Friday, January 15, 2021

2020: An Interesting Year In Many Ways

With more time on my hand than I would like, I was reviewing my nature adventures in the year 2020.  Below is a quick summary of some of my highlights.

It started off normally as I made my usual rounds.  I never venture far, but seem to find lots of good things throughout the year.

The St. Clair River was quiet again for ducks, but one always looks for oddities.  The Ring-necked X Redhead returned to Sombra.



Later, some Harlequin Ducks, always rare on the river, showed up at Point Edward.



The attraction last winter on the St. Clair River was gulls.  We never found a "mega", but it was fun sorting through all the gulls which were mostly at Corunna.



There were some hybrids including Herring X Glaucous, Herring X Great Black-backed and even a Glaucous X Great Black-backed.

Feeling a need to do something different farther afield, in late January, I headed up to Owen Sound to find the Barrow's Goldeneye.  At first look I did not find it, but after some touring around I returned to the site.  I was determined not to leave before I saw it!  Finally I did, albeit some distance.


This creature has returned again for this winter as well!

In early March, a Purple Sandpiper was found out Rondeau's south beach.  Steve and I made the long trek and were rewarded with stellar views.  I might even have wintered in the area!


Mid-March I went to Port Stanley to see one of the Black Vultures.



By late March/early April, places were closed with the emerging pandemic.  I would certainly prefer those days that what we have now!  Personally I do not think parks needed to be closed then, but I made the best of it locally.  I spent many hours in Reid CA, getting to know the place inside out.  And, watching the yard a Pine Warbler was a nice visitor to the yard.  In fact I saw two here during the spring.



In late April, a Black-necked Stilt was at Hillman Marsh, as well as a White-faced Ibis at Mersea Road 21 fields in early May.



It was a good year for Black-necked Stilts, as more were found at Hillman Marsh (even though some birders ignored that it was closed!) and one at Sombra lagoons.


Sometime in May, things finally eased and Rondeau Park was open for birding.  We had a good time with some nice birds.  



Some highlights included Summer Tanagers.



Rarities included a Kirtland's Warbler in the campground.



And, an elusive Spotted Towhee at the north end.



Once June rolled around, we started looking more at insects.  Early June saw the annual bird census at the Sydenham River Nature Reserve near Alvinston.  It was fun as usual, but highlights were odes!



Mike Kent and I saw many species, including Rusty Snaketail.



However, the highlight by far were a few Arrowhead Spiketails.  They are quite rare this far south.  Some co-operated nicely.



There are tentative plans to have an ode survey there this June.

Midland Clubtail

A visit to Ipperwash area in June is always on the agenda to find Dusted Skipper.  Pinery or Ipperwash area is the only spot to see this dusty creature in Ontario.


Late June saw me looking for my Oak Hairstreaks at Reid CA.  Although a poor year in general for hairstreaks, it was decent for the rare-for-Ontario Oak.  Many people came this year to get a look.  I saw several individuals.




Of course, a bit later, I looked for the resident Dukes' Skippers.  



In the summer we did butterfly counts, including Skunk's Misery.  That count always does well and this year was no exception.  We had a record number of Tawny Emperors.


Hickory Hairstreaks were in record numbers as well.

The Clear Creek count in late July went well also on a nice day.  We found a record number of Striped Hairstreaks and Broad-winged Skippers.


In the summer, I spent some time looking for rarer odes as reported by others.  I am not that excited or knowledgable about them as some, but I wanted to give it a try.

The Ausable River, especially around Arkona and Hungry Hollow is an excellent spot to look.  Swift River Cruisers are plentiful here, among other dragons.

I manged to come across Green-faced Clubtails at Hungry Hollow, a rarely seen dragonfly.  Not much to look at though!



Here we also can find Dusky Dancer, which I found later in the summer.


Usually I see them at Florence (only saw one there this past summer),  but that location was not productive this season.

Blue-ringed Dancer apparently is also found here (Ausable) , but I did see any to my knowledge.  However, at Shetland one can easily find them.  So, I went there one day!

