Some mid-autumn birds, colourful forests and hunting for an endangered species

 It has been a rather hectic last few days, but I've managed to get out here and there on occasion.

A visit to the north end of the former Dover Twp enabled me to get photos of some lingering Great Egrets; will one or more stick around for the Christmas Bird Count on Jan 1 like last year?

The clouds rolled in, and I heard, then saw, then photographed almost two dozen Sandhill Cranes circling a field well away from the road. Obviously the light wasn't the greatest when they were air borne.

It helped when they landed, in scattered groups, allowing me to get a few distant photos.

I stopped in at Keith McLean CA to look for some shorebirds, and other things of interest. I didn't get any photos of shorebirds, as this Peregrine Falcon was stirring things up. Flight shots of this speedy raptor can be challenging to get. These first two are taken at about the equivalent of 18X and further cropped to about 67X.

This one was taken at about 18X and you can see all the birds that have been stirred up!

A Nelson's Sparrow popped up briefly, although it didn't face me before it dropped back down out of sight, so this is the best I could get. It has been a very good year for this species. There is a lot of habitat, and perhaps one or more will stick around for the Christmas Bird Count like last year. It is only about 6 weeks away!

Spending time roaming around Rondeau is always high on my list of places to visit. A Townsend's Warbler has regularly shown up at a well-known feeder area but only for brief periods once or twice a day. Birders have waited up to 3 hours or more to see it, and others have spent even longer without seeing it. For some reason, there have been more occurrences of this species at Rondeau over the years than all other areas of the province combined.

The site where it occurs has been quite busy with birders, both for those who want to get it on their year list, and a lot more who want to get it on their life list. I am not a fan of crowds of birders, so I have not attempted to wait it out. No question it would be a good year bird, but I have seen three already in the park over the years. In fact I was the first one to find one, to add to the park's list, back in May 1984. I didn't get photos of that one, nor of the one that was in the park in the spring of 1997. However in November of 2017, one was found in the subdivision immediately adjacent to the park, and it even ventured into the park itself. It hung around for awhile, and enabled many birders to get it on their Winter List, which begins on Dec 1. Here is a photo of that individual. It was typically high up in a cedar tree.

I spent some time at the Visitor Centre feeder area, as the day before one of the park staff had photographed a Yellow-breasted Chat there. It is quite a rare species, and would be good to see at such a late date. However it was apparently a one-day wonder, as it did not show again. While waiting and watching, I did manage to photograph a few other things, such as this Black-capped Chickadee...

...a Red-bellied Woodpecker....

...this Red-winged Blackbird...

...and this White-throated Sparrow.

Elsewhere in the park there were huge flocks of blackbirds. This flock was made up of mostly Common Grackles, but had the occasional Red-Winged Blackbird and Rusty Blackbird in with it.

The autumn colours were quite nice over the last couple of weeks. As the green leaves of the growing season start to shut down, the chlorophyll which is important to absorb carbon dioxide and change it to carbohydrates which the tree uses to feed itself, begins to exit the leaves. As it disappears, it results in the other pigments to take over. They are usually there all the time, but are just overwhelmed by the green chlorophyll so most of the year they are hidden. This is the time of year when they really stand out, before the leaves tumble to the ground. The colours change on a regular basis, so several visits are helpful to capture them at their best. The first three are along Harrison Trail, taken about 10 days ago.

Where there are maples, the colours tend to be a bit more vivid with some red/orange showing.

The next two are along Rondeau Road, where maples are a bit more common.

This next one is along Bennett Ave, and the trees here are usually more golden than red.

Here is a slough along Bennett Ave, a favourite photo spot of mine.

Most trees are well into the leaf changing mode, and as the leaves go through this stage, the leaves show a fair bit of deterioration. That isn't quite the same for Red Mulberry, a legally endangered species that has its stronghold at mainly three Canadian locations: Pelee Island, Point Pelee, and Rondeau.

