St. Clair National Wildlife Area, one of the highlights of southwestern Ontario

 St. Clair National Wildlife Area (SCNWA) has always been a favourite place of mine to go. It is special in its own right due to the high quality wetlands, and even better it is quite close to home and so accessible!

Many of my previous posts include some of the things I find there along with things from other sites, but this one will focus only on this NWA. Being ~600 acres (~240 ha) in size provides lots of opportunities for wildlife, especially wetland birds. A further benefit is that there are other wetlands immediately north and southwest of it, to improve the overall wetland features for wildlife. 

The hiking trail that crosses the heart of the wetland is invaluable to appreciate what it has to offer. The presence of an observation tower enhances a visit. These first two photos were taken from the tower, and the first one shows the hiking trail leading to the tower.

The second photo gives an idea of the expanse of the marsh, with some open areas scattered throughout, making it ideal for many water birds.

One never knows what to expect, so being constantly on alert for anything flying by is essential. One of the highlights of a recent evening visit was to observe both an adult Bald Eagle and an Osprey, with the eagle harassing the Osprey. I watched them for several minutes, as at one point they were flying almost right overhead. The down side was that it was getting close to 8 p.m. so the light wasn't great and they were against a bland sky, but I rattled off a bunch of shots. Here are some of the more satisfying ones. It was hard to tell, but it appeared that the Osprey had something in its talons, and the eagle was trying to get it to let it go so it could pounce on whatever it had. I didn't see any success of this, and eventually the two birds separated and moved off.

 

 

On another occasion when I was out in the evening, I enjoyed an attractive sunset.

Sometimes one can see things like Sandhill Cranes passing by against the colourful sky.

Sunrise photography is also quite fun and rewarding. These next two were not taken recently, but a few years ago when I had a special interest in capturing sunrise shots from various points in Chatham-Kent.

 Aside from the landscape, er, waterscape photography, the main purpose for many visitors is to see the wonderful diversity of flora and fauna. Here are a few things from mostly recent visits, starting with butterflies.

Black Swallowtail

Clouded Sulphur 

The first two butterflies are to be expected. This next one is a Common Buckeye, and it is anything but common. This was the first one I had seen this season. A bit of a surprise was to see three of them, and they were vying for a spot to land. This one was the successful one, and I saw the same one (based on the wear and tear on the left forewing) in the same place two days later.

Monarchs, of course, were fairly abundant which wasn't surprising due to the plentiful milkweed on which to lay eggs when they weren't feeding on Missouri Ironweed.

Red Admiral

Viceroy

The flowers are more abundant in the later part the season, with lots of goldenrod and sunflower species lining the trail these days. One of the highlight species to see is this next one, the Marsh Tickseed, which is an endangered species, but fairly common along at the waters edge along both sides of the trail.

Another rarity, although not as rare as the previous one, is Missouri Ironweed.

 

Another rarity is Field Thistle, next.

 Not a rarity at all, and actually fairly common, is Evening Primrose.

 

Of course there are quite a few Leopard Frogs hopping along the trail.

 But birds are one of the main reasons people are visiting, and for good reason. The views and diversity are great, with some giving good photo opportunities, and others just views through binoculars as they scoot through the skies. Waterfowl are building in numbers, and once the hunting season starts, they will be increasingly abundant at the NWA as it is a safe haven for them. Here are a few waterbirds that I have recently encountered and photographed.

Great Blue Heron

Less frequently the herons will be up in a tree along the edge.

Great Egret

One of the highlights of a few years ago, when the water in the NWA was lower, was to photograph a large group of Great Egrets at their overnight roost. This photo was taken in late September just before sunrise. I had to use a very slow shutter speed, due to the very early morning light, but the birds remained motionless.

Waterfowl, especially Mallards will be quite abundant in the next few weeks.

Mallard

Okay, not a waterbird in one sense, but Northern Harriers frequently nest in wetlands, and are often hunting for something to feed on.

The first two photos were taken from the tower. And then the bird landed a short ways just off the trail, and allowed me to get this next photo.

