Summer Tanager, Prothonotary Warbler, Cerulean Warbler and more

Yesterday was a very good day to be birding at Rondeau. There were lots of birders, as expected, and it is a highlight of the season to meet up with long-term acquaintances from both near and far. It was also a good day for a pleasant diversity of birds, especially some of the less common ones.

Seeing a Prothonotary Warbler for the first time in the spring is always a milestone. Not that long ago, their average arrival date to the park was May 8. This year, in spite of the lateness of spring, the first one showed up on May 4.This one along Bennett Ave wasn't all that close to me, but given that a few are showing up in typical nesting habitat already, I'm sure I will have plenty of opportunity to see them a lot closer, especially if they are along Tulip Tree Trail in their usual spot.

We got word of a Yellow-breasted Chat in some shrubbery east of the maintenance yard. Unfortunately it would pop into view for a few seconds, then disappear for an hour or more. In spite of spending a lot of time looking and waiting, no one in our group got to see it. A pair of Eastern Towhees were much more cooperative.

A walk part way down the Harrison Trail resulted in White-eyed Vireo, Yellow-throated Vireo, Hooded Warbler and this Northern Parula, but I only got a photo of the latter species.

A Summer Tanager was reported in the campground, so off I went. A few people were already looking for it, but the bird had apparently moved from its initially reported location. As I walked through the campground towards where it was 'supposed' to be, I noticed it and got the word out, sort of. The auto correct on my cell phone kept making goofy changes to my text messages, but eventually the word got out so that quite a few others got to see it reasonably well.

Every so often there seems to be somewhat of an influx of this species. It has never conclusively nested successfully in Ontario, but back in 1985 after an influx, a pair persisted at Rondeau in suitable habitat. We observed copulation, mate feeding and agitation/alarm calls when we were near by, so it is likely they at least attempted to nest since they were in a suitable area for several weeks. A probable nest was discovered close by after the leaves had fallen but since there were Scarlet Tanagers in the general area and the nests look somewhat the same, we never knew for certain.


Before leaving the park, I checked out a flowering Forsythia bush at Beach Access #2 where a female Cerulean Warbler had accommodated viewers earlier. After a bit of patience, it showed up at the same shrub and allowed several of us to enjoy it relatively low down. A male had been near the entrance to the Marsh Trail a couple of days earlier, but it was often up fairly high.

After leaving Rondeau, I stopped at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons. There were a few shorebirds, and lots of the usual waterfowl. The highlight species of shorebird for me were these three Long-billed Dowitchers.

Today I decided to spend a bit of time near Mitchell's Bay, first checking out the west end of Angler Line hoping to see or hear Yellow-headed Blackbirds, or maybe even seeing American White Pelicans soaring out over the marshy area of Ticky Tacky Point. I struck out on both, but did see the usual Great Egrets, Black-crowned Night-Herons and the like.


Along the Mitchell's Bay South Trail, the birds weren't terribly plentiful, but I did see a few reptiles, including lots of Painted Turtles and a few Map Turtles basking.

Map Turtle (foreground) & Painted Turtle (background)

 A large Northern Watersnake was along the shoreline. They are quite feisty snakes.

On the way home, we encountered this lingering Snowy Owl on a pole. I wonder how long before they are all gone from the area?

A return trip to Rondeau is likely in the next day or so, so stay tuned!

Natural Areas of Chatham-Kent, Part 10 (Blenheim Sewage Lagoons)

Okay so the idea of a sewage lagoon maybe doesn't sound like much of a natural area. But wildlife have a different perspective, and therefore a complex of sewage lagoons is very much a magnet for wildlife.

If anyone has been out in the prairie pothole region of North America, you may realize that potholes filled with water are common place. Certain types of wildlife in particular are attracted to these potholes. So to wildlife passing through Chatham-Kent, and other areas where sewage lagoons are present, this concentration of 'potholes' filled with water are ideal places to visit, and in some cases nest at. As a result, some species historically found much farther west, have expanded their range to include sewage lagoons in southern Ontario.

These lagoons are easy to find for humans, as well. This particular set is located just west of Blenheim and north of Hwy 3/Talbot Trail on, appropriately named, Lagoon Road.

There is a condition for visiting, however, and that is an annual permit which is required to ensure not just anyone goes in and to protect the municipality from liability. The permit system has been in place for these lagoons since the mid 1980s, and is available from the municipal centre in Blenheim, located next to the post office.

To date there have been ~235 species of birds recorded here. What is so attractive to wildlife? I'm glad you asked.

Water birds, especially ducks, need places where they can rest safely from terrestrial predators.

Ducks, herons and shorebirds can feed on the abundant aquatic life, including invertebrates, fish, frogs, etc.

Shorebirds of various types are abundant especially during the spring and fall, including the Spotted Sandpiper shown above and Lesser Yellowlegs shown below.

Sometimes shorebirds can be extremely abundant.

Others are regular, but less common.

Short-billed Dowitcher

Long-billed Dowitcher

Wilson's Phalarope

 Wilson's Phalarope is really a species of the prairie pothole region, which has nested at these sewage lagoons on occasion. In the photo of them below, in their breeding plumage, it is the female that is the more brightly coloured, as it is the male that does most of the incubating.

