The season is getting noisier, and busier!

 As the days go by, it is definitely becoming more spring-like in the world of nature. Butterflies are more evident, as I saw several of these Eastern Commas flitting about on a sunny, warm day recently. Some paused long enough to land and soak up a bit of sun, so I managed to get a few photos.

The trails sometimes had amphibians out and about. I saw half a dozen of these out on the Rondeau Marsh Trail a short time ago.

Leopard Frog

Killdeer are showing up in increasing numbers. I saw at least 7 along the Erieau Marsh Trail. It is possible that due to the mild winter weather, some may never have left, but they are more abundant now than during winter, such as it was.

Red-winged Blackbirds are quite abundant anywhere there are wetlands...

....they are often singing, as only Red-wings can sing, clearly trying to establish territories. I have seen them in conflict with other males fairly frequently.

Sandhill Cranes are more frequently seen now, but more often heard first. I had at least 7 along the Rondeau Marsh Trail, some of which were paired up, and making themselves heard.

Even though this is a pair, take a closer look at the one on the right. It is missing its right eye, but other than that, seemed to be acting and sounding quite normally.

American Robins are increasingly abundant, and they provide easy targets for the photographer. Mostly the males at this point, although I think I have seen the occasional female.

Northern Cardinals are more apt to be singing, although often they are partially obscured in a coniferous tree or some other tangle making it hard to photograph them.

Almost all of the waterfowl species are back, and getting paired up. With so much open water, many of them are not often in good photo range, but these three Northern Shovelers cooperated reasonably well.

Some waterfowl are becoming notable by their absence. There are very few Tundra Swans around now, as most have begun their northward journey.

Pileated Woodpeckers can be more often heard these days, as their distinctive drum roll tapping becomes apparent as they re-affirm their territories, which presumably were much more flexible over the winter. It won't be long before they are getting down to some serious egg-laying!

Red-bellied Woodpecker, another year-round resident, can be found more easily.

Wild Turkeys have been harder to find lately. Of course up until there was an Ontario re-introduction program established in about 1984, they were impossible to find. But after 1984, the population in Ontario expanded rather nicely. However in the last few years, they are less frequently seen in fields or at the edges of wooded areas. I suspect it is partly because the warm dry weather last autumn allowed many landowners to till the soil rather than leave it in stubble that the turkeys would forage in. I also suspect that the increase in coyotes over the years has taken its toll on the turkeys and their ability to nest and raise young. So it was nice to find a good-sized flock of about 62 birds widely scattered in this grassy field in between a couple of woodlots.

Of course Eastern Screech Owls are also year-round residents, and on occasion one will be quite evident as it looks out of its wood duck nest box that it over wintered in.

There are other things going on. While walking some of the roads and trails of Rondeau, I noticed this Raccoon, wandering around. It was walking rather erratically in the middle of the day. Not a healthy sign for this species. It had no fear of me, and as it got closer and I was able to get this photo, I could see its right eye was non-functional, and even its left eye showed some cloudiness. Quite likely it was suffering from distemper, which happens regularly with raccoons on a 3-4 year cycle. When they get to this stage, not much can be done about it, and so this individual's fate is likely sealed.

On a brighter note, at least from a native mammal point of view, the Eastern Chipmunks have been quite active in the last week or so, and occasionally one will stop long enough at a suitable distance to allow for a photo. They are always a crowd pleaser.When their population gets quite large, one sees more road-killed chipmunks. So far I haven't seen any road kills, but then the park visitation hasn't been all that abundant yet.

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Egrets, Eagles, shorebirds, etc.

 On occasion there have been some fairly sunny and bright days lately. Even a tad warmish. On those days, it is always a treat to go to places where there are wetlands, especially sheltered ones. On a trip to Rondeau, with all of the sloughs and other wetland habitats, you can hear the chortling of Wood Frogs.

You can't always find them close to the trail or boardwalk. This is a photo when that was possible on one of those exceptional days a couple of years ago.

Other frogs are out as well, including Leopard Frogs. They have a tendency to wander a bit farther from the wetlands, and aren't always successful in their road-crossing efforts.

