Some Erie Shore Birding

The past couple of days I have headed down to Rondeau and Pelee areas.  Friday morning started with a very cold lakewatch!  Once again the wind was not ideal, but one has little choice and must try.  And, yet again, nothing of note showed!
We did see up to six American Woodcocks migrate in off the lake.  It is always neat to them come in and dive into the woods!

A pipit or two briefly landed on the beach.

To warm up a bit, we walked south point trail.  Not a single warbler was seen and rather few passerines.  A few Eastern Bluebirds were around though, always nice to see.

Some Eastern Phoebes were busily looking for food.

Later, a highlight was a Red-headed Woodpecker behind a cottage along Lakeshore Road.

A Baltimore Oriole was also here, but did not show while we were present.

A walk through the campground revealed a good number of Chipping Sparrows among others. 
Here we found several Yellow-rumped Warblers as well.  An Orange-crowned Warbler was also added to the warbler list, but I was unable to get on it with the camera.

Steve and I then met up at the Blenheim Lagoons were a good number of ducks and some shorebirds were present.
Shorebirds included over 30 Dunlin, 4 Greater Yellowlegs, a number of Wilson's Snipe, Killdeer, a late Least Sandpiper and a one-legged White-rumped Sandpiper called 'stumpy'.

The previous day, Steve had a record-late Stilt Sandpiper, but of course we could not find it this day.

Today, Saturday, I thought it would be a better day for a lakewatch at Rondeau.  Nope, the park was close for a deer cull.  News to us!  Usually we have some sort of notice when this will happen.  Also, they usually do not do it on a weekend to accomodate visitors, but obviously there was no consideration to that.
FYI, dates include the mornings of November 9,12,13,14,19,20,21,30 and all day December 7.  Note there are a couple of Saturdays, unfortunately.

Instead, Steve and I set up scopes on the beach just inside Bate's Subdivision.  There was a lot to look at but once again, nothing of note!  Where are the rarities around here?

Tundra Swans

There was over 7000 Red-breasted Mergansers, and various other ducks.  Ring-billed Gulls were too numerous to get an accurate count.  Yet again, nothing of note among them!

After that, I decided to head west for lack of anything else to do. I had a feeling some Tree Swallows would be around today.  At the corner of Stevenson and Talbot Trail, I saw the first few.

I went straight to Point Pelee first stopping at Sanctuary lookout.  A Tree Swallow went by during my brief stop there.
I ended up walking Shuster Trail and De Laurier. 

Beach at end of Shuster Trail

There was not too much to see, but a few sparrows, phoebes, Hermit Thrushes and Yellow-rumped Warblers were around.

Several flocks of Chipping Sparrows are still around.

I stopped by Sanctuary Pond lookout on the way out and I ended up spending over an hour there as there was lots to see.  Some birds were moving along the edge out of the wind, which had me interested.  The highlight was a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  For the longest time, it was some distance away, but eventually it came much closer.  I was able to get full-frame photos.

Next stop was Wheatley Harbour were there were countless gulls, most of which were Ring-billed as expected.  Yet again, nothing of note!  One would think with several thousand gulls, one would stand out.

The only stand-out was an adult Glaucous Gull on the rocks.

One could have taken a seat to study the gulls, but it was a bit too cold.

While here, I noted some Tree Swallows moving west, totalling at least 18.

Nearer home, about 2500 Tundra Swans were in a field between Heron Line and Belle Rose Line.

Usual Weekend Birding (October 27-28)

Lately I have been sticking to Rondeau area for birding, and this weekend was no exception.  Also the same was the weather.  It is getting ridiculous to say this every weekend, but right on cue, the weather turned crappy late Friday (after a nice week) for the weekend.  Saturday was horrible but I went out anyway with no other choice.  This year is certainly one for the record books with regards to (terrible) weekend weather!

I started watching the lake at Rondeau even though the weather was horrid.  There was a strong east wind, but not much was moving in that crap.  I did spot a young Little Gull as a highlight.  I find these direct strong east winds produce little at Rondeau.
I then moved on to south point where it actually stopped raining. I walked to the washout, then it started raining again since I was at the farthest point from the car.
Some birds were near the end of the trail since it was out of the wind.  Many species of sparrows were along the path.

chippie

Warblers including the usual Yellow-rumped and an Orange-crowned and a couple of Blackpoll.

I checked around the VC and found a Blue-headed Vireo, the only vireo of the weekend.
Along Harrison near pony barn were several Fox Sparrows.

Later, I stopped by Shrewsbury where there were several shorebirds along the edge, including a couple of White-rumped and some Dunlin.

Dunlin

Bashful White-rumped Sandpiper

Several ducks and grebes were close as well.

Pied-billed Grebe

Horned Grebe

I did a quick check of Erieau, where there was little to see (east winds!), then moved on up to Blenheim Lagoons where I had heard that there were many shorebirds.  There is good edge habitat for the shorebirds.
There was still a light rain, but there was no choice but to take a look under terrible conditions.  Steve and Jim were already there looking at an odd peep.  It had us stumped, but it turned out to be a Least Sandpiper in a plumage we rarely see.

