Some warmer season niceties

 The ups and downs of the early spring days can be rewarding. At least with the periodic upswing, migrating birds are on the move, and a greater variety of fauna can be appreciated.

I have been to Rondeau on a few occasions, in between rainy days. One of my purposes is to get a fair bit of exercise instead of hanging out and being relatively immobile at home. Some days the camera gets a bit of a workout; other days, not so much. 

In some of my earlier posts, it was plain to see that there was massive amounts of ice on the lake, but it was gradually disappearing. And then there was none.

There is becoming a nice mix of fauna to see. No native spring wildflowers yet, but that won't be long. Wood Frogs are making a bit of noise in the larger ponds of the sloughs.

Tree Swallows are back, swooping after some insects.

A few flies and things are buzzing around, such as this Narrow-headed Marsh Fly

Mourning Cloaks are by far the most numerous butterfly, although I did see one or two of the Eastern Comma type ones but just in flight

There has been at least one Lesser Yellowlegs hanging out in the good shorebird habitat at nearby Keith McLean Conservation Area.

Golden-crowned Kinglets are fairly common.

On occasion, one may see an Eastern Garter Snake out sunning.

Brown Creepers are becoming more numerous, although they hardly ever sit still for a photo! I've even had several show up on trees in my yard at home.

A nice surprise is to see and photograph this American Red Squirrel, which has been hanging around the maintenance area for several years. It is very active, and photos are hard to get. In the case of this one, I had a hard time focusing on it as there was not only a chain link fence to look through, but also branches of a few shrubs.

Other places relatively close to home have proven worthwhile to check out. At St. Clair NWA, there is often a Bald Eagle flying around, but the bland skies don't make it easy to get a good photo of.

On one occasion as I was along the main trail, this Canadian Beaver was swimming by quite close at hand. You don't often see them in the middle part of the day, but there it was.

Sandhill Cranes are almost a guarantee, somewhere either in the NWA or nearby fields.

The Mitchell's Bay trails are worth checking out. Again, Bald Eagles are almost a guarantee, and I often see 4 or more within view, but not always within a good photographic distance. This one is about a year old, due to the brownish back.

Great Egrets are back, and I always look forward to photographing one or more. This first one shows it had recently grabbed what looks to be a small frog.

At other times, they are just busy watching to see what is going on.

There is some great habitat for shorebirds, due to the lower lake levels. This Greater Yellowlegs was a first of the year for me, a little way out from the closest point at which I could observe it.

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Avocets and other mid-July birds

 A recent stop at the Blenheim sewage lagoons turned out to be quite worthwhile! I hadn't been there for a few days, as the ongoing heat and humidity encouraged me to stay close to home much of the time, but this day was different. Definitely a little cooler with a pleasant breeze. And something quite interesting had just blown in.

 A flock of American Avocets was there, in the far southeast cell where there is a nice muddy flat and some shallow muddy water. As it was mid-morning, the light wasn't the best from the initial vantage point, and this is the best I could get, just in case they took off and I didn't have any other chances.

Walking cautiously on the dried mud, which was soft and full of cracks, I wandered more to the east to get a better angle of the light. It was still a little harsher than I liked, but through processing, was able to get some quite satisfactory photos.

At one point the entire flock of 12 got up and flew, appearing to go right out of sight, so we looked at the other shorebird diversity that was there. But in less than10 minutes, the Avocets returned. Not wanting to disturb them to flight mode again, we quietly backtracked and left them feeding.

Earlier I indicated that this flock had recently blown in. As it turns out, Blake had a flock of 12 flying in from Lake St. Clair, over the Mitchell's Bay area, about 3 hours earlier. It is quite likely that the ones he had seen, kept on flying until they found some wetland with shallow, muddy water, to their liking. 

 As is typical of sewage lagoons at this time of year, there are usually a few more things to take note of if there are some shallow, muddy edges. There were several Semipalmated Plovers, but I didn't get any photos of them. Lots of Killdeer, of course, and others of various types. At one point, under a bit breezy conditions, some swallows rested from their aerial flight on the gravel path.

Tree and Barn Swallows

As I approached the sprinkler cells, two large corvids were up and about, giving a typical hoarse croak of Common Raven.

A few Least Sandpipers were scattered about.....

....as were a few Lesser Yellowlegs...

...and a couple of Pectoral Sandpipers.

It is always nice to see a few Short-billed Dowitchers.

This Tree Swallow was sitting on a sheltered perch, taking a rest from chasing insects that were probably taking shelter from the breezes themselves.

 On another occasion, I went to the Mitchell's Bay North Shore Trail. With its openness it is always a good spot to go to keep away from mosquitoes and fewer deer flies, and with a few birds to note. This adult Bald Eagle was a long way off, keeping an eye on fishermen and whatever else that were out on the lake. I tried to get around the trail a little farther to get closer, but it would have none of that and took off.

Great Egrets are almost always around, and some even cooperated for some telephoto photos. I think there were at least 6 within view, although they moved around a bit.

 A Common Gallinule was perched up in the Arrowhead and Pickerelweed squawking and complaining about something.

 

In the recently harvested wheat field, this pair of Sandhill Cranes was investigating some open area.

And this Song Sparrow was singing its heart out, so the nesting season, at least for it, is still under way.

 Red-winged Blackbirds are almost always fairly abundant, and especially now when so many young have hatched. Many were out in the wheat field as well, likely looking for a bit of grain that hadn't been taken in.

And in other news....the Nessus Sphinx Moth that I photographed at home a few days ago, and is now my feature creature at the top, showed a slightly different look in one of the photos that I eventually got processed. This one shows a Great Golden Digger Wasp grasping on to the tail end of the moth! Not sure what its intent was, and it didn't last long, so perhaps the wasp figured it had tackled something too large for itself.

