Like Night and Day

The weather that is.  Good Friday was one of the most miserable weather days yet.  Obviously it was a holiday, otherwise the weather would have been decent.  Strong east winds with rain and the temp did not get above 3 degrees celcius at Rondeau.  I went out anyway.  What's new?

Today, Saturday, was the nicest day of the year.  Temp got up to 23 degrees in Wallaceburg and the sun was out.  Finally a SW wind switching to west.  Not as strong as predicted.  I went down to Point Pelee and it was nice.  Not a lot of birds yet, but the weather was enjoyable for a change.

On Friday, I spent 5 hours at Rondeau and had little to show for it.  The birds were just not there.  Had only 12 Yellow-rumped Warblers, and that was it for warblers!  More White-throated Sparrows were in as well as Ruby-crowned Kinglets. 

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (note concealed crown in photo below)

New for the year was House Wren and Green Heron.  I also had Henslow's Sparrow (most likely!).  It was one of those things you know what it was, but never got a definitive look.  I saw it pop out of the grass a couple of times.  First time I walked to the spot, couldn't see it, then it popped up right in front of me.  It was lurking down in the grass like a mouse, but I never could properly see it each time.

Sapsuckers were numerous.  They were late coming in this year like many birds.a

sapsucker

Shortly after that sparrow thing, I sighted a "Nelson's Gull" (Glaucous X Herring) on the lake.  It was close, but then moved out.  A first basic bird.  Jim Burk had one at Erieau March 20, so likely the same bird.

Blenheim Lagoons was full of ducks and the Horned Grebe (Been there a month) was still in pond 3.  No shorebirds.  There were lots there Thursday evening according to Jim Burk, but as usual with my luck, they had gone.

Point Pelee looked inviting for Saturday, so I headed down early.  Nice to meet many old friends again.  Not a heck of a lot of birds, but some had gotten through.  The Tip area was probably the best.  Besides Yellow-rumped, a few Yellow Warblers were around, a Black-throated Green, Pine, Palm (I didn't see this one), and I heard a Black-and-White.

Ian Richards reported a Yellow-throated at Sparrow Field, but we could not locate it a half hour later.  By the way, Sparrow Field has been opened up and looks interesting.

Field Sparrow on log in Sparrow Field

At the Tip, an early Veery was hopping around on the sand.

Veery all alone

Woodland Trail was almost devoid of warblers, except for a couple of Yellow-rumped and a Black-throated Green.  I heard a waterthrush chipping.  Perhaps it was the Northern that was reported.

Some butterflies came out later on including Eastern Comma and Spring Azure.

Even though there were not many birds, the nice weather made it an enjoyable day.