Spring is unfolding as it should, with a few rarer things for extra interest

Exploring natural areas is always a treat. I went out to check the Lake St. Clair area on a couple of occasions to try and get a glimpse of some of the American White Pelicans that have been seen. I came up empty with respect to the pelicans, but did see things like a pair of Sandhill Cranes near my viewing point.....

....as well as a nice male Yellow-headed Blackbird.

But most of my wanderings have been in the Rondeau area, as usual, as it is one of the most interesting natural areas in the entire province.

The land bird migration has quietened, and those that are still passing through are harder to see due to leaves. But shorebirds and such are quite plentiful, and visible. Dunlin have been quite abundant.....

....Ruddy Turnstone are as well.

But sometimes they are only seen passing by.

These past few days are typically when the peak of Whimbrel pass through, and they have been pretty much on cue. I have seen them on several occasions, but never close enough to photograph, or in the best light, so I've delved into my photo archives for these next two photos.

Certainly one of the highlights of recent days was the presence of not one, but two, Piping Plovers. It is an endangered species, and are behaving like a mated pair, so perhaps an attempt at nesting will occur. If it does, it will be the first time in ~80 years.

I hope to have more to say on this event in the future, and hope it will be chock full of good news!

Aside from birds, there are other things to take note of and appreciate at this time of year. White Baneberry is starting to show itself in flower.

Wild Columbine is fairly widespread, although a little past its peak.

Violets are everywhere, with two of the more common ones being Long-spurred Violet, shown first...

...and Downy Yellow Violet.

Mayapple is widespread....

...although I'm not sure it shouldn't be called Juneapple, since the apple-like fruits don't typically appear until June.

The open sandy beach dunes have Hairy Puccoon popping up throughout.

I have a sort of favourite, quiet ridge to explore at least once or twice a year. It takes a bit of effort to get to, and is always fun, especially if one enjoys the solitude.

It is a ridge where several clusters of Large Yellow Lady's-slipper can be found. It is not a common orchid species at Rondeau, which is why this particular ridge is of interest.

This is one of the most familiar native orchids to many people. One of the extra special things I discovered as a result of this outing, was something I didn't notice until I got the images on the computer and started processing them. At the bottom of the photo above, and about in the middle, I noticed a single plant of American Ginseng. This is an endangered species, and it is a new location for it at Rondeau. Given the overall habitat of this site, it wasn't totally surprising, but certainly nice to find. It makes one wonder how many more special things have yet to be found at Rondeau. This location is probably at least 500 metres from any trail, so is certainly never explored except by me.

Another quite rare plant and officially a Species At Risk is Eastern Flowering Dogwood.

A very attractive small tree, native to Ontario but not to Rondeau, is Eastern Redbud. This has been planted on a cottage lot, and although not native to the park, is always a pleasant thing to see.

Also in the plant kingdom is Dryad's Saddle, a fungus that can take on different shapes, as these next two images illustrate.

Another fungus looking slightly similar is this next one, with a common name of Trainwrecker.

I don't often see this next one, Shaggy Mane, part of the Inky Caps group, until later in the summer. The one stem has already shown its Inky Cap appearance.

I've brought this next item to reader's attention before, but only in the last couple of years since I was not aware of its presence at Rondeau until the fall of 2019. It is known as Beech Leaf Disease, and while it looks a bit different later in the season with distinct black stripes in between the leaf veins, it is showing up in the newly forming leaves already.

American Beech is a dominant tree species at Rondeau, but with the widespread presence of it here, American Beech are already being hit hard, and some trees have died. I have seen very few beech trees without at least some leaves that have been affected, so the future of American Beech is not looking good. Hopefully it will fare better than trees like Ash species and Elms, where most of the mature ones of those species have died out.

Another problematic invasive species is Japanese Barberry, which is in peak flower right now. The berries will develop and be frequently eaten by birds, with the seeds being defecated out somewhere along the way. Barberry is present throughout much of the park.

Sorry to end this blog post with such problematic species, but that is the reality of the natural world!

