Rondeau, then and now

 Things are a little quieter out in the field these days, so I will take the opportunity to interject a post that readers might find interesting, especially if there has been any history with Rondeau. It will attempt to show some of the changes that have taken place, mostly within the last four or five decades.

Rondeau has long been known as a great spot for birding.

There are many species which, either for a short time or a much longer time, show up at Rondeau. The current list is slightly more than 360 species. One of the lwell-known high priority species that birders come to see is the endangered Prothonotary Warbler. It was first discovered breeding in Canada at Rondeau, back in the early 1930s, and the park remains a hot spot for it even now.

Woodland sloughs are the prime habitat for this species, and Rondeau has several kilometres of good quality habitat of this type. This next photo shows Phil, a former staff member of mine while I was at Rondeau, looking in a slough as he scanned for birds. The presence of water that was a metre or more deep in places, numerous dead trees in various stages of decay and the extensive openness were all important for Prothonotaries.

They like a bit more canopy cover than what these photos show, but will make use of fairly open habitat. As do other birds. I photographed this Northern Flicker at its nest in a dead tree right close by where the previous photo was taken, and also a Brown Creeper nest under some bark on the same tree, a fairly rare breeding species at Rondeau.

Anyone of a certain age who had an interest in nature might recall the TV series To the Wild Country, filmed by John and Janet Foster, and partially narrated by Lorne Greene. One of the episodes was entitled Wild Corners of the Great Lakes, and it featured a bit of Rondeau, and in particular the Prothonotary and its nesting habitat. If you are interested, you can see this episode here. The Rondeau segment starts at about minute 17. It is interesting that when it was filmed, back in 1974, the water levels of Lake Erie were at almost record high. Part of the segment shows a former Rondeau colleague of mine, Howard Coneybeare, canoeing through a slough, and discovering a nest of a Prothonotary. With the high water levels, and the openness of some of the sloughs, canoeing was quite possible. Some sloughs were extremely open, as the first photo shows. It was taken in about 1974.

This next photo shows a fairly typical large slough, as in about 1985. Canoeing was quite possible, with a little care.

But since then, conditions have changed. Water levels have had their ups and downs both seasonally and annually. These next few photos were taken in just the last few days, and while the overall lake levels have dropped a bit, they are still above average. However the local drought conditions have caused the sloughs to look quite different, especially with the aggressiveness of the non-native Phragmites. This next photo was taken at almost the same vantage point as the ones showing Phil the birder above.

And from about the same vantage point, but looking south towards the lake, is what the scene looked like in August, 1985.

There were always lots of turtles sunning here, along with a few snakes, and it was good habitat for nesting birds as well, such as Eastern Kingbird. But fast forward to 37 years later, and this is what the same area looks like, taken from about the same vantage point.

There is no water in what remains of this slough, no logs other than what has washed up along the beach, just sand and grasses, as the erosion of the southern part of Rondeau has caused movement of the shoreline inland more than 50 metres. And just a 100 metres or so east of this spot, used to be a fairly large picnic area, with parking and a large picnic shelter. All that is gone now, and has been for several decades. This next photo shows where it would have been, but now well out in the lake.

And these next few photos show what a wet slough looks like in early 2023. It would be impossible to canoe in them!

Here are a few more items, illustrating some changes over the last 50 plus years. Some readers may well remember the days when there was a beautiful campground at the south end of the park. It was generally well-wooded, unlike the very open campground that remains at the north end of the park. It was established back in the 1950s, I believe, and when I was growing up, I remember our family camping there back in about 1963. There were four or five substantial washroom facilities to service the campground as well as the picnic area mentioned above.

South Point campground washroom

There also was a campground office, to service requests for camping. It was located on the left hand side of what is now the South Point Trail, formerly a road to and from the campground, right at the corner of the sharp S-bend.

 The campground closed for good, in about 1973 due to the very high water which flooded the campgroun, other than for a couple of months in late summer and early fall of 1985. The building gradually deteriorated and I remember quite a few Barn Swallows nesting in the open structure that remained.

In 2023, this is all that is left.....what I presume is the septic tank of the campground office.

More on some other historical changes in a future post!

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Say's Phoebe in Chatham-Kent

This morning I had a chiropractor appointment....an ongoing need to deal with neck, shoulder and back pain partly due to chronic Lyme Disease. After having combined treatment of massage, adjustment, traction and electrical current for more than an hour, it leaves one feeling a bit mellow and lethargic. I was meandering on my way home when not one, but three text messages arrived on my phone. Pulling over to the side of the road, thanks to Jim Burk, Keith Burk and my wife Marie, I got the word that a Say's Phoebe had been seen on Lagoon Road, a few kilometres south of Talbot Trail/Hwy 3. Clearly that would get the attention of any Ontario birder, and as a bonus, it was seen not far from where I was sitting at the side of the road, so I immediately perked up!!!

I had not chased the handful of records of Say's Phoebe in Ontario in the past. I came oh-so-close to getting it for my Ontario list in about 1990, when 4 of us trekked up to Rainy River to catch up to the specialties in that area: American White Pelican, Piping Plover, Black-billed Magpie, Yellow Rail, numerous Franklin's Gulls, etc. None of them were Ontario list birds for me, but nice to see just the same. The bonus bird on that trip was after a vicious storm from the west went through, bringing with it a Swainson's Hawk perched on a fence post along the road, at about eye level....which was an Ontario list species for me.

One evening we went just across the river and international boundary to Baudette, MN, for a bite to eat. On the return, crossing the bridge part way between the two border check stations, we saw a Say's Phoebe. But wouldn't you know it....we could not see it from the Ontario side; it was nice to see, but not countable for the Ontario list.

Back to today.

As mentioned, I immediately perked up with this news and zipped down the road to the place where the Say's Phoebe had been reported. No one was in sight....was I at the right harvested tomato field with tobacco wagons nearby, or should I continue on? A quick scan over the field didn't turn up anything immediately, but then....flying up from the ground was a bird that could be a phoebe. I got my binoculars on it just as it landed on top of the tobacco wagon......bingo! The phoebe size and shape, with the salmon flanks and underside, two pale wingbars, grayish back and slightly darker grayish head confirmed it. I quickly parked the car, grabbed my camera which I had with me (don't leave home without it....although full confession here....I don't always have it with me), and snapped off a couple of shots. I approached slowly and directly, getting a few more shots along the way. I didn't have my 500 lens, so my 400 would have to suffice. As one photographer said "the best camera to have is the one in your hands".

It was tempting to get even closer, but I did not want to scare it off for others arriving, so contented myself with getting a few distant shots which I felt could be cropped satisfactorily for the OFO site and eventual OBRC report. This makes it species #363 for the Rondeau checklist area (#339 for me).

At about that time, Jim Burk, the finder of this bird, came along. Moments later, Steve Charbonneau did as well. This bird was an Ontario bird and a Rondeau checklist species for Steve and myself, but 'just' a Rondeau bird for Jim. After viewing the bird with both binoculars and 'scopes, observing it catching flies and returning to one pole or another on the tobacco wagons, and at times wagging its tail, we left, but others were on their way.

Oh yes...the bird in question....taken with equivalent 640mm telephoto lens, and cropped about 50%. Most of the time when the bird was perched, it was facing me, so the photos do not show the side view with the black tail, the brighter salmon under belly, but we saw it fly out numerous times and periodically land with the side view and the salmon colour was much more noticeable.

Say's Phoebe

 A bit closer.....