Some great May Highlights

There has been so much to see in May. Birds, of course, but also various wildflowers as well as reptiles, insects, mammals, etc. I have been doing some black lighting, and will devote one or more posts to that topic in the near future. But for now, I will try and catch up with some of the various highlights that I encountered recently, whether it be a rare plant or an opportunistic photo op.

One of the first things you may notice when checking out this post is a new header photo. I hate to see the American Avocets go, but this next one deserves the profile. It highlights a wonderful experience I had earlier in the month at the Sydenham River Nature Reserve. The Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica) are truly spectacular here, but only for a few days. They are so abundant that in the overall site, on both sides of the river, there must be at least 40 acres of them! It isn't a rare Ontario species, but certainly is not common although they can be abundant where they are found. It is ranked as S3, which means there are more than 20 locations but fewer than 100 locations in Ontario. I think it is safe to say that there are fewer than 50 naturally occurring populations in Ontario.

Once they finish flowering, the plant flops onto the ground and quickly gets hidden by other vegetation, and in just a few weeks the entire plant seems to disappear. But for a couple of weeks in early May, it is a sight to behold.

There are other wildflowers about, although not many in the deeper woodland areas which are almost fully shaded now. Jack-in-the-pulpit is quite common and widespread.

 Large-flowered Bellwort can be abundant.

 One of the least observed spring wildflowers is this next one: Mitrewort. The plant is not usually very abundant, but is not rare by any means. However the entire plant is seldom more than 40 cm (16") tall, and the tiny flowers are barely 4-5 mm across.

 In woodland pools, this Yellow Water Crowfoot, a type of buttercup, can be abundant.

On one of my most recent visits to Rondeau, I came across this Eastern Foxsnake, an officially endangered reptile, enjoying the quiet roadway.

Elsewhere in the park were these Five-lined Skinks, also endangered and Ontario's only lizard. It is sometimes called a Blue-tailed Skink, as the one in this next photo shows, but it is only the young ones that have the blue tail. This particular individual is playing Ostrich, with its head buried in the sand. It was quite healthy as far as I could tell, as it quickly scurried away shortly after I got this photo.

Adult Five-lined Skink

I wanted to get to the southeast beach to check on shorebirds. Along the way I came across this clump of Puccoon, the only one I saw in flower that day, but by now, there should be plenty out.

 I did encounter some shorebirds, including these two Ruddy Turnstones, along with Dunlin and Least Sandpiper.

 My real hope was to find a few Whimbrel, a large brownish shorebird with a long, down curved bill and are typically found in the area for only a few days in spring. I was pleased to find 6 birds, and got these 5 in the photo.

I also had a visit to the McGeachy Pond and Erieau Rail trails for a few hours one day. There were a few birds, but the day before it had been really exceptional with numbers and diversity. American Redstarts were plentiful the day I was there, including this young male which really wasn't trying to serenade me I am sure.

 There were at least a couple of Northern Parula, a species of warbler which always used to seem hard to find. This one was quite approachable, almost too close to focus on!

 I saw both Yellow-billed and Black-billed Cuckoos, which are typically hard to photograph. However this Black-billed Cuckoo obliged me for a few minutes.

 The trail edges have lots of this next species along it: Dame's Rocket is very colourful, but not native.

 The wetlands had lots of turtles. I did see a couple of Blanding's Turtles, but got no photos. However this adult Midland Painted Turtle....

 ....and this hatchling of last year, were more cooperative.

The Blenheim Sewage Lagoons are now open to birders, with a municipally provided permit. Birders have to keep numbers down to 5 or less, and practice social distancing. I went to check them out the first day they were open, and unfortunately the overall bird diversity was quite low. Only 4 species of waterfowl (Canada Geese, Mute Swan, Mallard and Ruddy Duck) and only two species of shorebird (Killdeer and Spotted Sandpiper) were there. Nothing to get excited about, and with the water in the ponds very high, and the sprinkler cells totally dry, they aren't going to be very exciting for birds or birders anytime soon. However I did have an unexpected highlight. A couple of Red Fox pups were scampering around, and quite surprised to see a human based on their apparent urgency to get far, far away when I appeared. They were partially back lit, so not the ideal photo but I was certainly happy to get these.

Canada Day! And more.....

