Fair weather brings fair sightings

 The three favourite natural areas I go to, Rondeau PP, St. Clair NWA and Mitchell's Bay North Trail, have all had some better photo opportunities of late, which isn't surprising given the gradual arriving of spring.

At Rondeau, there is an increasing variety of photo ops, although I have missed lots of the first of year migrants. I plan to catch up with more of them very soon!

Eastern Phoebe

Northern Flicker

This next creature is sometimes called a Northern Brown Snake, but more officially it is Dekay's Snake. It is small, not particularly rare but not abundant either.

As the days warm, there is an increasing number of butterflies, including this Red Admiral.

A pair of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, relatively recent arrivals, were seen 'fighting' for territory on this tree, and as they were so active, neither one really cooperated for a photo that I was hoping for. Maybe next time.

 At St. Clair NWA, with the wide open skies, it can be good for seeing things and even getting a few photos. However it has been cool and windy, so not ideal, but still worth it.

On one occasion there were several flocks of Bonaparte's Gulls, averaging about 40 in number, passing through fairly quickly on their way to points farther inland. Presumably some field being worked up had attracted their interest. Bonaparte's Gulls have just arrived in large numbers in the last couple of weeks. 

Waterfowl are becoming less numerous, but still are around, like this male Bufflehead; its mate was nearby.

Sandhill Cranes are almost a guarantee these days, with as many as 15 or so typically seen in the immediate area. These next two were right on the trail, and let me get closer than I expected.

There was this third one as part of the group, but it left first, and allowed me to get some good flight shots.

At the Mitchell's Bay North trail, there are almost always 2-3 Bald Eagle's passing by, or landing on a small mud flat at the water's edge. Most of them right now are sub-adults, as the adults are presumably on or near their nest.

With the water level being what it is, there is a lot of mud flat, and I am hoping to see a good variety of shorebirds. On this occasion there were a couple of Greater Yellowlegs out feeding.

...and along one of the sunnier, quieter channels, there were a few Midland Painted Turtles enjoying some sunshine.

Tree Swallows were fairly abundant, but mostly in flight. Once in awhile, one would rest on a wire.

Certainly one of the less expected birds seen in Chatham-Kent these last few days was a Black Vulture. It was just a bit north of Clear Creek Forest Prov Park, in eastern C-K. I didn't get out to see or even look for it as I was busy with some other things. However I have been fortunate to see one in C-K in the past, including this one which I photographed inside the Rondeau Park boundary, back on March 15, 2009, a few years before I started Nature Nuggets.

 

 

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April showers bring flooding; also some more birds

 The sunny, clear weather has made it great to be out. I'm not a big fan of temperatures in early April that are close to mid-day temperatures of July, however. I hope we have a relatively normal spring!

I've been out to the Lake St. Clair wetland area a few times, and one is almost assured of getting good views, and photographs, of Great Egrets, not surprisingly. They nest at nearby Walpole Island, as well as some of the grassy islands in the lake just west of Mitchell's Bay. They can be a bit hard to get close to if they are on the ground, at the edge of a wetland. But if they are up in a tree, they seem to be a lot more tolerant of how close they allow you to be. Looking down at you seems to give them a sense of security. These two cooperated nicely.

Killdeer have been back in the area for a few weeks, and their nesting season is well underway.

Colourful breeding plumaged Ruddy Ducks are fairly plentiful, and occasionally the distance and light make for a good photo.

Red-winged Blackbirds are aggressively announcing and defending their territory.

Tree Swallows have returned in good numbers these last few days.

These nice sunny days are a good distraction from those recent days with lots of rain. We got about 3 inches of rain over the wettest period, and given the already fairly saturated ground, led to some local flooding.This was exacerbated given the widespread nature of the rain upstream throughout the rather large overall drainage area, which typically causes the lower Thames River to flood.  McGregor Creek, one of the tributaries of the river in Chatham-Kent, showed just how much water we had to deal with even within its relatively small drainage area. This next photo is from a few kilometres southeast of Chatham, and is usually an indicator of potential flooding of south Chatham.

It was for this ongoing flooding risk from this creek to Chatham residents a few years ago, that the McGregor Creek diversion channel was constructed, to divert the water to the Thames River before going through Chatham. After this most recent rainfall, that diversion was running at least half full. Parts of the creek that went through southern Chatham still overflowed, but remained on the flood plain and posed minimal risk to local residents.

After taking the above photo I continued on my way to Rondeau. There were a lot of wet fields, and some had large groups of gulls. I looked carefully at some gatherings, hoping that a Franklin's or Little Gull might be there, but if there was, I did not find them.

This next photo shows the same area of McGregor Creek from the same vantage point, about a week later, and the creek is confined to its normal channel.

I have been out to Rondeau on a couple of occasion, to enjoy the solitude and even shoot a few birds. Song Sparrows are frequently seen, and singing regularly.

I got one of my first Eastern Phoebes of the season, and they have become more numerous in the last few days.

There has been a good incursion of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. This one was actively defending a Basswood tree full of holes made by the sapsucker, causing a bit of sap to seep out. Two other sapsuckers were trying to take advantage of this one's work, but it successfully kept the others away, at least while I was watching.

I got my first of several Yellow-rumped Warblers at the south end of the campground, which is now open for camping.

