Mitchell's Bay North Shore Trail

 The Mitchell's Bay North Shore Trail is one of my regular places to go to, especially in the summer. It is open, usually a nice breeze, fewer bugs, and always a few things to see and photograph. And it isn't that far from home.

For anyone not familiar with this trail, this is what it looked like when I took this photo in April of 1989, as I was giving some folks an aerial tour of the district.

 The wetland had been altered, obviously, to create more edge and what not. It has changed a bit, but the canals are still there, although somewhat filled in, and they aren't as sharply delineated as this photo shows. There is a gravel trail that goes out through one of the stands of cattails, and is a little higher elevation, which gives a great view of Lake St. Clair. The trail also goes south and ends at Mitchell's Bay village, following the shoreline. This next photo was recently taken from the slightly higher vantage point, looking northwest out over the lake, with Walpole Island First Nation in the background. There is even a picnic table to rest at and spend as much time as you want, watching the ducks, geese, cormorants, egrets, gulls, eagles, terns, etc. moving around.

 Great Egrets are almost always seen, from early May until freeze-up. Sometimes they are perched on something along the shallow water edge....

...or sometimes up in a tree fairly close to the trail. They must feel a little safer higher up.

 A cormorant swims by in the canal adjacent to the trail....

...while a Green Heron partially hides in the vegetation out in the shallows.

Shorebirds can be around, depending on water levels of course. Here is a Greater Yellowlegs....

...with a Killdeer nearby.

Sandhill Cranes are often in the area, although sometimes just seen flying well out over the lake. The wind turbines in northern Essex County are visible out in the back ground.

This shows that shorebirds can be seen in close proximity to one another, as in this next photo, a Solitary Sandpiper is on the left, then a Lesser Yellowlegs in the middle and a Killdeer on the right.

A closer look at a Solitary Sandpiper, not a species that ever seems to be very abundant.

There is some Phragmites along sections of the trail. This sparrow popped up and got my attention. It isn't a typical plumage, but appears to be a partially leucistic plumage of a Song Sparrow. Leucism is the result of a lightening of the feathers, as opposed to albinism, the latter of which results in some or all of the feathers being white, and the eyes, legs and beak are pink.

Along with the Phragmites, there are other plants, especially as in the last decade and a half, some of the land areas have been planted with tallgrass prairie species. Of course when flowers are blooming, butterflies can be found, such as this Viceroy.

Purple Loosestrife, can be abundant, unfortunately.....

...and this next photo shows a view across the canal along the trail, and the Purple Loosestrife can be seen in the foreground, with numerous taller Cup Plant in the background.

Cup Plant

Another non-native, but fairly abundant species is Velvet Leaf. It is quite common anywhere near roadsides or agricultural fields.

The next two species are definitely tallgrass prairie associates.

Missouri Ironweed

Indiangrass

Great Blue Lobelia, next, is native but a generalist.

And other critters will be found on the flowers such as:

Goldenrod Soldier Beetle

Arcigera Flower Moth

Another prairie plant species is American Senna, next, but is pretty much finished flowering now.

Various critters can be found along the trail, including a few Bronzed Tiger Beetles...

...and Differential Grasshoppers, which are a species at risk, but quite abundant here. They are on the gravel path... 

...or resting in the adjacent vegetation.

This Eastern Pondhawk dragonfly was quite cooperative resting on the bent over stem of Indiangrass.

So there are a few things to see along this little used trail. Sometimes there are people from the Mitchell's Bay village hiking or biking along the trail, but sometimes I have the trail all to myself for an hour or two. I don't mind a bit :-).

 

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Birds, birds, birds (mostly)

 There have been some quite satisfying bird photography opportunities lately. The unseasonably mild weather has likely contributed to the birds that had recently arrived, to stick around a little longer.

I've made several stops at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons, where shorebirds and others have been fairly diverse. One of the ongoing highlights was one or more Wilson's Phalaropes that have been seen most often in the sprinkler cells.

It is a regularly occurring species, both spring and fall, but not always easy to catch up to with the camera. At first it can blend in with the abundant Lesser Yellowlegs, although a closer look shows that it is a bit smaller, has duller yellowlegs, a finer bill and generally for its size, looks a bit chunkier. Plus it has a whiter, breast area.

As rare as it has been for quite a few years, it has been recorded nesting here. That was back in the late 1970s or early 1980s, when the maintenance of the berms wasn't quite what it is now, and a pair of them nested successfully on at least one occasion. I was able to photograph it from a blind at the time, as shown in the next photo. 

