Natural Areas of Chatham-Kent, Part 11 (McGeachy Pond)

McGeachy Pond is located along the Lake Erie shoreline, just before the village of Erieau. This first image shows this triangular wetland's location. The trail goes along the dyke between the lake and the wetland, although you can walk around the entire periphery if you want to walk along the road sides. If you look at the surrounding farmland, you will note that it is quite black, and is typical of soils produced by wetlands. The dyke was constructed a little over a century ago to protect the low lying farmland and residential areas from flooding during wave action and high water levels of Lake Erie.

There are small parking areas at either end of this Conservation Area, shown by the 'X'.

 This site is under the jurisdiction of the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority.

 There is an observation tower along the trail, looking out over the lake.

 It is a great spot to watch for water birds out on the lake, as well as boats, or people using the trail. The east end of the trail continues right into the village of Erieau.

The location is fabulous for watching wildlife...birds and butterflies especially. As of this post date, there have been ~215 species of birds observed here. Waterfowl are fairly abundant, either passing overhead or resting up for the next leg of their migration journey.

Tundra Swans

Northern Pintail

 The shrubby/treed area is good for those species that like such habitat for nesting such as the next two species.

Gray Catbird

Eastern Kingbird

 This next species is a frequent non-breeding resident.

Great Blue Heron

The heron is wading through a large patch of Pickerelweed, a common and distinctive aquatic plant of shallow wetlands.

The current water levels are controlled, but before the water control system was installed, the water levels naturally fluctuated. As a result the habitat was more variable. It was during this time in about 1978 that a friend of mine discovered the nest of a King Rail and I had a chance to see it and briefly photograph it. King Rails have never been common in Canada, but the wetlands along Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair were where they were most likely to occur. King Rail has gradually declined even from the low numbers of that era to the point of it being legally Endangered in Canada. Although there are still a few breeding records of it in some of its more popular haunts, I believe this 1978 record is the last time an actual nest was found in Ontario.

Many migrating birds follow the shoreline especially on their southward migration, so it is a good spot to check. In the last couple of years these next two species have put in an appearance.

Bohemian Waxwing

American White Pelican

A much more regular winter resident is Snowy Owl, often seen in the fields immediately adjacent to the site.

This is a great spot to find butterflies as well. The openness of the vegetation which supports many flowering plants throughout the growing season, as well as being along the shoreline which, like the birds, facilitates migration movement, are two of the factors that make it productive for butterflies. The presence of a large butterfly bush adjacent to the western parking lot doesn't hurt either! As a result it is a regular spot to look for butterflies during the annual Butterfly Count in mid-July, but can be useful to check almost any time of the wildflower growing season.

The first two images show one or more Bronze Coppers. They can sometimes be quite numerous. On one occasion I counted 55 of them!

 Monarchs are here during much of the season, but are particularly abundant in September as they are migrating through on their way to the wintering grounds in the highlands of Mexico.

 The abundance of New England Aster in late summer is popular with many butterflies.

As mentioned, there is a large butterfly bush adjacent to the west end parking area. Butterflies are drawn to it in impressive numbers. On one occasion I saw at least 8 species using it simultaneously. These included:

Fiery Skipper

Gray Hairstreak

Monarch

Painted Lady

American Lady

Peck's Skipper

Question Mark (under side)

Question Mark (upper side)

In addition to seeing a diversity of wildlife, it is a great spot just to enjoy the lake side setting, listen to the wave action and feel the gentle, cooling breezes off the water in summer. And it has many wonderful photographic opportunities as well, especially at sunrise!

Pond Pelican

At around 5 p.m. this afternoon I noted a Steve Charbonneau post on ebird about an American White Pelican hanging out at McGeachy Pond, just outside of Erieau. It had been reported a bit earlier to Steve by Dana Cofell. Although it was a dull, heavy overcast day with the threat of rain, I decided there was time to head out and see it, even if I didn't get any photos. It might be gone by tomorrow!

McGeachy Pond typically has one or two big white birds present throughout the year when it isn't frozen: Mute Swan. My initial scan of the pond showed these. But a large white bird was resting on a muskrat house with its back to me, and it wasn't apparent first what it was in the distance and dull light. It didn't help that it had its head down and its back to me. It could have easily been passed off as a Mute Swan.

