Natural Areas of Chatham-Kent, Part 12 (Erieau Rail Trail)

The Erieau Rail or Marsh Trail is another excellent area to explore and it is just a short distance away from the previously described natural area, McGeachy Pond. Both are shown in the following image. McGeachy Pond is the triangular area along the lake in the upper part of the image, and the Erieau Rail Trail is shown as the linear blue line. This is part of the Waterfront Trail system.

 It is sometimes noted as the Erieau Marsh Trail since the trail goes by marshy areas at the edge of Rondeau Bay. The trail is actually on an old railroad bed. The railroad connected Chatham with Rondeau Bay more than a century ago, when at the time it was believed that Rondeau Bay would be an excellent shipping port since it was so well protected from a more turbulent Lake Erie. However it was eventually realized that Rondeau Bay was too shallow for the increasingly large ships so its role as a major shipping harbour quickly fell out of favour. Nonetheless, the railroad bed ended at Erieau, and ships and barges could enter the harbour to that point. The railroad through Erieau was located on what is now a boulevard between the two one-way streets. I remember as a kid, seeing piles of coal which had been unloaded at Erieau. Now that spot is a trailer park and marina for mostly recreational water craft.

The railroad was abandoned several decades ago, and became an unofficial trail for hikers and birders. It was only a few years ago when it became an official trail thanks to many local residents, stewardship groups and the like.

It is notably different from the McGeachy Pond area, with a greater amount of treed area along the trail. That makes it especially good for attracting migrant birds. The following four species of warbler are examples of birds that occur only as migrants. To date there are 194 species of bird that have been recorded here.

American Redstart

Black-and-white Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

Palm Warbler

There are many other bird species that use it as either a breeding or feeding location.

Eastern Towhee

 A pair of Great Horned Owls are often seen, and occasionally nest in the immediate vicinity.

Great Horned Owlet

Marsh Wren

Swamp Sparrow

Yellow Warbler

The adjacent wetland makes the trail an ideal spot to see water birds.

Common Tern

Great Blue Heron

Red-winged Blackbird

 Some water birds are very furtive, such as the Sora, a member of the Rail group (and therefore fitting along this Rail Trail). They are more often heard than seen, and even when they are seen it is usually only a brief, partial look like this next one.

 On occasion, they can seem to be quite bold. I watched and photographed this one from the observation tower for an hour in 2017, and it was apparently unconcerned about my presence.

A larger and less common rail species is the Virginia Rail.

Part way along the trail is an observation deck, giving excellent views of the adjacent wetland and this corner of Rondeau Bay. This next image was taken from the observation deck. There is a small pond right below the deck, and in late summer one can see a cluster of pink flowers at the edge of the cattails.

 The pink flowers are those of Swamp Rose Mallow, an rare species in Ontario, but relatively widespread around high quality wetlands here in the southwest.

 There is a Wood Duck nesting box at the edge of the pond, but so far all I have seen using it are Tree Swallows.

With relatively little open area along much of the trail, it doesn't seem to have the same diversity and abundance of butterflies like the McGeachy Pond area has. But species that like more wooded areas, such as this Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, and others, can be found.

It is a good spot to find the Eastern Fox Snake, an endangered species in Ontario. While it can be a large snake, well over a metre in length, it is not dangerous. It moves slowly and may vibrate its tail in leaves to sound like a rattlesnake if it feels threatened, but is quite harmless. Even though they are there, the chances of seeing one is not very high.

It is a wonderful spot to see a diversity of wildlife along a relatively short trail, and has many photo opportunities from sunrise on.

Sunrise looking north east from the observation deck

Rondeau area update: May 22 & 23

I've been away for a few days.....maybe you have noticed my absence. Marie and I were in North Bay, visiting our daughter and new son-in-law. I'll post a bit of that trip in a future post.

We got back late in the evening of Wednesday, May 21 and I was ready for my 'Rondeau fix'. So on Thursday morning, I headed to Rondeau. The birds along the north end of Rondeau Road were not abundant, but there were a few warblers on the move: Blackburnian and Magnolia especially, and some of the resident warblers were in full song. There were lots of vireos, including Yellow-throated, and a few Empid flycatchers including Yellow-bellied. Pileated Woodpeckers were around, but not very vocal this day. They have a territory and nest site in this vicinity and so are particularly quiet.

Blackburnian Warbler

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are still around in good numbers...not quite as plentiful as they were a few days ago, however. Presumably some of the ones currently around will remain to nest.

The Spicebush Trail had loads of wildflowers. Lots of different violets, some lingering trilliums, Pepperwort Toothwort and many others. I will do a special post just on some of the wildflowers there. I'll include one of my favourites for now: the White Baneberry, a.k.a. Doll's-eyes, for reasons that will become apparent in a future post.

A Wood Thrush has taken up residence along the west side of the trail, so hopefully some decent pics of adults feeding young may be in store. I also heard a partial song of an Acadian Flycatcher just a bit north of where one has nested in the last couple of years, so hopefully that bodes well for this species.

