Rondeau April 27

A day will make all the difference. There were not as many birds today, and there seemed to be a changeover in the birds. Quite often, when one has a good day, the next day is not as good! Anyway, we found a nice male Cape May Warbler and a Chestnut-sided Warbler on south point trail. These were good for this date. I also spotted a Least Flycatcher which was another first for the year.

Other warblers included a pair of Pine, Black-throated Green, Palm, Yellow, Common Yellowthroat and of course Yellow-rumped. Another two White-eyed Vireos were on south point as well.

On the lake lots of Bonaparte's Gulls were moving and we spotted four Little Gulls among them.

In the afternoon I went along with Lambton Wildlife's hike in Reid's Bush north of Wallaceburg. It was mainly to look at plants, but we did see a few birds. Just as we started, we heard a Sandhill Crane. In the woods we encountered Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Black-and-White Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Wood Thrush, Ruby-crowned Kinglets and the resident woodpeckers.

A Tree Frog about four metres up a tree in a hole provided a unique photo opportunity.

A very large burl in a Walnut tree was interesting.

Birding April 26

DUTCHMAN'S BREECHES

Migration is well underway finally with birds seen today. I started early at Rondeau Park with Heather Campbell. We had some of the uncommon warblers, among the ten species of warblers we tallied today. There were lots of "firsts" for the year. I will highlight some of our finds.

The "good" warblers included: Hooded along Rondeau Road. I heard the distinctive chip note as we drove along. I then saw it a bit later. Behind the maintenance yard, I heard the familiar song of the Louisiana Waterthrush. I only got a brief view of it. We also had a White-eyed Vireo and a Blue-winged Warbler here.

Over at the Old Log Pond near the pony barn, I heard a partial song that bothered me as I could not readily ID it. Out popped a male Prothonotary Warbler. This bird was unbanded.

Other firsts for the year included: Red-headed Woodpecker, Eastern Kingbird, Warbling Vireo, Red-breasted Nuthatch (several), Veery, Swainson's Thrush, Gray Catbird, Yellow Warbler (several), Palm Warbler (2), Black-and-White Warbler (several), Ovenbird, Rose-breasted Grosbeak (2), Orchard Oriole (male).

I wanted to make a full day of birding, so I headed over to Point Pelee and added some more year birds. These included: Wood Thrush, Tennessee Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Common Yellowthroat, and Baltimore Oriole (heard only). We also saw another White-eyed Vireo or two. Along the road near Sanctuary was decent as I birded with Lance & Faye Allin, Mike Tate, Alan Wormington and Bob Cermak. Alan reported to me later that he had a very early Chestnut-sided Warbler near there after I left.

At Hillman Marsh, there were 34 Willets and some Black-bellied Plover. I had heard about them earlier. That is the most I have seen in one spot! (A later posting indicated that there were over 60 in the evening, so more must have come in). A Tundra Swan was also present and several gulls and terns. Two egrets were flying over.

Not a bad day for early in the season!

Some friends ventured over to Pelee Island to check for the Burrowing Owl, but they came back disappointed.

Fair Weather

The weather has been very nice all week--actually too nice. With 20 plus degrees and sun and no rain, it would be great for summer. However, it is too dry. We have not had significant rain in a long time.

Bird migration seems to be just a trickle in this fair weather. I have hardly seen anything, and not much has been reported. Perhaps this weekend it will be better as it is supposed to be cooler with a little rain.

Today I saw my first Yellow Warbler of the year at Stewart Wetland. I only had my small camera, so the photo quality is poor. There have only been a couple of Yellow-rumped Warblers at Brander Park, Port Lambton this week. The Pine Warbler from last Friday was still there Monday, so that is an indication that little moved all weekend.

There is still the odd dead duck left over from the die-off in March.

Earlier this week, there were many fires on Walpole Island. They were doing their annual burning. It seems they were mostly burning phragmites. Late Tuesday, there was a big fire along the banks of the Snye near where I work. Ashes were everywhere the next morning!

Well, I hope to see a few more birds this weekend.

Rondeau April 19

Well, the weather turned out better than predicted. However, the usual east winds kicked in as they always do for weekends this time of year.

Quite a bit of searching around Rondeau Park today revealed few birds. They are certainly late this year. Yellow-rumped Warblers were sparsely scattered throughout the park. Other warblers included only two species. A couple of Pine Warblers were near the entrance of spicebush trail, and a Black-throated Green Warbler was on the trail. As well, the first Blue-headed Vireo was on spicebush trail. A pair of Eastern Phoebes were actively feeding around the entrance to the trail. They will likely nest there again this year.

PINE WARBLER

A Purple Finch was singing near the maintenance compound.
Ruby-crowned Kinglets were quite numerous, and Eastern Towhees have appeared in greater force. More White-throated Sparrows were around.


I only saw one Yellow-bellied Sapsucker today, and Red-headed Woodpeckers have not yet arrived.
Surprisingly, no Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers have been detected.
Butterflies included several Mourning Cloaks, and a couple of Milbert's Tortoiseshells on marsh trail.
Several prescribed burns were conducted throughout the week.

