On the hunt for Marsh Tickseed, and lots to see in other open wetland areas

 Readers of my last post will note that Marsh Tickseed, a species at risk was something I found at St. Clair NWA, and since there were a couple of older records for this species at Rondeau, I tried diligently to find it there. The search got me out to places I hadn't been for awhile, at least not at this time of year, so I was hopeful. The south beach, along the edges of the marsh, was the place to search. Unfortunately the habitat has changed due to variable water levels as well as the onslaught of the non-native Phragmites.

This is the plant that I was looking for. A sort of typical looking sunflower type....

...but with very distinctive finely cut leaves.

I did find a few other things to aim the camera at, however, including this adult Bald Eagle, which did not like me getting any more than about 300 metres away before it left its perch....

...a moth, this Rubbed Dart, feeding on a relative of the Marsh Tickseed (I looked at a lot of tickseed types!)

And this small but colourful plant, the Trailing Fuzzy-Bean, a member of the legume family.

I saw a number of Double-crested Cormorants, as usual but for some reason this one was quite tolerant of my presence.

Elsewhere, while checking out some of the multitude of goldenrods, I came across a Northern Paper Wasp....

....a type of cluster fly...

....and this Bald-faced Hornet.

While some of these critters are capable of giving a painful sting, I have never been stung yet, as they are much too busy feeding on the nectar. I leave them alone as much as possible, but sometimes I use a macro lens and flash, and may only be inches away from them.

On my way to and from the park, I sometimes stop at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons, as there is always a good variety of birds to view. On occasion they even are close enough to photograph! Bonaparte's Gulls can be fairly plentiful and sometimes quite close to the edge of the cells.

My target species for this visit to the lagoons, however, was to find one of the Red-necked Phalaropes that have been there lately. It is very much an irregular migrant, and one doesn't see them every year. Unfortunately it is often well out in the middle of the lagoon, making a decent photo hard to come by. This was taken at a magnification of about 22X, and then cropped considerably to more like about 80X.

One of the intriguing birds recently reported in southern Ontario, was a Cinnamon Teal, near Grimsby. It is quite the rarity at any time of year. Apparently hundreds of birders flocked to see it, but I wasn't one of them. I have seen it in Ontario before, as a fairly brightly plumaged spring male was at Rondeau for a brief period back in May of 1994. It was well out along the Marsh Trail and I, along with a good number of others, managed to see it. I didn't get a photo of it, but I do have a photo of one that I took out in southern Saskatchewan in July of 2018, where it was hanging out in a prairie pothole area along with numerous shorebirds, especially Wilson's Phalaropes, shown next. Not a brightly plumaged male.

A trip to St. Clair NWA is almost always worthwhile, and not just to see the Marsh Tickseed. Waterfowl are building in numbers, with Canada Geese numbering in the several hundreds by now.

Tucked well out of the way along the shrubby shoreline of the wetland, was this immature Green Heron. It was likely about 300 metres away, and when I first saw it through binoculars, I thought it might be an immature Black-crowned Night-Heron, but when I got a distant photo and highly cropped it, also to about the equivalent of about 80X, I could see the darker crown and the slightly dull green back. An immature BCNH would show a more evenly coloured brownish back. This bird is a little more fluffed up to make its body look a little more BCNH like, adding to the challenge of identification, especially in poor light and at a considerable distance.

Mallard are in the area, also by the hundreds.

This Northern Flicker was in one of the few trees along the dyke trail.

Sandhill Cranes can often be heard, and occasionally seen and even photographed on their flights to and from the NWA.

Sometimes they will be feeding in a field immediately adjacent to the NWA.

Along the far woodland shore, there often are a few Wood Ducks tucked away, giving only distant views and photos. Sometimes up to 20 can be seen in one or two places....

....and on occasion, a brightly coloured male, shown next, will even linger in the channel adjacent to the trail, and a cautious approach might result in a photo such as this next one.

Northern Harriers are periodically seen, although usually in flight mode, and often heading away, giving a rear view only.

I typically add visiting the Mitchell's Bay North Shore Trail to one of my more northern forays in Chatham-Kent. The openness means there is often a comfortable breeze. As I have mentioned before, it is a great spot to see a few Great Egrets with typically at least half a dozen seen on each visit. On a cloudy day when they are sitting up in a tree, they may be a bit more challenging to get a good photo, but it is always worth a try.

There is enough shallow water or muddy shoreline along the edge to attract a few shorebirds, such as this Lesser Yellowlegs....

...and a Wilson's Snipe.

This adult Red-tailed Hawk was keeping an eye on me from a safe distance.

My next post may finally get me to do the one I had in mind awhile ago, featuring a variety of late summer orchids, including the endangered Nodding Pogonia, a.k.a. Three-bird's Orchid (Triphora trianthophoros). Stay tuned!

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The weather ups and downs of late winter; associated wildlife

 The season is having a hard time making up its mind! It is technically, still winter, and will be for another few days, but usually by this time hints of spring are a little more noticeable.

Some species of waterfowl that were noticeable by their absence over the winter, have arrived, presumably enticed by some early spring-like weather a couple of weeks ago.Things like Northern Shoveler.....

...and American Wigeon, are pretty regular now.

Now that the ice is gone from the local water bodies, there are thousands of diving ducks scattered across the open water. Redhead, scaup species, and Canvasback, shown next, are the most abundant.

Ring-necked Ducks are well represented but in much smaller numbers, sometimes even on ponds.

With the bit of a warm spell in the last couple of weeks, even shorebirds are beginning to appear. Killdeer are, of course, one of the first to show in spring. In the right mudflat types of habitat, it is not uncommon to see up to a dozen or more over the course of an outing.

