Early November birding travels

 This is the best time of year for me to see one of my favourite sparrow species. Fox Sparrows are fairly large as sparrows go, and are distinctly marked and somewhat colourful. Late October through November are when they seem to be at their most numerous, with typically a dozen or more seen. They are often seen foraging on the ground, in typical sparrow style, but sometimes they will sit up and right in the open.

 

 

If they are in the area, they often respond to 'spishing' and will come quite a bit closer, which is nice for the photographer.

Generally more abundant and a sparrow species that usually sticks around longer, is the White-throated Sparrow.

I have enjoyed tracking down these and other sparrows on my recent forays to places like Rondeau and St. Clair NWA, where the above photos were taken recently.

A few of the other species that I have managed to photograph at either of those areas include Robins enjoying the abundance of red cedar berries.....

...and a shy Black-capped Chickadee. Actually it wasn't shy at all, as it came in quite close in response to spishing, but was so intent on looking for food, I only got this one photo before it moved off.

Downy Woodpecker

Purple Finches, such as this female, are around in better numbers now.

Of course gulls are quite abundant, and when the common Ring-billed Gull gives opportunity for a good photo, as a photographer I will take it.

There are hundreds of Ruddy Ducks out on Rondeau Bay and Lake Erie, although not typically very close to shore.

They are a little easier to get close-up photos at the local sewage lagoons.....

...as are Bonaparte's Gulls. I was looking for a Little Gull that had been there briefly, but none of us there that day saw it, so I satisfied my photographer's itch with this Bonaparte's Gull.

 A juvenile Peregrine Falcon has been hanging around St. Clair NWA on a couple of my visits there...

...as have at least a couple of Sandhill Cranes, although they are more often heard than seen very close by.

The occasional Snow Goose can be found mixed in with the more abundant Canada Geese. This was one of two along the shore of Lake Erie just outside of Rondeau....

...whereas this blue phase Snow Goose was at St. Clair NWA.

On one sunny but cool day, I came across this Midland Painted Turtle catching some late season sun.

Given that it is right in the middle of hunting season, ducks aren't always so cooperative when things are aimed at them. This Mallard didn't seem to mind.

Shorebirds are becoming much more scarce. There had been many dozens of Dunlin at most mudflats along a wetland, but those numbers have dropped considerably. When I was out at the Keith McLean Conservation Lands, I was actually hoping to see a Hudsonian Godwit that had been seen there from time to time. But each time I was there, it was not in view. And even the Dunlin were harder to find. In just a few days, their numbers went from at least a couple of hundred, to only three on my most recent visit. This one was scared up by a Northern Harrier on the prowl, but it came back to this pile of rocks.

It seemed like it wanted to play hide-and-seek as it never came out in full view. Two others flew by but didn't stop.

This Greater Yellowlegs continued along a mudflat at the Mitchell's Bay North Shore Trail.

On another time at Rondeau, a few Hermit Thrush were noted, but seldom gave a decent photo op. This was one of the better ones, and only for a brief time as they preferred to rustle around in the bushes searching for berries.

When the sun was out, the occasional Green Darner dragonfly was seen buzzing around. There weren't many flying insects like midges for it to feed on.

Raptors are continuing to migrate through the area, and it has been a great time to see Golden Eagles. Some of the hawkwatch sites are reporting 30 or more in a day! I stopped by the Morpeth Cliffs area for a couple of hours on a promising day, and had two young birds fly by. One flew right overhead, and not that high up. Unfortunately it was heavy overcast, so the following two photos had to undergo some serious processing to get the critical characteristics somewhat visible.

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(Mostly) Wetland Wanderings

 Birds returning, wildflowers blooming, turtles sunning, butterflies flitting....there is lots to take in as spring develops! 

