Late January colours, birds and other highlights

This January hasn't been great for birding or other things, at least compared to a year ago when there were things like Baltimore Oriole, Barred Owl and Purple Sandpiper around. The steady cloudy conditions, cool weather and periodic precipitation suggests weather more like the northeast Atlantic I suspect. Nonetheless, getting out for a look around is still worthwhile, even if it just means going for a nice long hike in the woods!

If you look hard enough, there are still things around that brighten up the dominant grey colour. This first cluster of orange and red berries is the native Climbing Bittersweet. It dangles downward, unlike the following image.

 This is Oriental Bittersweet, a n on-native species, and it has very tiny clusters of berries, a bit smaller than the Climbing one, and in short, erect clusters along the stem.

 They aren't really popular as bird food, but some will eat them, as this immature White-crowned Sparrow was doing.

Some of the woodland type birds that can be found have a bit of their own red to add to the landscape. A Red-headed Woodpecker is still hanging around at Rondeau. It used to be fairly plentiful, but in the last couple of decades, while it is widespread in southern Ontario, it is sparse, even during the breeding season. This one has been digging out a fresh cavity. Presumably it is using it for roosting in overnight, but it may be one that it uses as a nesting cavity later this year.

 Much more plentiful these days is the Red-bellied Woodpecker.

 When walking through the woods, you may find evidence of the largest woodpecker we have. It sometimes makes an oblong shaped hole, but once it finds a good source of grubs or other tasty things inhabiting a dead tree, it can really tear the trunk apart! A former colleague sent me a photo a couple of weeks ago that someone had posted on facebook, showing a medium sized branch of a tree that they saw at Rondeau which was really torn apart and wondered what it was. Some of the respondents suggested a porcupine. While porkys can chew into a tree quite rigorously, they usually just barely get past the bark layer. Since porcupines don't occur at Rondeau, or aren't even within a couple of hundred kilometres, undoubtedly the maker of that chewed branch was the same creature that made this: a Pileated Woodpecker.

 I saw three Pileated Woodpeckers on my most recent visit to Rondeau, including a pair just a few metres from the trunk shown above. Two of them were high up, and with the grey sky, did not make it easy for a pleasing photo.

 Another one was much lower down, and at least didn't get as washed out. Both of the ones here are females. The one male was too camera shy for a photo on this occasion.

 Blue Jays are scattered around, and a bit more abundant than some years. Speaking of Blue Jays, pitchers and catchers will report for spring training in less than two weeks!

The lake is pretty empty these days, but there are still a few gulls wandering around.

Great Black-backed Gull

On one occasion when I was at Rondeau, there was still a fair bit of snow along the trails. Not deep, but covering the surface. I was surprised to see this little critter on the snow. At first it looked like a mosquito. It wasn't, however. It is a winter cranefly.

The Ridgetown Sewage Lagoons have had a lot of waterfowl using it up until a week or so ago. It is almost totally ice covered now, with mostly Canada Geese hanging out, but a short time before, amongst the variety of waterfowl using the site, there were four Snow Geese to be found fairly reliably: three adults and one young one that was still sporting its dark feathering.

There is lots of open water at the Erieau end of Rondeau Bay, with thousands of Tundra Swans, a couple of thousand Canada Geese and quite a few Canvasback, amongst other species. However most are well out at the edge of the ice and not easy to get good photos of. I did manage to catch up with the two Double-crested Cormorant that are still there, an adult and an immature.

There have been up to two Wilson's Snipe at the snipe ditch along Stefina Line, just a bit southeast of Blenheim. I have seen at least one on three different occasions, but never very close to the road. I suspect that with the ditch being fairly open throughout its winding path, they are a little farther downstream and out of view most of the time. It wasn't within view during the Christmas Bird Count, and in checking the data over the years, the 2019 count is the first time since 1977 that we didn't get a single shorebird on the count for the entire 7 day count week. We've had a total of 14 different shorebird species recorded over the years and on occasion have had as many as 3 or 4 species on an individual count day, but nothing this time. I'm sure there were some around, but it was so open and with lots of suitable habitat inaccessible, they just weren't available to be counted.

Elsewhere, I came across 4 White-tailed Deer foraging in a harvested cornfield a bit northwest of Blenheim. While seeing deer is not that surprising, it was the middle of the day, and what stood out even more was that the buck still had a fine set of antlers attached. Normally by late January, their antlers have fallen. When I stopped to get the photo, they immediately headed for the nearby woods, so this distant photo shooting through a bit of fine snow is the best I could do. But it was an impressive set of antlers. At least 8 points with a good spread to them, and depending on the size of the points closest to the base, maybe even a 10 pointer.

