Saturday, August 1, 2015

August Birding at Rondeau

It was time to check out Rondeau Park and Blenheim Lagoons this morning.  The unusually good (for a weekend) weather made for a nice day!
First bird of note was the Acadian Flycatcher near the corner of Bennett and Rondeau Road.  It had set up territory earlier this spring at that location.  I heard its characteristic "peet-suh!".
First stop was Dog Beach, where there is potential for shorebirds and gulls.  There was nothing close by, but I did note a Sanderling in the distance.
Along south point trail, I took a detour out to the beach past the light beacon.  Quite a few gulls and terns were on the beach further down and out on the lake.



I managed to pick out 3 adult Little Gulls on the beach, but I could not get close enough for photos.
A feeding frenzy of bonies was out on the lake as well.

(Little Gull in foreground)


At the end of the trail, another group (smaller) was offshore and I could see two more Little Gulls.

Regarding butterflies, I saw only one Appalachian Brown among a few other common butterflies.  Red-spotted Purple is certainly common right now everywhere.



I checked out tulip tree trail, but no sign of the Prothonotary Warblers, or anything else of note.

A single Northern Pearly-eye was along Harrison Trail for butterflies.



I checked a couple of spots at the northern end of the park, but there was nothing of note.  Probably next weekend a few passerine migrants will be showing with the cooler weather!

Blenheim Lagoons was a must stop, especially for this time of year.  I have not seen many shorebirds this summer, but the sprinklers were excellent today.  Well over 200 shorebirds were present.



Most were Semipalmated Sandpipers of course, but there were others.  I tried unsuccessfully to find a Baird's, but we saw a couple of those in the spring!



A Wilson's Phalarope stood out among the crowd.  I also saw a Wilson's Snipe.  Too bad there was not a Wilson's Warbler today at Rondeau!



There were some Semipalmated Plovers, lots of Lesser Yellowlegs, at least 3 Solitary Sandpipers, Least Sandpipers and a couple of dowitchers.




On the ponds, five male Redhead ducks were of note.  A few Hooded Mergansers, and lots of Mallards.
Our Tundra Swan was all alone today.

*NOTE* The bridge at the causeway at the end of Kent Rd. 15 will be closed for replacement in October and November.  You will have to go over to McKinley Line and down to Rose Beach Line to access the park.  There was talk of this last year, so it is finally going to happen!




2 comments:

  1. I haven't been to RPP for a few days now, but probably will get there this week and maybe catch an early migrant warbler or two.

    And if you see 3 Solitary Sandpipers, does that make them not Solitary anymore :-)

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    Replies
    1. One of them was alone anyway!
      There should be some warblers trickling through by now. Perhaps I will come across some of them in Muskoka this coming weekend.

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