Shorebirds, Sandhills, Skippers

Not wanting to go too far today, I headed up to Point Edward to take in the strong north wind.  It is getting to be "lakewatch" time at various points around southwestern Ontario.  It is early in the season so I would not expect much, but some jaegers will be moving.  Van Wagners had a couple today!
Point Edward on Lake Huron is a good spot on a north wind, although we do not get the volume or diversity of birds that they do at Van Wagners.  Some days can be good in the fall, but it seems that things do not show up like they used to.  Last year we had only one decent day with some jaegers.
I went up today anyway.  Lots of shorebirds were moving including quite a few Sanderlings.  Others included Least Sandpiper and Semipalmated Plover and some larger shorebirds I guessed as Long-billed Dowitchers (not sure though!).  Also a couple of phalarope species likely Red-necked at this time, although Red could be showing up soon.
A few ducks included teal species.

This afternoon I stopped at McKeough and noticed a large number of Common Buckeye butterflies.  Not sure why, but there were dozens there!

Also stopped at "Frog Pond"!

At Port Lambton I checked out the flower garden at Brander Park and found a large number of Peck's Skippers (~15).  Also one Fiery Skipper.  These along with Tawny-edged will likely be around until late September as they have in the past years.

A couple of Common Sootywings were doing their usual ground level patrols.

At Stewart Wetland, a Short-billed Dowitcher and a Stilt Sandpiper among a few small shorebirds were on the mudflat.  All were juveniles.  A Yellow-rumped Warbler was along the edge.  Still no rarity!  In fact there have been none anywhere!

Nearby in one of the cut fields (#2 location), 24 Sandhill Cranes were loafing about in the distance.

On to another week......again....

Usual Circuit

Stopped at Tilbury again first thing.  Fewer birds as the cell has almost dried up.  Only one Long-billed Dowitcher was present early morning.




At Point Pelee, a number of warblers (~10 species)  were at the Tip area including an immature Mourning.  The air was still and the lake was calm, so not much moving.

Butterflies along West Beach included another Horace's Duskywing and a Gray Hairstreak along the beach.

Pearl Crescents continue to be the most abundant butterfly.  Silver-spotted Skippers are still plentiful.

Only one American Lady today, but lots of Common Buckeye.  Tilbury Lagoons had lots of Buckeye today.

Lunch included the traditional Green Godess wrap from Cattail Cafe, then I checked Black Willow area for butterflies.  Nothing new.

I dropped in at Tilbury again on my way back just in case something else was different.  Fewer birds!  However just as I was about to leave, I noticed dowitchers on the little island in the big pond.  They were obscured from view earlier.  I headed back along the dike and counted seven.  They all appeared to be Long-billed.  Obviously they had to move to deeper water as the usual cell is almost dried up.

This is all the water that remains!

Early this morning I noted five Spotted Sandpipers on the driveway atop the dike.  I was hoping for Buff-breasted Sandpipers!  Strange that none have been reported yet.

Sandhills, Snipe, Shorebirds

A good number of shorebirds were at Stewart Wetland near Wallaceburg today. New for the summer there, believe it or not, was a Baird's Sandpiper and two Short-billed Dowitchers.  Lighting was terrible at noon with very strong winds, but several peeps and yellowlegs were present as well.
On the way to lunch I noticed quite a few Sandhill Cranes in the cut wheat fields.  Around 30 today in the fields I went by.

Baird's Sandpiper (right)

Without anything else to do this evening, I headed down to Tilbury.  New for me there was a Wilson's Snipe in the shorebird cell.  This cell is almost dried up!  Another day or so without rain it will be dry.  This has been an excellent spot, so I hope we do get some rain to replenish the mudflat.  Lighting was terrible for photos.


Also present were the usual 4 Long-billed Dowitchers (the only dowitchers present!), 4 Stilt Sandpipers and only one Baird's.  The other common peeps, yellowlegs, etc. were present.
Long-billed Dowitcher:






Five Black-crowned Night-Herons were around as usual.
Hopefully this weekend some new stuff will be around.  (i.e. Buff-breasted Sandpipers!).

Locations I have seen Sandhill Cranes near Wallaceburg: (trying something new here!!)

Weather Change

Late yesterday afternoon a storm quickly blew in with NW winds.  It is nice and cool today.  No doubt there was some exchange in birds.  More passerines are around today.
Without any destination in mind, I headed down to Tilbury first thing again this morning.  Not surprisingly, there were far fewer birds than yesterday.  Shorebirds were down to almost one third of yesterday.

Fellow blogger Dwayne stopped in and we were disappointed in the absence of the Red-necked Phalarope.  Only one Baird's present that I could see, and fewer dowitchers.  The trusty Long-billeds were still there though.

 Four Stilt Sandpipers (juvies) were present--likely all the same from yesterday.
No White-rumped Sandpipers here, but I thought I saw one yesterday.

