Some warmer season niceties

 The ups and downs of the early spring days can be rewarding. At least with the periodic upswing, migrating birds are on the move, and a greater variety of fauna can be appreciated.

I have been to Rondeau on a few occasions, in between rainy days. One of my purposes is to get a fair bit of exercise instead of hanging out and being relatively immobile at home. Some days the camera gets a bit of a workout; other days, not so much. 

In some of my earlier posts, it was plain to see that there was massive amounts of ice on the lake, but it was gradually disappearing. And then there was none.

There is becoming a nice mix of fauna to see. No native spring wildflowers yet, but that won't be long. Wood Frogs are making a bit of noise in the larger ponds of the sloughs.

Tree Swallows are back, swooping after some insects.

A few flies and things are buzzing around, such as this Narrow-headed Marsh Fly

Mourning Cloaks are by far the most numerous butterfly, although I did see one or two of the Eastern Comma type ones but just in flight

There has been at least one Lesser Yellowlegs hanging out in the good shorebird habitat at nearby Keith McLean Conservation Area.

Golden-crowned Kinglets are fairly common.

On occasion, one may see an Eastern Garter Snake out sunning.

Brown Creepers are becoming more numerous, although they hardly ever sit still for a photo! I've even had several show up on trees in my yard at home.

A nice surprise is to see and photograph this American Red Squirrel, which has been hanging around the maintenance area for several years. It is very active, and photos are hard to get. In the case of this one, I had a hard time focusing on it as there was not only a chain link fence to look through, but also branches of a few shrubs.

Other places relatively close to home have proven worthwhile to check out. At St. Clair NWA, there is often a Bald Eagle flying around, but the bland skies don't make it easy to get a good photo of.

On one occasion as I was along the main trail, this Canadian Beaver was swimming by quite close at hand. You don't often see them in the middle part of the day, but there it was.

Sandhill Cranes are almost a guarantee, somewhere either in the NWA or nearby fields.

The Mitchell's Bay trails are worth checking out. Again, Bald Eagles are almost a guarantee, and I often see 4 or more within view, but not always within a good photographic distance. This one is about a year old, due to the brownish back.

Great Egrets are back, and I always look forward to photographing one or more. This first one shows it had recently grabbed what looks to be a small frog.

At other times, they are just busy watching to see what is going on.

There is some great habitat for shorebirds, due to the lower lake levels. This Greater Yellowlegs was a first of the year for me, a little way out from the closest point at which I could observe it.

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A rush of rarities

This last week or so has been great for birders looking for unusual species. As you may note, the bird on the header is new, as I decided to give that Great Egret a rest. Now the header features a new species for Chatham-Kent, and indeed quite a rarity anywhere in Canada. It is a Gray Kingbird, found near the entrance to St. Clair NWA. It is relatively common in the southeastern states, and sometimes along the east coast, but records for Ontario are few. These first two photos were taken on Friday, October 24.

Since the bird was quite accessible for viewing, there were many dozens of birders from many parts of Ontario, and even from Michigan, who made a special trip to see it. At times the viewing area was quite crowded, making parking a challenge for birders, and also a challenge for traffic. I didn't go back on the weekend, as it was even more crowded.

The bird continued to at least yesterday, Oct 29, when I took these next two photos, although the angle of light wasn't as good as I would have liked.

With the weather of late, it seemed to be finding enough to eat, but who knows how long that will last. At any rate, it is species #352 that I have seen in Chatham-Kent.

Another rarity, but not quite of the same scale as the previous one, is a juvenile Little Blue Heron. A juvenile is white, whereas an adult is mostly gray-blue. It was found by birders returning from looking at the kingbird, and was seen along the north shore of the Thames River, a bit upstream from Prairie Siding.

According to a local source, this bird may have been in the area for a few weeks.

Another rarity, although not on the same scale as the first two, was a Western Cattle Egret, found in a pasture a bit north of Erieau. Almost all the time this species is found, there are cattle quite close by.

 

  

 Still with the heron/egret group, there are a few of the fairly common, at least locally, Great Egrets remaining. They nest in limited places near wetlands associated with Lake St. Clair, and will persist well into the autumn season. I took this first photo from the Mitchell's Bay North Trail, and looking across the water to the south end of Walpole Island, I could see some egrets in a tree. I think it was a hunting day, so they may have decided to wait the hunters out and then return to their favourite feeding area when it was quieter.

The second photo was of a bird much closer, right along the trail.

This next photo shows the view towards Walpole Island, from the trail. The birds were visible when I took this, but clearly the first photo of the egrets was taken with a powerful telephoto lens to even capture the first shot above, and the photo was greatly cropped.

 The dead trees fairly close to this trail are popular with a late season bird species: Tree Swallow. Most swallows have been gone for a few weeks, but Tree Swallows seem to be a lot hardier. A day or two ago I estimated at least 250 of them swooping over the marsh, looking for insects, or taking a rest in the trees.

 Last, but not least are two Bald Eagles I captured on their migration flight.

 Bald Eagles used to be a legally endangered species in Ontario. According to those who were keeping track, in the late 1960s there was only one active pair along the north shore of Lake Erie between Long Point and the Detroit River. That pair was at Rondeau, and even it was only irregularly successful in raising a single young. With the great reduction in certain chemicals, especially DDT, the eagles are no longer endangered. There are about 30 active nesting pairs in Chatham-Kent alone. And they are more common elsewhere in Ontario, as the local hawkwatch at Holiday Beach has already recorded 460 eagles migrating past over the past few weeks. Clearly a significant success story!

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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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