Roaming around Chatham-Kent, excluding Rondeau

 I've been getting out to a few places, including Rondeau, but will save the Rondeau highlights for the next post. Instead, I will draw attention to things elsewhere in C-K!

Certainly a highlight now, is to note that Bald Eagle nests are being occupied, at least in a few places. Fortunately Bald Eagles have re-bounded from their endangered status of a few years ago! Some nests are fairly visible right from a road, as is the case of this nest along the south end of Fargo Road. 

It is a new nest this season, and I'm not sure how long it will last, as it appears that the tree is totally dead. Hopefully it lasts at least this season! It is easily viewed from the road, although binoculars are helpful. Being a dead tree, at least any growth of the young up to fledging time should be more visible.

This next photo is one of my favourites, although it was not taken of this nesting pair. But I like it so much, I had a 12" X 24" canvas print made of it!

Closer to home, literally, I have been watching the neighbourhood squirrels maintaining their winter nest. Once the snow left the yard, there were at least two squirrels busily gathering up even more leaves and scampering up the tree trunk to add them to the existing nest.

Not sure if they are just patching things up due to the high winds scattering some of the nest leaves, or whether they are just shoring it up to allow some protection for probable recently born nestling from the weather. Or maybe they know there is more winter to come, and want to improve on the original design.

Now that SCNWA is open, and the trail is free of snow, it is somewhere I will be going to again fairly regularly, especially as it is relatively close to home.

Not that long ago, it was solid ice everywhere. 

Late February

The waterfowl are now able to make use of the openness.

March 8

 Red-winged Blackbirds are abundant, staking out territory.

The occasional Great Blue Heron is around, but not offering the greatest photos (or maybe I just wasn't prepared with the proper settings :-)

Canada Geese are getting paired up...

..or just moving around looking for a mate?

American Tree Sparrows are still hanging around, picking away at whatever they can find on the trail to nibble on.

Nearby one can find the occasional Belted Kingfisher, waiting for something to surface at a recently open spot. They are skittish, and this one didn't allow a very close photo op. It is heavily cropped.

Of the several Wood Duck boxes just north of the NWA, an Eastern Screech Owl continues to hang out, at least for now. Wood Ducks are starting to return, so no doubt they will oust the owl before long.

Sandhill Cranes are around in increasing numbers, and often are paired up. I suspect they are already beginning the nesting process!

More unusual are a couple of Trumpeter Swans. This pair was just hanging out in a local corn stubble field without any other waterfowl nearby. Maybe they will stick around and nest? This species has been suspected of nesting in recent years, but not confirmed that I am aware of. They like the large, open and secluded wetland areas.

The NWA can be a great spot for sunsets!

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Moths....in winter!

 Okay maybe that title is a bit misleading as adult moths are not likely to be found in southern Ontario at this time of year, especially under the conditions that most of the winter has been. However I had planned on doing a brief post late last winter to feature late season adult moths that I had photographed in recent years, but the topic was just on the back burner for too long. 

However, in a brief period recently where the daytime temperature reached +1C, as I was hiking along the west South Point Trail at Rondeau, in between some patches of snow I came across a caterpillar along the trail. One can sometimes expect a Wooly Bear Caterpillar so show up during such times, but it was clear this was not one of them. The bristles are too long and spiky. In addition, a close-up of the area between some of the bristles show some orange. It is the caterpillar of the Giant Leopard Moth, officially a vulnerable species of moth in Ontario, making it even more unlikely to find wandering about in February!

This is what an adult Giant Leopard Moth looks like, next. I have photographed an adult coming to one of my black lights on several occasions, but only at Rondeau and Clear Creek Forest Provincial Parks. They definitely stand out!

There are a few moths that will come to a black light relatively late in the season, but ideally when the temperature remains above 10C. Sometimes they may even be seen flitting about in daylight. Here are a few examples of ones I have photographed even as late as late November, either at Rondeau or in my back yard. The advantage of Rondeau is that later in the season, with the effect of the warmer lake, it may stay above 10C a little longer.

Autumnal Moth

Bicolored Sallow

Bilobed Looper Moth

Box Tree Moth

These next two are the Bruce Spanworm Moth, showing a variable pattern and colour.

Common Tan Wave

The next two are the Corn Earworm Moth, showing different perspectives.

Green Cloverworm

Next is not a moth, but a regular but very small, visitor to black lights known as a Brown Lacewing.

Soybean Looper Moth

Tomato Looper Moth

 That's it, at least for now. With spring not far off, and as temperatures rise, I hope to get out to various places and add some new species to the list of ~750 species I have already photographed!

My next post will likely focus on late season birding highlights, unless something more interesting comes along. I do have a future post planned about the saga of the endangered Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus at Rondeau in the plans, so stay tuned.

 

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More birds, less winter??

 It has been nice to see the intensive wintry conditions subside, at least a bit. So I have managed to get out to a few local places to see what is around. 

 A recent visit to St. Clair NWA wasn't terribly productive, but the combination of a nice walk and a few birds made it worthwhile. American Tree Sparrows are often around, scrounging on the now exposed grassy trail and retreating to the adjacent cattails when a hiker disturbs them.

A few Canada Geese are going to and fro, but not stopping in the still frozen NWA.

Views of the frozen NWA, taken from the observation tower, follow. It won't be many weeks until there is lots of open water, and hopefully lots of water birds!

Rock Pigeons are here and there, and on a really cold day they seldom fly, but as the weather warms up a bit they become less tolerant of a stopped vehicle with something pointed out at them. These three were part of a group that was a little more tolerant. 

I decided to make another trip up along the St. Clair River. There is still lots of ice floating around, making it difficult to get close enough to many of the waterfowl. I was hoping to catch up to a couple of Trumpeter Swans that are here and there, and although I did see them, I didn't get any photos of them. This next photo is of two I saw a few years ago.

A few other, much more common species of waterfowl, were more available for my photographic attempts. This first one features a male Ring-necked Duck in the foreground, and a male Redhead in the background.
 

male Common Merganser

male Canvasback

On another outing, I headed a bit east, into southeastern Lambton County, where it seems that eagles tend to over winter. I have seen and photographed Golden Eagles here in the past. However on this occasion I only saw one Bald Eagle, but didn't get an acceptable photo. I did manage a few other things, such as a fair number of Horned Larks in scattered locations, so I spent a bit of time capturing a few photos of them as they hung out in the fields adjacent to the road. They blend in quite well when in the corn stubble.

Horned Larks are fun to watch, and photograph. It is the the Bird of the Year for the American Birding Association.

A Red-tailed Hawk hung out on a tree quite a way from the road, but enabled me to get this heavily cropped photo.

Closer to home, I spent a bit of time hiking some of the less snowy/slushy roads and trails at Rondeau. I got a good hike or two in, but didn't photograph many birds. This male Pileated Woodpecker was the most successful of my efforts, and didn't seem to mind my camera pointed at him for several minutes.
 

I came across this workings of this Poplar Vagabond Aphid. I hadn't paid much attention to them in the past but they are more abundant than I thought. It looks quite a bit different in the mid-summer, and will try and get photos of it later this year.

Even closer to home, I checked out the water treatment plant outlet just downstream from Chatham. The open area is not large, but there are a few dozen ducks making use of it. Amongst the mostly Mallards, were a couple of others, such as this female Common Goldeneye, shown first...

...and this female Common Merganser. A Green-winged Teal was also there but I didn't get any photos of it.

 And even closer to home, were some American Crows, not surprisingly, and I took this through the kitchen window. Doesn't get any closer than that!

 

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