Eagles, eagles and more eagles

Yesterday (Tuesday) was a great day to be outside. Although at one point the temperature inland reached 18C, it barely got to 8C out at Rondeau once one was exposed to the wind coming off the ice of Rondeau Bay......there was still a fair bit of ice, and the water wouldn't have been much warmer.

I wanted to get out to the south end of the Marsh Trail at Rondeau to see what the eagles were up to. I had suspected that the nest that the one pair had been using for the last few years was no longer there. This is the very distinctive nest tree within about 200 metres of the Marsh Trail.

photo of 2014

In checking more closely yesterday, this nest tree is indeed gone. Presumably it got blown over in one of the fierce wind storms of last fall. Of course it is an ill wind that doesn't blow in something good, and those storms resulted in some memorable birds such as the invasion of Franklin's Gulls, the Sabine's Gulls, etc.

But for the eagles, it presented a problem. Fortunately they decided to move to a nearby White Pine tree that they deemed suitable and built the nest....perhaps this tree is not quite as sturdy as the previous one, but it may work. At least it doesn't have as much foliage at the top to catch the wind, so maybe it will last. Yesterday, one adult eagle was on it for awhile, with the other adult perched in a dead tree not far away.

photo of new nest, 2016

I decided to hike out to Long Pond and then to the very south end of the trail, a total hiking distance of about 8 kilometres. There were thousands of waterfowl out on Rondeau Bay, with the usual mix of divers and puddle ducks, but also including a single male Eurasian Wigeon. A wigeon with a brick red head is nice to see, but was too far away to photograph, unfortunately, so a 'scope view was all I was able to get.

A couple of Sandhill Cranes emerged from the marsh, giving their trumpet tremolo.

Land birds were beginning to build. There were several hundred Red-winged Blackbirds, not surprisingly, and all males.

A few American Robins were around....I saw probably at least 50 in the park, but only a small number on the Marsh Trail which isn't there prime habitat.

There were a few Swamp Sparrows lurking furtively in the lower cattail vegetation, but none cooperated for the camera. Same for several Song Sparrows. But the good number of American Tree Sparrows did not let me down.

A year or so ago, it seemed that a second pair of Bald Eagles had established a territory in the expanse of the Rondeau Marsh, right near the south beach at the edge of the forest. At first I wasn't certain if it was just a second nest by the known pair, as sometimes they will build one or more other nests. This may happen when one of the adults dies and a new one enters into the pair. But yesterday I saw a pair of adults in a tree within 100 metres of the nest tree at the south end, so it is apparently a separate pair. The birds are about 1.5 km from where I took this shot, so with the thermal shimmer, distance and heavy cropping, it isn't all that sharp.

Much to my surprise, I came across a third pair! I saw an adult perched in a tree at the Rondeau marsh/bay edge, where the cormorants have recently taken up nesting. While watching the one adult, another adult flew into view, went to the water's edge, then to the edge of the marsh where it picked up a stick, and flew up to a small tree and proceeded to work away with it in the largest nest structure of that tree cluster!

This image shows the two adults, at quite a distance, and if you look closely at the right hand side of the image, there is a white arrow that points to the largest nest structure. Clearly this is not the kind of tree that I would expect a pair of eagles to build a nest in, but who knows? It may just be an early attempt that will be for naught. Or they may attempt to occupy this nest and raise young. Or eventually move to a better tree before wasting too much time with this flimsy structure. I expect that the presence of the other nests in the trees, made by cormorants, may have stimulated the eagles to try it out. At any rate, it will be interesting to see if anything comes out of this apparent nesting effort.

It was during the first half of the previous century that there were typically two pairs of Bald Eagles nesting at Rondeau. That dropped to one pair by mid-century, and didn't increase back to two pairs again until likely 2014. Now it seems that a third pair is trying to get in on using this large marsh/bay complex, which would be precedent setting as far as I am aware. It certainly seems that with the increase in the area's Bald Eagle population which I described a couple of posts ago, it may not be all that surprising that a third pair is around. It would seem that there is adequate territory, as the nests are all at least two kilometres from each other. All of the pairs stuck pretty much to their nest area during the entire 4+ hours I was out there.

