Friday, 29 November 2024

Autumn beauty

 It appears that the late autumn weather is finally over. Autumn is my favourite season, in part because it was in October when Marie and I decided to get married back in 1976. 

Autumn was always a little quieter and more peaceful in the world of nature, as things were winding down and getting ready for winter. It was also one of the main seasons when we went on some of our longest travels to somewhere on the continent.

The colours can be amazing as the trees of the forest change from rich greens to golden yellows and/or bright reds, before ending up a duller brown and on the ground. Some maples can be exceptionally bright, such as this one shown above in late October. It was in the campground, on October 21

This post will feature the changes from a single vantage point at Rondeau, that being along Bennett Avenue.

I started documenting the beginning of the change in later October, since before then there was hardly any differences in the leaf colour at all.

Oct 24

Oct 29

In this case, the photo of Oct 24 seems to be more vivid than the one on Oct 29. One of the factors in determining the intensity of colour is the brightness of the sun at the time I took it.

Nov 1

Nov 7

Nov 11

As you can see, the entire change over doesn't take long, so I tried to get out regularly before it advanced too quickly.

While I focused on this particular spot, I did meander along several other roads and trails.

The photo above was taken along the closed to vehicles section of Rondeau Road on Nov 1. As you can see, the road is fairly covered with fallen leaves, with a few less in the middle. I think that is due to bicycle traffic or hikers. So it was an attractive scene. With so much leaf cover either here or on some of the designated hiking trails, it was hard to walk quietly due to the sound of footsteps shuffling through the dry leaves.

I did see a few people out and about but not many. One of the things I found curious was seeing a few people out for a brisk walk along this or another road, but with their head down looking at the pathway in front of them, and with headphones or ear plugs listening to whatever! They were missing some of the ambiance of nature, the rustling of the leaves and the occasional bird sound like a Pileated Woodpecker tapping away. But I guess each person has their own priorities. 


For anyone interested in acquiring either of my two books, Life on a Sandspit or Natural Treasures of Chatham-Kent, for Christmas or whatever, be advised that they are currently available at the following locations:

Book Brothers, 25 King St East, in Chatham

Lavender & Honey, also on King St. East, Chatham

Bayview Market, just outside of the gates of Rondeau. Due to the end of the camping season, Bayview Market is only open Thursday through Sunday.

Mindful Market and Ecohub, 104 Talbot St W in Blenheim

Mitton's Jeweler's and Gifts, 10 Main St East, Ridgetown


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Saturday, 23 November 2024

Autumn's final warm fling?

 Butterflies in late November? Yes, and a few other warmish season creatures have been out and about. Eastern Comma, first, is a species that will overwinter as an adult, so when the weather is warm, they can be out basking as this one was.

Common Buckeye does not overwinter in southwestern Ontario, but there has been a good number of them this late summer and fall, so it isn't all that surprising to see the occasional one stick around in this unseasonably warm weather.


  There have been a few Autumn Meadowhawks flitting around in sunny, sheltered places.

Next is a Black Blow Fly.

...followed by a Common Drone Fly.

There were a few of this next one around. It is a possibly a Tufted Clusterfly, although the exact type of clusterfly has not yet been determined.
Woolly Bear Caterpillars are often seen, even in winter. It is the larval stage of the Isabella Tiger Moth, and this first image shows the typical coloration.
According to a specialist on iNat, this next one is a Tiger Moth of the Phragmatobia species.

Reptiles are cold-blooded, and are not often seen this late in the season. However due to the warmer than normal temperatures, a few Eastern Garter Snakes were out....

.....as were a few Midland Painted Turtles.

I even heard several Spring Peepers on more than one occasion! I'm sure all these reptiles and amphibians are now safely in their winter quarters!

On one of my outings to Rondeau, I spent a bit of time scanning the lake from the east beach. I was hoping for a few loons, especially a Red-throated Loon or even a Pacific Loon. Both have been seen on occasion in the last week or so. I did see up to a couple of dozen Common Loons.....


....and there was at least one Red-throated Loon mixed in from a distance, but I didn't get any photos of it. As for a Pacific Loon, I struck out on that one so far, but I have seen them in Ontario in the past. When I was involved with some wildlife surveys at Polar Bear Provincial Park in about 1990, we came across a nest, and one of the adults was cooperative enough to allow me this photo. The fall plumage is considerably more drab than this photo, however.
While looking for loons, there was a massive movement of Red-breasted Mergansers flying by. I think they had been stirred up by a passing ship, so there were probably 3-4000 of them in flight that stretched like this photo, for at least a kilometre with smaller groups going by as well.

I spent a bit of time up along the Mitchell's Bay North Lakeshore Trail, and while I didn't see any shorebirds on this occasion in spite of the extensive mud flats, there were some raptors in the area keeping an eye on waterfowl and other things. There were probably three adult Bald Eagles in the area, although they were sometimes on the move for a short distance and maybe there were only two.



This Merlin, next, was initially seen hopping around in some shallow water. Not sure what it was trying to do, maybe wash something before eating? It wasn't clear, but after a few moments it got up and left....
....and this next photo is likely of the same bird, on the top of a pole a short distance away, surveying its domain.

I also spent a bit of time along the Erieau Marsh Trail. There wasn't a huge diversity of birds, but a few things caught my eye and gave me some photo ops. I was a little surprised to see at least a couple of dozen American Pipits flying around in a loose group and landing near the tree tops. I usually see them in much fewer numbers, and typically on the ground, but these were migrating so were behaving a little differently.


American Tree Sparrows are one of the more common sparrows this time of year. This one was busily tearing into some goldenrod seedheads.
A Downy Woodpecker was digging into a tree trunk....
...and this is a Rusty Blackbird, one of a small flock of a dozen or so on the move.
This Great Blue Heron was first noticed when I heard its loud 'croak' that indicated where it was, so enabled me to get this rather distant and cropped photo.


