Saturday, October 11, 2014

Rondeau Cornucopia of Birds










Time for another post after a fine day of birding!  I arrived at Rondeau Park just before sun-up and it was evident there were a lot of birds in the park.  It is Thanksgiving weekend, and I find birding is always excellent at this time.





Starting at south point trail, it was steady bird-watching all along. I spent another 3.5h on the east part of south point trail just like last week.  There were fewer species of warblers (about a dozen today) that last week, but more birds.  Here is a list (some bird numbers estimated):
Rondeau Park October 11



Yellow-rumped Warblers dominated the scene as they always do at Thanksgiving.  Kinglets have arrived en masse as well.

O.C. Warbler!


I saw very few raptors today despite a northerly wind.

Merlin


Lots of Common Loons and Horned Grebes were on the lake today.  I tried in vain to find something different, but not to be!



I walked along the eroded part of the park, but gave up after a while.  Amazing how the power of wind and waves can alter the landscape.  Large trees simply vanish!

Numbers of Pine Siskins have been building up as well. Lots were in the park this morning and a couple were here at home.

Siskins


After the park, I headed up to Blenheim Lagoons.  Still pretty good with lots of shorebirds in the sprinklers.  Around 75 shorebirds today including at least 4 Stilt Sandpipers, Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers, White-rumped and a Wilson's Snipe among the others.



Never did get a handle on this shorebird...!....



Next stop was the old R/R track trail at Erieau.  Lots of birds there too! More Orange-crowned Warblers, but the sparrows were quite thick.  The weeds across from the viewing stand held a large number of sparrows.  They just kept coming out.  Most were White-crowned, but others were mixed in.  I did not see a lot of sparrows in Rondeau, but this spot was quite busy with them.


I saw 8 species of butterflies today. This very fresh comma was at Erieau.



Tomorrow (Sunday) looks like a good day as well.....

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