It is also interesting that a 7th eagle, a sub-adult, was around yesterday, too, but well away from any of the three nesting pairs.

Another reason I wanted to get to the south end of the trail was to see how the controlled burn for Phragmites turned out. I mentioned this event a couple of posts ago.

I was impressed! I haven't seen this swampy ridge this clear of vegetation ever, and hopefully the nasty Phragmites that used to be here will be less of a problem for a few years. Maybe it will give park staff a chance to attack the many other areas in the interim where Phragmites is dominant.

After leaving the park, I decided to swing around by the Ridgetown Sewage Lagoon. There was a good variety of ducks, and several hundred Canada Geese, but only a couple of dozen Tundra Swans. However at least 5 Greater White-fronted Geese were still around.

Spring is trying to get here!

Spring is teasing us, but is not here to stay yet. The waterfowl are building up in diversity and overall numbers, in response to the improving weather, longer daylight and promise of better weather to come. As Rondeau Bay and the lake become more ice-free, the birds are a lot farther out, and difficult to identify let alone photograph.

Erieau is always worth checking out. I've been looking for the reputed Harlequin Duck, but so far it has stayed in hiding whenever I am around. Others have been more fortunate, but then again some of them (Jim B, Steve C) live closer and check the harbour front more frequently than I do. So I take some solace in photographing things like American Coot, as they are comical and cooperative, sticking pretty close to the interior part of the harbour. As the ice increases during a cold spell, their movements are more limited. It seems that there are only a few remaining of the ~4000 that were around before Christmas. I saw 14 today.

They are normally plant eaters, but when they get really hungry, as I am sure they are right now, they will eat whatever they can survive on. This next image shows one picking away at some fish remains. But it didn't get much of it, as a Herring Gull swooped in moments later and took off with the fish.

 There are usually a few Bald Eagles out on the ice, feeding on fish or crippled ducks. I saw this one just north of Shrewsbury, only a few hundred metres from a possible new nest site. This bird is not quite a full adult, which normally takes 5 years. This one is likely into or approaching its 4th year.

In a healthy population, eagles will not normally breed until their fifth year, but where there are empty territories as there is now, some birds will breed at age 4. There have even been records of eagles attempting to nest at age 3, but I don't think they successfully fledged any young.

One day while I was at Erieau, I looked across to Rondeau and noticed the south end of the marsh going up in smoke. And that was a good thing.

Prescribed burn of the Rondeau marsh

As many of you know, Phragmites is a very aggressive, non-native vegetative form that has taken over many wetlands. One of the few methods of keeping it somewhat under control is by spraying an approved herbicide to kill as much of it as possible, then rolling it when it has died, followed by burning it to remove the extensive thatch so that any stems that were missed can be seen during the next growing season. These will be hit with a subsequent touch up herbicide application. It is far from perfect, but it is about the best approved option to keep it from taking over completely.  Hopefully in the next growing season or two, the natural cattail vegetation will return, and as that happens, it will be more conducive for declining species such as Black Tern to nest successfully.

Black Tern at nest

The pair of Trumpeter Swans was still around as of a few days ago. They aren't normally migratory, at least not to the same degree as the Tundra Swan which is so abundant around here these days. Perhaps the Trumpeters will remain to nest as they did historically.

A recent visit to Rondeau included a walk along the southeast beach area. I hadn't been there for a few weeks, and I was surprised to see how much more exposed this recent historical feature was.

 In looking at it from the north side, it is apparent that it is closely associated with a large slab of concrete, which is visible at the right side of the next photo. The concrete slab is all that is left of the former campground office, which was operational until about 1972/73 when late that fall and early spring, the high water arrived and flooded the campground. The campground was closed except for a very brief time in the late summer of 1985. But by 1986, the campground was closed for good. The large block of concrete was probably all that remains of a vault toilet attached to the camp office.