Birds have been increasing slowly and steadily. Golden-crowned Kinglets are seen in lots of places, but due to their sometimes frenetic activity, aren't always easy to get a photo of.

Brown Creepers are increasing as well, although they never seem to be as plentiful as kinglets.

I had an invitation a few days ago, to visit a private wetland complex north of Mitchell's Bay, and within easy sight of Walpole Island. Just prior to making it all the way to that spot, I decided to check out the Mitchell's Bay North Lakeshore Nature Trail. I hadn't been there for several months, and it showed a considerably different look. The main reason was that the water of Lake St. Clair has dropped from what it was over the last couple of years, leaving lots of exposed shoreline and even mud flats. I found my first shorebirds of the season (other than Killdeer) here. I got photos of Dunlin, shown first...

.....and Lesser Yellowlegs, shown next. I also saw a Greater Yellowlegs, but did not get any photos.

I also saw about 8 Great Egrets overall, but the only place they were right together was in a mostly obscured location along the lake. Here is a trio of them that I caught en route to that lake side location.

There were ducks, and I got these photos. Some Northern Pintail were going somewhere else......

...but this pair of Northern Shoveler was a little more tolerant of me.

There were also several Bald Eagles in view, but too far away for a photo from this vantage point. However at the next stage of my destination for that day, the aforementioned private marsh, I was more fortunate. I saw at least 8-10 Bald Eagles, mostly sub-adults as the adults were likely closer to their home territory. The only one I got a sort of satisfactory photo of was this one, against an overcast grey sky.

It was actually chasing another adult, hence the fierce open-mouth cry it was making. But the photo of the two of them interacting did not turn out.

There were another 8 or so Great Egrets in this vicinity, and I got a few photos. It isn't too surprising to see so many along this part of Lake St. Clair wetlands, as there is a heronry on Walpole.

There were also lots of ducks, as usual, but not all that close at hand other than these.

Blue-winged Teal

This pair of Hooded Mergansers caught me off guard, explaining why the photo isn't in great focus.

A few Northern Flickers were along the edges.

On another occasion, I decided to walk part of the berm trail at St. Clair NWA. It was sunny and breezy, but quite comfortable. I saw a couple of Bald Eagles there, but they were well off along the tree line at the lake shore.

Most of the ducks were well beyond photo range, but a trio of Bufflehead came in right in front of the tower which I was on, and seemed to be more interested in the courtship activity rather than me on the tower.

There were lots of American Coot, at least several dozen scattered here and there....

...and right along the trail was a single American Tree Sparrow.

One of the Wood Duck boxes along the main access road to the NWA often has an Eastern Screech Owl peeking out. It isn't always this visible.

I have zipped out to Erieau a couple of times of late, mainly to see if I could catch up to the Eurasian Wigeon that gets reported from time to time. I have 'scoped the water front a few times, but it always seems to turn up somewhere else. The light hasn't always been good, but that's no reason. Here is a Horned Grebe slowly changing over from winter attire to the breeding look.

 Green-winged Teal seem to be fewer than Blue-winged, at the moment, but there are usually a few around.

 

This was an overcast day, and I almost drove by this Snowy Owl, perched on this pole having just about finished its dinner. I couldn't really tell what the menu item was, but it had webbed feet.

I went again on Friday, since the Eurasian Wigeon was reported again from Erieau. But again, no luck finding it. The only European bird species I saw was this European Starling, a common species of course, and not all that popular with North American birders. But all things considered, they really are an attractive/colourful species.

Another non-native species is this Mute Swan, a species that is all too frequently found in local wetlands. This was along the Rail Trail, and clearly the nesting season has begun.

....as it has for Canada Geese.

While I was out along this trail, this sub-adult Bald Eagle came floating by, stirring up many of the resting waterfowl.

It made no attempt to pick off anything, but eventually continued out of sight.

After the eagle departed, many of the disturbed ducks returned to the shelter of the marsh, although they were still a bit skittish. This male Northern Shoveler didn't seem to mind me capturing it in all of its breeding finery.

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