It isn't clear exactly how many individuals there are at Rondeau, as we are finding more and more. Most of the searching has gone on from various roads and trails. One of the several challenges for this species, is that they can hybridize with the much more abundant, and non-native, White Mulberry. At Rondeau, White Mulberry is quite common at the north end of the park and the east side, along Lakeshore Road. The best examples of Red Mulberry are farther inland, especially along Rondeau Road. There are also a few good specimens along Harrison Trail, mid way between Lakeshore and Rondeau Roads. As part of the recovery plan process, it is important to know how pure the presumed Red Mulberry individuals are. For years, botanists have relied on macro features, which for a Red Mulberry include:

-large, almost plate-sized leaves with fairly long drip tips;

-pubescence on both the upper and lower sides of the leaves; the drip tips help the water to drip off the end of the leaf, to minimize fungus growth on the leaf;

-some leaves are distinctly lobed;

-the bark does not show any orange tint to it.

White Mulberry, on the other hand, has:

-smaller leaves with little or no pubescence on either side of the leaf. The leaves can be quite obviously lobed, and may be somewhat shiny on the upper surface.

-the trunk typically has an orange tint to it in places. 

The first photo shows typical large, Red Mulberry leaves, looking quite green during the peak growing season. The drip tips are quite distinct.

Some of the large leaves can show obvious lobing.

This next photo show leaves of Red Mulberry taken in late October. There is some deterioration of the leaves but nothing like most other trees at this stage, and that makes late October one of the best times of the year to pick them out of the forest.

This next photo is of White Mulberry, with smaller leaves, and the drip tips are not nearly as pronounced.

The bark of a White Mulberry trunk shows a hint of orange in places.

Yesterday, I met with Rondeau staff to collect some leaves of individuals that were potentially hybrids, although some of them featured some good quality macro characteristics. They will be sent to a lab for a genetic analysis, to see how pure these individuals are, and to confirm or correct using macro characteristics as a way to separate Reds from Whites. Time will tell, but a positive outcome of our field work is that we came across four individuals that had not been noted before. And this was just from the trail, so it makes one wonder how many others may be present on the ridges a long way off the trail. Potentially dozens more are out there waiting to be discovered!

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Some of the even rarer migrant birds of the Rondeau checklist area

Before I get to the mega/ultra rare migrant birds of the Rondeau checklist area, there is still a group of birds that are merely quite rare, and in fact I expect a number of relatively keen birders of Ontario have seldom if ever seen them. As in the past post, the ones on this list below are based on my opinion, not on any official list. Some will be on the Ontario Bird Records Committee (OBRC) list of birds requiring documentation.

This first species could arguably be in the previous post. It wasn't that long ago when seeing one in southern Ontario was quite a noteworthy event, and it still is to some extent. However the population in Ontario has been expanding from its more limited northwestern Ontario range, and in the last year or so has been documented nesting on one of the islands in the western end of Lake Erie. Both of these birds were photographed in the Erieau area.

Harlequin Duck is still quite rare, although once in awhile one or more can be found staying around for a few weeks such as these two that were off the tip of Rondeau and quite visible from Erieau in the winter and very early spring of 2016.

 Hudsonian Godwit is a pretty impressive large shorebird, only seen occasionally on migration. It nests in the north as well as the northerly prairie provinces. It is most frequently encountered at sewage lagoons later in the summer as post breeding birds are more likely to wander. It could also be included in the previous post of rare migrants, rather than in this post.

The Hudsonian Godwit's larger relative, the Marbled Godwit, shown next, nests regularly in the lower part of the prairie provinces and is not as commonly seen here in southwestern Ontario. The species is very seldomly seen in the Rondeau area. This bird was one I photographed from a kayak at Mitchell's Bay on September 24, 2013.

Staying with the shorebird group, the Black-necked Stilt is a western species found most often in the vicinity of prairie potholes. It seems they are most often seen in southwestern Ontario during the spring migration when they get blown off course. They don't stick around for long, however. There have been a few records over the years, and the pair shown next was photographed at the Keith McLean Conservation Area just outside of Rondeau in 2019. Most records are at sewage lagoons, but the high water and excellent shorebird habitat at KMCA was beneficial for birds and birders last year.