Pied-billed Grebes are more often heard than seen.

Sandhill Cranes are often in the area, and will nest in or adjacent to the wetland. When feeding in the shallow water, they can sometimes be almost obscured by the tall wetland vegetation. This was taken from the tower.

 Wood Ducks are a favourite, and are one of the more common duck species present at the moment.

Young female Wood Ducks

 

So many photo opportunities to enjoy at this nationally significant natural area. Enjoy it when you can!

UPDATE: I have been informed that as of Oct 1, 2025, public access to the SCNWA is not available, as there is some upgrading to the trail system/bridge getting underway. Public access is restricted until Jan 1, 2026.

 

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Autumn's final warm fling?

 Butterflies in late November? Yes, and a few other warmish season creatures have been out and about. Eastern Comma, first, is a species that will overwinter as an adult, so when the weather is warm, they can be out basking as this one was.

Common Buckeye does not overwinter in southwestern Ontario, but there has been a good number of them this late summer and fall, so it isn't all that surprising to see the occasional one stick around in this unseasonably warm weather.

  There have been a few Autumn Meadowhawks flitting around in sunny, sheltered places.

Next is a Black Blow Fly.

...followed by a Common Drone Fly.

There were a few of this next one around. It is a possibly a Tufted Clusterfly, although the exact type of clusterfly has not yet been determined.

Woolly Bear Caterpillars are often seen, even in winter. It is the larval stage of the Isabella Tiger Moth, and this first image shows the typical coloration.

According to a specialist on iNat, this next one is a Tiger Moth of the Phragmatobia species.

Reptiles are cold-blooded, and are not often seen this late in the season. However due to the warmer than normal temperatures, a few Eastern Garter Snakes were out....

.....as were a few Midland Painted Turtles.

I even heard several Spring Peepers on more than one occasion! I'm sure all these reptiles and amphibians are now safely in their winter quarters!

On one of my outings to Rondeau, I spent a bit of time scanning the lake from the east beach. I was hoping for a few loons, especially a Red-throated Loon or even a Pacific Loon. Both have been seen on occasion in the last week or so. I did see up to a couple of dozen Common Loons.....

....and there was at least one Red-throated Loon mixed in from a distance, but I didn't get any photos of it. As for a Pacific Loon, I struck out on that one so far, but I have seen them in Ontario in the past. When I was involved with some wildlife surveys at Polar Bear Provincial Park in about 1990, we came across a nest, and one of the adults was cooperative enough to allow me this photo. The fall plumage is considerably more drab than this photo, however.

While looking for loons, there was a massive movement of Red-breasted Mergansers flying by. I think they had been stirred up by a passing ship, so there were probably 3-4000 of them in flight that stretched like this photo, for at least a kilometre with smaller groups going by as well.

I spent a bit of time up along the Mitchell's Bay North Lakeshore Trail, and while I didn't see any shorebirds on this occasion in spite of the extensive mud flats, there were some raptors in the area keeping an eye on waterfowl and other things. There were probably three adult Bald Eagles in the area, although they were sometimes on the move for a short distance and maybe there were only two.

This Merlin, next, was initially seen hopping around in some shallow water. Not sure what it was trying to do, maybe wash something before eating? It wasn't clear, but after a few moments it got up and left....

....and this next photo is likely of the same bird, on the top of a pole a short distance away, surveying its domain.

I also spent a bit of time along the Erieau Marsh Trail. There wasn't a huge diversity of birds, but a few things caught my eye and gave me some photo ops. I was a little surprised to see at least a couple of dozen American Pipits flying around in a loose group and landing near the tree tops. I usually see them in much fewer numbers, and typically on the ground, but these were migrating so were behaving a little differently.

American Tree Sparrows are one of the more common sparrows this time of year. This one was busily tearing into some goldenrod seedheads.

A Downy Woodpecker was digging into a tree trunk....

...and this is a Rusty Blackbird, one of a small flock of a dozen or so on the move.

This Great Blue Heron was first noticed when I heard its loud 'croak' that indicated where it was, so enabled me to get this rather distant and cropped photo.

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