Mid-November Things

 This past week was rather uneventful, so not much to report!  If we ever get more seasonal weather, things should pick up.  Climate change.......

Wednesday I stayed local and took advantage of the nice weather.  I went for a long walk at Reid CA in the morning.  Hardly any birds of course, but I checked out the riverbank since water levels are quite low.  Some river mussels (shells) were visible.

Mapleleaf

Giant Floater

Thursday was a rainy, but windy day so I had the notion to head down to Wheatley Harbour to watch the lake.  It was not as productive as I had hoped!  Lots of gulls, but as usual, no rarities.

I did get into Point Pelee for a bit, but it was mostly car-birding as it was still raining.

Friday was uneventful locally!

Saturday I headed down to Point Pelee.  I wanted to be in Essex County to attend the Essex County Field Naturalists annual banquet.  More on birding at Pelee later, but the dinner event was a chance to get something off my bucket list, so-to-speak.

Guest speaker was Adam Shoalts, of whom I have written about before.  Since reading all five of his books, I have become quite a fan!  I always wanted to go to one of his presentations, but he is so popular that it is difficult to get tickets.

Adam's focus was his canoeing adventure from Long Point to the Arctic a few years ago.  The name of his book about this trip is Where The Falcon Flies.  Fascinating stuff!

My day started at Point Pelee with a Tip Watch.  I joined Keith Burk with conditions that were perfect with excellent visibility and not too strong of a wind.  It was cloudy, but that is better for lakewatching anyway.  Wind was light out of the NW so not the best to bring in birds to the Tip.

Lots of loons and a fair number of White-winged Scoters were flying, but not much else.........until a bit later.

At one point I noticed masses of ducks to the NE heading west.  'Masses' was an understatement!  Eventually, looking to the west, it was the same thing.  Honestly, I have never seen so many ducks at once.  They were essentially all scaup, and no doubt Greater Scaup.  Here are some unprocessed views.

The skies were filled with ducks to the north, and most circled back to set down on both the east and west sides of Point Pelee.  I estimated around 100,000 ducks, and they were basically all scaup.  It was mind-boggling!  Especially for one species.

After some thought and discussion, I roughly estimated about 90,000 Greater Scaup!  Record high from Alan Wormington's records less than twenty years ago, was about 60,000 as I recall.

I walked various trails in the park later, but there were not too many landbirds.

Tip bonies

Today, it was down to Rondeau Park.  A decent SW wind was blowing, so I was lured to dog beach for a lakewatch.....again.   Hardly any gulls, but a few more ducks were moving, especially White-winged Scoters.  At least it paid off this time with a decent bird.

Before that at one point, a shorebird came by which turned out to be a late Greater Yellowlegs.  Not the godwit that I was hoping for!  A bit too far for my measly camera.

Several loons were moving or swimming offshore, including a few Red-throated.  At one point, I noticed loon swimming not far offshore.  It was difficult to get on through the waves, and it was diving more than it was up.  However, my brief views allowed me to determine it was a Pacific!  Eventually it stayed up longer (but distant) to allow us to make sure it was a Pacific. It was just two years ago that Steve and I found Rondeau's first Pacific in the same spot!

Hopefully there will be more loons and ducks for the Christmas Bird Count in the area on December 15.

Some historical filler from year's past:

Fifty-five years ago today, the 1905-built Ridgetown was laid up for the last time (originally Wm. E. Corey) .  It was eventually sunk as a breakwater at Port Credit in 1974.  It still exists today, but probably will not last much longer due to deterioration.

Her identical sister (Henry C. Frick) was retired in 1972, and sold for scrap.  Michipicoten was being towed for overseas scrapping, but broke in two in the Gulf of St. Lawrence 15 November 1972.  

Michipicoten breaking up
(photo from Boatnerd)

It was a favourite of mine when I was quite young, so much so, my Dad commissioned a line drawing done of it!

One of these days, winter will arrive!  Maybe.

Double Whammy Today!

 For a change in scenery today, I went up to Sarnia for a lakewatch.  A decent NNE wind was ablowin'!

American Herring Gull

  

There were not large numbers of birds, and certainly not much variety.  Less than an hour after I started, a single Brant flew by heading west.  I was actually looking at a flock of mergansers, and this bird was tailing!  It went up the Michigan side and out of sight.

About twenty minutes later, I caught sight of it swimming in the channel.  Several times, it flew upstream, then floating down.

Eventually, it flew back east and past Canatara Park.  I wonder if it kept going, as James Holdsworth had one at Highland Glen CA a while later.  Timing would be about right if it kept flying, but we will never be sure.

Always nice to see a Brant since we do not get many in the area for the most part.

Things got quiet, and I headed towards home.  I stopped at Moore WMA, then McKellar Tract, but not much was at either place.  I have had White-winged Crossbills at McKellar during incursion years, but I did not hear any today.

That big tree is still in the way at Moore!

A few mussel shells were visible.  Deertoe was one of them.

