May migration is finally here!

The spring bird migration has been a little slower than most birders would like. But us birders always hope for more action!

As May began, winds swung around to the south and southwest bringing numerous birds up from points farther south.

Shorebirds are building in numbers and diversity. In this first photo are two Lesser Yellowlegs and a female Wilson's Phalarope, just two of several shorebird species seen at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons recently.

Wilson's Phalarope

As the diversity of birds increases, the number of birders does also. It wasn't that long ago that one might not encounter another birder hiking around the trails of Rondeau. For the next few weeks, it will be a lot busier!

On Thursday of this week, I spent much of the day at Rondeau. It was windy and wet, but the birds were there in good numbers. My initial target was to catch up with the Kentucky Warbler which had been seen the previous day by quite a few, and gave some incredible views and photo ops to some. When I arrived I didn't see anyone else, which did not bode well in my mind. I walked the maintenance trail loop, and it was when I got to the very south end when I saw someone I knew. It was Josh (J.B. on eBird). He caught my eye and pointed off to the east. The Kentucky was there, and in typical Kentucky Warbler fashion, spent most of its time on the ground, hopping from behind one bit of vegetation to another, and occasionally hiding behind some brush. It did perch in decent view on a few occasions, but at a bit of distance, and I only got one photo which was not worth keeping. But I have the image in my mind....I just can't share it with anyone! I found out that Denise, a fellow photographer friend, had an incredible experience with this warbler the day before. The bird essentially followed her around the very open section of the trail, giving clear, full frame photos of this rare bird. Maybe it was the camouflage clothing that Denise is known to wear......

The north end of the park was the place to be for warbler activity, especially along Water Street and the north end of the Marsh Trail. I managed to see 18 species of warbler altogether, including the likes of Cerulean, Blackpoll and Blue-winged, all of which are 'good' birds. Most surprising were three Blackpoll Warblers, usually an indication of the end of the warbler migration. Just more evidence of this spring migration being less than normal. Due to the wind and rain, I left my camera in the vehicle, so I missed the opportunity to get photos of some of these birds, in spite of them being low down and relatively close. I did get a distant shot of this Blue-winged.

Feeders are often effective in attracting birds as they first arrive in an area. The feeders at the Visitor Centre were busy, with several first year male Orchard Orioles. The second photo shows a young male a little farther along in its plumage transition, as some of the feathers are changing from yellowish to rusty brown.

There were several Baltimore Orioles....

....and several Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, both male and female.

With all of the rain, some of the grassy areas were flooded. This Solitary Sandpiper seemed to enjoy this spot.

A walk through part of the campground was uneventful but I did see this Mourning Dove on a nest. The nest was unusual in that it built its own flimsy nest on top of last year's robin nest. The light wasn't great, but a close look revealed a partially grown youngster.

Other wildlife was out and about. This Common Snapping Turtle was crossing the main road.

While talking to Denise (the Kentucky Warbler photographer mentioned earlier) along the roadside from our respective vehicles, I noticed a critter scampering up a small tree. It was trying to access the shed we were beside. We managed to get some photos of this Long-Tailed Weasel in various poses, but the back-lit conditions were a challenge.

Earlier this week I went over to McKerrall Woods, just a bit northeast of Chatham. I got my first of the year Gray Catbird skulking through the tangles.

A male Wood Duck kept an eye on me but didn't flush from its high perch.

The resident pair of Red-tailed Hawks were there, with one of the adults soaring overhead letting me know it was not happy with me. This woodlot is seldom visited by anyone, so was probably surprised by my presence.

Spring wildflowers were in good display. This first one is Dogtooth Violet, a.k.a. Trout Lily, a.k.a. Adder's-tongue.

Spring Beauty

Red Trillium

 I was pleased to see this next one: a yellow form of Red Trillium. It is quite rare. I only know of four locations of it in Chatham-Kent.

The weekend is here, and it looks promising for birds and other things.