The South Point Trail has few birds along it at this time of year, but once the spring migrants begin to arrive it will be a priority for checking out. However the feeders at the Visitor Centre are always worth stopping by, even if only to see some of the regular winter visitors.

In thinking of Blue Jays, note that the Grapefruit League games of baseball's spring training season have now begun! And I read just today that the Blue Jays logo was considered the best logo of all the baseball teams. I'm sure that could be debated hotly, but that is way beyond the purview of this blog.

Pine Siskin

The Ridgetown Sewage Lagoons continue to attract a dozen Greater White-fronted Geese, eleven of which are shown in this next image.

Leapin' Leopards!

Today was by far the warmest day we've had in a long time. At one point, the thermometer registered 17C! As I was cruising around in the vicinity of St. Clair NWA, I noticed two frogs hopping with enthusiasm along the road.....they were both Leopard Frogs, the first of the season for me. I guess they decided to emerge from their winter solitude to celebrate 'Leap' year :-).

There are a few more raptors around in C-K, it seems, although nothing quite as exciting as the Gyrfalcon that has been in northern Lambton lately. Check out Blake's 'Burg Birder blog for a description of his (and Mike Bouman's) success in relocating that bird. But some nice clean-looking Red-tails are around, such as this juvenile bird that I captured on a pole today.

They are usually not very cooperative for the camera....as soon as the vehicle stops and something is pointed out the window at them, they decide its time to move elsewhere. Presumably they have been shot at with something more deadly than a camera, so have learned to be a bit more cautious when this happens.

The NWA was actually pretty quiet, other than a good number of Canada Geese and a handful of Tundra Swans, Mallards, etc.

I checked the Mitchell's Bay area. There is still lots of ice, although one can see the open water well out from shore, where there are ducks bouncing around on the waves. They all looked like divers from the distance, but the light was poor. More interesting was the presence of 7 Bald Eagles scattered around on the ice towards the south end of Walpole Island. There were only a couple of adults, the others were sub-adults. They were too far away to even bother with the camera. A nest is not far away, up along the edge of the Chenal Ecarte. I stopped along the north end of  Malcolm Road to check out the nest, and noted it is still there but I didn't see any adults nearby.

I saw three Wood Ducks in a large drain, two of which are shown here, with the other male just beyond the frame.

I hadn't been out looking for Snowy Owls for awhile, and hadn't heard of anyone else doing so either, so I checked out a few likely spots. First of all I checked along Meadowvale Line, east of Hwy 40, south of Wallaceburg. Somewhat to my surprise, I saw 7 birds, 5 of which were on the north side and the other two on the south side. Another was on the south side of Corktown Line. None were very close to the road, so photographs were record only. I had a few Horned Larks land not far from me, so I took advantage of that opportunity.

Then heading west of Hwy 40, I checked out a few other spots. Along Mallard Line between Bear Line and Winter Line, I found three more Snowies! One was being harrassed by a couple of crows. Another was a little closer to the road, and this is one of the better photos I got today. It is by far the whitest of the ones I saw today, and it may be the same one as at the top of the page, which was photographed only about 2-3 kilometres away. Eleven Snowies were more than I expected.....I wonder how many others are out there.

It isn't often that one finds Snowies and frogs on the same day in February!

Quest for the nest.....

Bald Eagles aren't the novelty they used to be, but they still are a highlight to see.

At one point in the first half of the last century, eagle advocates determined that there was on average an active Bald Eagle nest for every mile of Lake Erie shoreline between Long Point and Point Pelee. But by the early 1970s, there was only one. That was at Rondeau Provincial Park, where historically there had been two active nests. When the first Ontario Endangered Species Act came into effect in 1973, the Bald Eagle was listed along with 11 other species.

