Spring birds and other fauna

Such a busy time of year shaping up as spring is unfolding. I won't deal with spring wildflowers on this one, but will do so in a future post. For this one, there is lots of fauna, etc., to feature!

A recent trip to St. Clair NWA was fairly productive in seeing things, although the heavy overcast made photography a bit of a challenge.

American Tree Sparrows are still around, but dwindling in numbers. 

Beavers are well established, although not always easy to find and photograph.

Out towards Lake St. Clair, this tree regularly has a few Double-crested Cormorants using it over the course of the day.

A Great Egret or two can be found.

Sandhill Cranes are often in good numbers, sometimes up to about 14, with some even hanging out on the main trail.

It was heavy overcast, as mentioned, so it influenced some of my photo efforts. This was taken from the observation tower, looking eastward.

I try and get to the Mitchell's Bay North trail regularly. Great Egrets are becoming more common, which will likely continue until well into the autumn.

There is lots of shorebird habitat, but most of the time I am only able to find a Greater Yellowlegs, shown next, or a Lesser Yellowlegs.

Midland Painted Turtles are out to enjoy the sunshine, and help out with their egg production phase.

 Heading south, a recent trip to the Erieau Marsh Trail was a worthwhile stop. Right at the beginning of the trail was a Blue-headed Vireo, the first one I had seen this year. Unfortunately it was so busy moving around the branches, or up against the white sky, this is the best photo I managed.

There were several Blue-winged Teal in the sheltered part of the wetland, along with some geese.

I saw a few Chipping Sparrows, just becoming a little more common these days....

...as are Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Of course Rondeau is a favourite destination, and I managed to track down a few species of fauna. Butterflies are becoming more common. This first one is what I would call a Spring Azure, and it fits the description in the fairly recent Butterflies of Ontario book. However there is someone in the Ottawa area who tries to convince people that the only way to tell whether it is this species or one of several others, is to look at it under a microscope, so he lumps them all as Holistic Azures. It's too bad, as that means one has to collect and kill it to identify it! I think I will stick with what the book says.

Ruby-crowned Kinglets are becoming quite common...

..as are Mourning Cloaks.

Killdeer have been back for awhile, and I came across this nest a few days ago.

I managed a nice close-up of this House Wren, singing its heart out to attract a mate.

These Green Darners were busy along the trail.

And Brown Creepers are fairly common these days.

If you go to Rondeau these days, you may notice that the spring, prescribed burns have occurred in a couple of places. It will be interesting to watch how the flush of prairie vegetation responds!

 I haven't been out birding quite as regularly or intensively as I used to, but some of the younger more dedicated local birders have come up with some good sightings. What follows are of species that have been recently seen, but I had to dig into my archives to feature them. I might catch up to one or more of these species yet over the next week or so if they stick around, but in the meantime, I will showcase these this way.

Several Marbled Godwits were noted flying by the lake front. This is one I took from my kayak at Mitchell's Bay a few years ago. 

Piping Plovers have historically nested in the area, but due to their overall decline over the decades, are seldom seen other than on migration. One or two have been seen from Erieau looking at the south beach of Rondeau, but only seen via a 'scope. I photographed this one along the south beach several years ago.

Willets are migratory, nesting farther west, as are the Marbled Godwits, but occasionally show up in the area. Several were seen recently along the lake front. I photographed these three at Shrewsbury several years ago. It is a real treat to see any of these three species, and I hope an indication of things to come!

 

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April showers bring flooding; also some more birds

 The sunny, clear weather has made it great to be out. I'm not a big fan of temperatures in early April that are close to mid-day temperatures of July, however. I hope we have a relatively normal spring!

I've been out to the Lake St. Clair wetland area a few times, and one is almost assured of getting good views, and photographs, of Great Egrets, not surprisingly. They nest at nearby Walpole Island, as well as some of the grassy islands in the lake just west of Mitchell's Bay. They can be a bit hard to get close to if they are on the ground, at the edge of a wetland. But if they are up in a tree, they seem to be a lot more tolerant of how close they allow you to be. Looking down at you seems to give them a sense of security. These two cooperated nicely.

Killdeer have been back in the area for a few weeks, and their nesting season is well underway.

Colourful breeding plumaged Ruddy Ducks are fairly plentiful, and occasionally the distance and light make for a good photo.

Red-winged Blackbirds are aggressively announcing and defending their territory.

Tree Swallows have returned in good numbers these last few days.

These nice sunny days are a good distraction from those recent days with lots of rain. We got about 3 inches of rain over the wettest period, and given the already fairly saturated ground, led to some local flooding.This was exacerbated given the widespread nature of the rain upstream throughout the rather large overall drainage area, which typically causes the lower Thames River to flood.  McGregor Creek, one of the tributaries of the river in Chatham-Kent, showed just how much water we had to deal with even within its relatively small drainage area. This next photo is from a few kilometres southeast of Chatham, and is usually an indicator of potential flooding of south Chatham.

It was for this ongoing flooding risk from this creek to Chatham residents a few years ago, that the McGregor Creek diversion channel was constructed, to divert the water to the Thames River before going through Chatham. After this most recent rainfall, that diversion was running at least half full. Parts of the creek that went through southern Chatham still overflowed, but remained on the flood plain and posed minimal risk to local residents.

After taking the above photo I continued on my way to Rondeau. There were a lot of wet fields, and some had large groups of gulls. I looked carefully at some gatherings, hoping that a Franklin's or Little Gull might be there, but if there was, I did not find them.

This next photo shows the same area of McGregor Creek from the same vantage point, about a week later, and the creek is confined to its normal channel.

I have been out to Rondeau on a couple of occasion, to enjoy the solitude and even shoot a few birds. Song Sparrows are frequently seen, and singing regularly.

I got one of my first Eastern Phoebes of the season, and they have become more numerous in the last few days.

There has been a good incursion of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. This one was actively defending a Basswood tree full of holes made by the sapsucker, causing a bit of sap to seep out. Two other sapsuckers were trying to take advantage of this one's work, but it successfully kept the others away, at least while I was watching.

I got my first of several Yellow-rumped Warblers at the south end of the campground, which is now open for camping.

The various access points at Erieau are always good for bird diversity at this time of year. Lots of the common things, but with the limited habitat, it concentrates some of the earlier arrivals.

American Coot are visible by the hundreds, although not often from very close up.

Bonaparte's Gulls have been building in numbers, and it is common to see several hundred. Their plumage varies.

There are still some Bufflehead around.

Golden-crowned Kinglets are present in small numbers....

...and I managed to get a record shot of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, a relatively recent arrival. As kinglets are almost constantly flitting amongst shrubs, it is difficult to get an unobstructed photo.

Tree Swallows are a challenge to photograph as they are mostly in flight. But when they need a break from their aerial search for insects, they can be shot much more easily.

I got my first of the year Barn Swallow.

I had watched this female Red-breasted Merganser swimming underwater, chasing a school of minnows close to shore. When it surfaced and swam by quickly, I managed this.

One of the highlights of the most recent visit to Erieau was to have this Common Loon in good breeding plumage, swimming slowly in the small boat marina. The light wasn't always the best angle, but this photo seemed to be the best one. It is hardly cropped at all. It isn't often here in the south we get to see such a fine-looking loon at such a close distance, unlike many northern lakes where one or more are often seen and heard throughout the breeding season.

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