I finally caught up to the Peregrine Falcon that is hanging out in Chatham. Some folks have seen it right at the Trillium Village apartments, just north of the Thames River. I've checked there occasionally without success. The last time I checked, I also looked at some other nearby buildings that had some good height to them. And there it was, a little closer to the river. This first photo shows a heavily cropped, distant shot of when I first saw it.

I figured it would remain there until I could get to a closer vantage point. Again, the grey skies don't make the end result of the photograph very appealing, but you have to put up with the conditions you are given to work with.

There is a large group of Rock Pigeons that are almost always along the Thames River. I saw them on a lower building right beside the river, and I expect they were keeping a close eye on the falcon. The falcon has a lot of pigeons to choose from, so will likely remain for the winter. The river has been quite high, not surprising considering the high amounts of precipitation the drainage area has received. There is little sign of any ice forming in the river, so the water treatment outlet might not be all that productive in concentrating ducks, geese, gulls and even the occasional kingfisher this winter.

I have checked out parts of the former Dover Twp on occasion. Much of St. Clair NWA is totally frozen, but the several hundred Canada Geese are keeping a small part of it open. There are groups of Tundra Swans coming and going fairly regularly.

Right along the eastern edge of the NWA, I came across a pair of adult Bald Eagles in a tree, just a short distance from a nest. It won't be long before nesting is underway.

Earlier when I was returning from Erieau, I saw an adult eagle at the flimsy nest in the woodlot at the entrance to the Ridge Landfill. They built it in 2019, and although it appeared that they attempted to nest, I don't think they had any success. Perhaps they will this year, if in fact the nest stays where it is. The tree is not that substantial, in my opinion.

Still on an eagle topic, the nest that has been visible along the south end of Fargo Road, just north of Shrewsbury, has fallen out of the tree. I don't know when it happened, but in driving by on Communication Road, which goes between Shrewsbury and Blenheim I saw a new nest in the same woodlot, but a little lower down, and it may not be visible from Fargo Road.

And finally, there are still a few Snowy Owls around in Dover. Sometimes they are on a pole close to the road, such as this next photo shows, but all too often they are well out in the middle of a field on the ground.

Bald Eagle vs Golden Eagle

I looked out the window and it was one of those nice, sunny days during the week that some birders long for. I decided to go out to southeastern Lambton and southwestern Middlesex counties to see if I could photograph some of the eagles that typically overwinter there. Bald Eagles seem to be the more abundant, but a few Golden Eagles are usually not far away. While seeing a Bald Eagle isn't quite the novelty that it was not that long ago, they are still a highlight. Golden Eagles, however, are definitely hard to come by most of the year, so when a few are hanging out so close to home, it was not an opportunity to pass up. The area I was headed to is within the Skunk's Misery Christmas Bird Count circle, and that count, held on Dec 21, 2019, tallied 22 Bald Eagles and 2 Goldens.

On my way out on Longwoods Road, along the Thames River east of Chatham, I saw a pair of adult Bald Eagles not too high up. There is a nest along the river not far away from where I was, so it was likely the pair of that territory.

As I drove farther east, the sunny skies turned to solid cloud. Along a gravel road just west of Bothwell, there was a flock of Horned Larks, Snow Buntings and a couple of Lapland Longspurs. A bit of corn had spilled on the road, and the birds were busily feasting on what they could get. I got a few shots, but didn't want to waste time when the possibility of Golden Eagles was not far off. I did manage to get a few photos of the same flock on my return, when the light was a bit brighter. The longspurs were not as cooperative for the camera as the other two species.

Horned Lark

Snow Bunting

By the time I got to my destination, it was even heavier cloud, with snow flurries. The snow was likely complements of the northwest wind bringing streamers off of Lake Huron. I did see a few eagles perched in trees at the edge of some of the woodlots, but always a long way off and in poor light.

I roamed around some of the back roads, checking woodlot edges and keeping an eye to the sky. Last year I came across several eagles feasting on a dead animal well out into a field. Most were Bald Eagles, but there was one Golden amongst them. I didn't see any grounded eagles today, but perhaps the snow and wind made them seek out other places.

Eventually the clouds broke through a bit. And some eagles were on the wing. The conditions weren't great for some shots....