Definitely early is this Lesser Yellowlegs, seen periodically in the Erieau/McGeachy Pond area.

If conditions are right, one or more Wilson's Snipe may be present all winter, but with last autumn's dryness leaving some of their regular haunts quite uninhabitable, the species was completely absent as far as we know, since last December. But this one has appeared in the last few days at the Keith McLean Conservation Lands. It can be quite cryptic and, from a distance, it blends in so well that at first I missed it. When I checked more closely a few minutes later, scanning with my binoculars, I picked it out, and was able to get a photo that, heavily cropped, allows it to stand out nicely.

On one of the same days, I saw this Wooly Bear caterpillar crossing my path. It is something that almost everyone has encountered at this caterpillar stage, anytime from late autumn to early spring.

Less frequently encountered is what it looks like as an adult, a beautiful Isabella Tiger Moth, which readily comes to black lights.

On another warmish day, a Leopard Frog had emerged. Unfortunately, it was still cool enough to be unable to escape the impact of a wheel.

Blackbird types are showing up in large numbers, most notably Red-wings, which are staking out territories in the wetlands of the area. The females will be arriving in larger numbers very soon.

Far less abundant are Rusty Blackbirds at the moment, although their numbers will hopefully increase over the next few weeks. They will continue on to northern habitats of the Boreal Forest area for their attempts at successful nesting.

Horned Larks were almost non-existent over the month of January, but by February they were showing up in good numbers, scattered throughout the agricultural landscape. Some will migrate up to the sub-arctic lowlands, and nest in the tundra there. But many will stick around the fields of southern Ontario and if they are lucky, get a family raised and fledged before the agricultural activity gets in full swing.

Northern Harriers are more plentiful on the landscape. Photo opportunities are not easy to come by, but this one, a male sometimes known as a "Gray Ghost" was somewhat cooperative in that it allowed me to follow it from along the road as it swooped over the fields, and I managed to keep it in reasonable focus in spite of its erratic flight.

Snowy Owls have been noticeable by their absence this season. Last year they were quite abundant, with a record 23 individuals seen on the local Christmas Bird Count. This year it is quite a different story, as I have seen less than 10 individuals all winter. So I was pleasantly surprised to see this individual along a grassy drain, although well out in a field. A careful approach enabled me to get this greatly cropped photo. But I will take it!

It eventually must have thought I was getting too close (but probably at least 150 metres away) and decided to head out farther into the field.

It is unusual to have seen at least three species of shorebirds quite recently yet still seeing a Snowy Owl, but late winter can certainly be highly variable, as this present season is indicating. What will the next few weeks bring???

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Winter shorebirds, etc.

 One doesn't expect the words 'winter' and 'shorebirds' to go together very often, especially in mid-winter after quite a few days of colder than average temperatures and a bit of snow. Yet it happens, as was the case yesterday.

There is a creek not far south of Blenheim where it is fed by some underground springs coming off of the ridge, a feature left over from the last ice age. And it is here, where a Wilson's Snipe can usually be found in the winter at some point. In some years it can be quite predictable, whereas in other years, such as the current one, it can be hard to catch up to. Most local birders, myself included, have stopped by on several occasions trying to see it, but without success. It seems that the colder and snowier the winter gets, the more likely it is to be seen closer to the road.

Here is a photo that I took several years ago when it was relatively close to the road. 

Yesterday I stopped by and initially didn't see any sign of it. An interesting looking dark clump way down the creek prompted me to get the scope out to check. It wasn't the snipe. But since I had the scope out, I began checking out other spots, and then it came into sight, about 75 metres away. This next photo is at the equivalent of a 15X binocular. While most birders use something at about 8X, one can assume that such a well camouflaged bird would not show up very easily. When one knew exactly where the bird was, one could see it.

And here is a highly cropped photo, at about 105X. That explains a bit of the graininess of the photo, but at least it is an identifiable record shot.

This 'snipe' creek, with its open water, has attracted other birds as well. An American Black Duck has been there on several occasions, but well away from the road. A Rusty Blackbird was there on one occasion......

.....and a Great Blue Heron on another.

Along the grassy roadside quite close to this creek were three, and occasionally four, Eastern Meadowlarks. They were very skittish, and one had to attempt photos from the vehicle. Any hint of something outside the vehicle caused them to fly well out of camera range. So as to not stress the birds any more than necessary as a vehicle passes, photography was limited to distant shots, greatly cropped. On one occasion I at least had the sun more or less in my favour.

A subsequent trip and the closest bird was not well lit, especially with a bright snowy background.

While I have seen a Northern Mockingbird in the area immediately adjacent to the creek on a couple of occasions, I have not yet been able to get a photo. Maybe next time....

It was a two species shorebird day. A short distance north of Rondeau is a seepage spot right along the road. Most winters will see a Killdeer show up here, at least for a few days. One wonders where this bird has been, as the past few days and even weeks have been mostly below normal temperatures and there hasn't been any open water to speak of. Obviously this bird had survived up until now.

Traveling back roads can turn up a few other things. Raptors don't usually cooperate, but this Rough-legged Hawk did allow a relatively close approach, with photos through the open window.

Horned Larks were mostly absent a month or so ago, but in the last couple of weeks they have been fairly abundant along roadsides and adjacent fields.

Snow Buntings have also been commonly seen along roadsides.

I haven't spent a lot of time at Rondeau in the last few days, but when I am in the vicinity searching out some of the above mentioned birds, I stop in for a walk and look around. White-tailed Deer aren't normally out and about in the middle of the day, but this one, along with two others, were out in the open along Lakeshore Road on a relatively busy Sunday afternoon.

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