Undoubtedly, there will be lots of things in the next week, so next weekend could be interesting if we have nice weather.

Weather and Birds

Needless to say, the weather is still at the forefront today. The prevailing NE weekend winds have struck again! It was actually snowing this morning. Things will warm up tomorrow once the weekend has passed. Something about this time of year when nine times out of ten the winds are out of the east on weekends. Mind boggling!

I went out anyway since I cannot get out birding during the week. Not surprisingly, there was not much to see. I started at Erieau and looked at ducks and gulls. A walk along McGeachy Pond dike revealed a couple of Brown Thrashers, a couple of Ruby-crowned Kinglets and a few Cedar Waxwings.

I decided to go over to Rondeau since the rain had stopped. The same three Yellow-rumped Warblers were on Spicebush Trail among the kinglets. I checked out the Cooper's Hawk nest on south point trail. As soon as I approached, the bird came out of nowhere and started squawking. So, it looks like it is attempting to nest. Good to know for a big day in May!

Birds are obviously late this year. It varies every year. Only Yellow-rumped Warblers have been reported in Rondeau so far. By this time we often have a Louisiana Waterthrush and Pine Warblers. I remember one year we found a Yellow Warbler and an Orange-crowned Warbler on April 13 which were record early dates for the area. On April 12, 1998 we came across a Northern Waterthrush which constituted a provincial record early date. We have also had Palm and Black-throated Green Warblers this early. So, by next weekend one would think there should be a number of new birds to see.

It is always exciting to see spring arrivals for the first time, even if they are common birds.

Rondeau April 12

I guess the topic of this weekend is the weather. As usual, it was nice during the week, then come the weekend, it was all downhill. The rain held off for the most part today, but it was cool and windy.

I checked out Rondeau Park this morning. I spent quite a bit of time but saw very few birds. I started off on south point trail and saw a female Oregon Junco. Actually there were quite a few juncos in the park today especially around the store. They were gearing up to head out!

Near the Rondeau Road entrance to south point trail, there was quite a bit of squawking by a Cooper's Hawk. Near the trail was a stick nest, which I assumed belonged to this bird. I will have to keep an eye on this.

Around Spicebush Trail and Bennett Ave., were a few Yellow-rumped Warblers.

At the Pony Barn and compost heap, were the only two Fox Sparrows of the day, along with a White-throated Sparrow. The Fox Sparrows had obviously moved on during the week.

Also at the compost area were roosting Turkey Vultures. They always like this area for roosting.

At Erieau, a few Horned Grebes were on the lake. It seems that each one takes their own time in moulting into breeding plumage. I saw four in a group, and each one was in a different stage of moult.

Overall, kinglets were more plentiful today, especially Ruby-crowned. Yellow-rumped Warblers are moving in and I saw only about 12 today. Many were still quite dull, but there were some in full breeding plumage. A large number of Brown Creepers were throughout the park, and a few Hermit Thrushes were around. A number of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers were around as well. Chipping Sparrows have increased in numbers, a few Tree Sparrows were still around.

At home, it appears the two last Pine Siskins left after Thursday. I had about ten all winter here. More may show up on their way through, as I have seen them here as late as the 21st of May.

Spring is in the Air!

I think the weather has finally broken. It was quite cold this morning with frost and dense ice fog, but things warmed up considerably this afternoon. I ventured down to Rondeau to see what I could find.

On south point trail, there were plenty of Song Sparrows. I saw one Field Sparrow and a few Tree Sparrows. A male Eastern Towhee came out of the underbrush at one point. Early on, I heard a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and a Fox Sparrow. An immature Bald Eagle was along the lakeshore. Arriving back at the parking lot, the first Brown Thrasher of the year greeted me.
On tulip tree trail, I encountered the first Eastern Phoebe of the day, and a Fox Sparrow.
On spicebush trail, a whole flock of Fox Sparrows, six or seven in total, were singing or chipping. A very loud Phoebe was near the start. I also saw a pair of Purple Finches which were likely the same ones I saw on the marsh trail last Sunday. This spot was not far from where I saw them last week.

Walking around the campground, I heard an Eastern Bluebird at one point.
The Bay was completely fogged in as was the lake, so I did not scope out waterfowl obviously.

It has certainly been a long winter! A number of White Pine trees came down during the winter, so we now have fewer of those. The south beach shoreline has taken a beating, with more erosion. This area has shrunk considerable over the last ten years, and even more if you go back forty years. The sloughs are quite wet, but it will not last long if we do not get the precipitation.

This past Monday I saw my first Great Egret of the year at Port Lambton. That was certainly the earliest I had seen one! Ironically, last December 1 I saw an egret at Hillman Marsh. It had previously been at Wheatley, so I was the last one to see it. It was the latest one I had ever seen!

On Sunday I took a long walk out marsh trail and noted more birds than last week. There were certainly more Song Sparrows and finally some Swamp Sparrows! I heard one Snipe doing its aerial display. I came across a Yellow-rumped Warbler, but it appeared to be winter holdover as it had no colour. More Golden-crowned Kinglets were in.

Blenheim Lagoons were full of waterfowl, and full of water too! Water levels are very high there.

On to next week........