The bird influx continues

 We are getting to that time of year that many birders look forward to: a steady influx of numerous birds, and an increasing diversity of species. The peak is only about a month away, and at this point there are some promising signs. 

I have been to places like the wetland trails along Lake St. Clair as well as near Erieau, and of course at Rondeau. There is always something if the weather is not too inclement, but a certain amount of inclement weather is to be expected, and it is the weather systems coming from the southerly directions that spur the arrival of migrants.

I saw my first of season Common Loon yesterday, hanging out in the pond where the Whooper Swan was seen periodically in recent weeks. The light wasn't ideal, but I managed to work with it.

The Erieau Marsh Trail can be quite birdy at times.

Brown Creeper

Dark-eyed Junco

Golden-crowned Kinglets have arrived in large numbers recently. It was not hard to see a dozen or more along a short stretch of this trail. Of course they are small and constantly flitting about the shrubbery, making getting a completely clear and in-focus shot difficult.

I got my first of season Eastern Towhee.

Fox Sparrows are never abundant, but it is easy to catch up to a few every early spring.

Not birds, of course, but on some of the milder days, turtles are out basking in sheltered areas. This Blanding's Turtle can usually be seen on a favourite log.

Painted Turtles can be abundant. Where there is one, there is usually a dozen or more.

Also in the Erieau area, numerous species of water birds can be seen. Horned Grebes are fairly abundant, with at least 30 in the immediate vicinity of the Erieau harbour and waterfront. Their plumages can vary considerably as they progress to their full breeding plumage.

There are still lots of both species of scaup around, such as this Lesser Scaup.

Mergansers of at least a couple of species can be seen regularly, such as this female Common Merganser.

Bonaparte's Gulls are beginning to appear in larger numbers, although considerably fewer than the hundreds or even thousands that will be in the area within a few weeks.

Yesterday I watched an adult Bald Eagle having 'fun' with the geese and ducks along the Erieau Marsh Trail. It swooped over the waterfowl, creating concern amongst them and sending dozens off in different directions. Perhaps it was just testing the birds to see if any were injured enough to be an easy catch, as feeding on dead or injured wildlife seems to be its normal approach. It appeared to be an adult just entering its fifth year. It did not catch any birds while I was around.

A trip or two to Rondeau was invigorating, but the days I picked, were not terribly birdy. But I photographed a few things anyway. Robins are, of course, fairly plentiful right now.

American Tree Sparrows haven't been abundant these last few weeks, although a few overwintered in the area.

Black-capped Chickadees, a few of which spent the winter also, have increased in numbers. Most will move on to more northern breeding grounds.

I got my first Eastern Phoebe....

....and Killdeer are showing signs of nesting.

A pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers alighted on a broken stub long enough for me to grab a quick, distant photo.....

....and a few Turkey Vultures cruised over the park.

Along some of the wetland natural areas along Lake St. Clair, there are always a few things to see.

American Coot

Bufflehead are scattered about, sometimes posing long enough for a photo....

...and other times skedaddling away.

Ok, Canada Geese are plentiful, I know, but when one poses well and my camera trigger finger is not getting a lot of use, I will succumb :-).

Common Grackles are, common....

...as are Ring-billed Gulls. Even these gulls look impressive in their full-adult plumage. These two were discussing something related to the fish dinner in front of them, I presume.

Great Egrets are almost a guarantee to see along the Lake St. Clair wetlands, since they nest at nearby Walpole Island as well as some of the grassy islands just off-shore from Mitchell's Bay.

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Some first sightings of the season

 I have been a bit busy working on a project which I hope to announce soon, but have still been able to get out and see some of the new hints of spring. For example earlier this week, I saw my first butterfly of the year, a Mourning Cloak. This species overwinters as an adult, so on a warm day, it can suddenly appear. It wasn't all that warm, a mere 4C but sunny and with very little wind; still it was a nice hint of other thingst to come.

In the bird world, I now have seen 5 species of shorebirds in the last little while, with things like Pectoral Sandpiper.....

.....and Dunlin being the latest arrivals this week. Actually a Pectoral Sandpiper had been seen by others a week or two ago, but I never caught up with it.

Dunlin, while typically being one of the latest autumn shorebirds to be seen (we got one on the Christmas Bird Count last Dec), the date of seeing this one yesterday is unusual. In checking sightings on eBird, this individual seems to be the first one of the season here in Ontario.

Both of these shorebirds were observed at the Erieau Marsh/Rail trail, and there is always a few species of waterfowl to be seen. In fact there are often thousands of ducks within binocular/scope view as they rest on the bay before heading off to their breeding ground. Most are too far away to bother with a photo, but some of the 'puddle ducks' are close enough to give them a shot.

Blue-winged Teal have just arrived in small numbers

Green-winged Teal have been around for a couple of weeks or so....

....as have Northern Pintail.

While not technically a waterfowl, I also saw this American Coot at the McGeachy Pond Conservation Area just outside of Erieau.

Mute Swans, well what can I say. If there is any open water, even throughout the winter, there will be some (too many!) around. This one is just resting on a mud flat along the Erieau trail. Some are even on their nest already.

In other swan news this escapee, the Whooper Swan, continues in the Erieau area, either on the bay or in the roadside pond on the way to Erieau.

Continuing with the swan topic, I was at the Mitchell's Bay South Shore trail yesterday and saw a lot of Mute Swans, as well as this Trumpeter Swan. It is native, and staging a comeback in Ontario. It is noticeable by its size, as large as a Mute Swan, but with a large, all black bill and a wide black area just in front of the eye.

Continuing with the waterfowl theme, I finally caught up to Greater White-fronted Goose. There had been a few seen here and there for several weeks, but never right where I was. That changed yesterday when I saw 11 of them at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons. I met another birder there, and together we managed to locate them at the far end of the lagoon site. They allowed us to approach, slowly and carefully, to within about 150 metres before they decided that was close enough, and so flew off to another berm on the southeast side of the lagoon system. We left them alone there, and the next day (yesterday) two more had joined them.

Also along one of the two Mitchell's Bay trails, I saw two Sandhill Cranes, and they are definitely getting into breeding mode as I noted an attempt at copulation.

I also saw my first Great Egret of the year, a bit early for the species given the un-spring-like weather over the past few weeks.

A Ring-billed Gull isn't something I normally decide to photograph, but this one gave me a good setting, and it was in prime breeding plumage, so I took it!

Rounding out some new spring sightings, I added these two species of turtles: Midland Painted Turtle...

....and Blanding's Turtle.

There were actually at least a dozen or more of the painted turtles out basking, but were quick to plop off into the water before I was able to get positioned through the shrubbery to get the photo I was attempting. The Blanding's Turtle, on the other hand, was quite tolerant.

Hopefully there will be a lot more first of year sightings in the near future!

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