Late January colours, birds and other highlights

This January hasn't been great for birding or other things, at least compared to a year ago when there were things like Baltimore Oriole, Barred Owl and Purple Sandpiper around. The steady cloudy conditions, cool weather and periodic precipitation suggests weather more like the northeast Atlantic I suspect. Nonetheless, getting out for a look around is still worthwhile, even if it just means going for a nice long hike in the woods!

If you look hard enough, there are still things around that brighten up the dominant grey colour. This first cluster of orange and red berries is the native Climbing Bittersweet. It dangles downward, unlike the following image.

 This is Oriental Bittersweet, a n on-native species, and it has very tiny clusters of berries, a bit smaller than the Climbing one, and in short, erect clusters along the stem.

 They aren't really popular as bird food, but some will eat them, as this immature White-crowned Sparrow was doing.

Some of the woodland type birds that can be found have a bit of their own red to add to the landscape. A Red-headed Woodpecker is still hanging around at Rondeau. It used to be fairly plentiful, but in the last couple of decades, while it is widespread in southern Ontario, it is sparse, even during the breeding season. This one has been digging out a fresh cavity. Presumably it is using it for roosting in overnight, but it may be one that it uses as a nesting cavity later this year.

 Much more plentiful these days is the Red-bellied Woodpecker.

 When walking through the woods, you may find evidence of the largest woodpecker we have. It sometimes makes an oblong shaped hole, but once it finds a good source of grubs or other tasty things inhabiting a dead tree, it can really tear the trunk apart! A former colleague sent me a photo a couple of weeks ago that someone had posted on facebook, showing a medium sized branch of a tree that they saw at Rondeau which was really torn apart and wondered what it was. Some of the respondents suggested a porcupine. While porkys can chew into a tree quite rigorously, they usually just barely get past the bark layer. Since porcupines don't occur at Rondeau, or aren't even within a couple of hundred kilometres, undoubtedly the maker of that chewed branch was the same creature that made this: a Pileated Woodpecker.

 I saw three Pileated Woodpeckers on my most recent visit to Rondeau, including a pair just a few metres from the trunk shown above. Two of them were high up, and with the grey sky, did not make it easy for a pleasing photo.

 Another one was much lower down, and at least didn't get as washed out. Both of the ones here are females. The one male was too camera shy for a photo on this occasion.

 Blue Jays are scattered around, and a bit more abundant than some years. Speaking of Blue Jays, pitchers and catchers will report for spring training in less than two weeks!

The lake is pretty empty these days, but there are still a few gulls wandering around.

Great Black-backed Gull

On one occasion when I was at Rondeau, there was still a fair bit of snow along the trails. Not deep, but covering the surface. I was surprised to see this little critter on the snow. At first it looked like a mosquito. It wasn't, however. It is a winter cranefly.

The Ridgetown Sewage Lagoons have had a lot of waterfowl using it up until a week or so ago. It is almost totally ice covered now, with mostly Canada Geese hanging out, but a short time before, amongst the variety of waterfowl using the site, there were four Snow Geese to be found fairly reliably: three adults and one young one that was still sporting its dark feathering.

There is lots of open water at the Erieau end of Rondeau Bay, with thousands of Tundra Swans, a couple of thousand Canada Geese and quite a few Canvasback, amongst other species. However most are well out at the edge of the ice and not easy to get good photos of. I did manage to catch up with the two Double-crested Cormorant that are still there, an adult and an immature.

There have been up to two Wilson's Snipe at the snipe ditch along Stefina Line, just a bit southeast of Blenheim. I have seen at least one on three different occasions, but never very close to the road. I suspect that with the ditch being fairly open throughout its winding path, they are a little farther downstream and out of view most of the time. It wasn't within view during the Christmas Bird Count, and in checking the data over the years, the 2019 count is the first time since 1977 that we didn't get a single shorebird on the count for the entire 7 day count week. We've had a total of 14 different shorebird species recorded over the years and on occasion have had as many as 3 or 4 species on an individual count day, but nothing this time. I'm sure there were some around, but it was so open and with lots of suitable habitat inaccessible, they just weren't available to be counted.

Elsewhere, I came across 4 White-tailed Deer foraging in a harvested cornfield a bit northwest of Blenheim. While seeing deer is not that surprising, it was the middle of the day, and what stood out even more was that the buck still had a fine set of antlers attached. Normally by late January, their antlers have fallen. When I stopped to get the photo, they immediately headed for the nearby woods, so this distant photo shooting through a bit of fine snow is the best I could do. But it was an impressive set of antlers. At least 8 points with a good spread to them, and depending on the size of the points closest to the base, maybe even a 10 pointer.

I finally caught up to the Peregrine Falcon that is hanging out in Chatham. Some folks have seen it right at the Trillium Village apartments, just north of the Thames River. I've checked there occasionally without success. The last time I checked, I also looked at some other nearby buildings that had some good height to them. And there it was, a little closer to the river. This first photo shows a heavily cropped, distant shot of when I first saw it.