Hot and cold birding

Late last week and on the weekend brought some really up and down weather. The first couple of days were quite pleasant....warm and if you were in the sun and out of the wind, even hot at times. There were some new migrants appearing on the landscape. Rose-breasted Grosbeaks were widespread.

 Eastern Kingbirds were also fairly plentiful.

Northern Parulas were more abundant than anytime I have seen in the past. It used to be that getting a few in a season was considered good, and even at that, one seldom had more than one or two in a day. On these days there must have been a fallout of a large number of migrating parulas, as it was not uncommon to see 8 or more in a single day, with as many as 19 being reported by a single observer.

Northern Parula

 Blue-winged Warblers are always a good find, although they aren't always easy to photograph as they skulk around the leaves and ground vegetation.

Blue-winged Warbler

 At least a couple of male Hooded Warblers were reported, and I caught up with one of them.....skulking around in the lowest shrubby levels, of course, making the auto-focus of the camera impossible to use. Manual focus on a quickly moving bird is not easy! Most of the shots were deleted.

The relative warmth was also good for reptiles. This Eastern Garter Snake was enjoying a sheltered spot with good exposure to the sun.

 Within about a metre of the South Point Trail was this beautiful Eastern Fox Snake, an endangered species here in the southwest. It had probably been there for quite awhile, hours even, while hundreds of birders went on by searching for warblers. The sharp eyes of Denise D discovered this critter and got my attention just as I was about to exit the trail. Even though it was partly curled up, we estimated its length to be well over a metre.

Shortly after photographing this latter snake and then leaving the South Point Trail parking lot, I looked out towards the lake shore and saw someone at the edge of the dunes. I looked at them through binoculars and she looked right back at me through her binoculars....it was Tianna, and she was waving me over. An hour or so earlier we had been alerted by Steve C of 6 Whimbrel out along the beach and had gone over to investigate. Even though it was only 15 minutes later, the birds had left. But apparently they had not gone far. Tianna had re-located them! A slow and careful approach, and using a good telephoto lens, resulted in this following image.

Whimbrel pass through the lower Great Lakes in a relatively narrow window of time, and these were the first ones reported not only for Rondeau, but for the entirety of the Ontario side of the lower Great Lakes as far as I am aware. Unfortunately they did not stay around for a lot of others to view.

Other water birds had recently arrived in good numbers, including many Common Terns. At least 500 were noted at the Erieau harbour area, and a similar number were seen a day or so later along the east beach of Rondeau.

Some of the ~500 Common Terns

This next bird isn't a recent arrival, or even an uncommon bird, unfortunately. However this close-up shows why it is called a Double-crested Cormorant as the two feather tufts are quite visible here.

The weekend arrived, and as predicted, the weather deteriorated in a big way. Colder temperatures, strong winds and rain. The only good thing one could say about it was that the birds were staying low and easier to see. There was little or no bird song.....I think the only sound they were making was their beaks chattering!

Birds were fluffed up to provide a bit more insulation from the cold.

Fluffed up Song Sparrow

Fluffed up Swamp Sparrow

The Wood Thrush in this next photo was totally exhausted, sitting in the grass by the picnic area, allowing a very close approach. I'm not sure whether it was the cold or the exhausting flight or both.

And then it snowed. In mid-May! Snow and ice pellets came down quite heavily on a couple of occasions, but fortunately not for long. It isn't the first time ever and it likely won't be the last, but the birds were not enjoying it. Nesting birds refused to leave the nest, not wanting the developing embryos or recently hatched young to suffer from the cold.

The Blenheim Sewage Lagoons was a busy place, and you know it is windy when there are white-caps on the water there! Wind speeds were reported to be in the 30-45 km/hr range, so it wasn't surprising to see the white-caps.

There was a huge number of swallows there. I estimated there to be at least 1500 of them swooping low over the water, over the pathways and over the grassy areas, hoping for an insect or two to help sustain them. Many were just resting on the ground or on a low branch.

Tree Swallows were by far the most abundant, with an estimate 1000 or more.