Sure enough I found several of this uncommon species for Ontario.



The Sydenham River is also known for rare fish, and a school of Black-striped Topminnows was here. 

I also saw one at McKeough this summer for the first time.



I went to Joany's Woods a couple of times in the early summer.  It is good for odes as well, and one visit revealed a Mocha Emerald.  It was not on my radar!  Thankfully it co-operated nicely and certainly no need to net it.  Possibly a first for here at the time.


During the summer I saw lots of my favourite dragonfly, the Royal River Cruiser.



I went to Point Pelee a couple of times and managed to find some White Pelicans, which eluded me the year before!


It was a very poor year for butterflies at Pelee, although it picked up a bit in the fall. Included was Cloudless Sulphur, usually quite difficult to photograph.



As the summer waned, we looked for southbound shorebirds.  In August, I found a Marbled Godwit at McLean Conservation Lands.  Always a nice shorebird to see!



In early fall, Hudsonian Godwits showed up as well.  One day they co-operated quite nicely.


In late summer we look for Smoky Rubyspots, a rarity in Ontario, along the Thames.  I found them in two locations.





Later in September, I took a trip to Algonquin Park.  I was not certain earlier in the year that I would be able to do this trip.  It was a shortened version though, as I had planned to go on to Peterborough to take in the OFO Conference which of course was cancelled.  A big disappointment as I had never done much birding in the Peterborough area.



It was one of my more successful visits to the park, as the weather was nice and I saw all of the usual specialties.  Birding in general was slow, a sign of things to come, but it was enjoyable.



I saw several butterflies as well, including Compton Tortoiseshells.  It was a banner year for them all over!



Highlight on my last evening there at the old airfield was the discovery of a pair of Bohemian Waxwings.  They were a bit distant and I almost missed them!



They were record-early fall migrants for the park by several days.  While looking at them, a flock of White-winged Crossbills flew over which I did not really expect on this visit.

The day after I got home from this trip, I went down to McLean's.  I managed to find a Nelson's Sparrow, first for the year there.



It was a good fall for birding and as things progressed, a massive finch invasion was evident.  Lots of Evening Grosbeaks were passing through at a high rate of speed.


Record numbers were seen.

We also had both crossbill species, but they too were on a mission not wanting to be photographed.

Pine Grosbeaks are not something one finds in Chatham-Kent, so I spent quite a bit of time at Ipperwash.  I had some flyovers, but one day I finally saw some perched.  There is a lot of Winterberry Holly in that area, so no doubt they were feeding on that.



One of the days I visited Ipperwash, I had obviously made the right choice.  A Townsend's Solitaire was spotted at Ipperwash while I was in the area.  We were at the north end when word went out.  However, we are certain that we heard one at our station as well.  We never saw it!  Had to be a different bird due to distance and timing.

Arriving at the reported location, we searched for a while and finally saw the western thrush.



One of the Rondeau outings was interesting.  We were looking for a Sabine's Gull reported off the east side, when a Black-headed Gull was right in front of us!


We never saw the Sabine's but the Black-headed was a good prize.

There were a few visits to Point Pelee. One day was eventfull at the Tip when a couple of Northern Saw-whet Owls headed in off the lake.  One right at us!


That day there was much activity, including several Winter Wrens being taken by gulls over the lake as they migrated in.  Other species were victims as well!

Later in the fall, things got much quieter after the finch rush.  Many birds knew something we did not, and departed.  One November day I found a record-late fall Black-throated Green Warbler in Rondeau.



It was good late in the year for redpolls, including lots of Hoary.  I never got a photo of one, but there were some large flocks of Common Redpolls which no doubt harboured a Hoary or two.



It was a notable year especially for odes and birds, at least for me.  There were several lifer odes, and some nice rare birds.  I had one of my better years for birds, despite all that was going on.  I never really "chase" any birds, but getting nearly 300 in Ontario with some obvious misses, I was pleased.


American Avocets at McLean's early May 2020



No comments:

Post a Comment