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Lots of birds, herps and orchids of the season

 My camera has been busy! Of course with so many things appearing as the spring unfolds, it's no wonder. Birds are fairly plentiful, although most days have been a bit quieter than normal. Then one hears of some rarity well off from where you are, and you know by the time you get there, it may have moved on. In my early days of birding, one just went out and found things, and maybe you would hear about something rarer a day or two later, or read about it in next week's newspaper column. What a concept. Nowadays one can hear about rarities all over the place, almost instantaneously. I expect for serious listers, that can add to the stress of birding, and take away some of the enjoyment of being out in nature for the mental and physical health benefits of just being out. 

But enough of that. 

I have been out fairly regularly, and try to plan my outings to where I think the most bird action might be. Sometime you win, sometimes you lose. But getting out for exercise, fresh air and looking for things is always a win. And as I started off on this post, my camera has been fairly busy. Rondeau is by far my 'go to' place, although I will venture to other locations on occasion, especially if I am going right by. Here are some of the bird highlights I have photographed at Rondeau. Regular readers of this blog will realize the variety of warblers to be seen, and while there are some that I have yet to catch up to, there has been an average variety to see on any given day, but they aren't always easy to photograph.

American Redstart

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Cape May Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Tennessee Warbler

Wilson's Warbler

Yellow Warbler

There are lots of non-warblers to aim the camera at. One species which is always a target is the Acadian Flycatcher. This species showed up in the same quite accessible territory of a pair of last year, and cooperated nicely.

There are many, many Gray Catbirds around.

A Pileated Woodpecker, although a permanent resident of Rondeau, is always nice to see, especially when one can get a photo or two. This one was vigorously digging into a rotten log along Tulip Tree Trail, probably on the search for carpenter ants.

Red-headed Woodpeckers continue along Black Oak Trail.

Red-eyed Vireos are, or will be, quite abundant......

.....but a Yellow-throated Vireo is not common. It has nested here on occasion.

Cuckoos are starting to show, but they are difficult to photograph. This Yellow-billed is the more common of the two, and will nest at Rondeau.

Philadelphia Vireos are regular on migration.

Chipping Sparrows are quite abundant.

Swainson's Thrushes are decreasing, as the majority have left for the north.

A young male Summer Tanager was cooperative near the north end of the park. A female was reported, and it is possible that they will attempt to nest. It is becoming an almost regular species, but mainly one or two at the most in any given year. It was back in 1985 when there was a slightly bigger influx of this species, and a pair of them attempted to breed along the South Point Trail.

In between birds, there are always other things to see, such as an Eastern Garter Snake feeding on an American Toad.

This much larger Am Toad was safely out on a piece of wood floating in a slough.

Turtles are on the prowl, and this Common Snapping Turtle was crossing the road in front of me.

Yellow Lady's-slipper are not common at Rondeau, but I am aware of a couple of locations. This one is viewable, with binoculars, along one of the trails.

Not an orchid, but a rare plant, is Goldenseal, shown next. Its origin at Rondeau is not certain, but it does occur in two locations.

This next orchid is known as Showy Orchis. It is not very big, but grows in several locations that I am aware of.

A question I am often asked in spring, is what is this impressive flower on this tree? Actually this photo shows it a little farther along than when it is first noticed, and it is not a flower at all, but the emerging leaves of Shagbark Hickory.

Shorebirds are passing through in usual numbers and diversity. Short-billed Dowitchers, even with an apparent long bill, are scattered about.

Semiplamated Sandpipers are becoming more common....

...but Dunlin are by far the most numerous at most places I have been to.

Red-necked Phalaropes are not common at all, and in fact are not seen every year. A pair of them have recently appeared at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons. They were on the far eastern side of one of the lagoons, much too far away to try and photograph. I carefully went around to the eastern side berm, knowing the light was not at a good angle, but at least I was much closer. With a bit of processing, I was able to get a few photos that are at least decent record shots.

As an update for anyone wanting to know the outcome of the Great Horned Owls nesting in the laundry basket at Paxton's Bush:

The two young finally took their first flights, and this one was seen high up in a nearby maple tree just a few days ago. Now that the leaves are fully out, and the birds spend most of their time high up, it will be very difficult to see them from this point on.

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