Forest, grassland and river highlights!

 Perhaps the three different habitats in the title are an odd mix, but the reality is those are what I have been exploring lately, and for good reason which hopefully will become apparent as this blog post unfolds.

Forests are fascinating at any time of year, but with the lush green growth, they are extra inspiring to me, especially on an overcast day with no wind. They have an atmosphere like nowhere else, and one feels a little overwhelmed in a good way, when one takes the time to see the multitude shades of green and gray, and tries to make sense of every little detail laid out before you. The forest has so many stories to share. Given that the main birding season is over, the trails are a bit quieter, so bird and insect song is subdued but noticeable. A small photo about 3" X 5" really doesn't do the area justice. If you click on the images, it will make them a bit larger, but still not quite like the real thing.You really have to get out and immerse yourself in the setting to appreciate what it has to offer, in my opinion.

These next two photos show Winterberry, not a common shrub, but a bit widespread in damp areas. It will have bright red berries in the fall, which are readily consumed by migrating warblers and thrushes.

 There are birds around, to be sure, such as this Acadian Flycatcher, which seems to be persistent along one stretch of the Tuliptree Trail but I am not sure it has found a mate....

 ...and Eastern Wood-Pewees are pretty reliably encountered.

House Wrens, too, can often be heard, and sometimes seen. This one was half of a pair of them investigating a cavity in a tree stub. The presumed male, shown here, seems to be half asleep while bubbling away!

A pair of Prothonotary Warblers can occasionally be cooperative along this trail. More on this species in a future post.

I have recently been out to a couple of grassland areas, in northeast Chatham-Kent and southeastern Lambton as part of a Grassland Bird Assessment project. Parts of them were at quite an early stage of growth, and didn't have a lot of grassland bird activity. No doubt the vegetation was much shorter when the grassland birds arrived, making it less desirable.

Other parts had some vegetation structure from 2022, and had more going for it, it seemed.

Bobolink was one of the target species, and there were a few around, but often partially hidden in the grass which made locking the focus on the bird difficult.....

...so I had to wait for them to be in flight, and in spite of their somewhat erratic flight, was able to capture a few photos.

Common Yellowthroats were fairly widespread.....

...and a few females popped into view from time to time.

There were a few butterflies flitting around, such as this Common Wood-Nymph. There were others, but I didn't want to get too distracted by them since birds were my main target.

I also spent some time at places where I could access either the Thames or the Sydenham rivers, sort of in preparation for an upcoming project entitled Natural Treasures of Chatham-Kent. More on that in a future post.

A shrub that was in fine flower on one occasion was Ninebark, shown in the next two photos.

These two rivers have an exceptional diversity of mussels, many of which are at risk, such as these next two species.

Deer Toe Mussel

Deer Toe Mussel

Pimpleback

Pimpleback

 It was interesting to note that of the first three species of mussel I photographed at one spot along the Thames, all three were considered Species At Risk! It just impressed upon me about the diversity of mussels that occur in these rivers, and how special they are.

Damselflies and dragonflies are also well represented.

Ebony Jewelwing

Calico Pennant

And a few butterflies were also present, including this Baltimore Checkerspot, not particularly rare, but not all that common either.

 

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Migration ramps up, bringing some rarities

 It is a busy time of year. Lots of birding to do, lots of photographs to process, and lots of garden preparation to do, among other things. I've been able to squeeze a few trips out to natural areas amongst the other things, and although the bird migration has been a bit slower than birders would like (surprise, surprise), it has definitely been fun to get out. 

Visits to Rondeau are always worthwhile. Warblers have been scattered and not in any great numbers, but that is bound to change soon. Many that do show up are hard to photograph against a bland sky and through branches, so more have been seen than photographed. When they are low down, I have a chance, as this Nashville Warbler and Yellow Warbler illustrate.

Getting ready for take off!

There are lots of sparrows, such as this Field Sparrow, shown next, a local breeding species. I missed an extremely cooperative Henslow's Sparrow. White-throated Sparrows have been by far the most common sparrow, but often are furtively scavenging amongst the branches and leaves on the forest floor.

One or more Northern Mockingbirds seem to be taking up residence at the north end of the picnic area. Maybe it will be a breeding species this year, so that will be nice to add to the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas currently underway.

Swainson's Thrush is the most abundant of the Catharus group of thrushes these days.....

