A Quiet Week

 Not really much to report this past week, as the weather has been on the nice side.  Too nice, really, for this time of year.  Although it is early November, there have not been many birds around, and certainly nothing of note.  The Cattle Egrets near Erieau seem to be in no hurry to leave though.

I get out somewhere every day of course.  This Cedar Waxwing was in an awkward position when I photographed it at Wilkesport.  Lots of them have moved through in the past week.

On Tuesday, I went for a lakewatch at Rondeau Park.  The best wind for dog beach is SW, but it was not all that strong on that day.  However, there were lots of ducks and gulls moving.  

An adult Little Gull went by early on.

Red-breasted Mergansers have been building in numbers, and often there are other ducks mixed in the flocks, including scoters.

After the lakewatch, I went for a walk in a couple of spots, but there was hardly a bird to be seen!

Wednesday it rained most of the day, so it was a good day to work at the museum.

Today was much nicer, but cloudy most of the day.  I went for a walk at Mitchell's Bay first thing, but it was extremely quiet for birds other than blackbirds.  This Virginia Opposum greeted me at the start of the trail.

There was a break of sunshine in the morning, and that is when I went for a walk at Reid C. L. The timing was good, since it clouded up again when I got back home!

There were some insects, including Autumn Meadowhawks.

If the sun had stayed out, I am sure there would have been butterflies flying.

The leaves of Wild Ginger were still poking through the litter on the forest floor.  It is quite abundant at Reid.  I believe there are two species there.

Some scenes:

A Little Blue This Week

 It has been an interesting week.  Certainly the star of this week was the Little Blue Heron near Kettle Point.  It was found by James Holdsworth on Saturday.  I was not able to get there until Tuesday morning.

To find the bird, it was not the easiest walk, as the last bit was through a wet marshy area past the end of the Fuller Road allowance.

I had to go, since it was a new county bird for us!  Indeed it is the first documented record for Lambton County, but I am told that Dennis Rupert had one at Canatara Park a long time ago.  I could not find any documentation of that bird though.

I found the subject bird upon my arrival at the lake edge, but did not get really close for a good photo.  It was more important that I just got a look at the heron.

It has been a good year in Lambton County.  The heron was the third new bird for my Lambton County list this year!

After that adventure, I went on up to Ipperwash Beach and looked at the lake for a while.  There was not a lot moving, but two distant jaegers were the highlight.  Simply too distant to positively ID, but most certainly a Parasitic.  The wind was not good anyway for there, but one has to look!

Wednesday I was at the museum, then late afternoon went to Sarnia, as there was an LWI meeting that evening.  Before the meeting I spent time at the park near the Marina at sunset.

Yesterday, I went down to Rondeau for a lakewatch.  As usual, there was nothing of note.  Lakewatches have been terrible this year!  The weather has been too nice I suppose.  Lots yet to come from the north.

A stop at Keith McLean C. L. revealed some shorebirds including a couple of Long-billed Dowitchers, Pectoral Sandpipers and of course Killdeer.

Today was a different story.  I had the urge to go into Elgin County for a change.  I first walked the Storey wetland at John E. Pearce P. P.  Quite a few birds on the move in the clear and crisp morning.

Continuing east, I stopped briefly at Port Stanley lagoons.  While there, I decided to go to Hawk Cliff since it is not too far from there.

I had not been to Hawk Cliff in many years!  I used to go at least once every year.  I had some good days there in the past.

Even though there was a bit of a NW wind, it was surprisingly quiet for migrating raptors. Those that did come through were quite high.  There was a good variety of raptors, lots of Purple Finches and other small birds moving through.  Some Common Ravens were also seen.

I was hoping for something like an American Goshawk, but that never materialized (stay tuned).

Scene along the road

On the way home I went for a walk at Wardsville Woods, but it was very quiet for birds.

This evening, was quite nice so I watched the back yard for a bit.  Good thing I did, because......an American Goshawk went through!  Go figure.  A first for here, needless to say.

Scenes From The Past Week

 Nothing earth-shattering came my way in the past week, as the "nice" weather continues.

Last Tuesday, I walked out Rondeau's marsh trail to the half way point.  Bird of the day was Dark-eyed Junco!  I tallied about 280.

Yellow-rumped Warblers were numerous as well, with close to 200 of those.

