Neotropic Cormorant, Whimbrel, Franklin's Gull and other late May highlights

May birding has come to an end, but there are still some northbound migrants trickling through. In fact by the time the northbound migrants have finished passing through this area, it is likely that some of the earliest northbound species that attempted to get to the arctic breeding grounds for an early start, might have had failed nests and are already returning to southern Ontario to feed and rest up, awaiting the urge to return to their wintering ground later this year. So for a very short period, the spring and fall migrants may overlap.

This post will feature some of my favourite bird photos that I took this month that I haven't yet posted, as well as some of the more unusual species that I have caught up with quite recently.

One of the highlights was to have one or more Common Nighthawks using a quite visible branch for their daytime roost along the north part of Rondeau's Harrison Trail. It was seen for several days in a row, and while the mostly cloudy condition at the time did not give a great background for photographic documentation, on one occasion I came across this one with a pleasing blue sky.

 The bird was relatively settled in, but once in awhile do a 180 degree turn on the branch, or open an eye to check out the birders watching it. Maybe it was keeping track of how many people came along, adding us all to its people list.

 An Eastern Screech Owl got a lot of attention. It was nice that it was facing the Bennett Ave road, and a safe distance from folks who stuck to the road.

 Gray Catbirds have been fairly abundant, but do not often pose long enough away from the usually dense shrubbery where they are found.

 Lincoln's Sparrows are not commonly seen, and even when they are, are often furtively poking around some wet shrubby areas. This one was busily foraging on an almost submerged log at the log pond.

 Indigo Buntings, always a delight to see in bright sunlight due to their rich indigo colour, are occasionally seen in shrubby openings, or along shrubby forest edges.

 Red-belllied Woodpeckers are common residents, but are becoming quieter in the forest since they have already established a territory and are busy with nesting activities. This one occurred in a quite open area along Warbler's Way.

 Eastern Kingbirds were very abundant for a few days, and there will often be a few along forest edges such as near the cottage community.

 Scarlet Tanagers are more often heard than seen in the forest, as they are typically fairly high and at least partially obscured by the newly emerged leaves.

 The Wood Thrush is one of my favourite woodland species. Spending time in woodland areas on a quiet evening will usually result in hearing their melodious, flute-like song. Unfortunately due to a decline in the quality of woodland that this species requires, as well as other factors, Wood Thrush is now officially a Species At Risk in Ontario being designated as Special Concern.

Cuckoos are not very common. This next photo is of a Black-billed Cuckoo, easily identified by its dark lower bill and the lack of large white spots on the underside of its tail which are found on the Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

Of course while out looking for birds, one encounters other things along the way. Eastern Chipmunks are quite abundant and briefly visible as they scamper about the forest.

 On the occasional warm, sunny day, one may find a Five-lined Skink basking on a boardwalk or log. The southern Ontario, or Carolinian, population of this reptile is officially Endangered.

Shorebirds are passing through in good numbers these days, and likely will be for the next couple of weeks. Since many of them nest in the high arctic, they wait as long as possible for the conditions at that latitude to be most favourable for their breeding activities. The shores of the lake, at sewage lagoons or, especially this year in flooded fields, are the best places to find them. The Keith McLean Conservation Lands is a good place to check out, since there are several acres of flooded fields with varying water level depths. Rarer shorebird species such as Willet and Black-necked Stilt, mentioned in earlier posts, have been found there not long ago.

Short-billed Dowitchers have been present at the KMCL in small numbers.

 A dozen or more Semipalmated Plovers have been seen there quite recently.

 Solitary Sandpipers are usually solitary, and like shallow water in grassy fields.

 Spotted Snadpipers are found in almost any medium sized to large size wetland edge. The local sewage lagoons often have a few.

 Dunlin are present in fairly large numbers, at any of those shallow wetland habitats or lake edges. Sometimes as many as one hundred can be seen at one of these sites.

One of the shorebird highlights of the spring is the arrival of Whimbrel. This large shorebird species with the distinctive long, down-curved bill,  doesn't stay around for long.

Green Herons, which often look almost black depending on the light they are seen in, are present in or near wooded wetlands.

In the latter part of May and into June, is a good time to see less common gulls. Certainly that has been the case again this year, as several less common species have been found in the Erieau/McGeachy Pond area. Several Franklin's Gulls (FRGU) as well as a Laughing Gull (LAGU) have been seen irregularly. FRGU usually have more white in their wingtips, and LAGU wingtips are typically solid black. Hence a bit of initial confusion on the bird in this next photo. But after checking a bit further, a first summer FRGU will have all dark wingtips. So that, as well as lacking a larger, slightly drooping bill and having fairly wide white eye-crescents, seen better in the second photo, all point to this being a FRGU.

Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the first summer LAGU, as I just saw it at quite a distance through the scope. But on that occasion, at least, the overcast conditions gave better light and no heat haze to contend with.

An almost full adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was noted in the onion field with other gulls, although it didn't stay very long.

