Happenings This Week September 10-14

I have been out and about as much as possible this week as the summer wanes.
The Snowy Egret continued at Roberta Stewart Wetland all week.  I did not see it today (morning) but did not check late afternoon.  Perhaps it moved on?

There have been lots of passerines moving through.  I checked Brander Park at Port Lambton just before work each day.  Many warblers to sort through, but mosquitoes were still horrendous!

Wednesday afternoon I left work after lunch and headed down to Rondeau area. A check of Blenheim Lagoons and Erieau revealed very little.  I think the birds had been spooked at the lagoon before my arrival as it was basically dead!

I moved on over to Rondeau Park and found the Great Kiskadee right away along the shoreline north of the marsh trail entrance.  It was hunting for food.  Apparently it hangs out there most often now.

(photo last weekend)

There have been some stellar photos of the bird taken this week!
My post about the Kiskadee last Friday has had over 300 hits.  (the most for any post ever!).

Peers Wetland is a local hot spot I check almost every day.  A few warblers have stopped by there as well.
I watch out for insects as well.

Viceroys!

Yesterday, I spotted a Red-headed Woodpecker which was  first for that location.
I always check regularly.  Last fall I found a Nelson's Sparrow there!

Yesterday evening I walked the south shore nature trail at Mitchell's Bay.  A few birds were found.

The adjacent field looked good for Buff-breasted Sandpiper (none yet reported in Chatham-Kent!) but I did not have a scope.  There were lots of Killdeer and a few American Golden Plovers.

Today, I had an itch to look for the Red-necked Phalarope at Forest Lagoons.  I headed there immediately after work.  I spotted it right away in the distance, much too distant for a photo.  Some years we see lots move through, but this year there seems to be very few around.  I missed the one at Blenheim Lagoons a while back.
There were lots of Lesser Yellowlegs (over 40), a Greater Yellowlegs, a few Pectoral and Semipalmated Sandpipers and one Least.

Lots of ducks were present, including about 100 Blue-winged Teal.

Some warblers and other passerines were in the trees near the entrance, including several Blackpoll, Yellow-rumped, Northern Parula, Magnolia, and a getting-late Yellow Warbler.

On the way home, I spotted a Common Nighthawk over Mandaumin Road north of Moore Line.  It is the time of year to see lots of those in migration.

On to another weekend.....

Return to Rondeau and Another Snowy Egret

I headed down to Rondeau Park again early this morning.  By 06:30 the parking area at marsh trail was littered with cars, as expected.  Happily, the Great Kiskadee stayed overnight to delight hundreds of birders from near and far.
I bypassed the crowd and went down to Dog Beach for a lakewatch.  That was my original plan for Saturday.  A strong NE wind was blowing so there was some activity on the lake.  However, nothing of note showed during my watch.  But, one has to try!

At arrival, I noticed a lake freighter not far offshore.  We do not often see them from Rondeau, but obviously this was hugging the shore due to the strong wind.  I could not hold the camera still for a good photo in the poor light!

Ojibway off Rondeau

I did see a couple of Surf Scoters, first for the fall.  Numerous gulls and terns went by, but nothing out of the ordinary.

I checked south point trail afterwards, but it was rather quiet, save for a few warblers.

I then went back up to marsh trail to join the crowd.  These events are a great social time and nice to see so many familiar faces and strike up conversations.

The Great Kiskadee made sporadic appearances throughout the day for the hundreds of birders that came to see this spectacle.

Blake Mann, Rick Mayos, Dwayne Murphy, Allen Woodliffe
(photo courtesy Dwayne Murphy)

This bird is of course a first for Canada so everyone had to go and see it.  It certainly is not one I ever dreamed of getting on my Rondeau list (let alone Ontario), but indeed a real treat.  It is remarkable for a bird that is somewhat non-migratory and probably the neatest flycatcher ever to get into Ontario.

After a short snooze at home, I headed out to check Stewart Wetland.  Since the water was finally drawn down a couple of weeks ago (too high all summer due to excessive rain!), there was bound to be something of note at some point.
Upon arrival, I saw the usual birds, including a Wilson's Snipe.

At the far side of the wetland, I kept noticing a white spot which I thought perhaps was trash.  I looked a little harder, and it moved!
Turns out it was a Snowy Egret!

I got a little closer to make sure it was not something rarer, but it looked very similar to the individual at Keith McLean's (which is still present today).

It later flew to a closer spot and hunted for food.

With the recent rash of heron types in the province, I always though something of note would soon show up here.
I have found Cattle Egrets on two different occasions here, but this is the first Snowy Egret in the Wallaceburg area. (Although, I found one just up the road at Port Lambton back in May 1995).

No doubt more rarities are to be found in the province, so let us go find more!

May Madness Update 8-11

Not really madness, since birding has been painfully slow as the wacky weather continues.   We have had some quality birds though.

On May 8, I went back to Rondeau Park for another three days.  This is my favourite spot rather than the rat race at Point Pelee!  More places to go, more spread out, more relaxing and I can get more birds there.

The north end of the park has been rather productive this year.  South Point trail has been slow and one has to slosh through water anyway.  Solitary Sandpipers like south point though!

Summer Tanagers are still kicking around.  Rondeau has had 4 or 5 and two along Water Street are quite reliable.  One is a female, while the other is supposedly a young male.

While wandering around the north end of the park, I came across two Willets resting on a stick.

