Avocets and other mid-July birds

 A recent stop at the Blenheim sewage lagoons turned out to be quite worthwhile! I hadn't been there for a few days, as the ongoing heat and humidity encouraged me to stay close to home much of the time, but this day was different. Definitely a little cooler with a pleasant breeze. And something quite interesting had just blown in.

 A flock of American Avocets was there, in the far southeast cell where there is a nice muddy flat and some shallow muddy water. As it was mid-morning, the light wasn't the best from the initial vantage point, and this is the best I could get, just in case they took off and I didn't have any other chances.

Walking cautiously on the dried mud, which was soft and full of cracks, I wandered more to the east to get a better angle of the light. It was still a little harsher than I liked, but through processing, was able to get some quite satisfactory photos.

At one point the entire flock of 12 got up and flew, appearing to go right out of sight, so we looked at the other shorebird diversity that was there. But in less than10 minutes, the Avocets returned. Not wanting to disturb them to flight mode again, we quietly backtracked and left them feeding.

Earlier I indicated that this flock had recently blown in. As it turns out, Blake had a flock of 12 flying in from Lake St. Clair, over the Mitchell's Bay area, about 3 hours earlier. It is quite likely that the ones he had seen, kept on flying until they found some wetland with shallow, muddy water, to their liking. 

 As is typical of sewage lagoons at this time of year, there are usually a few more things to take note of if there are some shallow, muddy edges. There were several Semipalmated Plovers, but I didn't get any photos of them. Lots of Killdeer, of course, and others of various types. At one point, under a bit breezy conditions, some swallows rested from their aerial flight on the gravel path.

Tree and Barn Swallows

As I approached the sprinkler cells, two large corvids were up and about, giving a typical hoarse croak of Common Raven.

A few Least Sandpipers were scattered about.....

....as were a few Lesser Yellowlegs...

...and a couple of Pectoral Sandpipers.

It is always nice to see a few Short-billed Dowitchers.

This Tree Swallow was sitting on a sheltered perch, taking a rest from chasing insects that were probably taking shelter from the breezes themselves.

 On another occasion, I went to the Mitchell's Bay North Shore Trail. With its openness it is always a good spot to go to keep away from mosquitoes and fewer deer flies, and with a few birds to note. This adult Bald Eagle was a long way off, keeping an eye on fishermen and whatever else that were out on the lake. I tried to get around the trail a little farther to get closer, but it would have none of that and took off.

Great Egrets are almost always around, and some even cooperated for some telephoto photos. I think there were at least 6 within view, although they moved around a bit.

 A Common Gallinule was perched up in the Arrowhead and Pickerelweed squawking and complaining about something.

 

In the recently harvested wheat field, this pair of Sandhill Cranes was investigating some open area.

And this Song Sparrow was singing its heart out, so the nesting season, at least for it, is still under way.

 Red-winged Blackbirds are almost always fairly abundant, and especially now when so many young have hatched. Many were out in the wheat field as well, likely looking for a bit of grain that hadn't been taken in.

And in other news....the Nessus Sphinx Moth that I photographed at home a few days ago, and is now my feature creature at the top, showed a slightly different look in one of the photos that I eventually got processed. This one shows a Great Golden Digger Wasp grasping on to the tail end of the moth! Not sure what its intent was, and it didn't last long, so perhaps the wasp figured it had tackled something too large for itself.

At Rondeau, I had noted a female Prothonotary Warbler taking nesting material to a natural cavity in one of the sloughs. I had hoped that it would make use of it, as there was a male nearby, and I prefer photographing this species at a natural cavity. But even after watching this spot periodically over the course of several weeks, it was apparent that nothing was happening here. Perhaps it found a better nesting cavity farther up or down the slough.

And this immature Red-tailed Hawk was being harassed by a small group of Red-winged Blackbirds. In this incident, it was the little guys that won the confrontation.

'Til next time....

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Prairie plants and other colourful elements of nature

I thought it was time to give the Sandhill Cranes header a rest, and this new header features a beautiful day-flying moth called a Nessus Sphinx. It was quite active visiting some Common Milkweeds in my yard, so I snapped a bunch of photos, as you might expect :-).

In spite of the greater heat and humidity of late, it is still worth getting out from time to time. A popular plant to see and photograph these days is Butterfly Milkweed. 

This site is at the north end of Rondeau, immediately across from the campground. This photo was taken several years ago, and although it had grown rather shrubby of late, it has been burned in the spring over the past 2-3 years, so it getting more open again, and the Butterfly Milkweed is fairly abundant.

It is always worth paying attention to other things that are around. On one occasion several years ago when I was photographing this patch of Butterfly Milkweed, I caught a glimpse of a large butterfly visiting a nearby patch, and realized it was not a species I was familiar with. So I grabbed my other camera and got this one photo before it took off. I tried to follow it, but it could fly much quicker than I could get through the vegetation!

Once I got home and checked to see what it was, I discovered it was a Gulf Fritillary, and it was the first photographed/confirmed individual for Canada! You can see the wings are a little tattered, so it likely got blown off course via a southerly wind, and ended up at Rondeau. One just never knows what might be out there waiting to be found...

