(Mostly) Water creatures and a memorial marker

 Most of my outings of late have been out where there is a bit of open water, since woodlands and non-wetland areas seem to be fairly devoid of birds, at least those that are able to be successfully photographed. So places like the Erieau harbour and immediate area with at least some open water, is one where ducks and other waterbirds collect. 

American Coot can be found, sometimes by the hundreds, but they are usually well out in open spots too distant to photograph. Some will hang out in the main channel.

Canvasback are regularly seen.

A comparison between Canvasback, in front, with a Redhead, behind.

Common Goldeneye are relatively few, but regular.

Scaup, primarily Greater Scaup, are well represented. There are strong similarities between the two, but the Greater Scaup, shown here, has a fairly rounded head. It also has a wider black tip of the bill.

Hooded Mergansers, the smallest of the three merganser species in the area, are around in small numbers, such as this female.

A bit similar to the scaup is the Ring-Necked Duck, with its more pointed head, and a distinct white area on its frontal flank as well as across the outer part of the bill.

Mute Swans, next, are not native to North America, and are not well regarded by birders or wildlife biologists, as they are very domineering over native waterfowl. They were introduced to North America by Europeans after settlement. But one should realize that in themselves they are impressive and beautiful birds. There are often a dozen or more scattered around Erieau.

 

There isn't much open water in the Thames River these days, given the extent of cold weather in recent weeks. But where the warm-water outlet occurs, there are usually a few ducks. American Black Ducks, shown first, are much fewer than Mallards which follow. At Erieau, there are often quite a few Am Black Ducks.....

....and an occasional female Red-breasted Merganser will be seen.

Not a duck, obviously, was this Beaver swimming through the open water, carrying a branch to its burrow, likely in the side of the river bank.

Northwest of Chatham, there is very little open water on Lake St. Clair or adjacent rivers, but where there is some, one can find a few birds. This next, somewhat distant, photo was taken from the very north end of Bear Line, looking in a small area of open water along the Chenal Ecarte, a.k.a. the Snye, which separates Walpole Island First Nation from the Ontario mainland. Most birds were Canada Geese, with a few Mallards, scaup, and Hooded Mergansers mingled within. A closer look just to the right of centre shows one of the four Great Blue Herons hanging out with the waterfowl.

 One of the herons was off by itself on the ice.

Elsewhere in a few spots were some Tundra Swans in some corn stubble. At first glance, due to the lack of the yellow patch on its black bill, one might figure it is a Trumpeter Swan. However some Tundras lack the yellow patch, and the black gap right in front of the eye is narrow like a Tundra. Also the swans that it was associating with were all Tundras, so it was an easy decision.

Elsewhere I came across a couple of Wood Duck boxes, which maybe in the spring will have a Wood Duck family occupying it, but at the moment, there is an Eastern Screech Owl making use of it.

On a sad note, I came across this marker along the road not far from St. Clair NWA. It marks the location of where a murder victim was dumped over the road bank and into the adjacent channel. It was in early January of 2024 when I was out looking for Snowy Owls that I came across this victim from Tilbury, and reported it to the police. I waited until they arrived, gave them the details of my discovery, and then left so they could get their investigation underway. Three people all known to the 54-year old victim, were charged with murder, and the case is still before the courts. Certainly unfortunate in so many ways, but such is the reality of society. This is the first, and hopefully the last, time I encounter this type of thing. It is along a road that I regularly drive, so there are unfortunate reminders of this every time.

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Barred Owl continues, plus hints of spring

The Barred Owl that has been at Shrewsbury since late December or earlier, continues to hang around. It does move around the village regularly, but always seems to find a roost to spend the day time hours. This, of course, makes it a real challenge for birders looking for it and basing their search on where it was seen the day before. Especially frustrating if one comes from a distance, and keeps striking out, which has happened in at least a few cases.

