Knot Much To Report

Being back to work for the most part during the week (although a good thing), has left me less time to be outdoors.  As well, migration suddenly came to a snail's pace recently as most birds have reached their breeding grounds.  There is still lots to see though.

Saturday I decided to head to north Lambton, something I have not done all spring due to obvious reasons.  Pinery was the main destination, but just as I arrived in the area, the clouds rolled in and the north wind picked up.  That certainly made things disappointing!  Typical weekend weather!

I first stopped at Ausable River Cut CA.  Nothing really of note there.  There were Pine Warblers singing and a Black-and-White but those are breeding birds.

Along the Cut

At Pinery, I did quite a bit of walking and driving, but found things rather quiet.  I thought even the usual breeding birds were scarce.  There were virtually no migrants.
I had hoped to find Prairie Warblers which are once again there.  It took quite a bit of searching but near the end I did find one.  It did not help that a brisk northerly wind was coming in off the lake making things difficult in the hearing department.  Hearing birds sing is a big part of birding for me.

I spent quite a few hours in the park and just like clockwork when I was leaving, the skies cleared to bring in sunshine......

On the way home I did spot a Common Raven, which is certainly a more common sight in north Lambton anymore.

Sunday, I went down to Rondeau and did too much walking.  My feet were not fully recovered from the previous week!  Some late migrants included several Blackpoll Warblers, Wilson's Warblers, and a Bay-breasted.  There will still be lingering migrants.  My latest Blackpoll for Rondeau is June 22.

Several Acadian Flycatchers are around and I encountered at least four in the deep woods.  Too dark for good photos.

I also wanted to check the beaches for shorebirds, of which I did find some.  The goal this day was to see a Red Knot.  Best area would be out the south beach, which requires a long and tiring walk!
I headed down the west side of south point trail.  That area is a good one for thrushes, and I said to myself that those thrush migrants have certainly cleared out, as I had not yet encountered any.  It was not five minutes later, I saw a thrush, but it was a Hermit!  A bit unusual for one at this date.

As I headed out the beach, I wondered if this was worth it.  I could not see any shorebirds in the distance, but there were some gulls towards Erieau.  I kept going and kept wondering if I should give up.  I then saw some Dunlin, a Semiplover and a Black-bellied Plover. 

Well, I will keep going I guess.  After more walking I still could not see the big sandy break as a woody area was ahead.  This spot was infested with midges and difficult to get through!  I came out all smidged with smudges  smudged with midges.  Even my phone was all smudged up although it was in my pocket the whole time!

After getting through that, I finally could see lots of gulls and even a flock of shorebirds.  Although very distant, I could pick out a Red Knot!  Mission accomplished.

I had to go more than another half kilometre to get close enough to ID all the shorebirds.  A few Turkey Vultures kept getting up and that did not help as they scattered the birds.

Find the Knot

There were Sanderlings, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Semipalmated Plovers, a White-rumped Sandpiper, and the most obvious, a Whimbrel.

The Whimbrel co-operated quite nicely at least.  I wish it was a shorebird with a longer and straighter bill.

Gull included lots of bonies, a Little Gull, Glaucous Gull, Ring-billed and Herring.  There could have been something else in the gull department, but I did not go any further.  Black-headed was certainly on my mind at least, but let us not get greedy.

After some good looks, it was time to take the long trek back to the car.

Years ago, we used to walk out the south beach quite regularly, but that was when there was a good shoreline and beach.  So much has disappeared over the years and the shoreline has been pushed back.  The wooded areas have disappeared, and some of the fallen trees block your way.
It is even closer to the end of the marsh trail now.  As I walked past the end of the marsh trail, I remembered one day it was dry enough to walk across!

We used to see good-sized flocks of Red Knots out there, but nowadays we see one or two individuals if any at all.  Times have changed!

Tree Galls