Apparently there was a similar one at Presqu'ile a number of years ago, that had some thinking of some type of Stint.

There were hundreds of shorebirds at the lagoons, the most I have seen in a long time.  The bulk were Dunlin, but there were lots of Pectoral Sandpipers, many White-rumped, an injured Baird's, a couple of late Semipalmated Sandpipers, both yellowlegs, and of course the Hudsonian Godwits.

Pec

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The godwits had grown to number five in total!  Unusual to see that many in the Rondeau birding area at one time.  (the one was still at McLean's as well)

hudwits

Two large swans appeared there recently which were Trumpeters, uncommon for the area.

Sunday was a better day weatherwise, and even the sun was out briefly in the morning for a rare weekend showing.  Mid afternoon it started raining again though, just as I left Blenheim lagoons.

I started at dog beach for a lakewatch with Steve and Jim.  There were lots of ducks and loons moving.  I counted at least 122 Common Loons, with a few Red-throated.  No doubt some were missed.  We still  cannot get a definite Pacific for the Rondeau area!

Jim and I walked south point and found some things including a couple of Orange-crowned Warblers, a Common Yellowthroat, and about three tardy Blackpoll Warblers.

Blackpoll Warbler

While alone, I came across a late Black-throated Green Warbler that posed well.

Most of the birds were along the lake before the 'washout'.

Near the light beacon we spotted a bird in flight that was possibly an Evening Grosbeak.  A couple were spotted in the area last week, but I have no doubt more will show.

Bald Eagle

Another stop at the lagoons was in order today.  I was alone for this one, although I did briefly spot a Leamington birder in the distance.  lol.
I found there were fewer birds today, but still lots.  The godwits were still busy feeding.

Several White-rumped, the Least, a couple of Semisands were still present, but I did not spot the Baird's.

The Trumpeter Swans were still in the same sleeping position.

Habitat is excellent at Blenheim right now, so that is attracting many shorebirds.

Back to nice weather for the week.....

Weekday Dawn at Walpole Island

Rondeau Area Birding October 10

I was up bright and early this morning to head down to Rondeau Park.  I met up with Steve Charbonneau to check out the sights.

It turned out to be a productive day for the first day of Thanksgiving weekend.  As I mentioned before, this weekend tends to produce some good birding.

I took a quick look at Dog Beach before starting on south point trail.  With last week's storm, tons of sand has been moved around!  The little pond there that formed after a storm a few years ago has nearly filled in.

Out on the lake were a few early Tundra Swans.  Seems that many have shown up rather early this fall, as several have been reported already.

On south point trail, we ended up with about 11 species of warblers including some Pine, Yellow-rumped, Tennessee, Black-throated Blue, among others.

Northern Parula

Several Blue-headed Vireos were scattered around, but that turned out to be the only vireo type of the day.

Only a few sparrows, including Chipping.

Along the shoreline where massive erosion has occurred over the last year or so, the beach has grown immensely.

Last week's winds and waves have moved in a lot of sand!  The shoreline now has a reprieve.

We checked the visitor centre area and the only things of interest were a couple of park employees dressed for Halloween.  Dorothy, of the Wizard of Oz had a beard which was pretty scary.  A good witch (Pilar) paid us a visit.

Out next stop was at maintenance and a walk down Harrison Trail.  It was a productive area as well.  A couple of American Redstarts were actively working the fence line.

Down the trail, the highlight was a late Black-billed Cuckoo, probably the latest I have seen one.

We saw the first Fox Sparrows of the fall here.

After this, we headed towards Blenheim Lagoons.  At New Scotland, a hummingbird crossed my path--probably a Black-chinned.

The lagoons were also quite productive and it was evident hundreds of swallows were present.  I estimated around 500 Tree Swallows.  At least one Barn Swallow was among them.

At the sprinkler cells, a number of shorebirds were present. Needless to say, Willie the Willet was still in fine form.

Lots of White-rumped Sandpipers were feeding--we estimated 70.  There has been an incredible invasion of them into southern Ontario in the last week or so.  They must have been blown off course somehow since we do not usually see this many.

A single Long-billed Dowitcher was present as well as a single Least Sandpiper.
We also saw the Red-necked Phalarope in one of the ponds.

Lots of butterflies are still around including several worn Bronze Coppers.

After the lagoon visit, I almost went home, but decided to take one more quick walk down at Erieau's marsh trail.  There were not too many birds, unless you could count the 10,000 ducks on the Bay!

Just before I finished my walk, I spotted a skipper!  This time of year there is not much choice of skippers, but I recognized this as an Ocola Skipper.

Recently, a few have been reported in southern Ontario.  We see these only every few years.  I have only seen one other, that at Point Pelee a few years ago in October.

More stuff tomorrow....