Birds of Chatham-Kent, Then and Now, Part III

 Part III of this series starts off with King Rail. 

 However rather than repeat myself, regular readers may remember that I did a complete blog post on this endangered species a couple of months ago. You can read all about it at this link.

Yellow Rail 

I don't have any images of this rare and reclusive species. I have heard them in their breeding habitat up along the sub-arctic lowlands in northern Ontario, but have never seen one.

Then: A rare spring and fall transient. There were a few spring and fall records from the very early 1900s and periodically to 1944. Most were in wetland areas near the mouth of the Thames River and some of the wetlands along Lake St. Clair. Baillie had one at Rondeau on May 11,1939.

Now: an even rarer transient. While this small, elusive species must still pass through southern Ontario on the way to the northerly breeding territories, it is very rarely seen. There have been three relatively records in the southern CK area, one in each of 1996, 2006 and 2020, all in the month of May.

Common Gallinule

Then: considered a common summer resident, breeding in coastal as well as inland marshes.

Now: considerably less common. It can be found regularly in some of the largest wetland habitats along Lake St. Clair, with occasional records at Rondeau. There is not much difference in breeding records between the first and second Ontario Breeding Bird Atlases. However with the more extensive invasion of the non-native Common Reed (Phragmites) in these wetland habitats especially in the last 2-3 decades, it is expected that with less habitat, there are likely fewer records, and the current third OBBA may demonstrate that.

American Coot

Then: an abundant migrant and a regular and plentiful summer resident, breeding in all of the large marshes. There were occasional early winter records

Now: certainly still an abundant migrant, especially in the autumn. For example, occasionally huge numbers may be seen in late autumn and very early winter. Depending on the amount of open water, typically several dozen to several hundred are reported on the Blenheim/Rondeau CBC, with a high of 4002 birds in 1999! Breeding records are fairly low, other than in some of the larger marshes along Lake St. Clair where they can be regularly found in small numbers. Fluctuating water levels and an increased presence of Phragmites has been at least partially the reason for fewer numbers in CK. However there is little to no difference between the first OBBA and the second.

Piping Plover

Then: a rather scarce transient and summer resident. One source in the early '20s indicated the species was numerous between Erieau and Erie Beach, with young seen. There were regular records on the Rondeau beaches as well.

Now: this is an officially endangered species, although the numbers have increased somewhat compared to the dire circumstances of the 1970s and 1980s. They have re-appeared and nested, sometimes successfully, at scattered Ontario locations in the last couple of decades or so. It is seen with a bit more frequency on migration in the southern Chatham-Kent area, although there have been no nesting records since about the late 1940s.

American Woodcock

Then: Formerly a common summer resident, but then becoming rather scarce. As a game bird, it was popular, with up to 60 birds shot by two market hunters in a single day. By the time of Wood's writing, it was increasing in numbers again.

Now: it can be a difficult bird to find, but that is at least partly because it arrives early in the late winter to very early spring and almost immediately begins its nesting cycle. Under good conditions (i.e. calm winds at daybreak or dusk) it can be more easily detected via its courtship display. It is cryptic and rarely even flushes from its nest, relying on its excellent camouflage. There is suitable habitat across CK, and while the first OBBA found it in most of the atlas squares, the second atlas resulted in it being present in all of the atlas squares that had terrestrial habitat.While there is still a hunting season for American Woodcock in Ontario, I do not believe it is very heavily hunted anywhere.

Upland Sandpiper

Then: considered a regular summer resident, never abundant but scattered throughout from April until August. However Wood quoted the Outing writer Ed Sandys as saying in 1897 "he saw thousands of these birds in southwestern Ontario". But certainly by the 1940s, they were restricted to pastures scattered across the county.

Now: I do not have any photos of this species. I don't recall even seeing or hearing one of these in CK during my digital photo era, which is about the past 15 years. The most reliable location in CK for several decades has been in the fairly extensive pasture lands southwest of Charing Cross. I used to see them regularly there if I made the effort. Unfortunately most of those pasture lands and those other scattered pastures in CK have been converted to crop land in the last couple of decades, as crops were more profitable than cattle. There were only about 8 atlas squares reporting it during the first OBBA, and only 3 during the second. Any recent reports of this species are primarily a result of birders hearing one passing through on migration.

Stilt Sandpiper

Then: considered hypothetical. While earlier writers had considered it a bird of the Rondeau region, there were no actual records to substantiate that. The closest known record that Wood was aware of was in Windsor.

Now: it is an uncommon, but regular migrant. It is seen annually most spring and late summer/early fall periods where there is shallow muddy water habitat. Sewage lagoons, not present during the time of Wood's writing, have good habitat, as do flooded field fields.

Hudsonian Godwit

Then: as was the case for Stilt Sandpiper, it was considered hypothetical. It was listed as a bird of the Rondeau region by earlier writers, with no specific records, although McIlwraith stated he had seen it in spring at the St. Clair Flats but again, with no specific dates.

Now: also as was the case for Stilt Sandpiper, it is a fairly regular but uncommon spring and late summer migrant. Sewage lagoons and flooded fields provide suitable feeding habitat for this species on its north and south journeys.

American Avocet

Then: considered an accidental visitant. While early writers of the 1800s considered it slightly more common, at the time of Wood's writing there had been no recent records, and was still considered an accidental visitant.

Now: shorebird habitat has definitely increased since the 1940s, especially with the presence of sewage lagoons. That, and flooded fields during the migration period, have caused an increase in the records in recent decades. It is seen almost annually, with sometimes several records in a year. What makes this mostly a mid-western breeding species a bit more likely here, compared to more northerly breeding migrants, is the fact that extreme southwestern Ontario, and the western portion of CK in particular, has always attracted mid-western species due to the historic prairie habitat.

Wilson's Phalarope

Then: considered an accidental visitant. There was the occasional record in the 1880s, and Sandys listed it as a bird of the Rondeau region but without any date records.

Now: it is a regular migrant and occasional breeding species. As is the case for many shorebird species, the presence of sewage lagoons has affected their presence, as the above photo illustrates. As is the case for American Avocet, this is a mid-western breeding species that is present in southwestern Ontario due to its historic prairie habitat which was present. It is at sewage lagoons where an occasional breeding record has been noted. Here is one I photographed on a nest at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons back in about 1979, a time when the grassy berms were much less frequently mowed, and there was cattail vegetation allowed to grow in the lagoon ponds themselves.

Birds of Chatham-Kent, Then and Now....to be continued.

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