The various access points at Erieau are always good for bird diversity at this time of year. Lots of the common things, but with the limited habitat, it concentrates some of the earlier arrivals.

American Coot are visible by the hundreds, although not often from very close up.

Bonaparte's Gulls have been building in numbers, and it is common to see several hundred. Their plumage varies.

There are still some Bufflehead around.

Golden-crowned Kinglets are present in small numbers....

...and I managed to get a record shot of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, a relatively recent arrival. As kinglets are almost constantly flitting amongst shrubs, it is difficult to get an unobstructed photo.

Tree Swallows are a challenge to photograph as they are mostly in flight. But when they need a break from their aerial search for insects, they can be shot much more easily.

I got my first of the year Barn Swallow.

I had watched this female Red-breasted Merganser swimming underwater, chasing a school of minnows close to shore. When it surfaced and swam by quickly, I managed this.

One of the highlights of the most recent visit to Erieau was to have this Common Loon in good breeding plumage, swimming slowly in the small boat marina. The light wasn't always the best angle, but this photo seemed to be the best one. It is hardly cropped at all. It isn't often here in the south we get to see such a fine-looking loon at such a close distance, unlike many northern lakes where one or more are often seen and heard throughout the breeding season.

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Birds, Wildflowers and Snow!

 During some of the nice weather, I've been out. On some of the wintry days, I've also been out!

On one occasion I spent some time at McKerrall Woods, a few kilometres north east of Chatham. It is about 20 hectares of variable upland and lowland forest, and has a nice variety of spring wildflowers. Since the warmer weather of a few days before triggered an earlier emergence of said wildflowers, I thought I had better get out before I missed them. 

Dutchman's Breeches is always nice to see.....

....a very close relative is Squirrel Corn, a species that I don't see around here nearly as often.

Most everyone knows Jack-in-the-Pulpit.

Red Trillium is fairly plentiful, and comes out a little earlier than the white one. I didn't see any whites in flower, although some were showing signs.

Spring Beauty is an early flowering species; it is small, but is easily identifiable with its pink stripes.

There are quite a few violet species. This one is Downy Yellow Violet.

The forest floor is almost covered in some areas, with leaves of the Trout Lily, a.k.a. Dog-tooth Violet, but only a very small number of plants will actually put up a flowering stem.

In our yard, the Virginia Bluebells had begun to flower nicely, a little earlier than normal.

 The next day I went out intending to go to St. Clair NWA, but judging by the number of cars at either end of the trail, it was too busy for my liking so instead spent some time roaming around the former Dover Twp. There wasn't a lot to see or photograph, but I did come across a lingering Snowy Owl.

That evening I went back to SCNWA and had the place to myself. I heard things like Am Bittern, Marsh Wren and Swamp Sparrow but didn't get any photos. I saw a pair of Northern Harriers fly by not too far away, and a couple of Sandhill Cranes off in the distance. I only successfully photographed these next two, however.

On Monday it was another great day to be out, so off I went to Rondeau. The birds were few and far between, but I enjoyed the ambiance of the forest in early spring. Spicebush is really dominating the understorey of the forest.

Near a few cottage lots is this non-native garden escape, Siberian Squill.

A brief stop at Mel's place did not turn up the White-winged Dove, but this Rock Pigeon was still nearby.

 

A somewhat common sight in the forest at this time of year is this bright orange on certain trees. I see it most often on Ironwood. It is an orange yeast that grows off the sap oozing from the tree where it has been slightly damaged. It may be from a woodpecker drilling holes, or where a limb has broken off and fallen, causing some damage. It doesn't really hurt the tree any more than what a woodpecker does normally.

  A pair of Osprey were hanging out on the nesting platform at Keith McLean CA. It is not unusual to see one or two of this species here in the spring, and occasionally one has brought in a few sticks for a nest. Maybe this will be the year that a pair actually nests?

The forecast snow for over night on Tuesday and Wednesday morning proved to be true. This is what I woke up to, looking out the kitchen window.

Knowing that if there is enough snow covering most of the forest floor, but with some exposed edges along the roads to attract bird searching for a morsel of food, I decided to head out to Rondeau again. This is what the forest looked like from Bennett Ave.

The Spicebush was now looking like this.

 There were birds along the roadside as expected, but not in great diversity. Most were Am Robins and Common Grackles. I decided to walk along Harrison Trail north of Gardiner, then along Bennett and back along Rondeau Road since there wouldn't be much traffic, if any, to scare birds away. Again, there were lots of robins, but also at least 18 Hermit Thrush, along with a few Dark-eyed Juncos, a couple of Northern Flickers, a Song Sparrow, a Northern Cardinal and a Mallard. The Hermit Thrushes were the highlight, and some actually cooperated reasonably well for the camera.

There is a bit of snow still falling in this next photo, which made me decide not to crop it quite as tightly.

The resident Eastern Screech Owl was resting in its usual spot. A greatly cropped shot, so as to not disturb it from its morning reverie.

I made a quick trip to Erieau before returning home. The main highlight was the abundance of Bonaparte's Gulls diving and cavorting in the vicinity of the marina. Here are some showing off their courtship display.

Many are in prime breeding plumage, and will be soon departing for their nesting ground in the spruce forests of northern Ontario.