April Anecdotes

 Looks like the weather has settled down a bit.  Lots of wind and rain recently!  Last Friday was a complete washout, so no walking around.  I did quite a bit of birding by car, but as usual did not see anything of note.  Lots of Lapland Longspurs have been moving through in the last week or so.  They are an attractive bird.

Saturday morning I headed down to Rondeau for a look around.  Nothing noteworthy with regards to birds, just the usual early stuff.

Foxy Sparrow

Lots of Red Admirals around of late.

And, this Garter Snake was taking advantage of the warm sun. I did not have  a "long" lens to get it all in a photograph.

There have been some prescribed burns in the park.  Here is one area near the maintenance yard.

In the afternoon it became quite warm and Reid CA was beckoning!  Some insects were out, including lots of Narrow-headed Marsh Flies.

Another very common, but very small creature was Margined Calligrapher.  Looks like there will be more when these two get done!

Bloodroot is not very common at Reid, but there are a few plants popping up here and there.

leaves

Some random forest scenes:

The evening was spent at the Sydenham Field Naturalist (SFN) annual banquet.  As always, it was an excellent affair.

Sunday, I had no other plans other than to go for a long walk at Rondeau Park.  I headed out marsh trail first thing.  The only new bird for the year was Virginia Rail.  A couple of them were calling in the same spot.

A Savannah Sparrow stuck around in the same spot all morning.

A pair of Field Sparrows was on the trail....quite far from a field.

More Ruby-crowned Kinglets are moving through.  Often we get the odd one attempting to winter, but there were none this year.  So, I did not get my first-of-year until late last week.  This one was too shy to be photographed.

Today, I stayed fairly local.  It was not too productive in the bird department, especially at Mitchell's Bay south shore trail.  I thought I would see more than I did!  

These Forster's Terns were resting on the dock.

Later, I walked Peers Wetland.  The Bald Eagle nest nearby had mostly blown down in the recent wind storm.  There were young there, but hopefully they had fledged before the incident.

I continued on up to Reid CA for a long walk (3.8 km) on my usual route.  As usual, I mainly looked at plant life.  Here are some common examples.

Wood Anemone

Downy Yellow Violet

White Trout Lily

One that I never paid attention to before (it looks like grass!), is a type of sedge.  At the SFN banquet Saturday, there were plants on the table that were to be taken by a lucky winner at the end of the evening.  This was one of them, called Oak Sedge.  I knew what to look for.

Oak Sedge

Of course, the flowers of Harbinger of Spring have long since disappeared.  I did keep an eye out for the plant, and I found yet another spot.

There are other plants yet to pop up, so I will be keeping an eye out for them in the future.

Here is one tiny insect  I tried to photograph.  

The Spotted Pink Lady Beetle is native, and I used to remember lots of these when I was very young.  I hardly see then anymore!

A Few Early Spring Sightings

 I stopped by the south shore trail at Mitchell's Bay a couple of days ago.  I was hoping to see some early spring migrants, but it was rather quiet.  This trail can be quite productive for a variety of birds at times.  Even rarities, such as the Sage Thrasher I found in November 2021!

If one is not quick enough with the camera, this is what can happen:

American Kestrel with Tree Swallow

Most of the diving ducks have left the Bay, but Ruddy Ducks were in full force.  From what I could see, there were well over 3000.

After I finished here, it was warm enough to head up to Reid CA for a long walk.  Some of the wildflowers are starting to come out.  Of the millions of Trout Lily plants, I only found one in bloom!

There is a significant population the White Trout Lily here, but they were far from blooming.

Virginia Spring Beauty was out all over, and some insects were taking advantage.  I took this photo, and the bee comes up as a Spring Beauty Miner.

Another insect was possibly a Taurus Mason Bee, which is non-native.

Purple Cress is in full bloom in the wetter areas.

Most of the Dutchman Breeches were not out in bloom, but I did find a couple.

Squirrel Corn, a very similar plant is supposed to be here, but I have yet to find any.

There were several Greater Bee Flies roaming around.

The expected butterflies included Eastern Comma, Mourning Cloak and Red Admiral.

In the woods along the back field, I came across some old farm equipment left here decades ago.

Various frogs were singing this day, including Green.

