Another cattle egret, a snake, a millipede and more

 If the forecasts are accurate, we will be experiencing another blast of winter in the next few days. Fortunately I was able to get out to a few places, including Rondeau, to continue some exploring of late November and enjoy some lengthy walks. I hadn't caught up to anything out of the ordinary regarding birds.....just wasn't in the right place at the right time. But there were a few of the expected species that paused long enough for my camera.

American Goldfinches are present most of the year, but many from farther north have been migrating through in good numbers over the last week or so. 

Dark-eyed Juncos are quite common, and at least some will be around all winter.

Of course Downy Woodpeckers are present all year.

I always look forward to seeing Fox Sparrows in late autumn. This vividly patterned sparrow likely will be present in very small numbers over the winter, but are often hard to find.

Northern Cardinals are another year-round species, fortunately, especially for those with winter feeders....

...as are Red-bellied Woodpeckers. They have been busy storing some of this year's abundant acorn crop in crevices in trees, in case feeders don't meet their needs.

Wild Turkeys are permanent residents and get a little more bold in wandering around open areas in the autumn when the park is quieter, looking for acorns.

There are often a few other creatures out and about. Of course Eastern Gray Squirrels are also looking for acorns and such. I enjoy watching their acrobatics, etc. This one is suspended by its two hind feet while the two front feet are handling something it is nibbling on.

It is getting late in the season for cold-blooded creatures, but just yesterday I came across this Eastern Garter Snake sitting at an open spot along the trail.

Another cold-blooded creature is this Common Pink Flat-back, a type of millipede, roaming across Gardiner Ave.

Certainly a bird highlight of recent days is yet another Western Cattle Egret, seen by many on several occasions at the Keith McLean Conservation Lands. I have seen it on at least three different days from the road, but on one occasion I decided to park there and try and get some decent photos. Here are some of the results.

This is the second time I have seen one in the last month or so. It may be the same one that moved over from its previous spot just north of Erieau where it disappeared from after a few days. Unfortunately for this individual, some recent observers have reported that it was seen to be limping, and wondered if it could be captured and taken to a wildlife rescue place. I'm not sure if that is possible, as when I got these photos, it was walking okay but more importantly it could fly quite well. So unless it ceases to be able to fly, and can survive for a bit longer given the wintry weather forecast, it will probably not be rescued. It is a juvenile, and is clearly well beyond its normal range, so it might just be a victim of its unfortunate wandering well beyond safe habitat.

In addition to Rondeau, I have been meandering around parts of the former Dover Twp, which is actually closer to home, and I always enjoyed exploring St. Clair NWA. However the NWA is closed for trail repairs until early January, so my exploring in Dover is more random elsewhere. But there have been things of interest even though the Gray Kingbird featured at the heading, is long gone somewhere. 

Tundra Swans are becoming more numerous, but often are feeding so far away from the road I didn't bother trying to photograph them. This small group was a bit closer.

 This Red-tailed Hawk remained on the pole long enough for a photo or two. While the species is a year-round resident in C-K, there are lots migrating through from their more northern range.

Sandhill Cranes are hard to find these days. However I came across a couple at the edge of a corn field just north of Mitchell's Bay on one occasion, where I was able to put my long lens with teleconverter to use to capture this one digitally.

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SNOW on the roof, and yodeling from on high

 Readers will note that Snowy Owls have not been very plentiful so far this winter season. That hasn't changed a lot, but a bit. We didn't get any on our St. Clair NWA Christmas Bird Count, quite a change from our record of 23 last year. But I keep going out into their usual territory, hoping to at least see one. And quite unexpectedly, just a few days ago I saw 4! The first two were on the roof of a house.

Clearly one or more had been there off and on for a few days.

Just 100 metres away was this third one, in a fenced off area around some gas line pipes...

...and a fourth was along a laneway just a short distance away. All four were within sight of each other, I am sure.

They were a little unpredictable, as I know of others who had gone out looking in all of these spots, and not seen a single owl. But just a couple of days later I went out hoping that the blue skies would present a better background. I didn't see any with the sky as a background, but I did see two owls, both on the ground. This first one was near the gas fence....

...and this one was on a laneway access right adjacent to the road. I took this one while standing just a few metres from my vehicle, and the image is hardly cropped at all.

Sticking with a bit of a snow theme, I stopped at St. Clair NWA and saw a dozen or so Snow Geese. They weren't very close to the access berm, so the photos are heavily cropped. This first one shows three white phase birds.....

...while this one shows 4 blue phase, along with 2 whites and 3 Canadas.

I've also been out to Rondeau a couple of times, looking for whatever I could find and photograph. Along the Black Oak Trail, I came across a few typical winter birds. This Black-capped Chickadee was quite close to the trail, but constantly on the move.

This Downy Woodpecker was less active and so stayed in one position for more than a millisecond.

A bit later I went to the north end of the park. As I got out of the vehicle, I heard the distinct yodeling of Sandhill Cranes. They can typically be heard from a long distance, so I started scanning the sky, and then noticed not one, not two, but a whole bunch of them almost directly overhead, but way up high. At first they seemed to be in a loosely organized group...