Still other shorebird species are unusual, and if they occur immediately attract interest from other keen birders.

American Avocet

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Marbled Godwit

Species of ducks that are more typical of the mid-western regions are more common place now, and include the following two species, both of which have attempted to breed here:

Northern Shoveler

Ruddy Duck

The next species, Greater White-fronted Goose, does not breed, but is sometimes seen on migration.

 It is sometimes called speckle-belly, due to the pattern of its belly shown here.

The waters of a sewage lagoon are nutrient rich, as one might expect, and this means aquatic insects are abundant. Land birds such as swallows benefit immensely from insect hatches. This is most evident during periods of cool weather when insects might not be available over the land, but with the warmer water retaining heat and with multitudes of insects hatching and becoming air borne, swallows can feed over these ponds to sustain themselves at a critical time. If one wants to see this, visit the lagoons during a cold spell. For example during a cold spell in mid-May of 2017 when the temperatures dropped close to freezing, there were thousands of swallows swooping over the water feeding, or resting on the berms separating the ponds.

 Tree Swallows were the most abundant, but Cliff Swallows and others were present in larger than usual numbers.

Cliff Swallow

Cliff Swallow

Tree Swallow

The shrubs surrounding the lagoon complex can be a great spot for land birds, especially on migration.

Rusty Blackbird

With such concentrations of birds, raptors that feed on birds such as Peregrine Falcon, are periodically attracted to the site.

Other species of wildlife are found, as well, with some being rare.....

Cattle Egret

 ...some uncommon....

Short-eared Owl

....and some not so rare.

Groundhog

The very openness of the lagoon complex and with it being so accessible to birders due to the berms surrounding the ponds, make it a great spot for birders. Having said that, since it is easy for humans to see wildlife, keep in mind that wildlife, which have great vision and survival instincts, can see humans even better and may be difficult to approach. Binoculars are a must, and a scope is highly recommended.

With all of the openness, there are lots of wildflowers present around the edges, making it a great spot for butterflies as well. It is a regular stopping point for us in our annual Butterfly Count in mid July, but it is sometimes better in the late summer when plants such as New England Aster, which is a favourite nectaring plant for butterflies, are abundant. The first three species are common here, as are others.

Clouded Sulphur

Common Ringlet

Orange Sulphur

 The next two species are rare and irregularly found here in spite of their names.

Common Buckeye

Common Checkered-skipper

All in all, sewage lagoons are a great place to find wildlife......you may be surprised!

Sewage lagoons are for the birds

The Blenheim Sewage Lagoons are popular with the birds. The variation in water levels, including in the sprinkler cells, has something for everyone.

These past few days have been quite good for shorebirds, finally. The spring was fairly uninviting for them, since the sprinkler cells were dry and the other ponds were too high with almost no muddy edge. So it is a nice change, and hopefully conditions will remain good since the shorebird southern migration is well under way and will be continuing for several weeks.

I made it to the Blenheim lagoons on the weekend. Saturday evening was quite nice: low bright light for good viewing and photography, a gentle breeze, unlike the sometimes very windy conditions that these lagoons are known for. Although other birders had been their earlier in the day, I had the full two hours all to myself, and the birds.

There were lots of Lesser Yellowlegs, the most I have seen there for quite awhile. A conservative estimate was about 75 birds. A very small number of Greater Yellowlegs was there as well.

Semipalmated Plovers were around in small numbers.

In the sprinkler cells was the usual mix of Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers. Of greater interest were at least 4 Short-billed Dowitchers, in various plumages.

Also in the sprinkler cells were at least 3 White-rumped Sandpipers. They aren't always easy to pick out unless they are flying, at which point being a largish gray 'peep' type sandpiper with a white rump really sticks out. I did see these birds flying, but did not get any photos of that action. I did get two of them feeding, and they blend in fairly well. However their wings are a bit longer than their tail, which usually tells the 'tale'. This next photo doesn't show that feature all that well, due to the angle of the photo, and it is the only one I got. However the rusty base to the bill, which is shown here, is diagnostic, fortunately.

The target species for my visit was to catch up to a Red-necked Phalarope, one of which had been seen by multiple parties earlier in the day and in previous days. I did catch up to it and got some decent, but more distant than I would like, photos.

There were other birds, including several Pied-billed Grebes.....

...and two Hooded Mergansers, among others.

Wood Duck, Blue-winged Teal and Ring-necked Duck plus the usual Mallards and Ruddy Ducks were all noted, but not photographed.

There were a few land birds as well. Typical of this time of year are Bobolink in their autumn plumage. There were at least 9 that I saw. Males, females and young of the year all look basically the same now, as in the next photo.

 They aren't nearly as distinctive as their alternate, or breeding, plumage of the male, shown next in this early July photo.

A family of Eastern Kingbirds was feeding on flying insects.

Yellow Warblers are still around, although it won't be long before warblers of all types are making their way south.

Butterflies were noticeable by their absence. But I did catch up to another winged invertebrate, a Cicada Killer, feeding on a Swamp Milkweed.

All in all, it was a great couple of hours, and there were lots of photo opportunities along the way.