrison Trail

Southeast Oak Savanna (Rondeau)

McKerral Woods

There are still berries around, but they are disappearing in response to birds feeding on them so as to withstand the colder season.

Bright red berries such as those in the first photo, are appropriately called Winterberry (Ilex verticillata). This native species is widespread but not abundant.

 Unfortunately another bright red berry producing shrub is much more abundant but not native. It is Japanese Barberry and is a real problem species in our landscapes.

Northern Saw-whet Owls have been migrating through the area from their northern haunts. They can be difficult to find, however. This next photo shows one that I was able to find, but only due to some kinglets and chickadees that were heard scolding it, which alerted Steve Charbonneau to find it and pass on the directions to others. Even with the very good directions it was hard to pick out quite high in this White Pine of the Rondeau campground. This bird was an estimated 25 feet up, much higher than they are normally found.

Of course bird feeding areas are often the best place to seek out birds, and the feeders at Rondeau are worth checking out at anytime.

 Winter finches, including Evening Grosbeaks, are irregular winter visitors to southwestern Ontario. This fall and winter seems to be one of those times that local birders look forward to, and at least a few of these grosbeaks have been sighted over the last couple of weeks or so. I photographed these at the drinking pool of the Rondeau Visitor Centre.

 Pine Siskins are another irregular winter visitor. Here are a few feasting on the niger seed at the Visitor Centre.

 White-throated Sparrows are fewer in number than they were a few weeks ago, but some remain.

Red-breasted Nuthatches are another, mostly winter visitor.

One has to work a little harder to find birds this time of year but the results, even if it is just being out for a nice long walk, can be quite satisfying.

Lingering shorebirds and more at KMCL

Don't these shorebirds know that it is winter, or at least almost winter like? Certainly the autumn period did not last long, given that we had mid-summer like temperatures into early October, and after a couple of weeks of normal autumn temperatures, the winter conditions arrived.

The shallow wetland area of the Keith McLean Conservation Lands, just north of Rondeau Provincial Park, has been a real boon to birders this year. The high water levels of Lake Erie and Rondeau Bay are partly responsible, since portions of the KMCL adjacent to the two creek systems are so close to the water levels of the lake that flooding occurs and therefore have remained wet for the entire season. Rarer water birds such as Am Avocets, Willet, Red Knot and Snowy Egret as well as dozens of more typical species have all made use of it. From a bird perspective, one hopes these conditions persist. These conditions are not typical, however. I used to live right across the road from Keith McLean and knew him fairly well. He told me that on more than one occasion in the past, the larger wetland along the causeway just before entering the park was so low that he farmed it!

Although the general temperatures have been close to freezing, or even below, on numerous occasions, being close to the lake has provided the 'lake effect' resulting in slightly warmer temperatures and therefore less ice along the shoreline or mudflats. Shorebirds that are lingering for whatever reason have definitely taken note of it. A few days ago I decided to spend several hours at KMCL to see what I could find in proximity to the wetlands as well as some of the woodland component elsewhere on the property. It was a good decision.

Sandhill Cranes are occasionally seen either feeding or in flight.

When I first approached the wetland, it was plain to see that ducks were taking refuge here from the hunting action on nearby Rondeau Bay. Hooded Mergansers were fairly plentiful, as were a few dozen 'puddle ducks', a.k.a. Mallards, Am Wigeon, Gadwall, etc.

 Nonetheless they were nervous and took flight to another part of the wetland.

I checked for sparrows along the way, hoping that a Nelson's Sparrow or two might still be around. They might be, but all I saw were Am Tree Sparrows, Song Sparrows and Swamp Sparrows.

Swamp Sparrow

Along the far shore of the wetland were mudflats, and there were several shorebirds busily searching for food. After manoeuvring myself to a position with better lighting and letting them get used to my cautious approach, I got some good close-up photos. This first photo shows a couple of Dunlin along with a smaller, Semipalmated Sandpiper, the latter species with its leg up.

 A Lesser Yellowlegs came scooting by.....

 ...as did a Pectoral Sandpiper.

 I also saw a White-rumped Sandpiper, obvious by its size and white rump in flight, but I did not get any photos of it. Dunlin are to be expected this late in the season, but all of the other species are not.

All of them were constantly on the move, until at one point all of them froze. I was a little surprised  and immediately thought that there must be a raptor within view.

Sure enough, I looked behind me and although it was at least a couple of hundred metres off, a Cooper's Hawk was perched in a tree.

Whether it was looking for food or not, I couldn't tell, and I presume the shorebirds were not taking any chances at being an opportunistic meal for this particular predator. The shorebirds remained motionless, hardly even closing an eyelid. Their rigid posture and unwillingness to move and give themselves away gave me opportunity to get a bit closer for some better photos. I guess they figured I was less dangerous than a raptor, and they were right.

