Kayaking with a camera through some Lake St. Clair wetlands

 Earlier this week, I finally got around to doing something that I had planned to do for quite awhile. Procrastinating, for whatever reasons, is a human trait, I suppose. I won't bore you with the various reasons I was unable to or did not get out. At any rate, after about a 5-year hiatus, I got my kayak out and explored an area I had had my eye on for quite some time. It was the mosaic of cattail and phragmites islands out in Lake St. Clair, a bit southwest of the village of Mitchell's Bay.

Mitchell's Bay is immediately north of this image. The complex of islands at the left hand side of this photo are just about a kilometre or so off shore and have always intrigued me. Anytime I scan them with binoculars or 'scope from the end of Angler Line, more or less where Waterway Camp is shown on the above photo, it seems there is a lot of bird activity going on out there: herons, egrets, gulls, cormorants, etc, etc. Is there a heronry there, and is that where a Cattle Egret has nested in the past? One or more has shown up on the mainland sometimes over a period of several weeks, in years gone by. And what happened to the colony of Yellow-headed Blackbirds that used to nest in the wetland right along Angler Line? They are still around somewhere. 

Time to find out.

This past Monday looked like ideal conditions for venturing out: moderate temperatures, light NE winds so this side of the lake would be quite calm (I'm not a white water kayaker, especially with expensive camera gear!) and sunny skies. Off I went. I would suggest that the little islands are more abundant and a bit larger now, I believe, than during the higher water levels when this aerial photo was taken. So there was more to explore. There was a constant streaming of water birds in view, as usual. Even while I was on my out, I could see an occasional one or two Yellow-headed Blackbirds heading for the mainland, so I went in the direction they seemed to be coming from. And bingo....it was only the second patch of vegetation I got to where I heard, and then saw this sought after species. 

They seemed to be fairly unconcerned about my approach, and I have often found that boats and kayaks are much more tolerated by wildlife than if I was walking by. So I paddled closer, and this is one of the first photos I got, just in case they got nervous and wouldn't let me get any closer. It is the equivalent of about 13X.

Not to worry, however. The males were busy giving their distinctive, raucous calls, and it appeared they were clearly more concerned about neighbouring males than my bright yellow kayak floating below.

I carefully paddled closer, taking advantage of the light wind propelling me a bit, and also managed a bit of directional control with my rudder. I eventually got so close that with my other lens, I probably couldn't even focus! At any rate, one or two of the males were right at the edge of the phragmites, and quite nicely displayed.

From time to time one of the females would be visible, shown below, but most of the time I expect they were busy tending to a nearby nest with eggs or young. I estimated I saw at least 20 of these birds, and the vast majority of them were males. There could easily have been twice as many. It was certainly a delight to finally get up close to where this more westerly bird species was nesting.

While I was approaching the Yellow-headed Blackbirds, I heard a Common Gallinule calling. Following the sound, I noted that one adult was at the very edge of the vegetated island, and seemed intent on something a little farther along that edge.

And here is what the adult was focussing on. A fourth bird was just out of the field of view.

Perhaps the adult was warning the young about an approaching big yellow thing, and tried to get the youngsters to get back into the vegetation. But not being fluent in gallinule-speak, I can only guess. At any rate, it didn't take long for the youthful gallinules to disappear into the vegetation, although I could track them to some extent by hearing the constant chatter of this family.

 I continued on. There was no shortage of birds to aim my camera at. Mute Swans, not surprisingly, were abundant. What was surprising was how intolerant of me and my kayak they were. Even though there were probably at least 100 birds scattered about, some with families of cygnets to look after, most of them took flight even while I was well away from them. Perhaps they have had experience with boats approaching aggressively. As photogenic as they are, this non-native species is a real menace to native waterfowl. One or two would stick around, enabling me to get this almost full frame photo.

Double-crested Cormorants were plentiful as well, with well over 100 in the area. Most were in a large raft quite a distance off, and I didn't bother spending much time with this abundant species. On occasion one would fly by, tempting me for a photo, and I occasionally succumbed.

Gulls were not plentiful. Once in awhile a Herring Gull would fly nearby, but there was no sign of any of them nesting at this island complex.

There was even an occasional Common Grackle....

....and of course a few Red-winged Blackbirds.

I noted a fair number of Black-crowned Night-Herons in the area, and along with even more Great Egrets, seemed to be coming and going to one of the larger islands.

I paddled closer, and found a way to get at least partially into the island. The water was calm, and I sat here for awhile, watching the herons and egrets come and go. This next photo was taken with a very wide angle lens. A closer look will show a couple of white birds in the blue sky. These were Great Egrets flying around, and were actually much closer than the wide angle lens would suggest.

There was even an occasional Green Heron and Least Bittern flying around the area. It seemed like there were at least two heronries, based on where the herons and egrets were coming from and going to. Add to that, there was quite a cacophony of sound, made both by the adults but even more so by the young in the nest that were clamouring for food. The thick phragmites and cattail vegetation made it impossible to see what was going on, or how many nests there might be. If I only had a drone......

A smaller island had some of the phragmites dead and knocked down providing quite a bit of potential nesting habitat for another more western species. I noted quite a few Forster's Terns flying about, with some setting in the downed mat of phragmites, so I went to investigate.

Some individuals were missing their long streamer tails.

There were several that seemed to be setting on a nest, and only got up and left when I got too close. I couldn't get close enough to see over the dead vegetation and find out whether they were setting on eggs or young.

Clearly some were exhibiting an aerial defense, and dive-bombed me frequently and at relatively close range.