...and spent a bit of time circling, but gradually drifting off to the southwest.

After a few minutes, they seemed to get more organized...

...and eventually got into a more typical migratory formation and continued southwest, rising above the clouds and disappearing. There were 49 birds in this group.

After that bit of excitement, I continued over to the campground, looking around for whatever was around. It was fairly quiet, but a large black bird with white wing patches appeared in the distance and landed on an oak tree. It was intent on digging out something, and allowed me to get fairly close, although it was fairly high up and not at the best angle. At least it was mostly in the sun. It was a male Pileated Woodpecker.

I expect it had been to this tree before, as it seemed to be busily digging into a familiar cavity, and attempting to extract some little creatures.

This final photo is a cropped version of the previous one, showing its tongue in action.

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Bird Action Increases!

We've had some very nice late winter weather, making it feel more like spring every day. But the forecasts look like things will slow up a bit, which is likely a good thing. Nonetheless, with some warm weather, brisk southerly type winds and lots of sunshine, it has spurred more activity amongst our feathered friends.

It was only a few days ago (March 2) when I took this photo of the piles of ice along the Rondeau shoreline.

In a matter of just a few days, that ice had all but disappeared. 

Waterfowl continued to pour in to the open waters of Rondeau Bay and even the local sewage lagoons. The warm, southerly winds caused most of the Tundra Swans to depart, although some continue to linger. The Greater White-fronted Geese that showed up periodically at Ridgetown over the last week or so seem to have left, but up to 15 Snow Geese were still there earlier this week. Snow Geese are much more of a novelty here than in extreme eastern Ontario, where tens of thousands of them pass through both spring and fall. This first photo shows all Snow Geese, including a single blue colour phase individual, and a single Tundra Swan.

This close-up shows a difference in size between two individuals. I had hoped the smaller one might have popped its head up, to see if it showed any characteristics of a slightly smaller Ross's Goose, but it remained in this sleeping pose. Then, as I was photographing something else, all of the Snow Geese took flight, although I don't think I 'shot' the smaller one in any of the several photos I got. It may have been a hybrid between the two species, which is known to happen with some regularity.

Rondeau Bay attracts thousands of waterfowl. In the last few weeks, Tundra Swans have been in impressive numbers, but most have left and it is dominated now by ducks. They are often too far to photograph, let alone get a good view of, but as was the case yesterday, several rafts of both Canvasback, shown next, and Redhead, were close enough to make the attempt. Note that there is a single American Coot at the far right of this photo.

Since several pairs of Bald Eagles have been observed at the early stages of nesting, with an adult sitting on the nest presumably incubating one or more eggs, I went part way down the west branch of Rondeau's South Point Trail to check out the nest there. It is barely visible from a limited part of the trail, and a 'scope is really useful. This next photo shows a white head sitting above the nest, so it would appear that this pair is also into the nesting cycle. This photo was taken and cropped to about 45X, so not easy to see or photograph.

While I was there, I had three cyclists stop by and I gave them a view through the 'scope, and as they were leaving three young fellows came by and also got a look. None of them had seen an eagle's nest in the park before.

The sunshine has definitely triggered some increase in activity amongst the smaller land birds, and yesterday I was treated to a fair bit of activity in the campground area. I got several firsts of the year, including Tufted Titmouse (they are year round residents, but not always easy to find)...

...a couple of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers......

..and two Yellow-rumped Warblers. It is likely they were over wintering individuals, although there had not been any reports of them in the Rondeau area for several weeks.

I also had a single Evening Grosbeak perched at the top of a cottonwood tree, but it was seen from a distance and before I could get even a distant photo, it flew north. They were quite frequently seen in mid to late autumn last year, and presumably this is one that was on its return to the boreal forest region.

Other, regular winter residents cooperated nicely for the camera.

White-breasted Nuthatch

Northern Cardinal

House Finch

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Black-capped Chickadee

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker, male

Downy Woodpecker, female

Elsewhere in the park, I came across several Turkey Vultures. They will be a regular occurrence from now on....

....and three Killdeer.

This Eastern Screech Owl is showing up in its usual beech tree a bit more regularly.

I came across this Virginia Opossum along the Tuliptree Trail.

The Spicebush Trail did not have much birdy action, partly because the brisk westerly winds had them hunkered down, or elsewhere. I hadn't been around this trail for several weeks, and noted that since my last time around, a large Silver Maple had come crashing down across the boardwalk, likely due to one of the strong easterly wind events.

On one occasion while returning home, I saw this Striped Skunk scampering along the edge of a field. Normally you don't see skunks out in broad daylight and so far from any cover, although as they emerge in the warming days of spring, they may forage farther afield. A closer look at this individual, however, shows a diseased or damaged left eye. I did use a telephoto lens, but still got fairly close to get these photos. I made sure that the wind was blowing in the skunk's direction, just in case!