Recent Reports And Taking a Lichen to a New Book

 Monday morning I was due for another long walk at Rondeau Park.  I chose the marsh trail and ventured out to Long Pond.

There were lots of ducks as one would expect, but nothing special.  Mallard was most numerous, but there were also lots of Northern Pintail and American Wigeon.  No new arrivals in the songbird department.

Like everyplace else, phragmites is a serious problem, and some places are getting choked out.  Even the Long Pond sign is getting obscured!

A view from Long Pond trail.

A few pairs of Sandhill Cranes are already thinking about the nesting season.

After finishing at Rondeau, I headed over to Erieau to see what was on the Bay.  Thousands of ducks are now littering that body of water, so there had to be something of interest.  The previous day, a male Eurasian Wigeon was found not far off the firehall area.  This species is a regular visitor every spring and fall here.

I first checked out the marsh (rail) trail, bringing my scope along.  There were not many ducks close, but at one point I caught sight of four wigeon in flight.  They were quite distant, but the lead duck was none other than a male Eurasian!  I followed them until they set down quite far away.  I was sure the duck could be found from the viewing area behind the firehall.

I quickly went there and set up the scope.  Soon, several other birders arrived to scope the ducks.  Oddly, after more than a hour, none of us could find the suspect duck!  Viewing conditions were excellent, but obviously the creature can hide well.  It is very early in the season, so there are lots of chances to see this species going forward.

Tuesday, I stayed fairly local, but did not find anything of interest. I noted lots of ducks on Lake St. Clair, but I did not have a scope on hand.  It was a very balmy day!  A good afternoon to do some yard cleanup.

Wednesday morning I went for a walk at Peers wetland.  A scary-looking creature was on the trail.  It was very small though!

A Digger Crayfish was on the prowl.  It probably came out the day before in the very warm weather.  This species is considered vulnerable by the NHIC.  I regularly see many of their mud mounds, but rarely see them.

Wednesday, I headed up along the birdless St. Clair River and ended up at Sarnia.  Quite a few gulls were around Sarnia. I only saw one Glaucous and one Iceland of the white-winged variety.  It was certainly not a winter for white-winged gulls in our area!  Let alone other things.  It was too cold and windy, so birding was by car.

Today was very cold and windy again, so I stayed home for the most part.  Early morning I braved the elements and went for a walk at Reid CA.  I spent some of the time looking at lichens, even though Reid is not a good place for that subject it seems.

I was inspired yesterday when I picked up a new book on Lichens.

It came out last year and was written by Ontario native R. Troy McMullin.  Not that I needed another book, but this one I could not resist!  It is an excellent resource with good photos, range maps, and everything one would want to know about each species.

Looking at lichens is a whole different ball game, but there are so many different types and interesting species.  One really needs a macro lens to photograph them, something I do not have.  However, something else to do while walking through the woods.

Here are a couple from today, followed by some others from the past.

Common Greenshield Lichens

Candleflame Lichens

unknown

pixie cup species

rosette sp.

Common Script Lichens

Speckled Blister Lichens

March madness is about to begin......

South Beach Walk....Head Down!

 On Saturday I had the urge to walk out the south beach of Rondeau Park.  It was still quite cold and breezy, but I went anyway.  It was nice walking along the south point trail west section, with the morning sun shining through.

Script Lichens

There were very few birds as expected, but a few American Wigeon were swimming on the slough near the end of the trail

At the end of the trail, we meet the forever changing shoreline.  I remember it being a fair walk to the    beach, but the walk is now a small fraction of what it used to be due to erosion. (should have included a photo here!)

I only walked along the beach to where the marsh trail ends.  There was no point in going any further as there was ice build-up on the Bay side.  

There were lots of ducks in the open water of the marsh.

Lots of Tundra Swans, and even a pair of Trumpeter Swans were out there.

Tundra

On the way back, as usual, I looked for beach treasures.  Mainly mussels of course!  I only found one species, that being Fatmucket.  There were lots of shells of various shapes and colours of this common species.

Other things caught my eye as well.  With the long history of waterfowl hunting at Rondeau, there has to be things of historical nature in the sands.  A piece of brass caught my eye, which was the end of a shotgun shell.

I took it home and looked it up.  It likely dates back to the 1930's from what I can surmise.

Also, a piece of glass stood out.  It was part of a very old medicine bottle.

There was not much to go on with the letters on it, but going to the internet, information instantly came up!

It was a product of the well-known Radway brothers of New York.  The "R. R. R." stands for Radway Ready Relief.  One of those so-called cure-alls.

They made these for a long time, but this bottle could possibly date back to the 1860's!

"Act of Congress" was on the side

While usually it is heads up while birding, looking down can reveal things of interest!  Last year I found a spearpoint, which certainly would be hundreds of years old.

After that long walk, I checked out the campground.  Quite a few birds were creeping around.

Just the same birds (except a Turkey Vulture) from all winter.  The Audubon's Warbler was not difficult to find either!

Once in a while, some rare flora pops up.

Today, I just drove a round a bit and took a couple of short walks.  It was  a nice morning, but very windy and cool.  Here is a scene at Moore WMA.

With the flooding this winter, the riverbanks have been scoured!

While there, I could not help notice some more mussels!  On the far bank was an obvious Pink Heelsplitter, a vulnerable species.

Another one of my favourites, this large Deertoe stood out.

Warm weather is on the way......!