Others were busy bringing food, either to a mate or to the young.

All in all, it was a very fun outing, and certainly well worth the effort. I am so glad I didn't let more time slip by before exploring this wetland complex. I didn't see any evidence of a Cattle Egret, although I never could see right into the heronry due to the height and density of the vegetation. Maybe next time.

A few years ago, I wrote a piece in OFO News, the newsletter of the Ontario Field Ornithologists, about the usefulness of a kayak in birding. Check it out at this link.

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Piping Plover update, plus other rare birds and turtles

 A busy time of year, and I am behind in my photography. But I thought it important to at least provide an update regarding the Piping Plovers.

This endangered species used to breed at Rondeau and area. Like about 80 years ago. According to the A. A. Wood unpublished manuscript Birds of Kent County, Ontario, it was cited as "numerous between Erieau and Erie Beach. Nest not found but young observed." Specifically at Rondeau, it was found regularly as recently as the 1930s, with two nests found in 1937 and another in 1938. Undoubtedly there were other nests and pairs which went undocumented due to the extensive habitat and general lack of observers. So officially, the last nest recorded at Rondeau was 84 years ago.

 And it looks like the wait will continue. One or more of this pair that showed up in May was observed over a period of about 8 days. There were indications of one creating a scrape for a potential nest site, and certainly they were somewhat vocal. However eventually the male seemed to have disappeared, and even the female tended to wander farther than what a normal territory would seem to be, and then she disappeared as well. There have been no observations since about the first of June.

It is uncertain exactly what happened. They were exhibiting territorial behaviour at a time when they would normally be establishing a territory and even beginning to lay eggs. The fact that they also stayed for several days indicated that they had a definite interest in the south beach of Rondeau. Factors that could have played a part in their abandoning this site include the number of people illegally enjoying the south beach, with campfires, picnics, kids and dogs running around and such. It wasn't just one or two events. On a nice day especially on a weekend, there can be dozens of people scattered across the beach area. Since this part of the park is rarely if ever patrolled by park staff, some of the general public treat it like a free beach for such activities, and even camping short term. It is difficult for park enforcement staff to access it, but for the beach goers from Erieau, it is quite easily accessible. Or it could have been that there were quite a few predatory type gulls spending time on the beach, although on occasion the plovers were observed chasing potential predators of this type. Regardless, the results were not what was hoped for.

Maybe next year....

I was out a couple of times. On one occasion Steve C and I went out, right at the end of May, to see what we could find. This first photo shows what part of the south beach looks like, with the forested end (locally referred to as Gull Island, but it isn't an island at all) and Erieau off in the background.

We saw an Osprey perched, scanning for a meal no doubt, but it wasn't easy with Red-winged Blackbirds dive-bombing it.

There were shorebirds, such as Ruddy Turnstones.....

....Sanderlings.....

...and a few Whimbrel. And gulls, of course. This first one is a Herring Gull, which has been banded. I sent the band information away, and found out that it was banded at Port Clinton, Ohio, slightly less than a year ago.

A Lesser Black-backed Gull, next, has been around for awhile.

There were at least two Little Gulls, both non-breeding youngsters, in the area. On occasion three birds have been seen either along the south beach or from Erieau.

The marshy areas are becoming rather colourful, with Bullhead Lily scattered across the quiet water...

....and Southern Blue Flag popping up in various places.

I've been to a few other places, and one of the highlights was to see this American White Pelican along the Erieau Rail Trail.

It was present for several days, fortunately.

A day or so later, there was a Tricolored Heron that showed up in the same place. I didn't get to track it down, and it was only there for a briefer period. It would have been nice to see, but I have seen that species before. Interestingly my first observation of this southern heron, which at the time was called a Louisiana Heron, was back in late April of 1981. I had seen one fly southward along the east beach of the park. I thought it would probably end up spending some time in the ~1000 acre marsh, so the next day I headed out looking. But before I saw the heron, I got distracted by another bird which I could not identify. Even after getting two or three highly experienced birders to join me and take a look, it took a little while before we decided on it being a Sage Thrasher! That was Rondeau's first, and at the time was one of the few Ontario records ever. Fortunately the bird stuck around for almost three weeks of the spring birding season, allowing many hundreds of birders the opportunity to get out towards the south half of the marsh trail and see this bird. This was, of course, well before the digital era, and my photo equipment wasn't the greatest back then. But here is one of the photos I got of that bird.

An occasional stop at the Keith McLean Conservation Lands has resulted in a few shorebirds, including

Dunlin

Semipalmated Sandpiper

White-rumped Sandpiper

I spent a bit of time at a private wetland complex in the Mitchell's Bay area and had some good photo experiences, shooting

Black-crowned Night-Heron

Great Egret

An Osprey flew by with a Bullhead in its talons. I didn't see it take it to a nest site, so it was probably just looking for a spot to eat in peace and quiet and away from being harassed by things such as this Eastern Kingbird.

A real treat was to get a quick look and photo of this Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtle, up on a bank basking. They are very fast moving turtles, and it scampered back in to the canal. It is an endangered species.

The light for this wasn't the greatest, so I got a better vantage point and waited, hoping for its return. It didn't but I had a few Northern Map Turtles come by for a bit of sun. They are definitely more common than the softshell turtle, but still considered a Species At Risk.

Just north of Mitchell's Bay, along the north shore trail, I had the usual couple of Sandhill Cranes feeding on a berm.

And this Caspian Tern remained on this mud flat long enough for me to get a photo.

So all in all, it was a good few days, but the results of the Piping Plover were not so satisfying.

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