At Rondeau, I had noted a female Prothonotary Warbler taking nesting material to a natural cavity in one of the sloughs. I had hoped that it would make use of it, as there was a male nearby, and I prefer photographing this species at a natural cavity. But even after watching this spot periodically over the course of several weeks, it was apparent that nothing was happening here. Perhaps it found a better nesting cavity farther up or down the slough.

And this immature Red-tailed Hawk was being harassed by a small group of Red-winged Blackbirds. In this incident, it was the little guys that won the confrontation.

'Til next time....

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The joys of exploring open wetland areas

 I don't recall ever being on a roller coaster in my earlier days, but these last few weeks and months seem like I am on one now. Lots of ups and downs, sometimes with little or no warning, as I wrestle with the passing of Marie. Nonetheless, I have been out roaming around bits of the natural world when the mood and weather seem appropriate. Of course the heat and humidity is always a factor, at least for me. Even though I grew up on a farm in southern Chatham-Kent, I don't seem to have minded the heat and humidity as a youth working on the farm. But as an adult, I never seemed to be able to tolerate it all that well.

One of my favourite go-to places reasonably close by, is the Mitchell's Bay North Shore Trail. It is quite open, with great views of various bird species and usually a bit of a breeze to make the weather more comfortable. It is one of the better spots to see and photograph Great Egrets, which nest at some of the cattail islands just out in the lake. I usually see at least half a dozen on my outings.

They also nest in the marshes of Walpole Island, which is off in the distance from the best vantage point of the trail here. The view point at the end of the gravel trail, where I took this next photo from, is higher than the surrounding wetlands, giving some great views of the marsh as well as Lake St. Clair.

There are some dead trees, which at times can be well-stocked with migrant swallow types, especially Purple Martins. There are lots of martin houses in the area, and as the nesting season is over and their autumn migration is soon to come, they gather in large numbers to feed on the numerous flying insects, but take time to rest on these dead branches.

On one of my recent times along this trail, I got a fair whiff of skunk smell. I didn't think too much of it at first, since skunks are native to the area. But as I got a little further down the trail, I noticed a bird in a tree in the direction the skunk smell was coming from. It was a Great Horned Owl, sometimes called a skunk owl, since they don't seem to be bothered by the smell, and will prey on them from time to time. This owl had undoubtedly had a recent experience with a skunk.

Upon a closer look at the photo on the computer, I noticed this owl did not have any sight in its right eye.

With the openness along this trail, it is great for getting good views, and even some good photos of the creatures hanging out in the area. Another member of the swallow family, is Barn Swallow shown next. There are always a few, but not anywhere near the numbers exhibited by the Purple Martins.

A Belted Kingfisher or two can often be seen, although they are quite reluctant to let anyone get very close.

Out over the lake there may be a few different gulls and terns, especially in spring and fall. Caspian Terns, shown in the next two photos, are becoming more plentiful. They don't breed in the immediate area, but frequent the area as they hunt for small fish to capture from the relatively shallow lake these days.

In the cattails, one will often hear Marsh Wrens. On occasion one will even come into view for the camera!

More likely to be seen are Song Sparrows.

Eastern Kingbirds are scattered around in small numbers...

...and there is usually a Green Heron skulking around the edges.

Another favourite spot to check out is St. Clair NWA, which has a great trail meandering through the ~240 ha wetland. Birds are present in good numbers, but not always within decent camera range. That may change over the next few weeks, as migrant waterfowl will be passing through, and many will take refuge in the NWA from the hunting pressures occurring in nearby marshes. However other things with wings include butterflies, such as this Black Swallowtail.

...and lots of Monarchs and the similar looking Viceroy, shown next.

Wildflowers such as Blue Vervain, next, are plentiful...

...as is the rarer Field Thistle, sometimes called Prairie Thistle, and is a Species At Risk. Since most of what used to be known as Dover Twp, north of the Thames River and adjacent to Lake St. Clair used to be tallgrass prairie prior to settlement, there are pockets of prairie vegetation persisting in places like SCNWA. Prairie Thistle looks very similar to the much more common Swamp Thistle, but is a paler pinkish purple in comparison.

Sandhill Cranes can be seen regularly. One of the best times to see and hear them is in the early evening, as they return from their daytime feeding in fields, and spend the overnight hours in the marsh. I typically see 20 or more, and they will continue in reasonable numbers for the next several months.

  A Northern Harrier, a.k.a. Marsh Hawk, patrols the marsh, followed by an Eastern Kingbird which doesn't approve of its presence.

Another wetland wildflower, and also a Species At Risk is this next one: Swamp Rose Mallow. It can be quite abundant in these marshes along Lake St. Clair.

I did make it to Rondeau on one occasion, hiking along the Marsh Trail. It has always been one of my favourite parts of the park, but in recent years the trail has taken quite a beating with the high water. It is still hike-able. Bald Eagles can be seen fairly regularly, as there is at least one nest out along the edge of the forest and marsh. This eagle, a sub-adult, was perched in a nearby dead tree and was surprisingly tolerant of me along the trail.

Another one was seen flying by, although it was flying away and didn't give me the photo op that I would have liked.

Elsewhere I stopped in at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons on my way home from Rondeau, in part to see a few shorebirds that are becoming more numerous. But this long-staying male Canvasback got my attention, and although it was well out close to the middle of one of the ponds, enabled me to get a couple of photos. Canvasback are more of a western species, although they pass through in good numbers on migration. Summer records are not unheard of, but quite unusual.

I did see a few shorebirds, but they were a bit skittish. Perhaps it was due to a Peregrine Falcon hanging out in the area, which put the shorebirds to flight periodically. This Lesser Yellowlegs was one of the more numerous species, with at least a dozen seen, and it gave me a good photo op.