Mid May Things

 Looks like the weather has finally smartened up!  We still had winds with an easterly component until yesterday, but it was SE.  It was warm for a change!

Been making trips to Rondeau every couple of days.  This is the first year since I cannot remember that I have not camped at Rondeau during May.  The weather has been the pits, and it has just not been convenient to do so.

Monday was a nice but cool day at Rondeau.  

There was a good variety of birds and was quite birdy in some spots.  I ended up with 95 species.

Blackburnian Warbler

I did get some first-of-year birds including Olive-sided Flycatcher (my favourite flycatcher) and Mourning Warbler.

Along the trails, I check out known spots for rare plants such as Goldenseal.

In the evening while relaxing on the back porch, some birds came in to the yard including a nice Canada Warbler (a FOY!).  My camera has been malfunctioning on occasion lately, and this was one of those times!

Tuesday, I stayed close to home and it was not too productive birdwise.

Wednesday it was back to Rondeau and we found an excellent variety of birds.  It was good in some areas of the park.

I opted to check out marsh trail first thing and went all the way to log pond.  Unfortunately, it sprinkled rain most of the time, and was not as birdy as I had hoped.  I needed the exercise in any case!

It is always worth a check though.  Sparrows along the way included Savannah and White-crowned working the trail.

By the time I finished, the sun was coming out for a gorgeous day.  I did a lot of walking again, and birds did not disappoint.

Magnolia Warbler

Saw my first Philadelphia Vireos of the year.  They are my favourite vireo.

It was nice to talk to familiar faces along the way.  Some we only see during the May birding season!

This time of year I always keep an eye out for Showy Orchis in a known location.

Today it was a change in scenery.  I wanted to check out some grassland birds towards Strathroy.  One has to travel some distance anymore to see these birds on territory in numbers.

I first went to a spot that had both Clay-colored Sparrow and Grasshopper Sparrow among the other grassland species.

The clay was a bit far as it sang atop a tree.

Next target was Upland Sandpiper (now rare in Ontario), and two were visible right away upon arrival in typical pose at a known location.  Unfortunately, I was looking towards the sun, so they were terribly backlit.

They used to be easy to find in the pastures in south Lambton north of Wallaceburg, but farming practices have changed all that.

With those out of the way, I headed down to Skunk's Misery since it is on the way home.  Seems many birds have yet to arrive as it was somewhat quiet.  However, it was quite pleasant there even though a few mosquitoes are now out.

Flowering Dogwood (imperiled in Canada) was obvious in many spots.

First walk was Sittler (no relation to Darryl) Woods, where I checked off Acadian Flycatcher singing for pizza (!).  Hooded Warblers were also there, but I never came across a Cerulean Warbler.

Cinnamon Fern in the woods

After driving some roads, I walked a familiar trail off Sassafras Road.  A fair number of birds were there.

Juvenal's Duskywings are out in full force now.

Last stop was Wardsville Woods, which was not too productive.  I did see a Giant Swallowtail for the first time this year, but it kept going!

I will be looking forward to many stops there later on in search for insects.

This afternoon I needed a walk at Reid CA.  Juvenal's Duskywings were plentiful.  In fact, it is the best crop I have seen in many years there.  Did not bother to photograph any.

Silver-spotted Skippers were even more plentiful, as I had more than 25.  Very flighty though.

A Grey Comma was in the field and not too photogenic.  

I saw my first Monarchs of the year at Reid today.  They were even less photogenic!

lol

I was just not successful in photographing any butterflies today!

With the holiday weekend approaching, we should see the greatest variety of birds along the trails.

More May Meanderings in NE Winds

 Birds continue to trickle in, but these relentless NE winds every day continue to make it uncomfortable at times.

Thursday was a decent day at Rondeau where I tallied 93 species.  The centre of the park seemed the best at times.  Later in the morning, Bennett Avenue was excellent for warblers with a good variety.  Some first-of-year warblers included Bay-breasted and Prothonotary.

Early in the morning I walked the length of south point trail west to keep out of the cold wind.  It was steady with birds at times.  Nothing out of the ordinary though.

Fatmucket mussel on the beach

The lake was not too active, but some Red-throated Loons were around, albeit distant.

Friday morning was cold and windy (again!), but the winds had switched a bit to the west.  I checked out Mitchell's Bay and places locally.  Nothing to photograph though!

Saturday I headed down to Rondeau and the winds were still out of the NE, needless to say.  I wanted to walk out marsh trail, but it was just too windy. Just as well, since others who did, saw very little!

