Calm After the Storm: Some Birding at Rondeau Park

Rondeau Park was on the radar today.  We finally got a sunny day without wind!  Yippie!

First target bird was the White-winged Dove along Lakeshore Road.  I was away the weekend it was discovered and last weekend was a lost cause.

It was doing its usual thing atop a shiny chimney arranging sticks.  This is the fourth year in a row it has taken summer vacation at Rondeau Provincial Park.

I met up with Steve Charbonneau at south point trail.  Boots are essential on this trail as many parts are still flooded. 
The ducks love it though!

Wood Ducks on the trail

We even saw a Red-breasted Merganser, of all things, swimming on the trail, but I was not quick enough with the camera.

There was severe erosion on the south beach last weekend.  The trail essentially ends here!

I remember when the shoreline was way out from here.  Amazing how large trees completely disappear!

Many trees came down in the storm.

Winter Wrens, Fox Sparrows and Brown Creepers were in plentiful supply today.

Sparrow of the Swamp

Yellow-rumped Warblers were difficult to find, but I ended up with eight.  No other warblers have been reported yet in the park!

Kinglets were fairly plentiful.

The lake was calm, but lots of Horned Grebes were still around.  This week has seen a remarkable number.  Steve had at least 483 the other day!

Not many loons were around today.

Near the visitor centre, Mike Irwin and I were surprised to see a Virginia Rail a the start of the Tulip Tree trail.  It was at the "Swainson's Stop" (where I found the Swainson's Warbler way back in 1995).
It was well-hidden.

I continued down Harrison until it became flooded.  I came across a Mourning Cloak.

It was not until yesterday that I came across my first butterfly of the year, an Eastern Comma at Port Lambton.  Probably latest date to get the FOY butterfly.

Later on, I walked a little ways out the marsh trail.  At the start, I came across a Northern Mockingbird--first for the year.  Seems these birds are harder to find than they used to be, at least in these parts.

I did check Ridgetown Lagoons on the way home, but nothing of note was there.

Lonely Tree Swallow

A Visit to Point Pelee April 2

Sunday had fine weather as I headed down to Point Pelee.  There was quite a bit of excitement at Canada's southernmost National Park a few days earlier.  The marsh was on fire!
An extensive portion burned.  The origin was suspicious, but in any case, it was probably a good thing that will rejuvenate the marsh.
There were many who thought it was horrible, but it is early spring and not much wildlife was present to be harmed.
Allen Woodliffe wrote an excellent blog post yesterday commenting on this and about fires.  Check it out at:

http://pawsnaturenuggets.blogspot.ca/

My first stop on Sunday was the tower at the marsh boardwalk.  I took a quick cell phone photo:

I then headed down to the Tip and met Jeremy Hatt for a Tip Watch.  There was not as much activity as we had hoped, but the skies were clear and a SW wind was blowing.  Quite different from a recent previous visit:

More cormorants were moving and we talked of the Great Cormorant and Neotropic Cormorant both seen just across the lake at Cleveland.  Neotropic has become more common in recent years, but a Great Cormorant would be great (no pun intended!).  The only Great Cormorants I have seen were the two perched on the Ridgetown at Port Credit many moons ago.

Horned Grebes have been plenty in the last week or so, and we saw a few.

Lakeside Grebe

They are being seen everywhere, in ponds, flooded fields and shorebird cells.  Later, as I walked De Laurier Trail, I found one on the pond at the north end of the trail.  An odd spot for one!

Trailside Grebe

Above, you can see how wary it was, as it looked skyward while a Turkey Vulture soared overhead.

Jeremy and I spent some time at the Tip, then walked up to Sparrow Field, over to the serengeti tree, then back to the parking lot.
We did not come across much.  A couple of newly-arrived Field Sparrows were seen, and lots of Brown Creepers and Kinglets.

Field Sparrow at Tip

I also walked Tilden's Woods and Woodland Trail.  I came across a couple of Yellow-rumped Warblers plus a couple of White-breasted Nuthatches (one in Tilden's, one on Woodland Trail).  The nuthatches are somewhat uncommon in Point Pelee.

After lunch we all got together in the VC for a meeting.  A group of us have formed a Point Pelee Bird Records Committee to monitor and record bird sightings records through the year.  A report on winter sightings has already been compiled.

On another note, I will be serving on the Ontario Bird Records Committee (OBRC).  Although no official announcement has been made, the cat was inadvertently 'let out of the bag' last evening as most you already know!
I previously served starting in 2008-2009. Looking forward to this round.

In little over a week, this phoebe will be an Easter Phoebe!

Rondeau Songs/Pelee Beaver Tails

It was a fairly good weekend for birding despite the usual crappy weekend weather.  On Saturday I checked out Rondeau Park where there was Song Sparrow galore.  About this time of year, the first big push of Song Sparrows occurs, but I am not sure if I have seen this many at once.  I saw well over 300.