On Wednesday, it promised to be very warm, so I headed down to Rondeau.  Not as many birds as I had hoped, but it was a good day.  I did quite a bit of walking, totaling more than 15 km.

The longest (and last) walk was well out marsh trail.  It was quite evident that there was an influx of butterflies, especially Red Admiral and American Painted-Lady.

Reports from all over southwestern Ontario revealed there was a bit of an invasion of these creatures.  The last huge invasion was 2012.  That was a banner year for insects and there has not been such an event since.  Time will tell what this year brings.

Common Green Darners were out in numbers as well.  (Although some show a lot of blue!).

Along the trail I kept seeing some flower flies.  Turns out most of these were Black-shouldered Drone Fly.

Some first-of-year birds included American Bittern, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Sora while out the marsh trail.

First thing in the morning I walked south point trail.  It was quite active, but nothing out of the ordinary for birds.

The "new" washout area is holding its own.  There is enough beach barrier to keep things dry....for now.

Birds in Eclipse Plumage (Day of the Total Solar Eclipse)

 Sorry, I had to think of a catchy title!

Today, I spent time birding in the Blenheim/Erieau area.  The park was booked to capacity with eclipse enthusiasts, so I could not get in there.  I would not want to be there anyway!

I started at first light checking out Keith McLean C. L.  We had rain overnight and the drizzle was just finishing when I arrived.  There was nothing really of note.

I then went over to Erieau and checked out the marsh (rail) trail.  The only thing of note were large numbers of Lapland Longspurs over the field.  We often get large numbers this time of year, and they often go un-noticed.

While in the area and with time to kill, I went over to McGeachy Pond, just a stone's throw away.  But this time, the sun had come out for a stellar day, much to the delight of eclipse watchers.

I walked the length of the trail, and on the way back I noticed quite a few birds on the move.  I ended up staying in one spot for about two hours!  There was just enough to keep up one's interest.  Steve Charbonneau soon joined me for the watch.

Lots of Lapland Longspurs were seen moving.  Difficult to say how many, but well over 200.  Some may have been circling the fields.

A number of first-of-year birds were tallied, including Caspian and Forster's Terns, Purple Martin, and Northern Rough-winged Swallow.

The vantage point had a good view to the north, plus the lake behind us.  A Marsh Wren was singing in front of us for most of the time.  Quite possibly a wintering bird there.  There was not much moving on the lake though.

After 2h 50m, I left.  But, just as I was leaving the parking lot, a Bank Swallow flew over.  Another FOY!

Here is a link to my list:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S167727102

There was time to kill before the eclipse, so I went to Sinclair's Bush.  Not many birds, but the location is known for plant life.

Then it was on to the Blenheim Lagoons.  I was at the lagoons yesterday, and there was the same mix of birds.  However, a large flock of Dunlin was flying east to the north.  About 60+ birds.  Another FOY sighting.

Although the lagoons would have been a good spot to view the eclipse (and there were a few people there doing so), I had the invitation to sit at the lakeside in Erie Beach.

I arrived in good time just as the moon was eating away at the sun.  Eventually it got darker and total eclipse happened!  Although I did not have the equipment to photograph the sun at totality, here are some cell phone photos.  It was one of the coolest events I ever witnessed!

Venus is visible to the lower right

It was interesting to see it get dark.  The breeze off the lake went down to nothing, and it became a little cooler.  A nearby American Robin acted as if it was dusk.

The hoardes of people along the lakeshore was mind-blowing.  Everyone in Erieau Beach was out in the their backyards to view the spectacle.  But, it was once in a lifetime event.  The last totality in our area was in 1924.  The next is scheduled for 2144!

In previous days, I walked out Rondeau's marsh trail for good exercise on Sunday.  Nothing of note birdwise.  The Eurasian Wigeon was still out on the Bay.  One of its American counterparts was close enough to photograph.

Saturday, it was another walk at Reid CA.  With the recent cool weather, plant life had still not changed much.  Mayapple is starting to pop up.

Other plants are peaking through. I think these leaves belong to Purple Cress.

I watched for Harbinger of Spring.  I carefully found a couple more colonies, bringing the total to nine.  Probably more around that I missed.  My photos did not turn out.  I hate cell phone photography!

Red Admirals came out that day,  I saw two in the yard.

I think the warmer weather is now here.