I figured it would remain there until I could get to a closer vantage point. Again, the grey skies don't make the end result of the photograph very appealing, but you have to put up with the conditions you are given to work with.

There is a large group of Rock Pigeons that are almost always along the Thames River. I saw them on a lower building right beside the river, and I expect they were keeping a close eye on the falcon. The falcon has a lot of pigeons to choose from, so will likely remain for the winter. The river has been quite high, not surprising considering the high amounts of precipitation the drainage area has received. There is little sign of any ice forming in the river, so the water treatment outlet might not be all that productive in concentrating ducks, geese, gulls and even the occasional kingfisher this winter.

I have checked out parts of the former Dover Twp on occasion. Much of St. Clair NWA is totally frozen, but the several hundred Canada Geese are keeping a small part of it open. There are groups of Tundra Swans coming and going fairly regularly.

Right along the eastern edge of the NWA, I came across a pair of adult Bald Eagles in a tree, just a short distance from a nest. It won't be long before nesting is underway.

Earlier when I was returning from Erieau, I saw an adult eagle at the flimsy nest in the woodlot at the entrance to the Ridge Landfill. They built it in 2019, and although it appeared that they attempted to nest, I don't think they had any success. Perhaps they will this year, if in fact the nest stays where it is. The tree is not that substantial, in my opinion.

Still on an eagle topic, the nest that has been visible along the south end of Fargo Road, just north of Shrewsbury, has fallen out of the tree. I don't know when it happened, but in driving by on Communication Road, which goes between Shrewsbury and Blenheim I saw a new nest in the same woodlot, but a little lower down, and it may not be visible from Fargo Road.

And finally, there are still a few Snowy Owls around in Dover. Sometimes they are on a pole close to the road, such as this next photo shows, but all too often they are well out in the middle of a field on the ground.

Seasonal solitude

I don't often get a cold, but I guess my time had come. Ever since this past Christmas, I have been battling a persistent cold. Had I been bad this past year? Most people would maybe have received a chunk of coal at Christmas....I received a persistent cold. As a result I have hardly left the house, so am posting a blog that I was originally going to post in early December. Maybe now is a better time, especially since it features a warmer outdoor period than what most of eastern North America has experienced in these last few weeks.

There is a certain appeal to get out in a forest or other natural setting, and not necessarily with birds or butterflies as a primary focus. The joy is just to get out and soak up as much of the natural atmosphere as possible, enjoying the light, the shadows, the muted colours and perhaps most important to my way of thinking, the solitude. Any form of wildlife encountered is a bonus. The latter part of November and early part of December are two of my favourite times for this experience, and the setting at Rondeau is perfect. One can spend several hours on the trails and closed roads, and never see another person.

There is an activity I recently had pointed out to me, called 'forest bathing', where one spends time in a forest, or at least in the vicinity of trees, soaking up the fresh air and the atmosphere, to experience various health benefits including a reduced stress level. According to Wikipedia, forest bathing apparently originated in Japan in the 1980s.

To that I say 'Nonsense'.

I've been doing it since the early 1970s. My dad used to do it from time to time in his early years. While it may not have officially been named 'forest bathing', the reality is that people have been doing this for decades, likely centuries or more. I'm sure that the likes of John Muir in the mid to late 1800s and Ansel Adams in the early 1900s, among others, did a lot of 'forest bathing' when they were out exploring the natural world in their time.

It is usually during these times when I seldom take my camera with a telephoto lens, knowing that a wide angle lens will be more useful to capture what I see.

One can sit in one spot for a time, or one can hike the trails and get the benefits of some cardio exercise, or even away from the trails (but if it is above freezing, be aware of ticks!!). And there is always something to see, especially on warmer, sunny days. I had this Eastern Comma flitting about on a warm sunny day on Nov 29, which according to ebutterfly, was the latest Ontario date for a butterfly added to that database in 2017.

Reptiles may be out, soaking up a last bit of sunshine before going underground for the upcoming winter.

Eastern Gartersnake

Some resident birds are a little more obvious. It seems that Pileated Woodpeckers are more noticeable during these quiet periods.

The leaves have fallen by late November, as have a multitude of seeds. The trails and roadsides are covered, or at least lined along the edges, with a mix of leaves and seeds.

This first photo shows a packed roadside of beech nuts from the American Beech tree, with a few Tuliptree seeds mixed in. It had indeed been a great year for beech nut production, as well as acorns from oaks. While this 'mast' production will go along way towards placating the hunger of deer, Wild Turkeys, Blue Jays, Red-bellied Woodpeckers and mice, one cannot help but wonder if it also means a profusion of ticks that benefit when mice are more prolific. More mice, means more ticks, and the greater the chance of hikers encountering Lyme Disease in the following year.

 This next photo, taken along a section of trail where Tuliptrees are a little more dominant, is made up entirely of Tuliptree seeds. Although Tuliptrees are prolific producers of seeds, only about 1% or so of the seeds are really viable and will germinate. The vast majority of these seeds will be enjoyed by squirrels, mice, etc.

The bright orange-red berries of Climbing Bittersweet are more visible against the muted colours of the forest late in the season.