A Snapshot of 1954

 Although I have touched on this subject before, I find it interesting to look at past bird records from a variety of sources.  I have a copy of the 1954 Bird Survey of the Detroit Region, published by the Detroit Audubon Society, that I turn to from time to time.  **Note that this society is now known as the Detroit Bird Alliance, in a growing trend of like organizations to rid themselves of the Audubon name.  Apparently John James Audubon had racist views back in the day, despite his contributions to bird studies.

The survey covered the tri-county region in Ontario (Essex, Kent and Lambton), and the adjacent counties in Michigan.  It covered the entire year, with various well-known observers contributing observations.  Wallaceburg birders were included.  The Carscallen brothers, Jim and twins Morley and Charlton and their father Roland, along with Dennis Rupert contributed valuable observations.

Here are some selected observations from the report. Taxonomic order was quite different back then, so I just listed them as they came.

Snowy Egret April 17 at Bradley (The Carscallen's, along with Ross Brown found this one)

Little Blue Heron August 30 at Hillman Creek (R. D. Ussher)

Black-crowned Night-Heron.  A colony of 200 was noted at St. Luke's on May 22

Glossy Ibis (assumed over White-faced) at the above location on the same date

Long-tailed Duck (then called Oldsquaw).  Only a few.  58 at Sarnia on December 20.  They were rare back then!

Red-breasted Merganser June 17 at Port Lambton--a late spring record for the area.  500 were at Sarnia on December 13 (a high number for that time of year and location).

Peregrine Falcon June 15 at Port Lambton.  The Carscallen brothers noted that these were here every year around Wallaceburg

Piping Plover July 10 (2 adult, 2 young) at Port Franks.  Others included sightings on June 12, 13 and August 15, 16 at Port Franks

Golden Plover (2000) April 24 in Dover Twp.  They are difficult to find in numbers today!

Upland Plover (15) July 8 in Bosanquet Twp.  (now called Upland Sandpiper)

Bonaparte's Gull (2000) December 26 at Erieau

Red-headed Woodpecker (14) May 22 Rondeau Park

Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker.  One was near Sarnia on December 26, and another at Ipperwash Beach on July 15.  It is known today as the Black-backed Woodpecker.  There was a moderate invasion into the south that winter.

Migrant Shrike (11) summer sightings in Lambton Co. (now called Loggerhead Shrike)

Western Meadowlark (2) April 24 in Lambton; (1) July 16 Ipperwash Beach; (1) July 25 Lambton Co.  They were more regular back then.

Dickcissel (10) D. R. Gunn noted these flying of Point Pelee Tip on May 8.  Two more were found on May 13 by Gunn, singing nearby.

In the future, I may cover other subjects of historical nature.

Seafood At Reid Conservation Area

Not really!  But, there were actually mussels and shrimp to feast on.

Tuesday afternoon was quite nice so I went for a walk at Reid CA north of Wallaceburg.  It is a bit of a hike to get to the river, but I thought it would be nice to check some of the shoreline.  I went to the south end where there are often mussels.

The water level is down to a respectable level, so there was some exposed mud.  I have found a variety of mussels at Reid.  This day there were quite a few Mapleleaf.

I find the Mapleleaf are one of the easiest to identify.  Although a threatened species, they are quite common on the north branch of the Sydenham.

As well, a Deertoe or two were exposed.

Eventually, I cut in to the mature woods.  There is still quite a bit of water from the flooding a few weeks ago.  At one point, I noticed some creatures swimming in a pool.  I do not think I have ever noticed these before, but they sure looked like shrimp!  I did the best I could to take photos as they swam in the water.

After getting home, I did some research and found these were a species of fairy shrimp.  Who would have thought there would be shrimp here?

There are a couple of possibilities for species, so it is best left as Eubranchipus.

Actually, they are crustaceans found in vernal pools when conditions are right in late winter or early spring.  They are as ephemeral as some orchids!  They can be abundant one year, but absent the next....it just depends on conditions.  Life span can be around two weeks.

Eggs are actually cysts that can enter a diapause, and will hatch when conditions are suitable.

An interesting creature!

In other things, not much has been happening in the bird world.  Soon we should see a change in numbers and species.

Along the St. Clair River, there have a been a few more gulls the last few days.  White-winged gulls are a rare commodity this winter.  I only saw my first Glaucous of the calendar year a few days ago at Corunna!

There was also a first year Iceland here as well.

A couple of days ago I did the long walk at Rondeau's marsh trail.  Everything was frozen again, and nothing new in birds.  The Eastern Towhee and Gray Catbird, a couple of nice winter birds, were in the same locale.

The Northern Shrike, if it is the same individual, seems to have a wide range of territory.  On the walk back, I found it close to the beginning of the trail.

I would imagine it would like this shrew I found farther out the trail.  Perhaps it was dropped!

A Rough-legged Hawk was farther out.

Yesterday morning, I checked out Mitchell's Bay, and around to Lighthouse Cove.  Everything was too frozen!  I guess it really should be anyway this time of year.

Along the south shore trail, the resident Eastern Screech-Owl was keeping an eye on things.

A Jeannette's Creek, a Belted Kingfisher was patrolling the boat launch area.

Today was a rather uneventful day.  I noticed that the Northern Pintail was still at Sombra.  Obviously content there with its winter stay.

Common Mergansers are numerous on the river right now.

Red-winged Blackbirds are on territory everywhere now, but for some strange reason is still flagged as rare in Lambton on eBird.