Sunrise at Rondeau

I opted to check out south point trail east and other places on the east side.  Not a lot of birds, but some things came in.  A Hooded Warbler near the tennis courts was a FOY.

It eventually got to the point where I was finding very little, and there were more people than birds.  So I left!

In the afternoon it got quite nice and warm, so I went for a walk at Reid CA.  I was looking more for insects.  

Six-spotted Tiger Beetle

Juvenal's Duskywings were finally out.

And, a couple of Eastern Tailed-Blues were interacting at one point.

The first dragonfly of the year, besides Green Darner, was a female Common Whitetail.

Here are some other scenes.

I walked by the Twinleaf patch at one point. Note Harbinger of Spring at base.

Today, I did something different and went down to the Hillman Marsh first thing.  It was in the chance that something of interest would show, but this time it did not happen.  Cannot get 'em all!

I then headed back east and ended up at Blenheim lagoons.  Some shorebirds were along the edges, including three Wilson's Phalaropes.  They were too skittish to get close for photos though.

Lots of Dunlin and Least Sandpipers were present.

Afterwards, I decided to check out Sinclair's Bush since I had not been there yet this year.  There were actually quite a few birds, but with almost full leafout, it was difficult to see them.

This  area used to be a hotspot in the "old days" when I first started birding.  I recall some good days there for birds!  Summer Tanager, White-eyed Vireo, Cerulean Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush....

In the history department, the little passenger ship Ossifrage was a frequent visitor to Wallaceburg and Chatham.  She was launched at West Bay City, Michigan 11 May 1888.

Here she is in Wallaceburg 30 May 1918.

It had been rebuilt several times, but in September 1919 while being towed in Northumberland Strait, she struck a shoal and sank.

On A Hunch

 Yesterday (Monday) I headed down to Rondeau Park early to do some birding.  I was there early enough to hear some Whip-poor-wills!  No Chuck-wills-widow of course, but we are certainly overdue for one at Rondeau.  Point Pelee had one though!  Many even got to see that one, let alone hear it sing.

The "chuck" is one bird I recall in my early years of birding, where there was a pair on south point trail that we saw. Very rare for Ontario.

There were not a lot of birds, but it was steady with a good variety.  Ovenbirds were plenty for one thing

While I was there, JB saw 13 American Avocets fly past the east side of the park.  As this species is my favourite shorebird, I was disappointed that I was not in the right place at the right time to see them. That is birding though.  Later, they were reported passing the west side of Erieau, so obviously heading west.

After I was done birding at Rondeau, I decided to head west to Wheatley and Hillman Marsh.  I thought there was a good chance some Avocets might show up there.  And, if the Rondeau ones kept moving, they should show up at Hillman.

After a quick look at Wheatley Harbour, I headed over to Hillman Marsh shorebird cell.  Not much was there, but the place is always hit and miss, and things are constantly changing there.  Just as I was leaving the parking lot, a report came in that 13 American Avocets set down on the sandbar along the lake at Hillman Marsh.  It was only a five minute drive, so I headed over to a good position and saw the 13 Avocets!  They eventually took flight, but settled back down.

Obviously, these were the same birds that passed by Rondeau a few hours earlier! My hunch paid off!

Thirty-two Willets were also present.  Willets seems to be quite plentiful anymore, and big flocks can be seen.

The previous day, I did not go far.  Had things to do anyway.  Peers Wetland had a good variety of birds.  There were several Cape May Warblers (my favourite warbler).

The Common Gallinule was still around.  Perhaps it may nest there, so I will be keeping tabs.

A number of years ago, this species did nest there producing four young. Would be nice to see that happen again, and record it for the bird atlas's last season of data-gathering.

Cliff Swallow gathering mud

Later in the morning I went out to Mitchell's Bay.  A good variety of birds was present to sort through, but nothing of note.  That place always has potential for something good, so I keep trying!

old snapper

Today, I went out to Mitchell's Bay again at sunrise.  It was quite calm and pleasant for a change, but not as many birds as I had hoped for.  Hundreds of gulls still around, but I never seem to pick out anything different.

Common Gallinule

Black-crowned Night Heron

White-crowned Sparrows are in good numbers right now.  One of these days, I hope for one with a golden crown!

Later in the morning, I went for a long walk at Reid CA.  It was quite pleasant and I looked at plants more than anything.

one of the yellow violets

one of the purple violets

                             Dwarf Ginseng

Swamp Buttercup

one of the old oaks, possibly Shumard