 ...but if I could time it so that the photos were taken when the birds were against a patch of blue, it was considerably better.

There was just the one adult Bald Eagle at this point, but a couple of immature birds were out and about as well. I found it interesting that although the sky was blue, it was still snowing so that the flakes were really quite evident. Click on the photo to make it even more evident. These are two different immatures, as you can see by the different under tail pattern.

A little later, when the clouds dominated again, I was along Hwy 79 a bit north of the village of Cairo. I noticed at least three eagles off in the distance, circling over a wooded area. A closer look indicated that one of the birds was an adult Bald Eagle, and the other two that were slightly nearer were interacting. One was immature Bald, the other an immature Golden. And they weren't just soaring along together. In this case, the young Bald Eagle was clearly the aggressor, as the following sequence shows:

The conditions were not great for photography. As you can tell, the sky was a dull grey. The birds were probably about a kilometre away and there was some light snow flurries in the air. The camera had a hard time focusing under the circumstances, so none of the photos are very sharp. And all of these photos are heavily cropped. But I thought it would be interesting to show this interaction. The photos were taken over a 19 second period, and that is about as long as the whole thing lasted. I was a little surprised to see that the Bald Eagle was the aggressor. Normally Golden Eagles are slightly larger and a more aggressive hunter, although female eagles are slightly larger than males, so maybe it was a size difference? Or maybe the Bald Eagle felt more confident due to the fact that there were several other Bald Eagles nearby, and this Golden Eagle was clearly in the minority. Regardless, it was an interesting episode that I have never seen before, let alone caught on the camera. I do hope to get out again on a predictably sunny day to watch for these birds again.

All of the eagles disappeared for awhile, and then while I was waiting and watching for awhile on Mosside Road, I noticed another immature Golden Eagle come into view. It landed at the top of a tree at the edge of the woods for a few moments.....

 .....before striking off to the north west.

It was certainly one of the best days I've ever had with eagles, with at least 9 Balds and 2 Goldens!

The Highs and Lows of a Sandspit

I had considered using the title "The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes" for this blog post, as it was the title of an excellent film that we showed to thousands of kids and adults while I was working at Rondeau. In a very humorous way, it showed how ice ages and time affected what we know about what changes the Great Lakes experienced, and why they are like they are today. If you want to see it, check it out at this link. I watched it again, and can still remember the music, the script, and especially the kids laughter for this production. It was clearly a crowd pleaser! On a much, much smaller scale of time, a similar story has been unfolding at Rondeau for many years.
 
The existence of Rondeau Provincial Park is due to the water currents of Lake Erie. And that has its highs and lows, both literally and figuratively. It is to be expected as the park is a dynamic sandspit, with parts of it certainly changing seasonally, if not daily. A cross-section of the park clearly shows alternating ridges, formed during periods of high water level, and sloughs, formed during periods of lower water levels. As for the shoreline, that can change very quickly.

Anyone who has been to Rondeau in the last couple of years especially will have images of water-logged and closed trails, a closed campground, and cottages at least partly surrounded by water. We sometimes think the worst, only because our memories may be short. In reality, these types of things have gone on repeatedly to one extent or another.

I was recently rummaging through some slides I took of Rondeau back about 35 years ago, in the mid 1980s. I thought I would scan and share them to put some of Rondeau's relatively recent history into perspective, especially since these last couple of years have had major challenges to anyone living on the waterfront.

This first photo shows the Chatham-Kent Road 15 as it approaches Rondeau. It was taken in April of 1985. The Summer Place campground is just out of view to the right. Note that just before the bridge the water is coming over the road. Just beyond the bridge, on both sides of the road, it is completely open. There is no sign of any vegetation, unlike what it has looked like for the past couple of decades or more. I remember Keith McLean, former owner of what is now the Keith McLean Conservation Lands, telling me that back in the 1930s the land was so dry on the left hand side of that road, he was able to farm it.

My field notes of April 6: ....very windy, with southwest winds to 90 km/hr......highway  at the causeway is covered with water and closed in the morning due to water and debris. North end of the marsh road completely under water; base of the main dock is in danger of being washed away.

 This next photo shows the part of the KMCL immediately across the little bridge that crossed the creek on his property. It was taken in about 1995 or 96. The land had been dry for several years, and Keith was interested in creating wildlife habitat, so he had this area planted into tallgrass prairie. The photo was taken from a raised front-end loader of his tractor.