The culprit for the decline? Primarily it was the liberal use of DDT, which caused egg shells to become so thin that they broke when the adults attempted to incubate them. There were also deformities in beaks appearing in birds that had hatched, resulting in young birds not being able to fledge.

Even the nesting pair at Rondeau, at least for a few years, did not produce any young, or at least not every year. When young were raised, it was often only a single eaglet.

Of course in many respects, it has been a good news story since that time. DDT was banned, at least in Canada and the US. DDT was still used in developing countries of Latin America and elsewhere, but since eagles didn't migrate to those locales, and the fish they were feeding on here weren't affected by DDT, the plight of the eagle improved considerably.

Adult eagle with fish in its talons

There have been other issues that eagles have faced, including loss of habitat as well as persecution in areas where they weren't protected by legislation due to the perception that they were killing young livestock. In recent years there have been effects by power lines, wind turbines and such. As unfortunate as those incidents are, the Bald Eagle population has continued to climb in numbers.

For example in the early years of the Blenheim/Rondeau Christmas Bird Count (which began in 1939), it was common to get anywhere from 1-11 Bald Eagles on the count. By the late 1950s through the mid 1980s, it was rare to get more than 2-3, and some years none were counted. Since 2000, it has been unusual to get fewer than 10 eagles, with a high of 17 recorded one year.

On the St. Clair NWA Christmas Bird Count (CBC), which started in 1981, Bald Eagles were only counted about half the time for the first few years and only one or two if any. Since 2002, that count has averaged 10 eagles, with more than 20 counted on two of those years. The all-time high of 27 was on the most recent count.

The Wallaceburg/Walpole CBC, which began in 1986, did not have a single Bald Eagle for the first 10 years but in the last decade has only missed them once. The most recent count recorded 8 birds, an all time high for that count.

A new CBC has been started in the Skunk's Misery area, which includes parts of Chatham-Kent, Elgin, Middlesex and Lambton. In only its second year, in early January, 2016, there were 27 Bald Eagles tallied.

 Of course some of the count results have been weather related, but in general, this last decade and a half has seen a continual increase in Bald Eagle numbers throughout southwestern Ontario. And it was about a decade ago when the species was re-evaluated and taken off the provincial Endangered Species list. It is currently ranked as Special Concern, a much lower level of significance.

When I was working at Rondeau in the 1970s and 1980s, it was always a highlight to go out to the nest and band the young birds. The adults liked their privacy as well as having good access to the extensive marsh, so getting to their nest was not easy. The next few shots have all been scanned from old slides.

Approaching the nest tree, where the nest is in the upper left hand corner

We had to cross several sloughs, and even with chest waders, it was not always easy to get to the nest without getting wet. Fighting our way through the gnarly buttonbush while carrying equipment made it an additional challenge. During the first few years, a researcher associated with the University of Wisconsin was the lead bander, as he had been keeping tab on all the eagle nests around the lower Great Lakes. Of course there were very few nests to keep track of in those days. On occasion someone from a TV station would join us, to document this newsworthy event. Even though they were told they would need chest waders, they didn't always come prepared. But at least they kept the camera equipment dry.

Once we got to the nest tree, one person would climb the tree, using climbing spurs and ropes (although one time an energetic young fellow just had climbing spurs, and no other equipment. He did it free hand.......That wouldn't happen in today's world, with emphasis on health and safety.....)

The climber would get into the nest, and if we calculated the bird's age closely enough, the birds would stay put. Then each one would be carefully put into a burlap bag and lowered to the ground, where the awaiting crew would take measurements and a blood sample, and then an aluminum band was placed on the leg. Ideally we would band the bird when it was about 5-6 weeks of age. A younger bird might have smaller legs, and the band would be too big for the leg. If the bird was older, it might attempt to jump out of the nest, fledging prematurely.

On one occasion we got a 'jumper' and the eaglet, with wings outspread, floated down to the adjacent marsh. I managed to catch up to it, grasping its lower legs to keep the talons from doing any damage, and took it to the rest of the crew where the banding process was completed. It was returned to the nest in the bag, and it did not attempt to jump again.