Lots of juncos and American Tree Sparrows had come in as well.

The Song Sparrows were everywhere, and certainly there had to be close to 1000 in the park alone.
Along south point trail, I saw a good number of Eastern Phoebes for the first time this year.

Several Tree Swallows were moving along the lake.  Also a Common Loon or two was sighted.
Some Fox Sparrows and Eastern Towhees were new arrivals as well.

I only saw one Horned Grebe at Rondeau!

A check of Ridgetown Sewage Lagoons was later, but it was too late to see the swans.  Earlier, a Trumpeter Swan was among many Tundras.  I met John Lamey there and he indicated that a Trumpeter was present earlier in the day.

Bluebird at Rondeau

Today, Sunday, I headed down to Point Pelee knowing there would likely be a good movement of birds.  As I walked to the Tip, a fat rodent caught my eye.  It was a beaver!

It was there several hours, so I am not sure if something was wrong with it.

Upon arrival at the Tip, it was evident that Horned Grebes and Common Loons were on the move.

I estimated around 120 Horned Grebes while I was there.  Some were swimming while others were on the move.  At one point I thought I had an Eared Grebe, and I am still not certain that it was not one.

Horny Grebe

Common Loons numbered at least two dozen, all heading east.  One was swimming off the west side for some time though.

Lots of ducks (mainly scaup) were off the west side out of the east wind.  Some Surf and White-winged Scoters were among them.

Greater Scaup

There were blackbirds, Tree Swallows, American Robins and meadowlarks on the move.

I met up with Jeremy Bensette and we walked around for a bit talking about bird related stuff!

The park had very few sparrows, as compared to Rondeau the previous day.

Around noon, I headed over to Hillman Marsh shorebird cell.  I was there quite some time as there was lots of waterfowl. I had hopes of seeing some early shorebirds, and eventually some Dunlin came into view.  At first I had 13, but before I left, the number rose to 17.
I was more expecting Pectoral Sandpipers, some early Dunlin can be expected this time of year.

Green-winged Teal was the dominant duck, and I counted over 700!  There was probably a Eurasian Teal among them, but I was not going to try and pick it out!

Eventually I spotted two Greater White-fronted Geese in the distance.  Not surprising really.

Some Horned Grebes were in the cell as well, and one came in quite close.

After over an hour there, it was pouring rain, so it was time to leave.

On the way home, at least 3 Snowy Owls were still seen from Winter Line, between Mallard and Marsh.  They have been there most of the winter.

Things will be happening quickly from now on!

Good Friday Events

With the holiday upon us, I ventured down to the Rondeau Birding Area today.  New arrivals appear every day, so it can be interesting.



At the causeway outside Rondeau Park, I noticed quite a few ducks in the creek.  Included was a pair of Blue-winged Teal (my first of year).  Several have come in the last few days.

Within the park, I saw the first Eastern Phoebe of the day at the spicebush trail parking lot.  However, it was lying on road, dead.  I checked it out and the body was still warm, so whatever happened to it was very recent.




My first walk was along south point trail.  Lots of Golden-crowned Kinglets were along the trail as expected at this date.  The lake was fairly active and I spent some time watching.  One good vantage point is the foundation of an old vault toilet that stands out prominently.

Along the lakeshore, I found several newly-arrived Eastern Phoebes working the shoreline.  I counted at least eight, but there could have been ten as they moved around.

One of the resident Bald Eagles was having fun along the shoreline.

Later, I walked tulip tree trail just for the heck of it.  Soon we will have a Louisiana Waterthrush somewhere along the sloughs.

PAW's favourite TTT scene

I met up with Steve Charbonneau, and we walked the campground.  Nothing special was there but my FOY Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at the north end.  I missed one on south point earlier.




Over at Erieau, I tried for the Harlequin pair.  After some time, I finally spotted them far out off Rondeau's south beach.  I saw a couple of ducks with my bins that I thought were the Harlequins, but had to get out the scope to make sure.
Double-crested Cormorants are now showing up, and a single was off the pier today.





McGeachy Pond was full of ducks and a few Horned Grebes were out on the lake.  One can only hope for a Red-necked or even a Western!

I saw three Snowy Owls today--one off Erieau Road and two down Lagoon Road.

Blenheim Lagoons was full of ducks--too many to try and count!  Northern Shovelers were numerous with around 200 of them.  Some teal were there as well.

I even checked Ridgetown Lagoons, but could not find the Greater White-fronted Geese.  However, they showed up about an hour later.....apparently!

This evening, I went for a walk at Peers Wetland, Wallaceburg.  It was fairly productive with several ducks, a Wilson's Snipe, Pied-billed Grebe, American Coot, 3 Eastern Phoebes, etc.