Ok officially Canada Day doesn't come for another few weeks. But a couple of days ago, there was an influx of Canada Warblers into the Rondeau area. They were seen in multiple parts of the park, but probably the best location was along Spicebush Trail, where several were seen, including one very cooperative male that gave photo ops for several people. Even during the relative short time I was there, I think I heard at least a thousand shutter clicks.

It was right adjacent to one of the boardwalks, giving people slightly elevated views as it spent several hours flitting back and forth, feeding, resting, searching for food and whatever. It would perch on a stump....

 ....pause and give quizzical looks at the people around.....

 ....flit to a branch....

 ...jump down to the base of a tree hunting for something....

 ...sometimes get bored with the audience....

 ...and occasionally find something to munch on. All in all, it was a very entertaining time with this declining species.

Of course there has been a good variety of other warblers, although I haven't caught up with some of the rarer species.

American Redstart

Blackburnian

Cape May

Common Yellowthroat

Chestnut-sided

Magnolia

 Sometimes you only get a partial view, and hopefully enough to make a positive identification before it disappears.

Nashville

Orange-crowned

There is a good variety of the usual non-warbler species, including those that may now be here to nest.

Baltimore Oriole

Eastern Kingbird

Eastern Towhee male

 There had been a Spotted Towhee seen in the campground by a few birders. I wasn't in the area at the time, and so missed seeing it. However from photos I have seen, it wasn't very cooperative. It wouldn't be a new Rondeau species for me, as I had one coming to a feeder back in late 1979 when I was the park naturalist. That was before it became an official separate species rather than a western subspecies, so although it was an interesting sighting back then, it wouldn't have created the same stir as today.

Eastern Towhee female

 I've periodically thought that this next species should be the official bird of the Grand River Conservation Authority, given that its 4-letter bird code name is GRCA.

Gray Catbird

 Vireos have not been very abundant as of yesterday, although that could change any day now. Red-eyed Vireos, one of the most common of all songbirds in the eastern deciduous forests, have been noticeable by their absence. I think I have seen less than five so far this spring.

 Warbling Vireos are a little more common.

 Scarlet Tanagers have been around, although not abundant at all.

 Of course the 'resident' White-winged Dove has been back for a few weeks now, and as before, likes to build a nest on Mel's car.

 An Eastern Screech Owl is back in a frequently occupied hole. There is no guarantee that it will be visible, and if anyone goes off the trail to get a closer look, it will very quickly back up and disappear from view.

Yesterday when I was out, I got word of a Clay-colored Sparrow in the campground (thanks, Mike!). Since I was at the north end of the park at the time, I headed over and met Mike. Even though only a few minutes had passed by, the bird was nowhere to be seen. Which is often what birds do. Mike had indicated he had seen it loosely associating with Chipping Sparrows, so we used that clue to continue and broaden our search. However after another 30-45 minutes went by without seeing it, we decided it was gone. We did see several Chipping Sparrows, including this one which was putting the finishing touches on its nest.

 About 3 minutes after Mike and I had gone our separate ways, I heard him call out that it had re-appeared a little way down the campground road, so I hurried over. It was active, and not willing to allow us to get too close, so the long lenses were put to good use.

 Who knows, with the closed campground and open grassy/shrubby nature of the campground vegetation, might it be appealing for this species to nest if it can find a mate?

There is always something else to see along the way, including things like this Eastern Chipmunk. It has been a good year for chipmunks, and with the less traffic during the time the park was closed, fewer road kills. On some trails I have seen more chipmunks than warblers!

 This Eastern Cottontail was out in a grassy part of the campground.

 Leopard Frogs are widespread. I took a break from photographing the Canada Warbler to shoot this guy who was on the other side of the boardwalk.

 Tiger beetles, such as this Six-spotted Tiger Beetle (which can have either more, or fewer, than six spots) can be seen on sunny days along the trails and roadways.

 While walking along a grassy trail a few days ago, I flushed up a Song Sparrow. Its nest was not too hard to find.

 Spring wildflowers are continuing, such as this rarity known as Goldenseal. It occurs in a couple of places at Rondeau, and as of a few days ago, had just about completed its flowering for this season. Due to its rarity and Species At Risk status, its location will not be divulged.

 A spring-time orchid is this Showy Orchis. It isn't large and showy in spite of its name, as it seldom gets more than 15 cm (6") high.

Last year's flowering stalk

Butterflies have not been too plentiful, not surprising given the cool, windy conditions. With the promise of summer-like temperatures in the next few days, I anticipate a lot greater variety very soon!

Red Admiral