First Weekend of May

Some new birds finally arrived. There was nothing all week until late Thursday when I saw a few things moving through the yard. There were some warblers, and a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and a Baltimore Oriole. Several birds were at Brander Park, Port Lambton on Friday morning, including an Orange-crowned Warbler.
There were few birds at Rondeau on Saturday and Sunday, but we did get the quality ones. A breeding-plumaged Harris's Sparrow was reported at the visitor centre. It was there on Saturday and Sunday. I took a photo through the VC glass window, so quality is poor. A Clay-colored Sparrow was also with it.

A number of warblers arrived included more Hooded Warblers and our party found a nice male at the north end of the park. The Prothonotary was still at the old Log Pond.
Since I had the park covered by noon, I headed over to Hillman Marsh in hopes of seeing the Mottled Duck. No such luck, but if I had stayed until dark, I might have seen it. I did see a Laughing Gull there. Been a while since I had seen one of those dark gulls. A second year Little Gull was also present along with about 20 Willets.
On Sunday, Steve Charbonneau and I started on south point trail in Rondeau. There were a number of birds there first thing, but the rest of the park was quiet. Most notable was an infux of Pine Warblers, were we had at least six or seven. All were females except one. Another Hooded Warbler was present (a female). We spotted an unusual bird that turned out to be a first alternate male Western Tanager! It was certainly not in breeding plumage, but did have red on the face. It was a life bird for me. More importantly it will be a first record for the park and the Rondeau birding area! Long overdue I suppose (for the park and for me!).
Later on with other friends, we spotted a very early Yellow-billed Cuckoo. At Spicebush Trail as we arrived, a Kentucky Warbler was briefly spotted by birders ahead of us. I managed to get a short glimpse of it before it disappeared in the undergrowth. I didn't get one at Rondeau last year, but had a couple at Point Pelee.
Earlier, I received a cell phone call from Steve that he had a Summer Tanager at Sinclair's Woods near Blenheim. As well, he indicated that there were many warblers there.
We arrived there later and looked at many warblers including an Orange-crowned and possibly two more Pines. Flycatchers included a Peewee and a Great-crested Flycatcher, both new for the year.
We refound the Summer Tanager along the road. This was an interesting-coloured bird, being very orange overall and a greenish belly. We were hoping for Scarlet Tanager to round out the day, but it was not to be.
Under an old log, we found a Red-backed Salamander.