Last, but certainly not least, was this Neotropic Cormorant, one of the very few records for the Rondeau area. It was first found by Jim Burk a couple of weeks ago, and then disappeared for a short while. In the last week or so it had been seen roosting in the willow trees on the far side of the Erieau channel. My first attempts at a photo did not turn out well, due to the lateness of the day but more so due to the very white/gray sky, making a black bird really difficult to photograph. A day or so later, when the sky was blue late in the day I got more satisfactory photos. The bird is on the left, and is distinguished from the larger and super abundant Double-crested Cormorant by being smaller, about 2/3 the size, having a smaller pale throat patch and a white chevron of feathers at the base of the mouth parts. At some angles, the eyes look a little more 'bug-eyed', but that characteristic is not visible in this photo, which was taken and then greatly cropped so that the final result is the equivalent of about 95X.

May Warbler Parade

The spring birding rush appears to be over. At least for many birders. As for the birds, they continue on whether humans are out there looking for them or not.

The trails are almost devoid of birders.

Bennett Ave benches

As usual, there were some very good days, and some very quiet days. But overall I think most birders who were able to stick around for a few days over May were satisfied. Also, as usual, I got lots of photos of warblers and other migrants, probably a couple of thousand or so. And since it is so hard to pick and choose which ones to include, now that I have your attention, I will proceed to show them all to you.

Okay, maybe not. But how about a couple of dozen of my favourites?

American Redstarts are one of the more common breeding warblers at Rondeau. Some people have wondered where the 'red' is, and have suggested calling them Orangestarts. It doesn't roll off the tongue quite as nicely, and taxonomists being what they are are not likely to change the name, so I suspect we will have to continue on with redstart for the foreseeable future.

 Black-and-white Warblers are one of the more common early warbler migrants

 Black-throated Blue Warblers are a bit harder to come by some years, but they were fairly plentiful this year.

 A warbler that used to nest in small numbers at Rondeau is the Cerulean Warbler. It has not been found nesting for several years. Even finding one on migration is a highlight. They are often up in the trees a bit and given the many cloudy days we had to contend with this year, made getting ideal photos next to impossible. These had to be tweaked quite a bit to keep them from being just a very poor silhouette.

 Cape May Warblers were fairly common........

 .....as were Nashvilles

 Northern Parulas were in relatively low numbers compared to most species.

 Ovenbirds are skulkers, but periodically pop up onto a branch for a better view.

 Undoubtedly the most abundant warbler species in the park, and probably most of southern Ontario, is the Yellow Warbler. On some days it was not hard to find more than a hundred.

 Black-throated Green Warblers were fairly regular, although not abundant.

 Northern Waterthrushes were sometimes hard to come by, but not nearly as hard as their relative the Louisiana Waterthrush. I did not see a Louisiana Waterthrush this year....yet, and given that they normally are an early migrant, may not see one at all.

Tennessee Warblers are not all that bright and colourful and are more likely to be bypassed. But they certainly were fairly abundant by the middle of the migration.

On occasion there were pockets of warblers that gave outstanding views. A prime example was on a partly sunny day when the winds were brisk out of the north. At the log pond, insects were emerging at the south end of the pond, and there was quite an accumulation of insects and other tasty tidbits the warblers were searching out. The half a dozen species of warbler were not in the least concerned with the abundance of people aiming cameras and binoculars at them. Sometimes the birds were much too close to focus on, and were zooming by within arm's reach. A couple of Blackburnian Warblers were highlights, as their orange throats glowed in the bright light.

 Chestnut-sided Warblers were also very cooperative.

 Along the Tuliptree Trail, there were at least three male Prothonotary Warblers in two of the sloughs. They were busy singing in between searching for insects at the water's edge, and in the cloudy bright sunlight, really glowed.

 Hooded Warblers were more abundant than usual. On occasion one could see 4-5 in a single day. In years past, one would be hard pressed to see more than one or two all season.

 Golden-winged Warblers are harder to come by, although there were several seen at Rondeau this season. This one was active and out in the open long enough for a few photos.

 One of the reasons they are on the decline is due to the hybridization with a close relative, the Blue-winged Warbler. I saw several Blue-wings this year, but did not get photos. But the progeny of a Blue-winged and Golden-winged pairing results in some interesting hybrids. The most common is the Brewster's Warbler, shown next. It was quite a skulker and this is the best photo I could manage.

 As the season went on, a couple of the later arriving warbler species were Mourning Warbler, shown in the next two photos, and Connecticut Warbler, shown in the third one following. Both are skulkers, most often found in fairly dense shrubbery. This Mourning Warbler happened to pop out of the honeysuckle it was foraging in long enough for a couple of fast shutter releases.

Yeah....that third one never materialized, since I never even saw a Connecticut, let alone photographed one. There may still be time this season, so stay tuned for some end of season warbler photos if I manage some. Fortunately even though the peak of the songbird migration is over, there will be lots to see as the weeks go by. For example I had at least a dozen Monarch butterflies in the last few days, as well as my first couple of Eastern Tiger Swallowtails. A relatively rare orchid is in flower now, trees and shrubs are starting to flower, and tallgrass prairies are showing some of their colour and diversity. Ahhh....it is springtime!