In the morning, a Yellow-headed Blackbird was found in Bate's marsh beside the causeway.  A nice addition to the day's list!

And, of course, the crazy White-winged Dove continues its routine along Lakeshore Road.

In the evening I walked out marsh trail with Keith Burk.  The "slow" day continued and the walk produced few passerines.  However, the only warbler we saw (besides the staple Yellows, and Common Yellowthroats) was a female Golden-winged.  It was only seen briefly as it worked on some dead leaves, hence no photo.  (We did see a Palm as well).

We did hear four American Bitterns and a couple of Least Bitterns, as well as two Soras.

Apparently we did not walk far enough, as  young couple that passed us found a Harris's Sparrow farther along!  We saw the record photo.

Wednesday morning was one of the better days.  Steve Charbonneau, Keith Burk and I worked the start of marsh trail, basically standing in one spot.  Birds were streaming north north and we saw up to 20 species of warblers, tanagers, orioles, etc.

It is an interesting phenomenon we often see under certain conditions.  It is fun to experience, but sometimes you cannot ID 90% of the birds!

We pounded the trails all day, sometimes missing some good birds.

"Where is that Kentucky?"

The Summer Tanagers were again seen along Water Street.  They are very active and difficult to photograph at times.

A perched Whip-poor-will on TTT was a novelty to see.  It was unusually high in a small tree!

This day was one of the best days of the week even though it was not hopping with birds.  Some were "walking" though.

Ovenbird

Thursday was painfully slow for birds.  The first few hours Steve and I spent with David Pryor and Iain Fleming.  It was good comradery and much fun was had looking for birds.

Cape May Warbler

Some pockets of birds were found such as the one at "log pond".  A nice variety of warblers was there, including the first Mourning of the season and several Northern Parulas.

At three Summer Tanagers were seen this day.  One colourful young male was visiting feeders in the campground.

At one point, I looked south towards the former sandspit of Rondeau.  It is incredible to see how much of it is gone.  We used to walk to the end often in the "old" days.

Thursday night got very cold.  Birding Friday morning was rather atrocious to say the least!  Steve and I spent some time birding with Ron Ridout.  Our highlight was a brief look at a Prairie Warbler along Water Street.  It flew in, stopped momentarily, sang once, and moved on!
We also saw the female Summer Tanager.  It has found a hole in a tree where bees are living.

It started raining by noon, so I called it quits and headed towards home.  Before actually going home, I checked a couple of local haunts such as Peers Wetland (more Yellow-rumped there than at Rondeau!), then out to Stewart Wetland.
To say the least, that paid off!  A number of birds were present at Stewart including the FOY Black Terns, as well as some shorebirds.  I saw a large dark reddish shorebird and had to look twice to confirm ID.  Hudsonian Godwit?  Holy....!

I watched it for about 15 minutes, meanwhile putting out an alert.  Next thing I know, a second one comes waddling up!

I did not get out of the car since it was pouring rain at the time, but record photos will have to suffice.

This probably the first record for the "Wallaceburg birding area" that I know about.  We do not see these often in southern Ontario, and certainly not every year for our individual lists.
Roberta Stewart Wetland can be good at times.  It is a spot I check every day as I work just down the road, but on a rare occasion, something good shows.
I had a very early Long-billed Dowitcher here once 23-26 April 2006 and I found a female Ruff 8-9 May 2006. This was in the wetland's first year.

A nice ending to an otherwise slow day!

Dickcissel Flu

This morning I skipped out of work to look for birds.  The main event was a tour of the Sarnia solar site that was led by Larry Cornelis.  Larry was hired to do bird surveys on the solar farm and Enbridge has generously allowed birding tours the last couple of years.  Twenty-eight local naturalists joined in.

I started out early and stopped at Stewart Wetland west of Wallaceburg.  Shorebird habitat is excellent right now and fall migrants should be showing up soon (oh no!).  The last couple of days have revealed quite a few Killdeer, as well as a couple of Semipalmated Plovers and a Semipalmated Sandpiper which I think are just lingering spring migrants.

Also, there have been an exceptional number of Great Egrets lately.  Today there were eight, but I have had up to 11 some mornings.

One of these days, I hope there is a Snowy Egret or something rarer.

I zig-zagged towards Sarnia and checked on some Dickcissel sites.  The old Sombra dump had one singing male, while a few were on Stanley Line west of Kimball Road (Avonry).
Along Telfer Road, I found a male singing roadside.

At the solar farm, we found lots of grassland birds in the natural areas among 1.6 million solar panels. (yes that number is right!).
Early on we saw a Yellow-billed Cuckoo which Larry said was new for his list.
We eventually found a Grasshopper Sparrow, one of several during the morning.

At one area, we found two Clay-colored Sparrows singing in appropriate habitat.  They have nested here the last few years, which is a novelty in these parts.

We moved to the east side and found up to 4 Clay-colored Sparrows.

We also found several Grasshopper Sparrows which showed nicely.  Some were carrying food, which is an indication of young nearby.

We checked along the fence beside the old Blackwell Landfill, but did not get any Dickcissels this year.  Some were found here earlier in the week, so perhaps they were farther in today.

A quick check at Reid CA on the way to work did not reveal any hairstreaks.  I think they are a bit late this year.  However, Bob and Karen Yukich from Toronto were looking when I arrived.  Oddly, this is the third year in a row I met Bob and Karen there.  The timing seems uncanny!

A decent day.... better than working!