There were not all that many sparrows.  This Chipping Sparrow stood up at one point.

Thursday, I headed up to north Lambton for a change in scenery.  It was a nice calm and clear morning, but I heard no crossbills!  Purple Finches were numerous, as they have been this past week everywhere.

One of the stops was Ausable River Cut CA.

A Cooper's Hawk stirred things up a for a while.

Heading back home, I stopped at Forest Sewage Lagoons.  I had not been there in a long time.  There were some shorebirds including several Greater Yellowlegs, a couple Lesser Yellowlegs, and a couple of Pectoral Sandpipers.

There were very few sparrows. Seems to be the trend everywhere lately, so lots are likely to come.

One last stop was Moore WMA.  I did not find much in the way of mussels.  It has not been a good summer for finding them!  Other than many Giant Floater, this White Heelsplitter stood out.

Friday was rather uneventful.  A stop at Peers Wetland revealed many Rusty Blackbirds.

The wetland has been the driest I have seen it in a very long time.  Lots of mud. Not much water for ducks!

Yesterday afternoon I went for a walk at Reid C. L.

At one point, I came across a patch of small Blue Ash trees, far removed from where I usually see them.  The square stems are a dead give-away.

Today I headed down to Rondeau.  Not much variety in the way of birds, but lots of Yellow-rumped Warblers kept me busy.  There were a couple of other species of warbler including Tennessee and Blackpoll that I saw.

I walked a bit of the dune area near the light beacon.  Lots of Seaside Sandmat which is only found in a few places around the Great Lakes that have appropriate habitat. Rondeau is one of the better places.

Over at McLean's, there were some shorebirds, including a Long-billed Dowitcher on the "island".

Walking back, I managed to see a Nelson's Sparrow pop up.  I was not able to focus on it very well, but at least I photographed one!

One more target for the day was the party of five Western Cattle Egrets in a usual pasture north of Erieau.  Nice to see multiple birds!

We see at least one Cattle Egret here every year.

All for now during this spooky month.

Mid-October Skies

 The last couple of days have been quite nice with clear skies.  I was out and about as usual to take advantage of the great October weather.  Today I visited some conservation areas north of Wallaceburg.  Nicholl's Memorial Forest and Wetland at Wilkesport is one of my favourite places for a walk, even if there are not many birds.  Today, several birds were flitting around.

View looking west

A couple of Black-capped Chickadees were quite curious about my presence.

Next stop was the McKeough Dam.  Some Purple Finches were flying over, but no other finch types seemed to be present. 

A Blue-headed Vireo was in the mix of passerines.

In the afternoon, I went for a walk through the woods at Reid C. L.  Many of the leaves had already fallen, so I missed some opportunities to photograph colours.

A few butterflies are still around, including Painted Lady.

I saw some type of darner at one point, but it flew off before I could ID it.  Autumn Meadowhawks are still around of course.

And, in the last day or so, Common Checkered-Skippers have shown up in my yard.

Yesterday I visited Keith McLean C. L.  A Yellow-billed Cuckoo showed nicely at one point just before I left.  It is getting late for them, but not unusual to get them at this date.  Seems it has been a good season for them, as many have been seen of late.

There have not been many good days for lake watches this season.  Saturday seemed promising, so I went up to Sarnia and spent over four hours there.  I was first to arrive!

The previous evening, a Sabine's Gull had been seen (not a good year for them in our area this year!) so I thought there would be a good chance it could still be around at first light.  I was right!  Too distant for a photo, but I was lucky to see it as it flew out onto the lake never to be seen again.  

Several birders were present for a lakewatch, but nothing of note showed up.  However, it was a good day for ducks, especially Northern Pintail.  Perhaps up to 400 were migrating through that morning.

A Short-eared owl did appear, as it migrated over the lake and landed near the lighthouse on the Michigan side.  We often see them come in over the lake this time of year!  Always a treat to see.

Some ships were upbound as well to keep up my interest..

John J. Boland

John D. Leitch

Last Thursday I needed a long walk so went out Rondeau's marsh trail.  As usual, nothing of note!  But I needed the exercise.

The following views of the shoreline are from the end of the boardwalk at the half way point.

And, during a visit to Rondeau last week, spring was in the air.....or so it seemed.  There was a lilac in bloom beside the pony barn.  I think they are supposed to bloom in early May!

Till next time....