...and a few Veerys are showing up.

I have seen more Red Foxes lately, or maybe it is the same one on more than one occasion. This one decided to take a rest in a shrubby thicket, which made focusing tricky.

Eastern Chipmunks are plentiful, and occasionally will cooperate for the camera. I try and oblige.

I've spent a bit of time along the wetlands of Lake St. Clair, including at St. Clair NWA as well as the nature trails north and south of Mitchell's Bay. It has been very worthwhile. At SCNWA there are still some Ring-necked Ducks hanging around.

Canada Geese are quite common, not surprisingly and sometimes give some quite nice photo ops.

There were several young families out swimming around, with adults keeping a close eye on the surroundings.

What is a wetland without Red-winged Blackbirds! There are dozens and dozens.....

....and also lots of Swamp Sparrows, but they are much harder to get in front of the camera.

Occasionally one will be sitting up and trilling away, advertising its territory.

Right beside the observation tower is a broken off cottonwood, with a few holes. The top gives a good perch.

One can hear the 'witchity witchity' of the Common Yellowthroat regularly, but getting a photo as they skulk through the cattails, is another challenge.

Persistence sometimes pays off a bit.

Yellow-rumped Warblers are not confined to woodland areas. It is not uncommon to see a few in the shrubbery at the edge of the wetlands....

...while the occasional Palm Warbler will be hopping along the trail.

 

 

Birder along the SCNWA trail

Farther north, along Angler Line and either of the Mitchell's Bay Nature Trails also gives some worthwhile viewing and photo opportunities. Bald Eagles are almost a guarantee, with typically anywhere from 3-5 seen from various vantage points...

...and sometimes flying relatively close by. There are at least 3 active eagle nests within a relatively short flight, so it is not surprising that with the gradual increase in the eagle population these last couple of decades, the species is commonly seen.

 

Great Egrets nest in a colony at Walpole Island, a short distance away at the north end of Lake St. Clair. They also likely nest on the cattail islands out from Mitchell's Bay, so they are frequently seen feeding nearby.....

...or in flight from one feeding location to another.

 Along the trail, you can see coyotes! But not to worry, they won't harm you. They are signs that the neighbouring farmer has put out to presumably give the local Canada Geese reason not to venture onto the field and start eating the newly planted crops. I'm not sure how effective the signs are, as I did see geese on the field, but not right close to the signs.

The slightly lower water level has allowed for some mud flats to be exposed. From a distance, I could hear this Greater Yellowlegs quite clearly, and loudly, but from a distance I had a harder time seeing it. The yellow legs helped!

This Killdeer was not difficult to see at all.

A bit of a surprise was to see amongst about 30 Mute Swans, this first year Trumpeter Swan. Trumpeters are still quite a novelty in Chatham-Kent, but as the population slowly expands across southern and central Ontario, it will become a bit more common here, I expect. This one stood out with its still grayish feathering on the body and neck. It was at least as large as the nearby Mute Swans. The wide black area in front of the eye stood out...

...as did the slightly pointed feathering at the top of the beak, unlike the rounded feathering of a smaller Tundra Swan.

While I was in the Mitchell's Bay area, I got a couple of texts, first from Steve C, and a bit later from Jim B, alerting me to the presence of a White-faced Ibis that was along the Erieau Rail Trail. Jeff T had discovered it earlier that morning, and the word was put out. Instead of stopping at home in Chatham, I went as quickly as I could to get to Erieau. There were about 15 others there, and a fair number had already come and gone after having seen this rarity. It wasn't all that close to the trail by the time I got there, so a reasonable telephoto lens, and lots of cropping and processing of the digital images was required. Some folks who got there earlier had closer looks. However I shot a bunch of images, many of which were not all that great, due to the general cloudiness and back lighting, but here are a few that I kept.

It looks quite similar to Glossy Ibis, but the key differences are: 

-a white band all around the eye; the Glossy does not have as extensive a white line;

-the eye is dark red, not almost black;

-the bill is gray as opposed to brown.

Under less than ideal viewing conditions, it can be a challenge to distinguish between the two species, but with 'scope views, and photos that can show the differences, it can be determined that this is indeed a White-faced Ibis, and as far as we know, only the second record for the Rondeau checklist area.

With migration underway, what will be next????

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