Measuring the femur

Putting on the band

Measuring the beak

On occasion, there were even three birds in the nest, certainly an indication of improved health in the adults. Two is the norm, so three birds were a major highlight.

But the main reason for this post is not to present this bit of history....most readers will likely know a good part of it. No, this post is to try and generate interest in finding active nests in 2016, especially in the Chatham-Kent area.

The local Bald Eagles have been in their early stages of courtship and nesting behaviour for a little while now. In fact some may have been busy repairing old nests or beginning new ones, even late last autumn. But now that spring is not all that far off (we hope!) serious nesting activity is near. Egg dates for this latitude around the lower Great Lakes, typically starts in mid-March. The farther south one goes, the earlier the nesting season starts, not surprisingly. For example in Florida, the egg-laying season usually starts in mid-November.

Nests are most visible right now, and until the trees leaf out in May. Active nests will have one or more adults nearby, confirming their active state.

I am aware of up to 18 nests in Chatham-Kent or immediate vicinity.

• two at Rondeau, one visible from the Marsh Trail and the second only visible from a small section along the south beach.

Rondeau nest

• one in the immediate vicinity of Clear Creek Forest Provincial Park
• another one along the Lake Erie shoreline east of Morpeth
• one along the Thames River, east of Thamesville. It occurs along an oxbow on the north side of the river, and is visible from Hwy 2/Longwoods Road.

Along oxbow, east of Thamesville

•  one along the Thames River on the south side and closer to the Delaware of the Thames First Nation
• one at the north end of the Scane Sideroad, on the south side of the Thames River
• one that used to be adjacent to a small gravel pit northeast of Thamesville, although it may not still be usable, and that pair might now occupy one of the other nest territories not far away
• one on the south side of the Thames River, in a tree line south of the Maple City Golf Club
• one along the Snye Channel (a.k.a. Chenal Ecarte)
• one, or possibly two, along the Lake St. Clair shoreline south of SCNWA
• one on the south side of Lighthouse Cove. Technically it is in Essex Co, but it is associated with the Thames River and the river mouth

  

  Lighthouse Cove nest

• one in a woodlot east-northeast of Wheatley, although I haven't seen that nest for a few years and it may not still be active
• one in a small woodlot north of Talbot Trail, just west of Dillon Road
• one in a larger woodlot complex north of Dealtown. It is possible this pair and the one along Dillon Road may be the same, as eagles sometimes have nests that they rotate to.
• one along the Sydenham River, east of Dawn Mills.

There is a possible nest in a small woodlot north of Shrewsbury. It is a recently constructed nest, although it is not very large.....yet. To add to the uncertainty, in the last few weeks some of us have seen and photographed Bald Eagles perched on the nest or in nearby trees, and we have also seen and photographed Red-tailed Hawks doing the same thing! It will be interesting to see who eventually makes use of this one. Or since Great Horned Owls typically begin nesting before either eagles or  hawks, maybe this one will be used by a Great Horned Owl! Stay tuned....

These are the ones that I am aware of. Not all are necessarily active this year, and likely there are others. Given that Bald Eagles feed on fish a lot, or other creatures of wetlands, nests are typically found within one to two kilometres of a large water body or river.

If you are cruising the countryside in the vicinity of Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair, the Thames River or the Sydenham River, keep an eye open for Bald Eagles or a large cluster of sticks that could be their nest. And if you find something that fits, please let me know, either through a comment on this blog, or via email: prairietramper@gmail.com

Immature Bald Eagle

Weather ups and downs

I thought I would change my header pic. The Vermilion Flycatcher was wonderful to see, no question, but it is almost certain that it met its demise several weeks ago. Snowy Owls have been fairly abundant again this winter, with being able to find a dozen in a single day on occasion. Since there is still a bit of winter ahead of us and some Snowy Owls are still around, I thought it fitting to give one of the whitest owls I came across this winter a bit of profile before I switch to something more spring-like in a few weeks.