I was out a few days ago, and with quite up-to-date information on where to find it, was successful. I was able to approach it carefully and quietly with a long telephoto lens. While the owl saw me it did not seem to be all that concerned.

In the few minutes I was there, it spent most of its time with its eyes closed, apparently unconcerned and even ignoring me. That was fine with me, I was not offended in the least :-).

With the above normal temperatures lately, even shorebirds are starting to appear. There have been up to 3 Killdeer seen regularly along the Erieau Marsh/Rail Trail. It is possible that they never left, but if so, where were they over the last couple of months as they were not reported at any of the usual birding spots by birders out and about in various places. At any rate they seem to be predictable at this location. This first one was one of three seen on Feb 8.

I was out again today (Feb 16) and saw at least three.

Interestingly another shorebird, a Lesser Yellowlegs, was photographed in a slightly flooded field in the area, beside McGeachy Pond, just yesterday. Given the warm temperatures, up to about 15C, one might expect birds to be confused and tempted to get moving. I checked the area today, but as is often the case, the bit of water in the field yesterday, was pretty much gone today. There were other ponded areas, but I did not come across the bird. Perhaps it got a little concerned in the past 24 hours as the temperature had changed considerably, as did the wind direction, and it might have headed back a little farther south. I had one at the foot of Rondeau Bay back on Feb 27, 2017, but this one certainly has eclipsed that previously earliest date.

Regular readers will notice my mention of lots of Bald Eagles as of late. That continues, with numerous sub-adult birds frequenting the area. They are always fun to photograph. I haven't got tired of them yet when they cooperate.

The adults are paired up, and hanging out in their territory. This pair was in the Shrewsbury area, and there are two nests within 2-3 kilometres of where this pair was seen, so it is likely from one of those territories unless there is another territory I have yet to discover.

While it takes 5 years for a Bald Eagle to attain fully adult plumage, with both a white head and tail, sometimes slightly younger birds will mate if there is territory available. I came across this sub-adult checking out the nest seen from along the west South Point Trail at Rondeau a few days ago. Unless one of the adults that occupied this territory in previous years has met its demise, I expect this particular bird was just checking out the nest, maybe getting some ideas of what it had to put together in a future year.

A new nesting pair has shown up in the Keith McLean Conservation Lands area. Perhaps it is the pair that showed interest last year in the nesting platform that is quite visible along the trail at that conservation area, but maybe felt a little too exposed with the many birders and hikers exploring the area? At any rate, this nest is considerably more secluded. In fact I estimated I was at least 800 metres from the nest when I got this highly cropped fuzzy foto, and that was from about as close as the official trail goes. In scanning around, it was the white head that first got my attention, otherwise I probably would have missed it.

I have checked some of the other nests that I know about in southern Chatham-Kent, and often see an adult perched on the side of the nest or on a branch very close by. Late February is very typical of the beginning of nest occupancy, so if you get a chance to see a nest, take a closer look to see if there is the white head of an adult in a position that indicates it is incubating one or more eggs.

Certainly not an indicator of spring, but while checking out the Clear Creek Forest Prov Park area a few days ago, I saw this Rough-legged Hawk soaring over the grassy field. It is normally a wintering species, although they have been very few and far between this winter. Some will linger, or be late spring migrants, as on one occasion several years ago, I and another birder had one at Rondeau in very early June!

While there was still ice on Rondeau Bay, a swan of some type was caught in the ice, or died and remained there. A young Northern Harrier, found it worthwhile to dine on.

A few days later I saw this young Northern Harrier, possibly even the same bird as it was only about a kilometre away from the previous spot, perched at the top of this evergreen shrub at the KMCL.

The water treatment outlet on the Thames River in Chatham was not a productive spot to see much diversity of waterfowl this year, unless one is content with Canada Geese, Mallards and American Black Ducks. The only other species of waterfowl I saw this winter, so far, was a single Green-winged Teal. But I partially satisfied my photographic urges when there, focusing on the Mallards and Am Black Ducks. The latter species used to be the more abundant of the two species here in the east, if you go back far enough to before settlement opened up the landscape. Here is a pair of MALL, with the female in the foreground and a male in the background.

