Firstly, the Limpkin that had been seen by multiple birders over the past few weeks, is no longer there. Just before the cold spell where it was seen sitting in the snow, and the mystery snails it was feeding on were no longer very accessible due to ice, it was captured and taken to a wildlife rehab centre. I don't know the details, only that it is gone, hence I have taken down its header photo and replaced it with something more in keeping with the times.

Just prior to the recent cold and snowy period, I tried to get out to see what was around in the former Dover Twp, just in case a Snowy Owl was visible. Maybe one saw me, but the reverse was not the case. I did manage to photograph a field or two of Tundra Swans, enjoying the mild weather.

They seemed to anxious to move on, however, as there were various groups taking flight and heading southeast. Undoubtedly they wanted to get out of the reach of the impending storm.

Since there was still open areas at Erieau, I managed to catch up to a few things, including:

American Coot

Double-crested Cormorant

Redhead

Along my travels on this day, I swung by the Stefina Line pasture, where Wilson's Snipe are known to be. I think the day before there were 4 seen, but I only saw this Great Blue Heron trying to stay hidden behind this berry bush....

...two of the snipe, at a considerable distance...

...and a Rusty Blackbird, also at a distance and in poor lighting, hence just a poor record shot.

Dark-eyed Juncos seem to be more plentiful in various locales.

And then the snow arrived, and along with it, even a few sunny days. It was great to see a few birds such as Snow Bunting, Horned Lark and Lapland Longspur, all feeding on some partially exposed corn cobs in fields adjacent to the road way. The Snow Buntings were quite flighty, so no shots of them, just these other two species.

Horned Lark

Lapland Longspur

It is hard to know what to expect next with the seasonal ups and downs, and currently in our January thaw.

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Fruit on the Forest Floor, Part II

 I had another post topic planned for this time, but for various reasons, it will have to wait a bit longer. So in the meantime, without a lot of birds to report on now that Christmas Bird Counts are over and winter has settled in, I will catch up a bit on this fungi topic. The first part of this topic, which explains a lot that I won't repeat here, can be found at this link. 

On to fungi! 

The ones featured here were photographed in the fall of 2023, as winter isn't exactly prime time for fungi. Some might still be visible, but with the snow and cold of course, they just aren't going to be in good fresh looking condition.

This first one is a member of the Bonnet group, based on the shape of the cap.

Next is the Ochre Bracket.

It is always useful to get an overview of a fungus, as well as a closer view of the underside. These next two show an Oysterling.

A fungal group that really caught my eye is this next one. It is likely the Pestle Puffball, although it might just be a Puffball. There were well over 100 of these scattered across a well rotting log, and even on the ground, undoubtedly growing on rotting wood just below the surface. This huge cluster was along the Black Oak Trail of Rondeau.

Next is a type of Ramaria, a coral root.

Here is a Ringless Honey Fungus. It grows so close to the ground that I couldn't get any idea of the underside without breaking pieces off.

 

This next one with the bright, colorful cap is a member of the Russula group.

Clearly there are critters in the wild that like feeding on mushrooms, as this slug is doing.

Next is probably another type of puffball, in its early developing stage......

...as it matures, the covering will start to dry and open. It is at this time that a drop of rain, or some other slight disturbance, will result in a little 'puff' of the spores inside to release into the atmosphere, to drift off and find a suitable growing surface, hence the name of puffball.

Some names are quite descriptive. This one is probably a Stinking Orange Oyster......

...as is this one, photographed as late as December 30!

Next shows the upperside of Trametes gibbosa, a type of shelf or bracket fungus.....

...and this is the underside view. It shows little round holes where the spores disperse from, rather than gills of many other types of fungi.

Next is Trametes pubescens.....

....and a species of Tricholomopsis, which due to the hole on the top, shows both the shelf type of form as well as the gills.

Turkey Tail, shown next, is one of the most common members of the Trametes group.

Less common, at least where I have been, is this White Jelly Fungus.....

...and last, but not least for this post, is the quite delicate, but attractive Woolly Oyster Fungus, not common at all in my experience. The upper side has a fuzzy/wooly look....

and this angle shows the gilled underside and the delicate parts of the edge and upperside.

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Some early January birding

 First of all, the American Birding Association has just declared what its 2024 Bird of the Year will be. It is the Golden-winged Warbler, a beautiful and uncommon species at least here in Ontario.

Here in the southwest of Ontario, you may see one on occasion furtively rummaging around some shrubby areas, but seldom see more than one on spring migration, and not typically as out in the open as this one, which I photographed at Rondeau a few years ago.

More seasonal, at least given the mild, snow-free conditions that we have been experiencing these first few weeks of winter, are a few birds that have not been forced to migrate to areas farther south. Indeed as most Christmas Bird Counts would indicate, there have been some lingering birds. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, at Rondeau (but which I haven't been able to catch up to) has been seen periodically even after the count, as has this Red-headed Woodpecker.

Sandhill Cranes are still present in greater than usual numbers, such as this partial group of 36 I saw up near Bear Creek Unit of SCNWA a few days ago. Clearly the lack of snow has made it easier for them to remain.

The St. Clair NWA Christmas Bird Count, which I compile and was held as usual, on New Year's Day, resulted in a rather surprising 88 species, and included record numbers of these Sandhill Cranes. We had 25 species of waterfowl, including Trumpeter Swan for only the second time. Waterfowl are one of the more abundant groups of birds that make or break this count. With all of the water remaining open, there were birds everywhere. Unfortunately there were excellent wetland areas that we did not have access to, which undoubtedly caused some species to go unseen and thus uncounted. We did have new high counts for things like Golden Eagle, presumably two different birds, and an amazing 193 American Robins! A Great Egret was seen, for only the second time on this count. A new high for Greater White-fronted Goose, 6 birds, was also recorded, three of which are shown in this next photo. Two birds are quite obvious, but if you look closely, you can see the orangey legs of another bird hidden behind the much larger Canada Goose on the left.

So in spite of the dull, dreary weather with brisk NW winds to contend with, the count was quite successful. We have had 90-93 species on other occasions but our past 10 year average is about 81.

I've been here and there since then, and have seen several Great Blue Herons, such as this one along the Thames River at the Jeanette's Creek boat launch (it was upstream and across the river, so not easy to get a very good photo of).

 In the northern part of the former Dover Twp, I had these Canvasback at Mitchell's Bay. While doing a waterfowl survey a few days after the bird count, I had an amazing number of Canvasback, about 4000, in a raft out on Lake St. Clair.

This Merlin allowed me a couple of photos before deciding to leave....

.....as did this Rough-legged Hawk.

The dull skies were anything but good for this type of photography, as you can tell.

Erieau was the place to be for a good diversity of water birds. Certainly the highlight has been this female Harlequin Duck, which first showed up on New Year's Day and has been seen daily, although not always very close.

There were a few Greater Scaup, shown next.....

...as well as Lesser Scaup, told by it slight crest towards the back of the head as well as a thinner dark blue patch at the tip of the bill.

Red-breasted Mergansers are present by the hundreds, although not always very close.

A couple of Double-crested Cormorants are still present, a bit unusual for the time of year, but not surprising due to the weather and open water.

Gulls are around, also not surprisingly, such as this young Great Black-backed Gull....

...and this smaller Herring Gull, an almost full adult shown next....

....and a full adult shown here.

The smaller yet, Ring-billed Gull adult with its obvious ring bill and yellow legs, are not as plentiful, but there are still a few around.

Many of these gulls will be noticeable by their absence over the next few weeks, if winter actually arrives, before returning later in the winter.

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