Taken with Canon 5D3, Canon 500mm II lens and 1.4X converter

It eventually stuck its head up and looked around, giving a decent view. It was very late on a very dull overcast day and the rain was beginning. I had to turn the camera's ISO up to 6400 to get this photo. In film days, one hardly ever went above 200 ISO unless one was satisfied with a poor quality record shot. Digital photography has made photos like these possible at unreal ISO settings!

Here and there in southern Chatham-Kent

Over the past couple of days I've been to Erieau, McGeachy Pond, Blenheim Sewage Lagoon and Rondeau, all of which are my regular places to visit in southern Chatham-Kent.

At McGeachy Pond I saw my first-of-year (FOY) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher near the west end parking area. These little guys are constantly on the move, often in shrubby places, so are hard to photograph. This male, although very active and getting the occasional spider as shown here, did spend a bit of time in the open for me.

At the Erieau Rail Trail nearby, I heard my FOY Virginia Rail and Sora, but neither of them showed themselves.

The main channel of Erieau had a few individual ducks, but the only thing I photographed was one of about 6 Caspian Terns that flew up from the tip of Rondeau when a Raccoon came along. Forster's Terns were also in the area.

At the Blenheim Sewage Lagoon, there were at least 80 individual shorebirds in the sprinkler cell, but only Dunlin and Pectoral Sandpiper that I could find. There were lots of Ruddy Ducks and Bonaparte's Gulls and a few other ducks....no Eared Grebe yet! I also looked for Lapland Longspurs, which sometimes are around in April and they look very impressive in their breeding plumage. Maybe next visit....

Dunlin

Pectoral Sandpipers

A brisk SE wind was blowing at Rondeau, so I spent most of my time on the more sheltered westerly sections of the park. The area behind the maintenance compound had the usual Eastern Phoebes....a pair of them usually nest on a ledge of the maintenance building, so I expect this pair to be around for awhile. The picnic area had a pair of Eastern Bluebirds.

And I got my first Yellow-rumped Warbler of the spring, feeding on insects which themselves were feeding on freshly opened flowers of a Silver Maple tree.

The Marsh Road looked inviting, but there is still quite a bit of snow in several places at the north end. The first couple of hundred metres or so aren't too bad, but farther along, there must be at least 3 feet or more of snow in drifts on the trail. Maybe next time.....

The Spicebush Trail was my next stop. Rusty Blackbirds, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Brown Creepers, Hairy Woodpeckers, Wood Frogs and Leopard Frogs were all seen or heard. The sapsucker shown below doesn't have its red crown, so must be a moulting young bird.

A walk along the Tuliptree Trail followed, where I was hoping that some of the sheltered sloughs there would have insect and bird activity....maybe even a Louisiana Waterthrush! There were only a couple of people that came by during the hour or more that I spent along the trail, and although one could still hear the sound of the waves in the distance along the southeast beach area, it was very still along the trail.

There were lots of Rusty Blackbirds, probably at least 30 in all, but they were spread out and moving around, so it was difficult to get a good count. They disperse readily when people are in sight, so I sat in a less conspicuous part of the boardwalk bench and waited for them to return, which some of them did, giving me some distant shots.

Female Rusty Blackbird

Male Rusty Blackbird

There were lots of creepers and an occasional sapsucker, but no Lousiana Waterthrush that I could detect. Maybe next time.....

In the later afternoon, the light at the Visitor Center feeders is best, so I checked them out. The new pond is fully functioning, so hopefully it will be a lure for birds, even though there is currently lots of water in forest pools. American Tree Sparrows, Song Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos were all plentiful, along with a few Black-capped Chickadees, American Goldfinches and Red-winged Blackbirds among others.

I saw one of the very few Red-breasted Nuthatches I've seen all winter. I'm not sure if this is one of the few over-wintering birds, or a migrant.....my guess is probably the latter.

Red-bellied Woodpeckers are regularly found here, but it is always amusing to see their acrobatics when at a peanut feeder!

Common Grackles are, well, common. At least a lot more now than they have been for awhile. I always find their intensive stares, when looking head-on, fascinating.

As much as I enjoyed this outing....I'm already looking forward to 'next time'!