Spring birds and other fauna

Such a busy time of year shaping up as spring is unfolding. I won't deal with spring wildflowers on this one, but will do so in a future post. For this one, there is lots of fauna, etc., to feature!

A recent trip to St. Clair NWA was fairly productive in seeing things, although the heavy overcast made photography a bit of a challenge.

American Tree Sparrows are still around, but dwindling in numbers. 

Beavers are well established, although not always easy to find and photograph.

Out towards Lake St. Clair, this tree regularly has a few Double-crested Cormorants using it over the course of the day.

A Great Egret or two can be found.

Sandhill Cranes are often in good numbers, sometimes up to about 14, with some even hanging out on the main trail.

It was heavy overcast, as mentioned, so it influenced some of my photo efforts. This was taken from the observation tower, looking eastward.

I try and get to the Mitchell's Bay North trail regularly. Great Egrets are becoming more common, which will likely continue until well into the autumn.

There is lots of shorebird habitat, but most of the time I am only able to find a Greater Yellowlegs, shown next, or a Lesser Yellowlegs.

Midland Painted Turtles are out to enjoy the sunshine, and help out with their egg production phase.

 Heading south, a recent trip to the Erieau Marsh Trail was a worthwhile stop. Right at the beginning of the trail was a Blue-headed Vireo, the first one I had seen this year. Unfortunately it was so busy moving around the branches, or up against the white sky, this is the best photo I managed.

There were several Blue-winged Teal in the sheltered part of the wetland, along with some geese.

I saw a few Chipping Sparrows, just becoming a little more common these days....

...as are Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Of course Rondeau is a favourite destination, and I managed to track down a few species of fauna. Butterflies are becoming more common. This first one is what I would call a Spring Azure, and it fits the description in the fairly recent Butterflies of Ontario book. However there is someone in the Ottawa area who tries to convince people that the only way to tell whether it is this species or one of several others, is to look at it under a microscope, so he lumps them all as Holistic Azures. It's too bad, as that means one has to collect and kill it to identify it! I think I will stick with what the book says.

Ruby-crowned Kinglets are becoming quite common...

..as are Mourning Cloaks.

Killdeer have been back for awhile, and I came across this nest a few days ago.

I managed a nice close-up of this House Wren, singing its heart out to attract a mate.

These Green Darners were busy along the trail.

And Brown Creepers are fairly common these days.

If you go to Rondeau these days, you may notice that the spring, prescribed burns have occurred in a couple of places. It will be interesting to watch how the flush of prairie vegetation responds!

 I haven't been out birding quite as regularly or intensively as I used to, but some of the younger more dedicated local birders have come up with some good sightings. What follows are of species that have been recently seen, but I had to dig into my archives to feature them. I might catch up to one or more of these species yet over the next week or so if they stick around, but in the meantime, I will showcase these this way.

Several Marbled Godwits were noted flying by the lake front. This is one I took from my kayak at Mitchell's Bay a few years ago. 

Piping Plovers have historically nested in the area, but due to their overall decline over the decades, are seldom seen other than on migration. One or two have been seen from Erieau looking at the south beach of Rondeau, but only seen via a 'scope. I photographed this one along the south beach several years ago.

Willets are migratory, nesting farther west, as are the Marbled Godwits, but occasionally show up in the area. Several were seen recently along the lake front. I photographed these three at Shrewsbury several years ago. It is a real treat to see any of these three species, and I hope an indication of things to come!

 

If you would like to subscribe to Nature Nuggets, send an email to prairietramper@gmail.com 

 

 

Some first sightings of the season

 I have been a bit busy working on a project which I hope to announce soon, but have still been able to get out and see some of the new hints of spring. For example earlier this week, I saw my first butterfly of the year, a Mourning Cloak. This species overwinters as an adult, so on a warm day, it can suddenly appear. It wasn't all that warm, a mere 4C but sunny and with very little wind; still it was a nice hint of other thingst to come.

In the bird world, I now have seen 5 species of shorebirds in the last little while, with things like Pectoral Sandpiper.....

.....and Dunlin being the latest arrivals this week. Actually a Pectoral Sandpiper had been seen by others a week or two ago, but I never caught up with it.

Dunlin, while typically being one of the latest autumn shorebirds to be seen (we got one on the Christmas Bird Count last Dec), the date of seeing this one yesterday is unusual. In checking sightings on eBird, this individual seems to be the first one of the season here in Ontario.

Both of these shorebirds were observed at the Erieau Marsh/Rail trail, and there is always a few species of waterfowl to be seen. In fact there are often thousands of ducks within binocular/scope view as they rest on the bay before heading off to their breeding ground. Most are too far away to bother with a photo, but some of the 'puddle ducks' are close enough to give them a shot.

Blue-winged Teal have just arrived in small numbers

Green-winged Teal have been around for a couple of weeks or so....

....as have Northern Pintail.

While not technically a waterfowl, I also saw this American Coot at the McGeachy Pond Conservation Area just outside of Erieau.

Mute Swans, well what can I say. If there is any open water, even throughout the winter, there will be some (too many!) around. This one is just resting on a mud flat along the Erieau trail. Some are even on their nest already.

In other swan news this escapee, the Whooper Swan, continues in the Erieau area, either on the bay or in the roadside pond on the way to Erieau.

Continuing with the swan topic, I was at the Mitchell's Bay South Shore trail yesterday and saw a lot of Mute Swans, as well as this Trumpeter Swan. It is native, and staging a comeback in Ontario. It is noticeable by its size, as large as a Mute Swan, but with a large, all black bill and a wide black area just in front of the eye.

