Sunday, September 6, 2015

Steamy Sunday Stuff

I checked out Rondeau this morning.  It was unusually hot and humid for this time of year.  Lots of thrushes were on the roadway as I drove through the park towards south point trail.
This time I put on lots of repellent after last week's experience.  Little good it did!  I have never encountered such a swarm of mosquitoes for this time of year.  There were lots of birds to look at, but one could not stand still for very long.  Spiders have had a good crop this year as well (everywhere) which made it more uncomfortable as one was continuously walking into webs!

Despite the conditions, there were lots of migrant birds.  Nothing unusual, but today Bay-breasted and Blackpoll Warblers were in good supply in the warbler department.  I ended up with 15 species of warblers but no doubt more were out there to find if one did not have to swat mosquitoes.
I have noticed that I am not seeing is Northern Parula, of which I have only had a couple during this fall migration so far.

Some crappy photos were taken today!

Northern Waterthrush on TTT
Ovenbird on maintenance loop

Bay-breasted Warbler

The lake was virtually inactive today, and not a single shorebird was along the beach, so nothing to report there!



After exiting Rondeau, I headed over to Blenheim Lagoons.  As expected, there were fewer shorebirds today, which seems typical of Sunday.  Just as I arrived, Josh Vandermeulen and Jeremy Bensette pulled up, so we checked out the lagoons.
Walking towards the sprinklers, Josh spotted a Common Checkered-Skipper.  A first for the year, and I think it has been three years since I have seen one there.



This first one was very active and did not settle for a photo.  At the sprinklers, we spotted another that did pause briefly at times, but not enough for a good photo.



Bronze Coppers were along the edges.



Nothing else to report for today.

Earlier this past week, I had a surprise encounter at Peers Wetland.  An American Bittern was on the path just after I started walking!


2 comments:

  1. Aarrgghh.....I was at the lagoons late this afternoon/evening, but missed the Common Checkered-skipper. Guess I was looking too hard for the Willet, but without any success....shoulda been looking for leps!

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    1. Easy to miss as they are so small, but fairly fast fliers.
      I checked Monday, but did not find one!
      Half expecting Fiery Skippers anytime!

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