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Thursday, 14 November 2024

A mix of rarities and more common things to enjoy!

 One of the birding highlights in recent days was to hear about a Western Cattle Egret hanging out with a few black angus cattle a bit north of Erieau. I had been out at Keith McLean Conservation Area on the lookout for migrating raptors with the favourable winds, when I got the word, so I headed over to look. Sure enough, there it was, but it was flighty, moving from one group of cattle to another before it finally got up in the air a little higher and headed towards Rondeau Bay.


A few days later, this past Tuesday to be exact, an even rarer bird got the attention of many, many birders, at the KMCL, a Mountain Bluebird. More on that a little later.

In between these bird highlights, I was out and about looking for whatever I could find. The sometimes breezy winds from a northerly direction was promising for raptors, and I spent a bit of time at the Morpeth Cliffs area. There were a few raptors on the move, but most were very high up and difficult to see against the almost entirely blue sky. My hope was to see a Golden Eagle or two, as this is prime time for their migration, and several of the hawkwatch sites had reported then regularly. Even though I had been on the lookout for them at other times over the past few weeks, today was to be the day. I had two fly over, way up high. This photo of one of them was the lowest. Fortunately my camera/lens combination latched onto it with good focus, and this is what I ended up with.


Both birds were almost impossible to see with the naked eye, up against the brilliant blue sky. Binoculars were a necessity. After I got the photos processed, and greatly cropped, these were the best of the bunch, and after all was said and done, they are shown here at the equivalent of about 100X magnification!

There were some sunny warmish days to go out wandering around Rondeau on occasion, so out I went. Birds were not always that plentiful, but there are always other things to see and photograph.

During the sunniest period and sheltered from the wind, there were often a lot of dragonflies flitting about. They were all of the Autumn Meadowhawk species as near as I could determine, and their pale/yellow legs were telltale. It used to be called the Yellow-legged Meadowhawk, and perhaps is still referred to as such.

Common Buckeyes were still around, and sometimes paused long enough for a close approach with the camera.
As there were still the occasional dandelion flowers quite visible, they attracted several of this next critter, the Common Drone Fly. It is not a native species, but has become quite abundant at times.
Eastern Black Squirrels are quite common, as usual, especially where there were a few oak trees around, as they were searching for acorns.
Another butterfly is this next one, a Fiery Skipper. It is typically more of a southern species, and arrives in Ontario in the later summer. Some will stick around for quite awhile!
Another butterfly I caught up with is this Question Mark.

There were a few birds to be found, and some allowed me to get some worthwhile photos. Blue Jays are migrating through in good numbers, with some searching for sustenance to carry them on their journey.

No doubt some will stick around all winter, as usual.
Dark-eyed Juncos are fairly common. Here are a few having a bath in a shallow puddle.
Red-bellied Woodpeckers are permanent residents now. They were extremely rare up until the 1980s or so, and have since became well established here in southwestern Ontario.
Rusty Blackbirds are not as plentiful as they used to be, but still migrate through in decent numbers. This one was feeding on a seed of some sort on the ground.

Mushrooms have not been plentiful compared to some years. The quite dry spell we have experienced over the last few months made all the difference. But a few have appeared. This first one is a type of puffball, and may be the Pear-shaped Puffball.

Next is the Orange Jelly Fungus...
...followed by Shaggy Mane.

Some days have had some quite brisk east winds. This first image is of the waves along the east beach of Rondeau.

I went over to Erieau hoping for some impressive wave action hitting the pier and splashing over. This next one is one of the better ones, but overall it wasn't as impressive as I was hoping. Maybe a different day...

This next photo shows one of the better ones I took in late October of 2021. Some of the waves and spray almost obscured the lighthouse!

Getting back to the Mountain Bluebird. It was first seen this past Tuesday, and I got word from Steve Charbonneau who was the one who found it, in the very early afternoon. I am not on Discord, the birding app that keen birders who like to chase the latest notable birds are on, and since Steve is aware of that, informed me directly (thanks, Steve!). However it just didn't work out for me to scoot out to the Keith McLean area to catch up to it that afternoon. It was apparently feeding quite readily in a good spot, and since this species is fairly hardy even in poor weather conditions, I thought it might still be around on Wednesday. A lot of others were hoping for that outcome as well. There were lots of people who saw it on Tuesday, and even when I went out on Wednesday, I could barely find a spot in the parking lot. Unfortunately no one reported seeing it at any time on Wednesday. Perhaps the strong wind forced it to take shelter, and it might have been around and was even amused by the number of people roaming around with 'scopes, binoculars and camera gear. However it was not reported. Hopefully it might still be around at an accessible location not far away. This species has been considered long overdue for the Rondeau checklist area. But so far I cannot add it to my Rondeau list. I have seen it on two occasions in southern Ontario in the past, as well as on a few trips to the western part of the country. The first time in Ontario was one I saw on a Christmas Bird Count on Pelee Island, back in the '90s. The second one was one I heard about in southeastern Lambton, so Marie and I went searching. We successfully tracked it down and photographed it, just a short distance from Chatham-Kent. We caught up to it on January 20, 2012.

January 2012 provided another good photo op for an uncommon species, this time for White-winged Crossbill. There have been a few migrating through so far this autumn, and on one occasion I thought I heard one or two, giving their high-pitched rattle calls, but could not find it perched anywhere. It was probably passing through quickly and vocalizing. At any rate, here is a photo I took of one at Rondeau on January 25, 2012. It was part of a flock of a couple of dozen feeding in this spruce tree.


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