Next is a pair of ABDU, with the male in the foreground.

And here is a comparison of a male ABDU in the foreground and a female  MALL in the background.

Unless there is a major return to winter over the next few weeks, I don't expect this water treatment outlet to be a place to see much until next winter!

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On the search for Snowy Owls; plus deer herd reduction, coyotes, turkeys and more

 With the sudden arrival of wintry weather, I went out looking for Snowy Owls in the former Dover Twp, northwest of Chatham. 

It is typically the time when the first ones show up in this area, and there have been one or two reported recently in places farther east. However in spite of my search in places where they are most often found, I came up empty. Last year was a great time to find them early in the season, even up until early January where we tallied a record 23 individuals on the Christmas Bird Count that includes this area.

During my search, a couple of days were quite windy. I was a bit surprised, and concerned, when scenes like this were fairly common.

While there are hedges of cedar and other species, they don't always make much difference, as this next photo shows. This photo was taken at the end of a lengthy hedgerow, and although the wind was blowing from left to right, there isn't much difference in the amount of top soil being blown about from one side of the hedgerow to the other.

I realize that due to the very dry conditions, early harvest and such, landowners want to get ahead of tilling the ground rather than waiting for spring. As a result, there is much less corn stubble left on the ground to hold the soil from blowing away, and this may continue for many months until the next planting season.

Also as a result of the lack of stubble on the ground, any Snowy Owls that venture this way may find it less conducive for hunting mice, etc., and therefore will move on. It may be quite a disappointing winter for finding Snowies, but time will tell just how disappointing.

I did manage to find a few other interesting birds to photograph, including the following. There were lots of Horned Larks along the roadways and fields.

Tundra Swans are widespread where they can find a field of corn stubble to land in.

A few Sandhill Cranes are still hanging out in the area, including this trio....

.....as well as this pair mixed in with various species of waterfowl in St. Clair NWA.

There were lots of ducks in flight at the NWA, often at quite a distance. This pair of American Black Ducks came by at a reasonable distance and with good light to make it a worthwhile photo.

There were several Great Blue Herons, again at a distance, other than this one which was reluctant to give me anything but a bum look.

European Starlings are often seen, typically in large groups, but sometimes feeding in berry bushes in small numbers.

In my travels I had come across a large mixed flock of blackbirds, and it included an adult male Yellow-headed Blackbird. The birds were constantly on the move as they searched for something to eat on the field, and before I could get my camera on the Yellow-headed Blackbird for at least a record shot, a Northern Harrier flew into sight, causing the ~4000 birds to make a quick departure. A day or so later I checked the field again, but saw no birds as the landowners were busily working away.

I usually end up at Rondeau at some point in my travels. With the wind, resulting in vigorous and noisy wave action, it is hard to hear the chips and other sounds that birds are most likely to make at this time. There have been a few migrants such as Fox Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos scattered here and there. Rondeau Bay was completely frozen over, at least in view from the park. The warmer temperature of the lake, as well as the steady wave action, has kept the lake open. There are flocks of ducks flying out at a distance, and gulls scattered here and there, some quite close to shore.

Ring-billed Gull

Bonaparte's Gull

Regular users of the park may be aware of the current Deer Herd Reduction program. It began last weekend, and will continue for the next two weekends. There are deer blinds put up in various location from which the hunters will wait. They won't be very visible from along the trails.