Tree Swallow

Bank Swallow

Barn Swallow

Cliff Swallows were fairly abundant....I don't recall ever using that term to describe Cliff Swallows here before! At one point I could see at least 35 in a narrow strip. There could have been well over a hundred altogether.

Cliff Swallows

Fluffed up Cliff Swallow

The water temperature was warmer than the air temperature, by a considerable margin, I expect. I am not sure what insects were hatching, but the swallows were at least trying for any insects that were emerging.

I have often wondered about the health of birds that feed on insects emerging from sewage ponds. The insects are abundant in such waters, but what chemicals are concentrated in their systems, which will only accumulate to a potentially serious level in any bird that feeds on them? After all, the water is cleaned somewhat from the organic material that is flushed or otherwise gets into the system, but what about all the chemicals that come from potent pharmaceutical materials, prescription drugs, etc, that are also flushed into the water system but aren't removed? Some of that will be absorbed by the insects living in these sewage ponds and passed on to any insect eating birds and bats.....it can't be a good thing!

Shorebirds weren't busy feeding...they were taking refuge from the bitter cold!

This Turkey Vulture was feeding on the remains of a Raccoon. Presumably the Raccoon had neglected to sign up for lessons from the local chickens on how to cross the road successfully :-).

Fortunately the cold only lasted for a couple of days, but I am sure that it seemed a lot longer than that for some of the birds that had to endure it.

Early May Action

I've been out daily for the last few days, but haven't taken the time to process the photos and post anything. So this is a 'catch-up' post of sorts.

Monday involved a very long hike around the entire South Point Trail of Rondeau. A cold northeast wind kept bird activity at a minimum, with only a handful of the usual warblers around. I had heard that the area beyond the washout was better, so I proceeded to negotiate it. The erosion really is a challenge here, as the previous path, which had been moved inland due to erosion that destroyed the boardwalk, no longer existed. But things have really deteriorated and because of the ~1.5 metre drop-off and the need to tromp through shrubbery or clamber over fallen trees at the water's edge, one has to be reasonably nimble to get through. I can't imagine what it would be like with a brisk southwest wind and the associated wave action!

After making it through the worst section, I proceeded up the other side of the SPT. The first kilometre had a few small clusters of birds but only Blackburnian was new, and they were mostly fairly high up. The most abundant species was Yellow-rumped Warbler. There are still lots of Black-and-white Warblers around, including a few females, which signal that the migration of this early species is coming to an end.

The rest of the trail was surprisingly quiet, other than the snoring call of Leopard Frogs, but it made for a nice walk and I enjoyed the solitude. I met only six other birders the entire 7 km trail.

My next stop was the north end of Harrison Trail, around the log pond and maintenance area. The wet areas have a profusion of shrubs sporting tiny yellow flowers right now....this is Spicebush in or at the edge of the wettest areas.

The flowers always appear just before the leaves open out. The leaves, especially when fresh, are very fragrant, and is the reason the shrub gets its name. Later on, these flowers will produce bright red berries.

I checked out the Spicebush Trail next. This trail was originally called the Rondeau Trail but when I was working in the park in the 1970s we decided that Spicebush Trail was more descriptive, which has been its name ever since. I also checked out Bennett Ave and the Bennett deer exclosure, which is on a ridge ~80 metres south of Bennett Ave. Although there are many wildflowers out throughout this area, one can really see a difference in the size and appearance of health by comparing the wildflowers inside the deer exclosure. Most of the flowers inside are at least half as big again as those outside, and some are probably twice the size. It really goes to show that since this exclosure was constructed in 1978 and deer have not been able to get inside for more than 35 years, the wildflowers are so much healthier. The constant browsing by a large herd of hungry deer, as well as the lack of ground cover which causes a deterioration of the micro-climate at ground level, takes its toll on the quality and quantity of wildflowers outside the exclosure. The two exclosures (there is another one south of Gardiner Ave) have been an effective way to demonstrate the effects of high numbers of deer.