 A rare shorebird due to the decline of its migration and wintering habitat is this next one, the Red Knot. The one shown in the foreground of the next photo is an immature bird I photographed from my kayak along one of the sandy islands at the south end of Rondeau on Sept 27, 2012. It has a chunky body like a dowitcher, but with a relatively short bill. That is a Black-bellied Plover in the background.

 A small shorebird that may be more common than reports indicate is this next one, a Western Sandpiper. It migrates late in the season, and without careful study, could be passed off as the much more common Semiplamated Sandpiper. It was photographed at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoon in mid-November, and I had one on the Blenheim/Rondeau Christmas Bird Count at a mud flat at the south end of the marsh trail a few years earlier.

 Barred Owl might seem to be an odd one for this category. Nonetheless although it is not rare in most of Ontario, it is quite rare in the very southwestern part of Ontario. It shouldn't technically be classified as a migrant, although this one moved well south of its normal Ontario range and wintered at Rondeau. There hadn't been a record for Rondeau for more than 20 years until Josh, my birding partner, and I encountered this one on the 2018 Christmas Bird Count. It stuck around for a couple of months around the northern part of the park where the local squirrel population kept it well fed. Numerous birders attempted to track down this individual, and were mostly successful in finding it.

 Black Vulture used to be a considerable birding highlight in Ontario, but in the last decade or so this species has been seen in the eastern end of Lake Erie/western end of Lake Ontario on a fairly regular basis. I am only aware of 3-4 records for the immediate Rondeau area. The first one I came across was feeding on the carcass of a Virginia Opossum, so this generally southern species of vulture probably felt quite at home feeding on a familiar carcass. This bird was seen just northeast of the park boundary, but only for a couple of days. I photographed it on March 3, 2009.

 Bohemian Waxwings are more common in the Boreal forest region, and seldom have any need to come as far south as the Rondeau area. I have only seen them here on a couple of occasions in the winter. This bird was photographed along the McGeachy Pond trail, on Dec 3, 2016.

 Cave Swallows are somewhat erratic. If they are going to be encountered in Ontario, it is most likely to happen in the mid to late autumn when the weather conditions help them along. For awhile they were on the OBRC list requiring documentation, but for a short time were taken off due to the regularity of them being seen in the autumn. Their occurrence has dropped off so one again the OBRC is requesting documentation. This bird was photographed flying over Erieau on Oct 31, 2010, where a few had been seen the day before and they spent the night under the docks of the fish tug harbour area.

 Eurasian Collared-Dove shouldn't really be called a migrant. It was introduced from Europe a number of years ago and has been gradually expanding its range in North America. Nonetheless, it has only been recorded in the Rondeau area on a couple of occasions. This one was photographed at Rondeau along the southern end of Lakeshore Road on September 24, 2017.

 Fish Crow has sort of the same story as the Black Vulture, above. A small population of this more southerly crow has become established in the Niagara peninsula area and a bit beyond. On occasion the species will show up elsewhere. I only know of a couple of records for the Rondeau area. This one I photographed at the south end of the South Point Trail on May 29, 2011.

 Laughing Gull, shown here in the lower middle of the photo, is quite irregular. The bird here is a first year bird which showed up with a large group of summering gulls out along the south beach of Rondeau, back in the early 1980s. It is scanned from a slide, so not the best clarity, and it does blend in with the gravel beach making it even more difficult to see clearly. There are a few records for this species over the years.

 Neotropic Cormorant has been showing up a bit more in the last few years. One might get caught up with a movement of the very abundant and larger Double-crested Cormorant, and end up well out of its normal range. It is more abundant along the southern and eastern shores of the Atlantic. There are at least 3 records for the Rondeau area. The one shown here, on the left of the two Double-crested ones, was in the Rondeau/Erieau area off and on for a few days in May of 2019. I photographed it on May 23.