I then stopped at Nichols Memorial Forest and Wetland.  Highlight was a Great-Horned Owl.  A Barred Owl would have been better!

When I pulled into the driveway at home, I got word that a Mountain Bluebird was at Keith McLean C. L.  I was not ready to head out and stayed around for an hour at home.  The urge was too much to resist, so I headed down towards Rondeau.

Mountain Bluebird has never been seen in the Rondeau circle.  The only other in C-K was at Wheatley P.P. if I remember correctly.  I had to go as it was certainly a very overdue bird!

The bird was still present upon arrival, but light for photos was not good.  However, I took some photos anyway.

The bluebird was constantly going down to the mud and finding dragonfly nymphs to eat.

This was certainly a nice way to end the day!

This past week was rather uneventful, again. There were a couple of trips to Rondeau and McLean's.

Friday though I went up to Ipperwash in hopes of getting White-winged Crossbills.  I picked the wrong day.....again!

Random Scene along the trail

Instead I did another lakewatch for a while.  Yet again it was boring!

On Saturday, I worked the north end of Rondeau Park only as it was quite windy.  I finally came across some White-winged Crossbills, but they were single flyovers.

As usual I stopped by Keith McLean C. L., but nothing really different.  There has been a good-sized flock of Dunlin hanging around.

And, lots of gulls, but no good ones!

With the warm weather, lots of Autumn Meadowhawks are still flying (even today).

Sunday was a bit rainy and I did not go far.

Monday, it was back to Rondeau Park.  This late in the season, birds are getting fewer, but there was enough to keep me interested.

Another Carolina Wren

dark American Herring Gull

It was quite windy, especially along the lake at south point trail.  That concrete structure is getting farther out!

A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher in the campground was of interest.  Seems we always get a late bird there!  However, lighting was absolutely horrible.

Nothing new at Keith McLean's that day.  Ironically, I was thinking of Mountain Bluebird while there, and that perhaps this will be the year that we will get one in the area.  Little did I know that this idea would become reality!

November Notes and Novelties

This past Saturday I checked out Dow Wetlands near Sarnia in the morning.  Nothing of note there!

In the afternoon, a Sydenham Field Naturalists outing was held at Honey Locust Homestead (Cornelis farm) just north of Wallaceburg.  Things have changed there over the years, especially since the Ruff showed up in 2006.

Here is the same view at present.  All grown in!

It was a good year there, as a Snowy Egret showed up later in the summer.  Then, there was the Vermilion Flycatcher that delighted many birders in December 2016.

Vermilion Flycatcher on its last day

 This past Sunday I headed towards Rondeau, but ended up taking a detour once I got to New Scotland Line.  A Purple Sandpiper was reported at Erieau on the pier!  Since that species was a sore miss last year, I had to give it a go.

Upon arrival, the subject bird was on the concrete just below the lighthouse.  Unfortunately, it was too far (and lighting bad) for my camera.

It was too risky to walk out the pier that day.

Here is one I found on the pier one November day in the past.  They are most often quite approachable!

After a bit of a lakewatch, I headed over to Rondeau Park and walked out marsh trail to half way point.  It was a nice and clear sunny day for a long walk.  Notable was a late Forster's Tern.

Tuesday it was back to Rondeau.  Another lack-lustre lakewatch started the day.  A flock of Rusty Blackbirds checked out the beach at dog beach.

There were enough birds in the park to keep my interest.

As usual, I stopped at McLean's on the way out.  It was a balmy day, and some butterflies were flying.  Included were three Fiery Skippers.

November 6 was my birthday!  One always hopes to find a "birthday bird", but there was not much around at all.  It was just too nice of a day!  No Sage Thrasher, even though I did check out the south shore nature trail at Mitchell's Bay.  It was  good day to do work around the house.

Today, there was a bit of a change in weather with WNW winds and cooler.  The potential for lots of birds or something good was in the air.  With White-winged Crossbills on the move, it seemed like there should be some around.  Maybe there was, but I did not come across any!

I headed down to Rondeau Park,  and started at south point trail and later other spots.  There were quite a few birds.  Lots of American Goldfinches were on the move, as well as more Pine Siskins, but no other finches (other than Purple and House).

A Cooper's Hawk against the clear sky caught my attention at one point.

As per tradition, I stopped by Keith McLean C. L. again.  Some raptors were moving, but not many.  And, those that were, were well to the north.  I did see a Golden Eagle and some Red-shouldered Hawks among other things.

Just before I left, I received word that a Cattle Egret was at the corner of Bisnett Line and Erieau Road.  Not surprising, as there have been several occurrences over the years at that location.

It had been well over an hour since the bird was seen as I drove towards the site.  Upon arrival, it was not in view, but eventually made its presence known much to my relief.

It appeared quite nervous and flew around quite a bit.  At one point, it flew right overhead and I fired off some shots with the camera.  Luckily, the photos turned out quite well!

That was a nice way to end this day of birding.

Autumn Meadowhawk in autumn