 In this next photo, taken in June, 2019, from that little bridge I mentioned above, Keith would have been standing about where the tongue of vegetation sticks out into the several acres of the relatively recently formed lake. The tallgrass prairie has been completely underwater for at least a couple of years, much to the delight of numerous ducks, geese, herons, shorebirds etc.

Moving into the park shows a similar theme. These next two photos show the Yacht Club in April 1985. The building is completely surrounded by water, and the water comes almost to the road as the wind-blown water from Rondeau Bay takes over.

 I took this next photo just a few days ago. The building doesn't look much different, but it has had some improvements to minimize future flooding. With the high water this past spring, it wasn't quite as bad as what the 1985 photos show, but even now the lawn is still quite soggy from the high water table and some flooding earlier in the season.

Moving a bit farther south, is the last cottage on the bay side, adjacent to the Marsh Trail. Again, these first two photos were taken in April of 1985. There are still some trees on the far side of the Marsh Trail, but the trail itself is barely visible. It is interesting to note that in the second photo, you can see a scraggly remnant of a tree line that extended perpendicularly from the trail. It extended outwards for almost 100 metres, as prior to the early 1970s, the cattail vegetation also extended out that far. For quite a few years now, the tree line and all of the cattail marsh has been destroyed by high water, wave action and ice.

 Here is a photo of the same cottage taken just a few days ago. The cottage lot, and the one beside it, was under water for a good part of the first half of 2019, and the lawn was never cut. It is still very soggy.

The Marsh Road is in really rough shape, and on many days one cannot traverse this closed trail without crossing through at least some water.

Marsh Road, 2019

 These next two photos show some areas of the cottage community adjacent to Rondeau Bay, the first one being on some slightly higher ground and only covered by sand.

 The next one is, appropriately between Water Street and Rondeau Bay. If you look closely (click on the image for a larger view), you can see a small patch of white through the trees slightly to the right of centre. That is the Yacht Club. You may be able to see that the base of the old pier is completely separated from the land. It might be more easily seen in the first photo of the Yacht Club, above.

Flooding was apparent in other areas of the park, although in a different way than what the park experienced in the last couple of years. In 1985, the flooding only lasted for a few weeks, whereas in the last couple of years, it lasted for a few months. In the last couple of years, the flooding was exacerbated by heavy rainfall in the spring which, combined with a very high water table, kept things wet, and resulted in the closed campground for awhile.

Moving to the southern end of the park, it was the same old story, although structures weren't affected this time, as they had been affected as a result of major flooding of 1972-74. This next photo shows the rollers coming in from the lake, washing over the south beach. It was taken in April 1985, from the south end of the Marsh Road.

My field notes of April 10: ....south beach is washed over for about 350-400 metres, with white caps on the marsh side. The Marsh Road is covered with water in numerous places, sometimes for 100 metres at a time.

 The next two were taken from the south beach, also in 1985.

 The next shows the south beach taken this past December of 2019. I provided a few shots comparing the south beach of just 5 years ago in a previous blog, which you can see here.

 The following photo, taken in 1985, shows the very southern east/west part of the South Point Trail, which prior to the mid-1970s was a paved road. Note how open it is on the left hand side of the road which is under water. There used to be a fairly sizable parking lot, with room for probably at least 50 cars since it was a popular stopping point for visitors to see the lake. There was also a huge, old style picnic shelter, which disappeared in the early 1970s due to high water and storm damage.

 This next photo was taken a few days ago, from much the same vantage point as the previous one. The road is still visible, although the eastern part where I am standing is covered with 20cm or so of sand. Note also that the former parking lot on the left hand side is completely overgrown with shrubbery and small trees. The little bit of it that remains is difficult to walk through.

 Even just a few days ago, the western part of the trail still had several centimetres of water on it.

 The next one shows the same direction as the previous three photos, taken from the shoreline.

 A different perspective, showing the same road, but from the west end, looking toward the vantage point where the previous 4 photos were taken. It was taken in April 2018, showing how much water was over the trail right up to the eastern end where the trail is covered with 20 cm or more of sand.

 Due to the regular erosion of the old South Point Trail where the road was washed away and it was difficult to keep it as a trail, a boardwalk was put a short distance inland so hikers, bikers, and strollers would have an easier time of getting from one side to the other.

It was a nice idea, but relatively short-lived. In only a few years, this boardwalk was completely gone, leaving hikers with the only option of getting from one side to the other via the constantly changing beach. And the changes continue, as now the South Point Trail has officially been separated into South Point Trail East and South Point Trail West.

What will the next 35 years bring?