 Something to be aware of regarding these prairie/savanna habitats at this time of year, is the presence of something called Chiggers. They are the larval stage of a type of mite. They are very tiny creatures, which you can barely see even with a hand lens. They will get onto clothing, and eventually on your skin, and a few hours after they catch on to you, you may notice some little red itchy spots! They aren't known to spread any disease like deer ticks that can pass Lyme Disease on, but they can be quite itchy for a few hours. Some people react more strongly to them than other folks, but it is worthwhile to be aware of them. Something like calamine lotion will alleviate the itch fairly quickly in most cases.

 This sandy prairie site is a good spot for other prairie/savanna plants. A common but rather small one is Pale-spiked Lobelia, and it, too, has been in flower for a few days. 

The flowers can be almost pure white, or have a distinct tinge of blue.

 And another prairie species, mainly towards the north and open sections of the Marsh Trail is this next one, Tall Meadow Rue.....

 

 .....and Wild Bergamot, which also grows in prairie-like settings.

A close relative, but more woodland than prairie, is Scarlet Beebalm. It is quite uncommon.

Some other prairie/savanna species, although not found at Rondeau, include Foxglove Beardtongue...

Foxglove Beardtongue

...and Climbing Prairie Rose, which when found often is climbing up a small open tree. I have even seen this species growing along roadsides in Chatham-Kent, which of course are quite open and have dead trees so provide a good climbing medium.

 

Next is a plant that is quite rare in Ontario, called False Indigo Bush, which normally grows in prairie/savanna habitat. It is not native to Rondeau, but was likely intentionally planted by someone who may have been the same person who planted the endangered Prickly Pear Cactus back in the early to mid 1990s, and is found in the same general area.

I have been keeping an eye on the progress of another Species At Risk, American Ginseng, which is indeed native to Rondeau.

 

 

 The flower buds were developing earlier in the season....

...and eventually put out a few small flowers, which aren't very showy....

....but have developed into a few seed capsules, that eventually will turn red.

 

A few other things to feature on this post, include a couple of fungi such as this Goblet Waxcap...

...and one with only a Latin name, called Crepidotus nephrodes.

Another plant which can grow in a variety of places, including the edges of woodlands, is Common Selfheal.

This next plant is a shrub, and like many others growing along trails and roadsides, is not native. It is Common Privet.

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Lark Bunting, and more!

 Certainly the most intriguing bird of recent days was the occurrence of a Lark Bunting, seen at the grassy/shrubby pasture along Stefina Line. It is a young male due to the brownish feathers above the obvious white ones in the wing. It is possible it showed up here due to the very dry conditions in its normal western range, and also perhaps of the air quality caused by the proliferation of wildfires.

This first photo shows what it typically looks like as it perches on a fence post. I was fortunate to take this photo in Grasslands National Park, in southern Saskatchewan a few years ago. 

Even though I spent several hours over a couple of days watching this particular bird at the pasture, the photos I got were not as high quality as I was hoping for. It spent most of its time 100 metres or more well out in the pasture, and although it was observed doing its aerial flight and singing, it seldom came very close. There were many dozens of birders from various parts of Ontario that lined up along the road, to see this unusual species, and in looking at the photos posted on eBird, occasionally someone would get a fairly close photo when the bird stopped by at a good spot for at least a few seconds. Here are a couple of my photos that I managed to get. This first one is when it landed on a steel gate by the corral.

This next one is when it was perched on one of several of its favourite shrubs a long way out. Both photos are heavily cropped.

The Lark Bunting is officially considered Threatened in Canada, and is limited to the western prairie regions, most commonly in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan. It is more abundant in the mid-western USA. 

As I was waiting for better photo ops, I managed to get this dragonfly perched on some grass by the road.

Widow Skimmer

Tis the season for dragonflies, of course. When I was out at St. Clair NWA one late afternoon, as it was slightly cooler, I photographed these two. 

Halloween Pennant

Blue Dasher

I got a few birds along the way, either at this NWA or on another day at the similar type of habitat a bit farther north, at the Mitchell's Bay North Shore Trail. This first one is an adult Bald Eagle that for some reason was hanging out along the roadside. It probably was after something in the canal immediately adjacent to the road, but after allowing me to get a couple of photos, it decided to move on, so I did also.

This Eastern Kingbird cooperated nicely before heading off to chase an insect.

The adjacent wetlands are often used by Great Blue Herons....

...and Great Egrets, that are always fun photo opportunities.

A critter that isn't often up and visible is this Groundhog, that paused momentarily on the trail before scampering out of sight.

Of course Killdeer are quite common...

....and Red-winged Blackbirds are super abundant, but don't always like sitting up for a good photo at a close distance.

 They are often busy squawking about something.....

...or just hanging out, perhaps keeping an eye on a nearby nest.

If the birds don't cooperate, there are usually other things that are more tolerant of my approach, such as this Yellow Iris, attractive but not native.

This female Northern Map Turtle was busy laying eggs along the side of the trail. Usually if a turtle is well underway in the egg-laying state, it will remain tolerant, unless it feels particularly threatened. I just walked quietly by, got a photo, and let her carry on. Hopefully more of this near threatened species will be emerging from the nest in a few months!

This Northern Blue Flag, in the same family as the Yellow Iris shown earlier, is a common native species found in wetland areas.

Next is a large bracket-type fungus called Dryad's Saddle.

Flowering Rush is another common, but not native wildflower common in or adjacent to wetlands.

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