Early January (mostly) birding

 Certainly one of the most sought after local birds over the last couple of weeks is the Harris's Sparrow. It is a species that shows up quite irregularly in this area, so as this one has been predictably popular, there have been many dozens of birders out to see it. On one occasion there were so many vehicles lined up, it was hard for local travelers to pass through.

It hasn't always been easy to photograph. On my first attempt, it was a sunny day, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the bird was almost always along the fence row at the side of the road, and behind grasses that were in a constant state of movement due to the wind. Therefore the camera's focus as well as the backlit conditions made it almost impossible, and this next photo was the best I could get.

Fortunately on another day, it was cloudy bright, and the sparrow sat up on a rail for long enough to get the first couple of unobstructed photos.

It was accompanied by a good mix of other winter time sparrows, including White-crowned Sparrows and others.

Before it got too snowy and cold, I managed to capture a few other things, such as one of four American Robins I saw on an outing at Rondeau....

....the Barred Owl at a nearby conservation area, which has been there for several weeks but roosts unpredictably and is often not found by the searchers.....

...from 1-6 Killdeer hanging out at a small unfrozen area at the Keith McLean Conservation Lands....

....a few Sandhill Cranes...

....and a Snow Goose. All nice things to add for the season.

As is usual for the time of year, in spite of the colder than average temperatures, a bit of the water in the Erieau vicinity remains open. Lingering waterfowl continue to hang out, at least for now. At first the birds are well out in the open water, as they are undoubtedly still cautious in being too close to human activity due to the continuing waterfowl hunting season. This first photo shows a mix of typical ducks, including Ring-necks, Scaup sp, Redhead and a good number of American Coot, the latter of which technically is not a duck.

Mostly American Coot

As the cold continues, waterfowl are forced to be closer to shore, much to the delight of viewers and photographers.

Common Goldeneye

Common Merganser

Greater Scaup

Certainly one of the primary ducks to look for in the Erieau area in the last week or so has been not one, but three Harlequin Ducks. Finding them is no easy task, as they are often across the channel and sometimes tucked in with the rocks out of view. These three are females, so not nearly as colourful as the males, but still a great species to find and photograph. I had been out looking on a couple of different occasions, including one time when there were hunters set up across the channel amongst the rocks, and the only 'ducks' I could see were decoys. The other real ducks were widely scattered and the Harlequins were not visible. However on my most recent attempt, I managed to see all three close together where the marina joins the main channel.

Among other species were Redhead....

...and Ruddy Ducks.

While out looking for Short-eared Owls, I found one or two, but was not able to get a photo. But I did manage to get a distant photo of this Rough-legged Hawk busily hunting in the same area....

....and some Wild Turkeys were feeding in a field near the Ridge Landfill. Backlit a bit, but salvageable.

I will finish up with some odds and ends. For anyone who is a regular hiker at Rondeau, you will notice that the Tulip Tree Trail has been partially closed for several weeks. The park staff have been busy making some much needed repairs in some sections. But now as one approaches the trail, parts of it look like this:

And a closer look:

For anyone interested, the American Birding Association has selected what species will be its 'Bird of the Year.' It is the Common Loon, a species well-known to Canadians!

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Some year end birding

 These last couple of weeks of December have been a bit of a whirlwind. Christmas Bird Counts, Christmas itself and general year end preparations for the coming New Year. Where did the time go?

As you may have noticed, I did get out to see the Limpkin that was hanging around Wheatley Prov Park for several days. It may, in fact, still be there somewhere, as it did eventually seem to move around making it more challenging for birders searching for it.

It was first noticed during a bird count on Dec 19 that included Wheatley. I didn't get out to look for it until Dec 21, and almost didn't find it since it had moved off a bit from where others had seen it. Not far, mind you, but tucked away in a brushy area and with its back to me and not moving, it blended in fairly well. But persistence paid off, and I eventually found it. Here are a few photos showing that in spite of initial concerns that it was so immobile it might not be able to survive, it moved around as needed, preening from time to time.

