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!

 

If you would like to subscribe to Nature Nuggets, send an email to prairietramper@gmail.com 

 

 

Piping Plover update, plus other rare birds and turtles

 A busy time of year, and I am behind in my photography. But I thought it important to at least provide an update regarding the Piping Plovers.

This endangered species used to breed at Rondeau and area. Like about 80 years ago. According to the A. A. Wood unpublished manuscript Birds of Kent County, Ontario, it was cited as "numerous between Erieau and Erie Beach. Nest not found but young observed." Specifically at Rondeau, it was found regularly as recently as the 1930s, with two nests found in 1937 and another in 1938. Undoubtedly there were other nests and pairs which went undocumented due to the extensive habitat and general lack of observers. So officially, the last nest recorded at Rondeau was 84 years ago.

 And it looks like the wait will continue. One or more of this pair that showed up in May was observed over a period of about 8 days. There were indications of one creating a scrape for a potential nest site, and certainly they were somewhat vocal. However eventually the male seemed to have disappeared, and even the female tended to wander farther than what a normal territory would seem to be, and then she disappeared as well. There have been no observations since about the first of June.

It is uncertain exactly what happened. They were exhibiting territorial behaviour at a time when they would normally be establishing a territory and even beginning to lay eggs. The fact that they also stayed for several days indicated that they had a definite interest in the south beach of Rondeau. Factors that could have played a part in their abandoning this site include the number of people illegally enjoying the south beach, with campfires, picnics, kids and dogs running around and such. It wasn't just one or two events. On a nice day especially on a weekend, there can be dozens of people scattered across the beach area. Since this part of the park is rarely if ever patrolled by park staff, some of the general public treat it like a free beach for such activities, and even camping short term. It is difficult for park enforcement staff to access it, but for the beach goers from Erieau, it is quite easily accessible. Or it could have been that there were quite a few predatory type gulls spending time on the beach, although on occasion the plovers were observed chasing potential predators of this type. Regardless, the results were not what was hoped for.

Maybe next year....

I was out a couple of times. On one occasion Steve C and I went out, right at the end of May, to see what we could find. This first photo shows what part of the south beach looks like, with the forested end (locally referred to as Gull Island, but it isn't an island at all) and Erieau off in the background.

We saw an Osprey perched, scanning for a meal no doubt, but it wasn't easy with Red-winged Blackbirds dive-bombing it.

There were shorebirds, such as Ruddy Turnstones.....

....Sanderlings.....

...and a few Whimbrel. And gulls, of course. This first one is a Herring Gull, which has been banded. I sent the band information away, and found out that it was banded at Port Clinton, Ohio, slightly less than a year ago.

A Lesser Black-backed Gull, next, has been around for awhile.

There were at least two Little Gulls, both non-breeding youngsters, in the area. On occasion three birds have been seen either along the south beach or from Erieau.

The marshy areas are becoming rather colourful, with Bullhead Lily scattered across the quiet water...

....and Southern Blue Flag popping up in various places.

I've been to a few other places, and one of the highlights was to see this American White Pelican along the Erieau Rail Trail.

It was present for several days, fortunately.

A day or so later, there was a Tricolored Heron that showed up in the same place. I didn't get to track it down, and it was only there for a briefer period. It would have been nice to see, but I have seen that species before. Interestingly my first observation of this southern heron, which at the time was called a Louisiana Heron, was back in late April of 1981. I had seen one fly southward along the east beach of the park. I thought it would probably end up spending some time in the ~1000 acre marsh, so the next day I headed out looking. But before I saw the heron, I got distracted by another bird which I could not identify. Even after getting two or three highly experienced birders to join me and take a look, it took a little while before we decided on it being a Sage Thrasher! That was Rondeau's first, and at the time was one of the few Ontario records ever. Fortunately the bird stuck around for almost three weeks of the spring birding season, allowing many hundreds of birders the opportunity to get out towards the south half of the marsh trail and see this bird. This was, of course, well before the digital era, and my photo equipment wasn't the greatest back then. But here is one of the photos I got of that bird.

An occasional stop at the Keith McLean Conservation Lands has resulted in a few shorebirds, including

Dunlin

Semipalmated Sandpiper

White-rumped Sandpiper

I spent a bit of time at a private wetland complex in the Mitchell's Bay area and had some good photo experiences, shooting

Black-crowned Night-Heron

Great Egret

An Osprey flew by with a Bullhead in its talons. I didn't see it take it to a nest site, so it was probably just looking for a spot to eat in peace and quiet and away from being harassed by things such as this Eastern Kingbird.

A real treat was to get a quick look and photo of this Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtle, up on a bank basking. They are very fast moving turtles, and it scampered back in to the canal. It is an endangered species.

The light for this wasn't the greatest, so I got a better vantage point and waited, hoping for its return. It didn't but I had a few Northern Map Turtles come by for a bit of sun. They are definitely more common than the softshell turtle, but still considered a Species At Risk.

Just north of Mitchell's Bay, along the north shore trail, I had the usual couple of Sandhill Cranes feeding on a berm.

And this Caspian Tern remained on this mud flat long enough for me to get a photo.

So all in all, it was a good few days, but the results of the Piping Plover were not so satisfying.

If you want to subscribe, or unsubscribe, to Nature Nuggets, send an email to: prairietramper@gmail.com