Spring continues to unfold, somewhat slower than many would like, but I'm not in a rush to get into full-blown summer. Some years seem to have a long, cool spring, and then it is like someone turned a switch and the heat and humidity are in full force, leaving us to wonder if spring took a vacation. It will be nice to have things a bit closer to normal over the next few days however, as long as the leaves don't unfurl too quickly to obscure the various warblers, vireos, etc. passing through.
The partially leucistic American Robin continues in the vicinity of Paxton's Bush. I might try and canvass the neighbours to see if and where this bird is nesting. It would be interesting to see what any young birds will end up looking like.
I haven't chased any of the rarities that have been surreptitiously reported over the last few weeks. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Pacific Loon, Black-necked Stilt and such would be nice to see again, but I have had fabulous views of them elsewhere in Ontario, and sometimes even in Chatham-Kent, so didn't go looking.
I did make a few brief ventures away from home these last few days for various reasons, however. One spot to check out was the Moore Wildlife Area in central Lambton. I wanted to investigate just where I could set up my black light equipment, in good proximity to the Sydenham River as well as being surrounded by forest, to maximize the potential for a good variety of night-time insects. It turns out that a moth I photographed there last year was the first record for Ontario. Who knows what else is out there? While I was examining the prospects, a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak serenaded me from the upper branches of a tree. He had his beak full of things, so it wasn't a full bore song.
There wasn't a lot of bird action there, but I did pick out a couple of spots for my black light adventures, as the weather permits.
A brief stop at Clear Creek Forest on a cool, windy day, kept the birds quiet and under cover. Even this Great Egret, the first I think I have ever seen at this site, was taking shelter amongst some shrubbery along the far side of the upper pond.
While I was in eastern Chatham-Kent, I checked out a very large White Oak that someone had told me about. It is near the municipal campground at the south end of Clear Creek Forest Provincial Nature Reserve, and officially on the boy scout property. You can get a glimpse of it from the road. I took my diameter tape with me, and it turned out to be about 180 cm (70") in diameter. That is a large tree!
I stopped at Peer's Wetland one time as I was passing by. There was a ton of swallows of all types, attempting to snatch up a few insects to carry them through the cool weather. The pair of Mute Swans have successfully hatched their brood.
While watching the swans for a few moments, I noticed that the male swan was constantly patrolling the water, making sure to keep any and all others away from the little ones. He would first go after one Canada Goose, then another, then another, and so on. While Mute Swans are large, impressive waterfowl, they are also not native, no thanks to humans of European descent who, decades ago, thought they would be an addition to the fauna of North America. And since they are naturally so very aggressive towards the native wildlife, it makes it challenging for the native inhabitants to carry on normally. There is a lesson here....
At any rate, while I was exploring the McGeachy Pond Trail on another day, I noticed that the Mute Swans there are down to one remaining youngster. Presumably the others have served as food for some of the naturally occurring turtle population, most of which are considered officially At Risk. It may sound rather callous, however I can not help but root for the turtles and hope that their numbers will be at least partially sustained by this non-native food source. Go turtles!
I was at the McGeachy Pond Trail due in part to look for a Grasshopper Sparrow, which had been seen earlier in the day at the far end of the trail. I had heard about it while I was over in the Bate's subdivision just outside of Rondeau, and since the birding was fairly quiet at the time, decided to take my chances in going over to Erieau. Arriving at the location about an hour and a half after the sparrow had first been reported, it was not to be found. There was no one else looking at the time, and there had been a variety of walkers, some with dogs, and cyclists passing along the path that the sparrow had been seen. There were lots of sparrows, including White-crowned, White-throated, Swamp, Song and Lincoln's, but no sign of the target species. I looked for at least half an hour and just as I was leaving, another birder came along, so together we looked for a little longer, but came up empty. But that is birding.
I did manage to get a distant view of about 15 Black-bellied Plover out in the field across the road.
On the way back to the parking lot, I came across a couple of Northern Waterthrush....
...and several Gray Catbirds feeding on a shrub of European Guelder Rose, sometimes confused with the native Highbush Cranberry. The berries of the European Guelder Rose are much more tart, so they stay on the branches until late winter or even early spring, when they are still available and birds are hungry enough to go after them.
Ruby-crowned Kinglets are everywhere.
There is a lot of Garlic Mustard showing up in many places.
Manitoba Maple has just about finished flowering.
While I was so close to Erieau itself, I decided to check out the water front. Some less common gulls are always a possibility, as a Laughing Gull had been seen a few days ago, and I had a Lesser Black-backed Gull quite recently. The brisk easterly winds on this day caused many birds, other than cormorants, to find another spot to be. But just as I was starting to drive away from the channel, I caught a glimpse of a black bird with vivid white wing patches, just as it dove into some shrubbery. I quickly pulled off the road and started looking. Was it a Yellow-headed Blackbird, or a Lark Bunting, or a Myna? The first of these three was the most likely, and still an unusual bird for the location. After a few moments, I got a glimpse of the bird amongst the shrubs and on the ground. It was a Yellow-headed Blackbird, my first for the year. It was acting very un-blackbird like. Normally this species will be out on a lawn searching for grubs or something. This was acting more like a thrush or a thrasher, two of the latter which happened to be in the shrubs as well, and difficult to see.
I got a few record shots and put the word out to a few local birders. Steve came by a few minutes later and we got a few more partial looks, but no better photo ops. Garry arrived a bit later, and for some reason this bird escaped without being seen again. As before, that's birding.
Rondeau opens tomorrow! It will be nice to see it after the almost two month hiatus since it closed!
Great birding, as always!
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