I had to move around a bit to get the bird in clear view from the surrounding shrubbery, and these are cropped to eliminate more of the distracting background.

A bit earlier than this day, was the Blenheim/Rondeau Christmas Bird Count. I gave up my usual territory (the Rondeau south beach) to some much younger and more energetic souls. Given the wind and the rain that persisted most of the first half of the day, I wasn't terribly disappointed. Instead I positioned myself at the south end of the South Point Trail and scanned with my scope across the lake. But with the brisk southerly wind, and accompanying rain, it wasn't all that great when one is looking straight into it. The view through optical equipment was not easy. This following photo shows the view in just seconds after being exposed to the elements. 

 It was hard to keep the optical equipment clear enough to view much of anything, so after putting up with it for the better part of an hour, I decided to head north. The woods were quiet, although at least I didn't have to face looking into the rain.

There likely were sparrows and such in the grassy sloughs, but with so much for them to choose from, they weren't where I was.

There might have been birds that saw me. However with the wind, and the sound of waves breaking on the south and east shore of the park, in combination with my less than stellar hearing, I didn't record a lot. In fact during one segment, where I walked about 6 kilometres along wooded roads and trails, I saw a grand total of 4 birds!

Certainly not one of my more productive bird count days at Rondeau. Fortunately others in the count circle had much more productivity, with results being 110 species for the count! Not quite as high as the record 123 species recorded last year, but as one of my birding colleagues stated "at some stage of the early part of the day, I thought we would be lucky to beat the London count totals!" So all things considered, 110 species was quite satisfying. I think only one or two other counts in Ontario exceeded 100 species this year.

I did get some birding in on other days, when the weather was a little better. For example at Rondeau I saw and photographed:

A singing Carolina Wren, something they don't do much of on a cloudy dreary day.

Northern Flicker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Just outside the park, an adult Red-headed Woodpecker has been hanging out somewhat predictably, enabling me to get a couple of photos.

With the sometimes record mild temperatures, even the occasional cold-blooded amphibians were out, such as this Northern Leopard Frog.

In the Erieau area, I got photographs of Ruddy Duck....

...and this Downy Woodpecker that was tucked away in some shrubbery.

In the more northerly parts of Chatham-Kent, partly in preparation for the St. Clair NWA Christmas Bird Count which is New Year's Day, I photographed several Snow Geese mixed in with much more abundant Canadas...

...and several Sandhill Cranes.

I was photographing this Rough-legged Hawk, when it raised its tail....

...and I caught it in this act.....

...before flying off. These photos were taken in two successive seconds.

A highlight was to see this Northern Shrike on a wire, and I managed to get a couple of photos before traffic caused it to move elsewhere.

Happy New Year!

 

P. S. it has come to my attention that my previous post was not received by everyone on the distribution list. If you want to see it, just scroll down this post and select 'Older Posts'.

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A Long-tail, lingering shorebirds, snow geese, and puttyroot

 More about fungi in a future post, but for now, there is a bit of catching up to do mostly regarding birds. With the weather being above normal, there is lots of open water, including muddy edges for lingering shorebirds. I was at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons a few days ago, and was treated to some good photo ops. Certainly a highlight was to get a pair of cooperative Long-tailed Ducks fairly close to the edge of the middle pond, and they didn't seem to mind my presence all that much.

Long-tails are not seen all that often in southern Chatham-Kent, although they do occur on Lake Erie, but usually seen only from a distance. The southern end of Lake Huron at Point Edward can be a good spot in the winter, so seeing them so handily at the lagoons these last few days was a real treat. They swam back and forth, dove under at times,

...and got up to fly around. They didn't go far, staying at this middle pond all the time I was there.

Some shorebirds were there to be found as well. Three Dunlin, which also stayed close enough to be photographed were there. Again, with the weather being what it has been, it wasn't a bit surprise, but nice to see just the same.