I recently stopped in at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons to see what was happening. There was a good variety of waterfowl, as expected, with Ruddy Duck taking top honours in terms of numbers. There were anywhere from 800 to 1000 or more scattered across the various cells. Many were in fine breeding plumage. Perhaps they have memories of the last hunting season, however, as they were not eager to be within good camera range.

The water in all of the ponds was about as high as I have ever seen it. Even two of the sprinkler cells had lots of water, which bodes well for the upcoming shorebird season if those sprinkler cell levels remain. On this day, however, I only saw Lesser Yellowlegs and Killdeer, but it is a bit early.

There were many hundreds of swallows, mainly Tree Swallows, and due to the cool temperatures, some were low down or even on the ground.

A small number of Purple Martins, like the female shown next, were mixed in on the wires and on the wing....

...I only saw a single Barn Swallow.

A couple of Savannah Sparrows were skulking around.

I next went to the Erieau Marsh Trail. It can be quite birdy, and due to the narrowness of the trail, at least some of the birds are not far off. Ducks are becoming fewer, although there are still many out on the bay but well beyond camera range. Close by the trail are the usual Canada Geese and Mute Swans nesting. This pair of Blue-winged Teal was scrounging around....

...and nearby were up to 9 Dunlin. This one is a long way from full breeding plumage, but getting there.

Blackbirds of various types are typically plentiful, and occasionally a Common Grackle was busy enough with something else that it let me get this photo. I love the iridescence of its plumage in good light.

Along the trail was this Groundhog. At first I wasn't sure what it was up to. But watching for a few minutes indicated it was on the prowl for something to line its burrow with.

It scampered back and forth several times while I watched. After it went down into its burrow, I kept moving along, and when I got to its burrow entrance just a metre or so off the trail, I could see its head at the top keeping an eye on me, to make sure I moved along.

Just as I left the trail, I noted this Osprey perched on a pole. It was apparently quite comfortable and secure, as it let me turn the vehicle around and pull into a driveway to get this photo. There are very few places to pull off along this stretch of road, so I was glad it was close by one of them.

I have been to Rondeau a couple of times lately, although the birding has been erratic. I always find other things to enjoy if the birds aren't plentiful, but I have to decide what camera/lens combination to take on my route. On one of the days, I had a wide-angle zoom intending to photograph some of the emerging wildflowers, so it was a bit of a challenge to get this Azure species. Not so many years ago, most butterfly people would be content to call this a Spring Azure but in recent years the butterfly specialists have re-configured the Celastrus genus and some of them get quite indignant if one puts a species name to the genus. I just call this an Azure species.

I also had several Red Admirals go by.

The resident Eastern Screech Owl shows up in its usual spot on occasion, but is not predictable. It was quite visible on this day.

I've also spent time at some of the wetland areas along the Lake St. Clair shoreline, and for good reason: there is always a variety of things to see there as well! At the NWA, I had this American Kestrel perched on a branch well away from the trail, but at least it stayed long enough for a distant and heavily cropped photo.

There were many dragonflies flitting about, including this pair of Green Darners 'in wheel'.

A young Painted Turtle was along the road side, but clearly it was dead.

More Red Admirals were around.

Up in the Mitchell's Bay area, I had several Forster's Terns, but most were well out over the lake. I got a single photo of one perched on a rail, just as it was getting ready to take off.

Great Egrets are often within camera range. I had about 11 on this most recent visit, and a couple were within shooting range.

There were numerous turtles out, with about 95% of them being Painted Turtles. I saw 5 of these Northern Map Turtles, the first ones I have seen this year.

Pied-billed Grebes can be heard hooting and hollering out in the marsh. I had a pair of them swim by fairly close, before they realized I was not a tree or something, whereupon they quickly made their way elsewhere.

One of my target birds for this outing was to see a Yellow-headed Blackbird, which are known for nesting in the cattail islands close by Mitchell's Bay. I did get a couple of quick glimpses of one, but it was very skittish and did not allow me to photograph it. So I include a photo of yesteryear.

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