I realize it isn't obvious from these photos of the difference in size, but when you see them in real life, it is very apparent.

On Tuesday I went out again to check on the Yellow-headed Blackbirds along Angler Line, just south of Mitchell's Bay. They didn't disappoint, and I could hear them as I approached the site. My previous estimate was of about 6-8 males, and presumably a similar number of females. Based on a longer time spent here today, I think there are at least 10 males along with an uncertain number of females.

Angler Line wetland from the road

The image below shows a female. The yellow is duller and not nearly as extensive as on the male, which makes the bird less obvious when it is sitting on the nest.

In both of the previous photos, the birds are sitting on last year's stems of Purple Loosestrife. This is a highly invasive, non-native species that created huge problems in wetlands. A biological control has been somewhat effective, but it does not eliminate it. Invasive, non-native species are a huge problem in many of our natural areas, but that is a broad topic for another post.

While watching the blackbirds, I heard Sora, Common Moorhen and Pied-billed Grebe as well as a Bullfrog. I saw a pair of Ring-necked Ducks, and had fly-over of a Green Heron and Black-crowned Night-Heron. I only got a quick shot of the latter species, but the close proximity of tall grasses interfered with the focus and prevented it from being as sharp as it should be.

Black-crowned Night-Heron

I also watched an adult female Blanding's Turtle cross the road nearby.

May and June are the months when the greatest number of turtles are crossing roads, as they seek the best spots to 'thermo-regulate' (a.k.a. bask). They are cold-blooded and need the sunlight warmth to increase their physiological processes. This is especially important for females which are developing eggs inside.

Blanding's Turtles are very distinctive. They look somewhat like an army helmet on legs. A close look will show numerous yellow dots on the shell, and the underside of their throat is a bright yellow. It is a declining species throughout its Ontario range, and is a Species At Risk. You don't see them very often except near good quality wetlands, and unfortunately you also see them dead on the road after having been hit by a car.

Turtles will even dig their nest hole in suitable soil along roadsides, where the roads are near to wetlands.

On Wednesday I returned to Rondeau after the morning rain had stopped. The brisk east winds (yet again!) ensured that bird activity along the east side of the park wouldn't be too high, so I stayed farther west. I checked on a Blue Jay, which I noted had been building a nest several days earlier. During a previous visit, it seemed that the nest had been abandoned before completion, so I was pleasantly surprised to see an adult bird incubating eggs. The nest is fairly high in the tree, but open enough for a distant photo. Blue Jays are usually one of the most vocal birds in the forest. But if you see them and they are quiet, it often means they have a nest nearby.

An Eastern Chipmunk paused for a brief photo session before scampering away.

A nice group of warblers was seen near the south end of the maintenance loop. Northern Parula, Black-and-white, Black-throated Green, Nashville and Yellow warblers were busily feeding, as was a Blue-headed Vireo. But the most interesting bird was a Blue-winged Warbler, which showed a wider than usual wingbar which was pale yellow rather than the usual white. Unfortunately it was also very active, and often too high up. It did pause briefly, but was partially hidden behind some leaves.

I suspect that at some point in its history, it had some genes of the Golden-winged Warbler added, a species which often hybridizes with Blue-winged, and produces interesting back-crosses through the succeeding generations.

The Erieau area had a very late adult Snowy Owl around in the last day or so. I drove over and there it was.....a long way out in the corn stubble, and not willing to turn around to face me. The by now high winds made getting a photo difficult, if not almost impossible.

I was running out of time, but drove home by way of the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons. I didn't go in.....it was very windy and would have been hard looking through a 'scope! But a few small groups of gulls were feeding in a field just to the southwest of the lagoons, and I had heard that the Franklin's Gull had been seen there. I didn't find it at first, as some of the gulls were in too tight a cluster and too far away. But a Turkey Vulture flew low and erratically due to the wind, spooking the gulls into flight, and then the Franklin's Gull was visible, although too far away to try for a photo.