There is a lot of mudflat along the Erieau Marsh Trail, and a Pectoral Sandpiper has been seen from time to time. It is much less likely to be seen this late in the season than the Dunlin, so I was pleased to get this photo, even though it was at the far side of the mudflat and the photo is greatly cropped.

There were three Lesser Scaup in the more open area of the mudflat, where there was open water, but they were far less tolerant of me aiming my lens at them. I guess it being hunting season, with a couple of hunter's duck blinds not all that far away, it wasn't too surprising.

While I was at Erieau, I checked the waterfront, hoping that there might be a Purple Sandpiper or some other shorebird hanging out along the shoreline, or even at the pier, but it wasn't to be on this day. I did manage to get a reasonable photo of a Snow Goose along the shoreline, as it was with a large flock of Canada Geese....

...and when I took a drive by St. Clair NWA, in amongst the gazillion Canada Geese were at least eight Snow Geese....

...including several blue phase Snows.

In meandering around the former Dover Twp.,  I knew that a particular Wood Duck box was often used by an Eastern Screech Owl. It was there on this visit, nicely peering out at me.

I went out to the Jeannette's Creek boat launch, hoping to catch sight of a lingering Great Egret, which happens this late in the season from time to time. In fact it was just a few short years ago when up to three hung around for the SCNWA Christmas Bird Count, and even stayed well into January! But there were none to be seen on this day, although there is lots of area for one or more to still be around. So instead, I satisfied my birder/photographer's urge by shooting this Belted Kingfisher. It was on the far side of the Thames River, so is greatly cropped. I doubt it even knew I was there.

There were up to 6 Great Blue Herons that I saw, or at least partly saw. They were usually obscured by something or other.

I usually make it out to Rondeau on one or more occasions each week. I haven't been out at the right time to catch up to the Western Flycatcher of a few days ago, or even the adult male King Eider that was a flyby for a few hours one day. The Western Flycatcher would definitely have been a new species, but the King Eider is something I have seen before. It was on the Rondeau CBC back in about 2000 when one that had been seen in the Erieau area off and on. It was present when I got to the west end of the south beach of my territory, so already had that species on my Chatham-Kent list. But there is no question that an adult male would have been great to see. But in my various wanderings through the park, I was able to digitally capture a few of the more expected species, as follows.

American Tree Sparrows are fairly commonly seen....

...as are Dark-eyed Juncos.

House Finches are resident, although not abundant.

White-crowned Sparrows, such as this immature one shown next, seem to be declining this late in the season....

...but White-throated Sparrows are plentiful.

At one point this accipiter type of falcon showed itself briefly, but I only got a look at it from the backside. Based on the overall size, and the length of its tail beyond the wing tips, as well as the slightly pale back and side of the head, I felt it fit Cooper's Hawk most closely. It certainly is a relatively common accipiter type.

On one of my trail jaunts, I checked the leaves of a rare orchid: Puttyroot. The leaves are most visible from about November through April, as long as they aren't covered with snow. While this known population only had two flowering stems this past June, on this visit I counted a total of 146 leaves, one of the highest totals I have ever had in all the years I have been watching this population! It will be interesting to see how many flowering stems appear this next June.

Since it is getting close to Christmas, I will put in a plug for my first book, Life on a Sandspit, which I published last spring. 

 It is still available at several locations in Chatham-Kent, including:

Bayview Market, Rondeau

Mindful Market and Eco Hub, Blenheim

Mitton's Jewelers and Gifts, Ridgetown

Five-Eau, Erieau

Book Brothers, Chatham

Sydenham Field Naturalists, through their web site sydenhamfn@hotmail.com

Friend's of Rondeau Bookstore at the Rondeau Visitor Centre, although the centre is only open on weekends and the bookstore is not always open. The centre will be open more frequently during the Christmas break.

And just so you know, I have a second nature book at the printer, titled Natural Treasures of Chatham-Kent. I am not sure when it will be available for purchase, so stay tuned for a future blog in the very near future describing it in some detail, as well as where it would be available, price, etc.

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