At the Visitor Centre feeders there was a fair bit of bird activity. Mostly the usual ones, but what caught my eye was this gorgeous adult Red-headed Woodpecker!

It was particularly attracted to the suet feeder and was rather feisty in discouraging some of the other competitors for this type of nutrition.

Later I went to the Dog Beach access, hoping to see some shorebirds, and in particular Whimbrel. Spotted Sandpipers were kicking up a fuss, as were some Killdeer.

Spotted Sandpiper

And then I noted a flock of three largish shorebirds with long down-curved bills come closer....Whimbrel! They landed briefly nearby, but were quickly airborne again.

Another large flock of at least 250 Whimbrel were well out over the lake, and disappeared without coming close enough for even a long record shot.

On the return along Lakeshore Road, I noted a chipmunk in a tree....not the usual place to see them, but they are avid climbers and on occasion I have seen them near the top of a 30 metre high tree. This one was at a better level for photographing, in spite of the heavy cloud cover and poor lighting.

Today I took a quick trip to Erieau, to see if any more Whimbrel were in the area. This species only passes through in a very short time period.....usually no more than about a week. But none were visible today. I did see 6 brightly plumaged Ruddy Turnstones on the far breakwall.

Along the Erieau Rail Trail there was a smattering of warblers, about 8 species in all. Highlights were Canada Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler and Mourning Warbler along with some of the more regular migrants and residents. The dull light and shrubby conditions made getting photos particularly challenging.

Wilson's Warbler

An Eastern Kingbird and Ruby-throated Hummingbird were a bit more cooperative.

Eastern Kingbird

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

May 16 & 17 action

The cool weather of the last couple of days has been a bonus....at least for viewing birds down low where there is more insect activity. And it is a lot easier on the neck, too, not having to strain to see small birds flitting around the tree tops against dull gray skies.

But many birds were so low, it was difficult to see them as they furtively crawled through the ground vegetation, such as this male Blackburnian Warbler.

This female Black-throated Blue Warbler was a little more visible, but still sometimes hard to see amongst the shrubbery, except for brief moments.

 

 

The north end of Rondeau was particularly busy with birds....lots of diversity and colour to enjoy! I had at least 20 species of warblers in just a few hours spent on Black Oak Trail and between Bennett Ave and the maintenance compound, including the log pond along Harrison Trail. And only a handful of birders, which made the experience more pleasant. A few birders are okay, but when it gets crowded, I go elsewhere.

Black Oak Trail was quite good. I look forward to checking out this trail later in the season, when the flowers of the oaks are coming out, which attracts insects, thus attracting warblers, and the leaves aren't as fully out as the maples and beech trees farther west. There were at least a dozen species of warbler along this trail alone. And no other birders.

At the log pond, there was a good bit of warbler activity: Magnolia, Am Redstart, Yellow, Common Yellowthroat, Palm and two female Prothonotaries. Lots of sapling stems made getting clear shots challenging, but I got a few record shots, including this one. The females are similar to the males, only a duller yellow, not the almost fluorescent colour of the male. This profile shot illustrates the rather large beak this species is known for.

Prothonotary Warbler female

This is a first year male American Redstart. There were quite a few scattered about, especially near water. This one was also at the log pond.

American Redstart

 Scarlet Tanagers were particularly plentiful. I probably saw at least 30 today, and a few were quite close. While watching one bright male on the ground along Harrison, it actually flew right over my head close enough to touch. Maybe there were a few insects hovering over me that he was interested in, but he did it twice. And a couple of others did the same thing later.

Thrushes were all over the place. Mostly Swainson's Thrush, but also quite a few Veery and a surprising number of Gray-cheeked Thrush, along with the occasional pair of Wood Thrush.

Gray-cheeked Thrush

Veery

 Flycatchers weren't quite as abundant, but still fairly common, including Eastern Wood-Pewee, which breeds at Rondeau.

Eastern Wood-Pewee

It is a great year for Gray Catbirds....it is by far the most abundant member of the Mimidae family here. And on that note, where are all the Brown Thrashers? I've only seen one thrasher for every catbird, it seems.

Today I went to Erieau to look for the reported Neotropic Cormorant. No one saw it after first thing this morning, to my knowledge. But there are thousands of cormorants at the south end of Rondeau bay, roosting on the sandy islands closer to the Rondeau marsh. Some will nest there....in 2013 there were at least 55 nests.

While I was in the area, I checked the Rail Trail, and noted a handful of warblers (Mourning, Common Yellowthroat, Black-and-white, Black-throated Green, Magnolia, Yellow and Palm) as well as more Scarlet Tanagers. Also a couple of Indigo Bunting, Carolina Wren, House Wren, Swamp Sparrow, Red-eyed and Warbling Vireo, etc. There are more and more female warblers around, indicating the stage of migration being at its peak or perhaps just past?

Black-and-white Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

In the marsh area were at least three Gadwall and an American Coot. Either or both of the latter two species may be nesting.

And the Snowy Owl continues to be out in the corn stubble to the east of McGeachy Pond! I wonder if it is hanging out because it is too weak to continue north. There was enough heat haze to make getting a photo next to impossible.