Continuing with the waterfowl theme, I finally caught up to Greater White-fronted Goose. There had been a few seen here and there for several weeks, but never right where I was. That changed yesterday when I saw 11 of them at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons. I met another birder there, and together we managed to locate them at the far end of the lagoon site. They allowed us to approach, slowly and carefully, to within about 150 metres before they decided that was close enough, and so flew off to another berm on the southeast side of the lagoon system. We left them alone there, and the next day (yesterday) two more had joined them.

Also along one of the two Mitchell's Bay trails, I saw two Sandhill Cranes, and they are definitely getting into breeding mode as I noted an attempt at copulation.

I also saw my first Great Egret of the year, a bit early for the species given the un-spring-like weather over the past few weeks.

A Ring-billed Gull isn't something I normally decide to photograph, but this one gave me a good setting, and it was in prime breeding plumage, so I took it!

Rounding out some new spring sightings, I added these two species of turtles: Midland Painted Turtle...

....and Blanding's Turtle.

There were actually at least a dozen or more of the painted turtles out basking, but were quick to plop off into the water before I was able to get positioned through the shrubbery to get the photo I was attempting. The Blanding's Turtle, on the other hand, was quite tolerant.

Hopefully there will be a lot more first of year sightings in the near future!

If you would like to subscribe, or unsubscribe, to Nature Nuggets, send an email to: prairietramper@gmail.com

 

Roaming around south Chatham-Kent

 There have been lots of nice days to be out lately. Other things pop up so I don't get out every day, but in spite of the current lock down, I've managed to check out a few places.

Erieau, both the town site and nearby McGeachy Pond CA and Rail Trail sites near by have been some of my target places. The Bonaparte's Gulls have arrived in fairly good numbers for the time of year, and the marina at Erieau is a great spot to get a close view with photo opportunities. While the Bonaparte's are plentiful one always can hope for something a little less common. The Bonies are in various stages of plumage development, and this first one is looking pretty well complete in its breeding plumage.

Forster's Terns have arrived, pretty much on schedule. They can be hard to photograph, as they dipsy-doodle around and not always in the best light.

Horned Grebes are fairly abundant. These next shots show the variability in plumage as they shift from basic winter to alternate breeding plumage.

Killdeer have been back for awhile, and are well into the nesting cycle. When I pulled in to a parking spot to look over the marina, I no sooner turned the vehicle off that this one came right up to me squawking. Clearly I knew that a nest was likely near by, so I didn't move or even get out of the truck for awhile.

The adult put on quite a show, trying to lure me out of the area with its broken-wing act.

I eventually got out and walked carefully so as not to step on any eggs. I figured I had either parked right over top or had driven over the nest, so wanted to look around to see. After a bit of gull and tern shooting, I discovered this nest with one egg, and carefully moved the vehicle and left.

A subsequent trip two days later indicated that the nesting process had continued with now three eggs. I parked along the roadside since I knew where the nest was, and didn't want to upset the adults any further. They were a lot less concerned on this visit. But with the nest right in the middle of a parking area, it might not remain undamaged to completion.

Along the McGeachy Pond trail there weren't many birds to see close by, but there were several hundred birds of various species out on the lake, including at least 100 Red-breasted Mergansers and 150 or more Bonaparte's Gulls, all diving after what I presume was a school of fish swimming below. There were a few Ring-billed Gulls mixed in, as well as a Little Gull, but I couldn't get its photo.

There were a few logs along the trail that had turtles busy soaking up some sun. Most were Blanding's Turtle, the larger turtle with the yellow throat and considered Rare in Ontario, and a few Midland Painted Turtles, the two smaller turtles to the right of this next photo.

The Rail Trail is often worth a visit, and the light for photography is usually better later in the afternoon. There were several pairs of Northern Shovelers near by.....

 

.....and lots of Blue-winged Teal.

Several Canada Geese were quietly resting....

...and then all of a sudden, there was a mass exodus of many of the ducks. Before I discovered what the confusion was, the ducks had noticed this adult Bald Eagle approaching overhead and not all that high up.

Teal in flight

Gadwall

 The resident Mute Swans did not seem to be bothered, however.

Female Mute Swan on a nest

Around home we don't have a lot of bird action, but sometimes it pays to keep an eye out the window. Unfortunately with the window facing east, the light isn't the best for early birds, but you do what you can. We have had 2-3 Red-breasted Nuthatches hanging around for several days....

.....and three female Brown-headed Cowbirds sat on a nearby limb for a few minutes.

A recent stop at the Keith McLean Conservation Area resulted in seeing much the same species of waterfowl as what I had noted at the Rail Trail. But a couple of Great Egrets were present, although decided to get up and leave to a more distant part of the wetland complex.

Getting to Rondeau is always worth the time, although on occasion one wonders where the birds might be. There are often a few spring wildflowers to check out, including:

Carolina Spring Beauty

Cut-leaved Toothwort

Colt's-foot (not native)

Other things aren't surviving quite as well. This little Northern Brown Snake was attempting to cross the road at the designated crossing on Lakeshore Road for the Tuliptree Trail. Unfortunately it lingered too long, or the driver did not see it, or both. It will now likely be a meal for some scavenger.

Yellow-rumped Warblers are arriving in small numbers, and a few other warbler species have shown up in ones or twos. It won't be long, hopefully, that there will be 25-30 species seen in a single day!

I had this male Eastern Bluebird hanging out in what appears to be a good territory for it. I didn't see its mate, but will keep a lookout for it to confirm nesting for the current Breeding Bird Atlas.

There is no question that the bird highlight of the last few days has been the sighting of a Black Vulture initially along the east side of the park. I was otherwise occupied, doing some gardening things at home so wasn't able to get to the park to see it. However I have seen this rarity a couple of times before, including one inside the park back in 2000, and the one below, just outside the park.

March 15, 2009

Maybe this one will stick around for a few more days to greet the birders who are exploring the area.