Roller Coaster Weather

We have experienced a variety of weather the last few days.  Christmas Day was the best of those, but Boxing Day we had freezing rain off and on all day (I stayed in!).  It was worse the farther north one went.

Today was heavy rain and even a thunderstorm!  Tomorrow a 'bomb cyclone' will be centred on Lake Huron with very high winds.  Barometric pressure will drop and the winds will pick up quite quickly.

The last few days I have mainly been driving along the St. Clair River.  Not many ducks yet, but Long-tailed seem to be the most numerous.

Saginaw upbound at Mooretown among scattered Long-tailed Ducks

More ships!

A couple of White-winged Scoters are hanging out just south of Fawn Island.  We do not get many on the river, so nice to see.

With the rain today, I went out to the St. Clair River where I can stay in the car while looking for birds.  First stop was Port Lambton where a group of Mute Swans was swimming by.  I assumed they were all Mute, but as they got closer, one was different.  It was a Trumpeter Swan!

Trumpeter in the rain

There are way too many Mute Swans on the river anymore, and one just assumes they are all as such.  A few Tundra now winter along the river too, so one must look closely.

Christmas Day was our nicest day, so I went down to Rondeau Park for a long walk.  Needed that since I had a big dinner the day before!

I finally had a chance to walk out marsh trail.  Geese were the birds of the day with over 1000, congregating around open water areas.  

The only different one was a Greater White-fronted.

I missed it at first, but there it was.....

I went to the half way point not seeing many birds along the way.

Before leaving the park, I made a quick check of the north end of the campground.  There was one main flock of birds with a good variety, which only took a few minutes to locate.  Three Yellow-rumped Warblers included.

As well, one I was hoping to see, was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.  It was in this flock as well!

More history.....!

On this day in 2011, the restaurant ship Normac was set on fire by an arsonist at Port Dalhousie.  Although highly modified from its original appearance, it was better known in Toronto harbour near the foot of Yonge Street.  It was operated as a seafood restaurant by John Letnik for many years.

The Normac was bought locally in 1968, and wintered in Wallaceburg.  My father and grandfather were among the passengers that travelled from Wallaceburg to Toronto in July 1969.

Prior to departing Wallaceburg
(Al Mann, Stan Townsend, Frank Mann, Lloyd Dawdy, Wilf Lowe)

Port Colborne

In the Welland Canal

I remember the day it passed through Lake Erie.  I was with my mother who was filling in as cook at Camp Kenesserie.  Unfortunately, it was too far out to see!

This vessel had a storied history.  It was originally a fire boat at Detroit, then later rebuilt for use as one of the ferries at Tobermory alongside Norisle and Norgoma before the Chi-Cheemaun came along.

More Rondeau Visits and Middlesex Meanderings

 Tuesday it was down to Rondeau Park once again.  It seems like the best option for long walks and looking for birds and other things. The St. Clair River is useless this winter and there is not much around Wallaceburg.

I headed to south point trail first thing.  A rain cloud came over just after I started walking, but it did not last long.  I was on the trail to the light beacon when a light rain fell.  It produced a rainbow, as seen in the current header of this blog.

The sun soon came back out for a nice day.

While on the trail, an Eastern Towhee was calling in the underbrush.  We had not encountered one here recently, so I do not know where it came from.  I ventured slightly off trail to look at it, but that was a mistake.  Black-legged Ticks are in full force!  I picked off at least five from my pantlegs.  Not doing that again!  We never used to worry much about these ticks, but in recent years they have exploded in population it seems.

Later, I walked all of Black Oak trail.  Here is another common lichens.

Common Greenshield Lichens

Another, I think is Bark Scribble (the little black marks).  Lichens is not a popular subject on iNaturalist, so I am not sure.

A visit to Rondeau is not complete this time of year without walking the campground.  I finally came across the wintering Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.  It moved around quite a bit, so was difficult to get on.

Only two regular Yellow-rumped Warblers were encountered.  The Audubon's is likely still lurking around.

One last walk was at Keith McLean C. L.  Nothing of note, but shorebirds will soon be appearing.  A Turkey Vulture was lazily soaring over during my visit.

Nothing to report on Wednesday.  A large branch came off the Silver Maple in the yard, which had some lichens on it.  A common species, the Star Rosette is quite interesting-looking when one gets up close.

Thursday was another nice day, so it was back to Rondeau.  I walked marsh trail to half way point.  Nothing new, other than a few more Song Sparrow arrivals.

There were lots of ducks on the Bay.  Before leaving the marsh trail, I scoped from the dock.  It took only a minute to get on a Eurasian Wigeon male!  It is quite possible there is more than one on the Bay, but this one was I assume was the same one spotted by the Pye brothers on Tuesday.  It was just too far for a photo, as one can see from this useless photo!

Mussels always catch my eye, and of course there was one at the dock.  Another Fatmucket, which seems very common at Rondeau.

Today, I had to do something different.  I went as far as Strathroy and checked out the sewage lagoons.  This site is easily accessible to the public with no permit required.  Too bad others were not like this.  It is a superb birding hotspot.

Oodles of ducks here, most being Ring-necked.  Upwards of 200!

A number of Northern Shovelers, early for the locale, had already arrived.

Some Yellow-rumped Warblers winter here in the back woods.  I encountered four today.

Along the back dike, I encountered some Dark-eyed Juncos.  One stood out with a defined hood and crisp breast line.  I suspected it might be of the Cassiar type.

Juncos are highly variable and can exhibit characteristics of the different subspecies.  The Cassiar type include the subspecies cismontanus which are normally found in the Rocky Mountains.  There are numerous records in Ontario and the midwest.  However, they are quiet variable in appearance.  Basically it is a cross between Oregon and Dark-eyed Junco.  This one may be approaching that type.

