Harbingers of Spring

It is finally spring. Not that here in southwestern Ontario we really had a lot of winter to complain about. I guess the most we could complain about was that it wasn't really winter, and it wasn't really spring. Perhaps this past winter will be the new normal.

Regardless, spring has officially been here for a few days now, and it is more and more like it, so is fun to get out to see the hints of things that we associate with spring. Of course some of our favourite natural areas to visit are closed due to the COVID-19 issues, but with care there are still places to check out. Maybe even some of the places that sometimes get ignored more than they should, will experience a little more love and attention from us. The challenge is to find places that aren't getting too much attention so that it is hard to practice social distancing.

I have managed to get out a few times over the last week or so, and I think been fairly successful in maintaining that social distance.

A few days ago I was at St. Clair NWA. Over the course of the time I was there, 3-4 other people were there, but we kept a safe distance. While I was on the lookout for any and all birds I could find, my target species was a Eurasian Wigeon that Blake had seen well out from the tower earlier in the day. Shortly after I started out from the parking lot, several Sandhill Cranes were flying about, mostly in pairs.

 I got to the tower, and 'scoped all the open patches of water I could see. There were lots of American Wigeon and other puddle duck types, but no sign of the Eurasian. I waited, and kept scanning, but no sign of it. After awhile, Kit came along and together we kept looking. And then I spotted it emerging from behind a wall of cattails. It was a long way off, and 'scope views were all we could expect. I decided to try some photos. This one is one of the better ones, and the combination of camera plus lens plus converter, and then cropped heavily to about the equivalent of 80X, shows the rather unimpressive result. But at least it is identifiable.

After I left the NWA, I checked a couple of nearby fields, hoping for some more photo ops of the Sandhill Cranes. I was not disappointed.

They were working their way along the edge of the field towards the road, and then decided to cross it. I guess they were trying to emulate a chicken? They made it successfully, unlike numerous 'coons and 'possums that have left their carcasses scattered along many roadsides

Next I headed towards the Tilbury Sewage Lagoons, but other than a few Canada Geese, there wasn't much to see, so I drove to the mouth of the Thames River. There were thousands of gulls! The highlight was this nice adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, which I was able to photograph right from the vehicle. Social distancing was not an issue.

 Most of the gulls were flying and as you can see, the sky wasn't the greatest background. This adult Ring-billed Gull was resting on the pier quite close by, so I 'shot' it. We take them for granted due to their abundance, but I think even a ring-bill in fresh breeding plumage is quite attractive.

There were several sub-adult Bald Eagles near the river mouth, but not too close.

I made a visit to Rondeau the day before it, and all provincial parks, were officially closed due to the virus. I was out mainly for a long walk, but got this photo of a female Wood Duck. The male was nearby but not in a photographable spot.

The new Bald Eagle nest that is just barely visible from the South Point Trail had a white head showing, so they are officially incubating. And along one of the trails near a slough, I saw my first of the year Northern Ribbon Snake.

I swung by the Ridgetown Sewage Lagoons on the way home that day, and got this quite distant shot of the Greater White-fronted Goose that has been hanging around.

Yesterday was one of the nicest days we've hand for weeks, maybe months. Sunny, temperatures approaching 12C or more, and light wind. I headed out to Clear Creek Forest Provincial Park. Although it is officially closed like all Ontario Provincial Parks, there are no staff or facilities, so with care I ventured out. There were a couple of other vehicles parked along the road where the one trail is, so I chose a part of the park where there wasn't anyone at all around the old gravel pits. I came across a pair of Eastern Bluebirds, which cooperated nicely, although there often were a few branches from nearby shrubs obscuring the view.

I saw several Mourning Cloak butterflies, but they were very skittish and I only got a couple of distant shots, and not with the angle of light I would have liked.

Along one of the creeks traversing this part of the park was this next view. There are a lot of deer in this provincial park, and while hunting is not permitted, I did see a makeshift blind not far away. This carcass had been picked clean.

My final stop for the day yesterday was an out-of-the way woodlot that I check out a few times each year. As is always the case, I have never seen anyone else there other than the time I led a spring nature walk there several years ago.

Shortly after I first entered the woods, I noticed a large raccoon scampering off through some brush. No big surprise really as I thought I had spooked it, but then I noticed something else, even larger, a little way behind. It stopped briefly and I realized it was an Eastern Coyote. I got a couple of shots, shown here. Not the greatest, as both I and the camera had difficulty nailing the focus due to the many shrubs in the way. But you take what you get.

It soon realized I was there, and so after a few seconds it took off in the opposite direction. I noticed it bounded away in a rather odd manner, and I seemed to notice that one of its front legs was either injured or even partially missing.

I wandered through the woods for another hour or so, and although I never saw the coyote again, it probably saw me. There weren't many birds to see, but I did manage to see a couple of Eastern Comma butterflies, and one eventually cooperated with a nice view.

Some greenery was emerging from the leaf litter. I noticed a few Wild Leeks starting to show.