Deer control of one sort or another is necessary given the absence of their historical predators such as Timber Wolves and Black Bears, which were eliminated from the park long before it became a park. There were periodic efforts to keep the number of deer in check up until the early 1970s, but from that period until the early 1990s, for political reasons, there were no efforts at their control. The result was that the numbers sky-rocketed to the point where there were almost 600 deer in the park in the winter. Browse studies conducted by deer specialists indicated that the winter population of deer at Rondeau should be in the 100-125 range. This high population had dire effects on the deer as well as the vegetation in the park. The productivity of the local herd dropped considerably, and too many does were not giving birth to any fawns. In the winter, especially during coldest parts, some individuals were undergoing serious malnutrition, to the point where they would just sit down and die. As for the vegetation, the browse lines were quite evident, and there was a shift in the types of shrubs and trees that were being greatly reduced from the park's ecosystem. In addition, spring wildflowers were almost non-existent.

Some people have argued that there is an increasing number of coyotes in the park which should maintain deer numbers to acceptable levels. While it seems that coyote numbers are increasing, the deer are increasing faster. Also coyotes generally prefer smaller prey but will hunt down a deer when the opportunity arises. 

Which brings up another point. Coyotes are a mid-western species and never were a main feature of the heavily forested part of southwestern Ontario. But as the landscape opened up, coyotes arrived in increasing numbers. It is not uncommon for the sharp-eyed traveler to see one off in the distance. The first two photos were taken a year or two ago, in the open landscape of Dover Twp.

They will inhabit some of the few woodlands that remain in Chatham-Kent, as this next photo shows. I discovered a coyote den not far from where this photo was taken.

The increasing number of coyotes has had an impact on other wildlife. Native species such as Red Fox, Eastern Cottontail and Wild Turkey seem to be on a downward population trend across Chatham-Kent in recent years. The next two photos show what used to be a fairly common sight across the agricultural part of C-K.

 

Non-native species such as Ring-necked Pheasant and European Hare (a.k.a jackrabbit) also seem to have declined. Even at a large natural area such as Rondeau Provincial Park, the effects have been noticeable. Turkeys were doing quite well after they were re-introduced in Chatham-Kent several decades ago. They were seen regularly at Rondeau. 

A 2008 photo at Rondeau

I have found them to be a lot less common at Rondeau now, an opinion that was shared by a couple of long-term park staff just a few days ago. Turkeys were virtually non-existent on the Blenheim/Rondeau Christmas Bird Counts until 2004, when 26 birds were tallied. The numbers peaked at 349 by 2011, but thereafter gradually diminished so that for the last 4 years, even with an increase in coverage across the count circle, we are hard-pressed to get more than 50 birds on that count.

Even Red Foxes seem to be less common at Rondeau than they used to be. While it certainly is a general concern when native species decline due in part to the arrival of a species that is essentially not-native to the park, it has further effects. One of the natural controls of ticks that can cause Lyme Disease is the presence of Wild Turkeys, as well as Virginia Opossums, who feed on ticks. I noticed a decrease in ticks when the numbers of turkeys and 'possums were increasing. As one who has contracted Lyme Disease on 6 different occasions from Rondeau over a 30 year period, I was glad to see the numbers of turkeys and 'possums increase, along with what appeared to be a decrease in the number of ticks I encountered.

What will this increase in coyotes spell for the future?

Across the landscape of Chatham-Kent there has been an ongoing outlet for local hunters to engage in coyote hunts. On some days in the winter, one can see vehicles and hunters along rural roads and vegetated areas, trying to flush out a coyote or two. I have no numbers to indicate what level of success they have achieved, but have stopped to talk with an occasional hunter. It seems that they have had enough success to continue, and the hunters are certain that there isn't any shortage of coyotes to go after.

This next photo is of a recently shot coyote. I watched as a hunter removed it from the back of his truck and laid it out along the bank of a creek system. In many ways a coyote is a beautiful animal, just like so many other elements of the natural world. But just like a population of White-tailed Deer that gets too numerous for the benefit of so many other elements of nature, something needs to be done.

On a completely unrelated note, I came across this bit of information today, as alarming as it is, by a former vice-president of Pfizer. A short, but informative read here.

 

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