After the lagoon visit, I headed back west and checked out the Winter Line area.  A pair of Common Ravens were croaking in one pasture.  These are not rare anymore in Middlesex and Lambton!

I worked my way home via Skunk's Misery, and walked my favourite trail off Sassafras Road.  Unfortunately this trail was decimated earlier last year by some unnecessary dredging.  However, it still can be a good place to walk.

The spoils brought up some interesting creatures.  Tiny molluscs called fingernail (or pea) clams can be seen. This one appears to be Striated Fingernail Clam.

Also some ramshorn snails, another tiny creature, are here.

Later, driving through the misery, I got lucky and saw a Golden Eagle.  Although they regularly winter in the area, sometimes they can be missed.

Next walk was at Wardsville Woods.  The morning had been gloomy, but thankfully the sun came out for this walk. It was almost warm enough for butterflies, but I saw none.  The only insects were various flies.

This Red Squirrel posed for a bit while I was there.

Weather deteriorated the rest of the day, so nothing to report after Wardsville.

A King Visits Rondeau and Other Notes

 On Tuesday, I ventured down to Rondeau Park.  It was one of those rare calm mornings where there was no wind.  The lake was calm, Rondeau Bay was like glass, and one could hear for long distances.

I started at dog beach, intending to do just a short lakewatch, as not much was moving.  A large raft of Red-breasted Mergansers (~2000) was just offshore south of dog beach.  Other species were mixed in, but the vast majority were mergansers.

I scoped through the raft, hoping to see something different or novel, such as a King Eider.  An eider is very rare at Rondeau, and in fact I have only seen one in the area in all my years of birding.  Every fall we hope for one, but it never materializes.  We were certainly due for one!

I scanned many times, but one time something caught my eye.  It was an adult male King Eider!!  I could not believe it, as just the day before much to my envy, Cam Chevalier saw one at the Tip of Point Pelee. (It is possible this is the very same bird, moving east).

It was too far for photos, but I put out the word about this novelty.

Craig Anderson arrived first, as he was not too far away.  I had moved closer to the raft by that time, but had lost sight of the eider.  Craig managed to spot it again.  It kept drifting out, and almost too far to see at times.  This is all I could get.

Eventually others arrived, and it was still too far out to spot.  I left to take a walk on south point trail, but meanwhile, the King Eider came in closer for a flyby.  Garry Sadler managed a decent photo, as seen here:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S155820956

I was glad others got to see it!

It was the first ever adult male King Eider I have seen.  I have seen many females or young males, but the adult is quite a stunning duck.

The lake was calm, and off south point were several Red-throated Loons.

The campground was somewhat quiet, but the 'annual' Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was lurking around.

There was not much to note on Wednesday.  I took a long walk at Reid CA, as it was another nice day.

Thursday, I went back to Rondeau on a windy day.  Nothing really of note on the lake, and the trails were quiet for birds. I certainly hope things pick up for the Christmas Bird Count on the 17th.

I checked the campground, and south of maintenance.  It was south of maintenance that seemed the most busy for birds.

White-throated Sparrow

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Some Yellow-rumped Warblers are around as usual, and I think that Audubon's is somewhere around too.  I only got two 'Myrtles' this visit.

There are lots of Northern Cardinals around, except one will not spend the winter here.  I found this fresh head at one point!

Friday started out clear, but breezy.  I just drove along the St. Clair River, walked at Dow Wetlands and Nicholl's Memorial Forest and Wetland at Wilkesport.

Dow was somewhat dead for birds, as well as Northern Short-tailed Shrews.

A large flock of Brown-headed Cowbirds was along the Sydenham at Wilkesport.

No sign of any owls in my travels lately.  It may be a quiet winter for them too!

April Showers and Spring Rambles

 Today started out surprisingly nice under cloudless skies and with no wind.  Overnight we had heavy rain, and everything was flooded.  By noon today, the heavy rain came again!  April showers!

I managed to get out for a walk this morning at Reid CA.  It was the wettest I have seen it in two years!  It was touch and go for walking in some areas, but I carried on.  Rubber boots are a must this time of year.

Typical Scene

For something to do, I took some photos of the more impressive trees of Black Walnut, Oaks, maples, etc.

Red Oaks

Some nice Black Walnuts here too!

This one has a dbh of more than 4'.  Burr Oak I believe.

Here is another scene at Reid CA along the river at the highest point of land on the property, taken a few days ago.  In what is affectionately called the Lilly Bush, there is a different variety of trees here with more American Beech and Black Cherry.  More spring wildflowers are here as well.

Reid is never a place to find a lot of birds, but a couple of Eastern Phoebes were present as well as Fox Sparrows.  I finally saw my first Eastern Phoebe of the year at Erieau the other day.

A Pileated Woodpecker was calling this morning, so I guess they are still working the area.  I last saw them in early January, but they seemed to have been absent till this past week.

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers have been arriving in various locations, and I managed to get a glimpse of one at Rondeau on Thursday.

Other things will certainly be showing up in numbers this week.

Horned Grebe at Erieau

Spring plants are starting to pop up.  Reid CA is a nice place to look for plants early in the spring.

Wide Leek

Some remain visible all winter, such as this Sharp-lobed Hepatica.

Monday I did some birding in the Sarnia area before I went to a meeting in the evening.  Some Iceland Gulls were still patrolling the mouth of Lake Huron.  One was even a Thayer's type, but the other two were the usual Kumlien's type.

Some ships are still in winter layup at the north slip.  A far cry from the old days, when the harbour was chocked full of ships!

Kaministiqua, Michipicoten in the North Slip

North Slip 1974

Another Reid Scene April 1