With all the ups and downs of the weather, I am sure the waterfowl (maybe humans also!) are just wondering what in the heck is going on. There was a lot of waterfowl around at the beginning of January. By late January, with the weather taking a nose dive, much of the open water became ice covered and some of the waterfowl disappeared for warmer climes, presumably. Then we had a warm spell, with rain, and much of Lake Erie, Rondeau Bay and the Thames River was quite open. Lots of waterfowl returned, and this time included the deluge of Snow Geese along with a few Ross's and Greater White-fronted Geese. Then the polar vortex hit us about a week ago, leaving very little open water anywhere. The birds that did stay could be seen huddled around whatever open water there was, or in flight moving from one open patch to another. That was the state of things for most of this week, so I went looking for open water to see what was there.

A trip to St. Clair NWA proved fruitless. Everything in view was frozen solid, with not a single duck or goose to be seen anywhere, not even in the surrounding fields searching for food.

I moved on to the Jeannette's Creek boat launch at the Thames River. Different location, but same story.

Next stop was the mouth of the Thames River at Lighthouse Cove. Surely there would be something there, even if it was just a handful of the domesticated Mallards!

And there they were. Not the domesticated Mallards, but more than a thousand waterfowl. Unfortunately they were packed in to a relatively small opening in the ice, about 400-500 metres from the viewing point. They were stretched out in a long line, so this first image just shows a portion. Beyond the waterfowl is ice right to the horizon!

An initial quick scan determined that most were clearly Canada Geese, not surprisingly. A few Tundra Swans were mixed in. A closer look is always worthwhile, and in doing just that, I came across a few Canvasback, Mallard, Greater Scaup, Redhead and a single American Coot. And Snow Geese.

It seems that Snow Geese are scattered with almost every flock of waterfowl in extreme southwestern Ontario right now. I counted about 28 Snows, and also saw at least 4 good examples of Ross's Goose, plus at least half a dozen Ross's X Snow hybrids. Unfortunately with the bright sun reflecting off the snow and ice playing havoc with the camera's ability to focus clearly over that distance, the image above is the best I got.

I moved on, deciding to head towards Lake Erie. Given the alteration of the landscape, it was not surprising to find clusters of non-native birds.

European Starlings and Rock Pigeon

I noted a Muskrat out at the edge of a field, nibbling away at some of the recently exposed grass.

 At Erieau, there was some open water in the main channel and part of the harbour area towards Rondeau Bay. Ducks and geese there were a-plenty, although not often close enough for the photographic results that I was hoping for.

I only saw 6 American Coot. The numbers have dropped considerably from the ~4000 that were in the area on the Christmas Bird Count in late December.

American Coot

There were small groups of Bufflehead.

Bufflehead

 And small groups of Common Goldeneye.

Common Goldeneye

A coupe of Hooded Mergansers were around, but a long way off, so they went unphotographed, as were the Red-breasted and Common Mergansers I saw. There were small flocks of ducks waaaayy out in the lake beyond the ice pack. It seemed like they were scaup and mergansers. Three Bald Eagles were observed well out on the ice as well....two adults and one that appeared to be a fourth-year bird, so not quite a full adult.

On the return home, I stopped in at the warm water outlet of the Chatham water treatment plant along the Thames River. It was a good decision.

The winter resident Belted Kingfisher was still there, perched on a branch right over the water outlet. I could park close enough and open the car door so as not to spook it.

Belted Kingfisher ♀

 A male Green-winged Teal was swimming around. This is the first one I've seen since the SCNWA Christmas Bird Count on January 1.

Green-winged Teal

 A single male Wood Duck was close to the river bank. Others have seen a couple of Wood Duck there in the last few days, but since there are other open spots along the river in less accessible areas, it was probably elsewhere at the moment.

Wood Duck

Now that another spell of warm weather is upon us, it will be interesting to see what else has been lured to this area with the promise of spring!