 Townsend's Warbler is a western species that occasionally gets blown way off course. For some reason Rondeau is a place where it is most apt to show up in Ontario, as there are 5 records, more than any other location in Ontario. I found the park's first one in the spring of 1983, near the west end of the old Dillon Trail. Only a handful of birders who were in the park got to see it, as it was before any kind of bird alert was available and cell phones were non-existent. Word of mouth was the only way to advertise its presence. All of the records are either in the early spring or the late autumn. The one shown here I photographed on Nov 11, 2017 in the Bate's subdivision just north of the park. There were a lot of birders that came to see it, and since it stayed into December, a lot of birders arrived again to get it on their winter list. The bird even stayed around long enough to be added to our Christmas Bird Count list.

 Townsend's Solitaire is a species that is relatively common in the montane region of western North America. On occasion, one ends up heading east rather than southward or northward on their migration. There have been very few records at Rondeau, but when it shows up, will be found either in spring or fall. This one was photographed along Lakeshore Road just north of the Visitor Centre on April 30, 2010. It was first recorded about a week earlier at the south end of Lakeshore Road, but was not seen during the in between days.

Even rarer birds will be featured in a future post!

Another Rondeau/Blenheim CBC now in the books

The Blenheim/Rondeau Christmas Bird Count has been going ever since 1939, making it one of the oldest continuing counts in Ontario. The most recent one, held yesterday, marks the 79th one.  Over the years we have tallied 190 species. An average count results in around 100 species, with high counts of 115 species achieved on several occasions. Weather, whether it be that of the day or the of the previous week or two, will be deciding factors. In 2017, both were factors, as in spite of the lingering autumn weather, the snow and cold of the last week caused several species of waterfowl, for example, to leave the area. On the day of the count itself, the brisk to strong east winds caused some birds to take cover and it made it difficult to hear the birds chipping in the undergrowth. So we missed some that were likely around, but overall the results were not too bad. We came up just shy of the 100 mark, but we did add a new species. The Townsend's Warbler that was first discovered in the area on Nov 11 remained to be counted marking the first time this western species has been recorded on a Christmas Bird Count in Ontario.

A November shot

The area that I normally cover is at the very south end of the park, including the south beach. This year Josh Pickering came along with me. It is often wild and windy there, with lots of wave action. The brisk easterly winds resulted in waves which not only made hearing birds difficult, it also made the shoreline difficult to walk along, so we had to walk inland a bit, in some cases thrashing our way through Phragmites, shrubbery and even fallen trees.

Josh's much better hearing enabled us to pin point some 'chip' notes from the tangles, which we could then search and come up with an identification of.

By far the most common bird we saw was Red-breasted Merganser.

Out on the ice of the bay and marsh we counted 5 Snowy Owls. It was tempting to go out on the ice to get a closer look at an open spot at the south end of the bay, where geese, swans and gulls were resting, but in spite of the cold weather, the ice was only a few centimetres thick. The snow on the ice kept it from getting thicker, and we broke through readily, nixing that option.

After our south beach trek of about 8 km round trip, we stopped at the Visitor Centre for a rest, a snack and to watch the feeder. An Eastern Towhee put in an appearance, feeding on seeds below the feeders....

 ...or hanging out more photogenically in the shrubbery nearby.

 A Common Grackle was in the vicinity.

 At least one Tufted Titmouse was around. They have definitely become more numerous in the last few years.....

 ....as have Red-bellied Woodpeckers.

 Tis the Christmas season, so sharing is good.

Unfortunately the Brown Thrasher which was seen in the feeder area the day before, was not noticed on count day.

Fox Sparrows were noted along the roadsides.

Although we didn't see any Pileated Woodpeckers in our area, other people did in theirs. Some years the spot on the tally sheet for this species is blank, so it is nice to have this resident species accounted for.

The Wilson's Snipe is not always a guarantee to be seen, even when we know it is around. Fortunately one group stopped by the appointed location and saw it.

All in all, it was a good day in spite of the weather. Every year is different. At least it wasn't raining, or snowing so hard that visibility was quite limited, both conditions which have been experienced on previous counts.