The lake can be really riled up during sustained windy periods, or it can be quite calm and subdued. The riled up weather that occurred a short time before this photo was taken resulted in significant changes to the dynamic shoreline, such as this new pond area. Will it remain as a breeding pool for the rare Fowler's Toad this coming summer or be a feeding stop for shorebirds? Or will another storm make changes to this, making it only a very temporary feature?

Patterns in the sand are visible, the result of fairly strong winds in previous days.

While it is always nice to see birds and butterflies, etc., they are just a few of the multitude of reasons to get out and enjoy the natural world around us!

A Fine Franklin's Foray and other Rondeau notes

Franklin's Gulls are currently in southwestern Ontario in impressive numbers. The recent weather systems, including strong westerly winds, have clearly influenced the migration route of this mid-western gull. On Friday, they were noted throughout the day in the agricultural fields a short distance north of McGeachy Pond at Erieau, with a maximum of 35 Franklin's Gulls observed late in the day. On Saturday, this trend continued. At least 2000 gulls, mostly Ring-billed, were seen foraging across several fields in a triangular area which I have called the Bisnett/Erieau Road/Erie Shore Drive Block. I met up with Josh Bouman, and a bit later with Mike Bouman, to try and get an estimate of the number of Franklin's Gulls. Given that they were frequently on the move and seldom settled down in one concentrated area for any length of time, it wasn't easy! However Josh, in looking through binoculars in one direction and I, looking through a 'scope in a different direction, counted 31 and 42 birds respectively. Since they were on the move, undoubtedly there was some overlap. However others had already left for the lake, so we likely missed some. We concluded that there were at least 50-55 birds present during our time there, and quite possibly many more had been in the area. This first image shows the scattered nature of a very small part of the gull flock.

There are about 5 Franklin's Gulls in this next image, although several are out of focus due to the shallow depth of field of the telephoto lens.

 On occasion, I could get more than one FRGU in a frame giving a closer view.

The next day, I met up with Steve Charbonneau and Blake Mann at Rondeau. They typically start at daybreak, or slightly earlier, at the Dog Beach to scan the waterbird movement moving by. I didn't arrive until about 8. They had seen numerous waterfowl, and a steady stream of Bonaparte's Gulls already. While I was there, another mixed flock of gulls appeared, and headed over the forest en route westward towards Rondeau Bay. Included with this group were 5 FRGU which were easily seen through the scope.

We next headed for the South Point Trail, expecting that the sun was high enough to warm up the forest edge. There, the dogwood berries were still plentiful enough to keep such berry-eating birds satisfied. Surprisingly it was quieter than we expected on our way towards the south end. We did catch up to a Gray Catbird a bit north of the wash out area. I had one along the northern part of this trail a few days ago. A few often stick around late in the season, and sometimes are found on the Christmas Bird Count.

On our way back we encountered a few Ruby-crowned Kinglets and warblers, including several Yellow-rumped which are often around in small numbers this time of year.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

More surprisingly, we came across a Northern Parula, which is a new late record for the park checklist area. It was flitting around in the tangle and I didn't get any shots worth keeping. Blake did get a recognizable shot on his return visit to the trail, however, which he has posted on his blog here.

We went up to the campground, which has lots of Red Cedars and some shrubbery with berries, and is always an enticement to birds at this time of year. Cedar Waxwings were plentiful.

Several Fox Sparrows were around, feeding on seeds or something else on the ground.

Other sparrows were not very abundant, however. We came across a Chipping Sparrow, a species which is usually found in very small numbers at this time of year. It is unusual to have seen more Chipping Sparrows (1), than White-throated Sparrows (0) given the habitat we were in!

I returned for another hike along the South Point Trail, hoping to spot some other birds. However with the increased tempo of the wind and the generally warmer conditions farther back in the forest, the birds were even less abundant than they had been earlier. I did see some other flying critters. Autumn Meadowhawks were around in small numbers.

 I saw a single Eastern Comma.

Climbing Bittersweet (Celastrus scandens) is quite evident along forest edges, as the bright orange and red berries are certainly a bright spot at this time of year.

Every time I see these berries, I am reminded of an incident that happened in my youth. In elementary school I was chastised severely by my teacher (it was her first year teaching) in front of the class for selecting red and orange construction paper for an art project (even though they were the only two choices left at the time). She told me emphatically that those colours should never be used together. Interestingly she lived in an area where Climbing Bittersweet was fairly abundant, but I guess she never noticed that it was okay in nature......

A bit later I went to the north end of the park, stopping at the beach at the traffic circle to see what was there in the quieter water. Not much, as it turned out, other than several hundred Canada Geese which are often found here as it is not an area that is hunted.

I'm not sure what the future is for this bench. It might serve as a perch for birds, but that is about all.

 With the warm temperatures this fall, some plants are still in flower!

I took a short walk along the north end of Harrison Trail, since berry-laden vines (Virginia Creeper, Carrion-flower, Poison Ivy and Wild Grape) are here in abundance. However most berries have been picked clean, so there were very few birds. I was amused to see the following. I'm not sure what it says about some people's ability to read or understand.......