Dunlin

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Semiplamated Sandpiper

The hawk flew off, and for a few seconds the shorebirds became a bit more active, then froze again. The hawk had moved, but not that far off, landing in a tree a bit farther away. Once the hawk left the area altogether, the shorebirds carried on with their frenzied feeding. Just to add to the shorebird theme, I noted a Greater Yellowlegs feeding on the washed up vegetation mats along the shoreline of Rondeau Bay.

Greater Yellowlegs

I also spent some time checking out some of the grassland and woodland edges of the KMCA, and saw birds such as:

Black-capped Chickadee

Carolina Wren

Tufted Titmouse

I ended up with about 56 species of birds for my time there, not bad for the time of year and considering the majority of the KMCL is still in agricultural use. It just goes to show what even smaller natural areas can support on occasion.

A Productive Early November

A few days ago I visited Rondeau on a couple of occasions. It is much quieter now, with hardly anyone else to meet along the trails or anywhere else. Some days I feel like I have the whole park to myself!

One of the reasons for my trip in early November was to see if I can spot any new locations for the endangered Red Mulberry. This southern tree is extremely limited in Ontario and Canada, with populations at Fish Point Provincial Nature Reserve on Pelee Island, Point Pelee National Park, Rondeau Provincial Park, and the vicinity of the Royal Botanical Garden in Hamilton as the primary locations. Even those populations are at risk due to the hybridization of the much more abundant, and non-native, White Mulberry.

The leaves of Red Mulberry are late in emerging in the spring, and also are late in falling off in the autumn. In my experience, the last week of October and the first week of November is the best time to find this species in a forest. The leaves are large and often do not change from a mostly green colour in the fall, and since they are late in dropping, are often more visible against the mostly gray/brown forest setting. They can even be spotted from the main roads and trails for several ridges over, so I don't have to go wandering through the forest as much and expose myself to ticks.

Typical late October/early November leaves

I had found a couple along Harrison Trail on one of these excursions several years ago. But there is always the possibility of finding others, and I did just that on one of the trips this November. It isn't a large tree, perhaps only 6-7 metres tall and ~6 cm in diameter. But there it was.

 Some of the leaves were on the ground. The lens cap is about 7 cm in diameter, so you can see that the leaf is at least 15 cm across and, not including the stem, closer to 20 cm in length. The leaves are mostly roundish, but some have one or more lobes as this one shows.

While I was checking out this Red Mulberry, I scanned around in case another one was close enough to be seen. I did see another tree with green leaves in the distance that looked a bit suspicious, but I wasn't convinced it was a Red Mulberry. When I got to it, I realized it was an even rarer tree, well rare at Rondeau, but not a species at risk. It was a Common Hackberry. The bark is quite distinctive.

Although it is a southern, Carolinian species like the Red Mulberry, it is scattered across the southern Carolinian Zone at places like Pelee Island, Point Pelee NP and along the Thames River, amongst others, and sometimes quite abundantly. But for some reason at Rondeau it is very rare. I know of only one other individual within the park.

Of course while I am out covering the trails looking for rare trees, I do happen to look at a few other things along the way. On one of the sunnier days, I even noticed a butterfly. This Eastern Comma is periodically seen late in the season, but with the below average temperatures in the last few weeks, sightings are few indeed.

Some herps were out. I had heard Spring Peeper, and this Leopard Frog was out on the road soaking up some sun.

This Northern Brown Snake had been doing the same, although it did not escape the impact of a vehicle.

While going down the west side of the South Point Trail on my search for Red Mulberry, the birds were really few and far between for the majority of the hike. But when I got to within the last 3-400 metres of the trail, things changed considerably. In that last area and in less than an hour, I saw at least 35 species of birds, including these next three species.

Hermit Thrush

Eastern Bluebird

Eastern Bluebird

Eastern Phoebe

Presumably some of these birds were waiting for the right conditions to cross the lake, and the slightly warmer conditions at the south end of the park due to the lake effect made the wait a bit more bearable.

On another occasion, near the north end of Harrison Trail, I was looking again for Red Mulberry trees, while keeping an eye and ear out for the Great Kiskadee in case it was in the area. I came across a large flock of birds made up of mostly American Robins. They were busily feeding on berries of Carrion Flower and Virginia Creeper.

Another Hermit Thrush was in the group, as was Yellow-rumped Warblers and a couple of Pileated Woodpeckers, the latter of which were ripping apart some fallen logs looking for grubs.

Hermit Thrush

No Great Kiskadee, however, and it is has not been seen or heard for almost a week. Undoubtedly it is still somewhere in the park, but there is lots of potential area for it, and most of the area is not visible from the trails. Given the many windy days as November lives up to its reputation of being one of the windiest months of the year, hearing the Kiskadee is even more challenging. It is entirely possible that we have had our last record of this super rarity, although when it disappeared in early September only to be seen again in mid-October, who knows whether we have seen the last of it or not. One apparently survived winter in the mid-western USA by feeding on suet, so if this bird manages to discover one of the few bird feeding stations in the area where suet is supplied, maybe we will see some more of it.

In the mean time as the park quietens, White-tailed Deer are becoming more obvious, especially the bucks which are busily seeking out does.