Summer-like Day!

It was a fine day to be out. It felt good to walk around without a coat! I spent the morning at Rondeau Park taking in the sights and sounds. There were not a lot of birds to look at (I expected that), but certainly much more than last week.

White-breasted Nuthatch

Sapsuckers, Phoebes and kinglets have come in good numbers. Sparrows were down in numbers though from last week. Even Carolina Wrens made their presence known singing away. There were several in the park this morning. Eastern Towhees were "drinking their tea".
I started on South Point Trail and was greeted with an Eastern Phoebe. In fact they were in several spots of the park.
Near the visitor centre I caught sight of a large Sharp-shinned Hawk carrying a Cardinal. Now there is one less male Cardinal around the V. C.! I could not get very close tough.

Hopefully it will rain significantly later this week. The sloughs are too dry already! Not good for those warbler watching days. Tulip Tree Trail has bit of water and Spicebush/Bennett has a fair bit of water still. But, it will disappear quickly if we do not get rain.

Prothonotary slough

A small Garter Snake was on Spicebush Trail.

I finally saw my first butterflies of the year. First one was a Mourning Cloak on Tulip Tree Trail. An Eastern Comma was along the south edge of Bennett Rd. I later saw two other Mourning Cloaks--one on a mission along the shoreline at the north end of the park. I could not get too close to them though.

Eastern Comma (south side)

Mourning Cloak (in the morning)

I encountered four species of frogs today. Wood, Leopard, Chorus, and Spring Peeper. I found one freshly-dead Wood Frog on the Spicebush Trail.

Wood Frog (deceased)

On the way home, I stopped at Blenheim S. L. but could not find the Wilson's Phalarope. It was last reported March 31 by Irene Woods. The Leopard Frogs were at the lagoons.

Leopard Frog