For a bit of comparison, here are two of the yellowlegs species. The Lesser Yellowlegs, the three closest birds to the camera, are smaller than the Greater Yellowlegs which stands taller, is chunkier and has a heavier bill.

When you see them individually rather than side by side, especially if they are at a bit of a distance, it should cause an observer to take a more careful look to decide which species it is.

Greater Yellowlegs

Just to add a bit more of a challenge is when a Solitary Sandpiper is seen nearby. Upon first glance, especially at a distance and not in ideal light, it may appear to be similar to a Lesser Yellowlegs. But a closer look reveals the white 'spectacles', a slightly heavier bill and legs that are at best, a dull yellowish green. They never seem to be traveling in groups of any size, just one or at the most two at any time, which adds credence to the name 'Solitary'.

Other shorebirds that I have photographed at these lagoons recently include these Pectoral Sandpipers,

...and the even smaller Least Sandpiper. This first year bird is distinguished by it rufous back feathers and greenish yellow legs, the latter of which are somewhat visible in the first photo....

....but since they are often in deeper water, the colour of the legs is not always visible. The fairly similar Semipalmated Sandpiper (not shown) is a bit bigger than the Least, and has obviously black legs.

Dowitchers are periodically seen, although not often very abundant. At this time of year, it is typically the Long-billed Dowitcher. Not that the Short-billed Dowitcher has a much shorter bill; the lengths can sometimes overlap. But the Long-bill shown here, has a less barred flank, and grayer tertial feathers most obvious on the lower back when it is not in flight.

Here is a comparison with the Long-billed Dowitcher standing between two Lesser Yellowlegs.

Generally speaking, shorebirds are fairly tolerant of one or two people looking at them, if movements are slow and methodical. However when something like a Northern Harrier or Peregrine Falcon swoops by, the shorebirds will get quite lively and scatter. 

Northern Harrier

Peregrine Falcon

 Sometimes the shorebirds will return, but often they will settle down at another part of the lagoon complex. Given that there are lots of raptors migrating at this time, I expect that some of them are hoping for an easy meal, but at other times, are just practicing their hunting skills, especially the first year birds.

The waterfowl diversity is increasing as well, and on my last visit I came across a small number of Redheads at the lagoons, the first time this autumn season.

A visit to the Erieau Marsh Trail gave me the opportunity to see a few birds, but photographic opportunities were few. An Osprey was seen feeding on a fish in a distant tree....

....and a Northern Harrier cruised by, presumably hoping to scare up some small bird it could catch.

A couple of Great Blue Herons were feeding, or trying to stave off the unseasonably warm heat.

The same bird as above, was sometimes in this position. I am not sure whether it was trying to cool off, or more likely, giving the sunlight a chance to clear its wings of any little critters hunkered down in the heron's feathers.

A little farther along, this heron spent most of its time with it bill open, and breathing hard it seemed.

A visit to St. Clair NWA wasn't overly productive from a bird photography perspective. There were lots of Canada Geese in the air, as usual.

In some of the shrubbery along the trail, there were lots and lots of small birds, including a couple of Eastern Phoebe....

....numerous sparrows of different kinds, including Song Sparrow,  Swamp Sparrow and my first of the season White-throated Sparrow and White-crowned Sparrow.

Song Sparrow

Another flycatcher or two was seen, but not heard. I ended up calling it a Trail's Flycatcher, which is a combination of Willow and Alder Flycatcher, which are very difficult to separate unless they are singing.

There were not many warblers that I saw, but this Yellow-rumped Warbler popped into view for a short time.

 

A pair of Sandhill Cranes came by and landed in the marsh....

...but a short time later, decided to move elsewhere.

 With the warmth, it resulted in a few butterflies flitting about, such as this Eastern Comma.

Leopard Frogs were abundant, with a couple of dozen or more hopping along or across the trail.

I often include a visit to the Mitchell's Bay North Lakeshore Trail after a time at the SCNWA. There were the usual things.

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Ring-billed Gull

A European Starling posed for me.

A bit of a surprise was to see about 150 Tree Swallows, busily foraging over the shoreline vegetation or settling onto the branches of a dead tree. This photo shows a very small number.

While I was watching, a Merlin came flying past, scattering the swallows in every direction. Some returned, but not many.

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