Solitary Sandpiper

Even that odd Horned Grebe could not be found.
There will be good days ahead there--maybe a Red Phalarope will drop in like it did two years ago!
Bobolinks were on the move as some flew over Tilbury and elsewhere today.

I headed down to Erieau afterwards.  Hundreds of Common Terns around and some gulls including a first year Lesser Black-backed (not surprisingly).
I walked the R/R track trail and found a nice selection of warblers.  I had to stand under a thick canopy of trees since it started raining (must be the weekend!), but that was OK as I could look at the warblers.  Species included Tennessee, Yellow, Magnolia (2), Cape May, Blackburnian, American Redstart and Canada.  Other birds included Swainson's Thrush and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.
Over along McGeachy Pond dike, I caught sight of what was likely a Yellow-breasted Chat.

Someone needs to report some Buffies this week!

Many butterflies were getting some action yesterday!

Tilbury Puts on a Show (in more ways than one)

I did my usual weekend route (seems like a routine anyway) by stopping at Tilbury Lagoon then going on to Point Pelee.
I was at Tilbury by 07:30 and was delighted to find lots of birds!  First thing to see was a group of 40 Great Egrets.  Still no Snowy!!

Over at the shorebird section, there was finally a big number of birds to study.  Of note were 2 juv Baird's Sandpipers, 2 or 3 juv Stilt Sandpipers and at least 3 Long-billed Dowitchers among the 11 dowitchers present. There was no Red-necked Phalarope first thing, but on my return trip mid afternoon, it was there.  It had already been seen by other birders!  Always nice to see a phalarope!

Lots of shorebirds were there for a change.  Things may be looking up!

Long-billed Dowitchers

imm. Black-crowned Night-Heron

At Point Pelee I walked West Beach Trail south of V. C. twice.  It was getting too hot after the second time!
I saw two different Horace's Duskywings along the trail, then another along the beach edge.  A fourth duskywing farther south was around the Crown Vetch patch which led me to believe it was a Wild Indigo.

The butterfly situation was a bit mediocre today except for hundreds of crescents.  A couple of American Painted Lady butterflies were found, and one Red Admiral.

American Painted Lady

After my weekly fill of a Green Godess I stopped at the south end of Northwest Beach parking lot as usual and found a Gray Hairstreak.  This was only my second one of the year--the first being in mid May at Rondeau Park.

Gray Hairstreak

Birds included a handful of warblers such as Blackburnian, Canada and Yellow.

On the way home I stopped at Tilbury again and was delighted to see a Red-necked Phalarope.

Things come and go.  More ducks 'n things were present including a Horned Grebe.

Walking towards my car, I saw 3 Fiery Skippers in a cluster!  A male and female were in copula and another male was trying to get some of the action!

Slow Times

Caspian Tern

Things are still rather slow.  I have not seen much in the way of birds moving lately.  I checked out Tilbury S. L. last evening and found the same stuff.  A fair number of shorebirds, but nothing new. A good number of shorebirds have already moved through, but nothing in the rare category.
The usual Black-crowned Night-Herons were there, including this one which everyone seems to photograph.

A few egrets kicking around--I stayed until they headed out to their roosting site (where-ever that is!).

About 11 dowitchers were present with two or three being Long-billed.  This seems to be the only reliable place to find dowitchers in this neck of the woods.  If fact, I have not seen one anyplace else this summer.

Little happening at Stewart Wetland.  Down to four Lesser Yellowlegs today and the usual one Great Egret and a few Great Blues.  I faithfully check everyday....still waiting....
I did see an immature Black-crowned flying over the St. Clair River this morning at Port Lambton.
The first Wilson's Warbler of the fall was at Brander Park Monday morning.  I have not seen any other migrant warbler other than Yellow!
There have been some north winds recently, but nothing much to show for it.  Long-tailed Jaegers should be showing up by now!  Somewhere.
Saw lots of Five-lined Skinks at Rondeau on Saturday afternoon.  Even tiny ones.  This one is from the past:

August 13 Adventures

I made a big loop today starting at Tilbury Lagoons.  Nothing new there (again!).  There were about a dozen dowitchers present and three or four of those appeared to be Long-billed.  Only two Great Egret today, and those flew in after I arrived.  A female Northern Shoveler was different in the duck category.

I headed straight down to Point Pelee for butterflies. Yesterday Kevin McLaughlin and Bill Lamond had a Funereal Duskywing as well as Horace's. I managed to drum up two Horace's (worn) in the same general area as last week.  They always seem to be in the first 200-300m south of West Beach parking lot.  The only other butterfly of note was a fresh male Fiery Skipper.

I came across a huge Viceroy.  It was bigger than some Monarchs I have seen!

At least I found one of the Funereal Duskywings last year.  I thought that was pretty cool. (see sidebar photo).

Wandering Glider

No birds of note.  It has been very quiet for birds lately (or is it just me?).

At Hillman Creek there were several Great Egrets as usual.

Blenheim Lagoons was a bust (even for butterflies), but that was expected. No shorebird habitat.
I bypassed Erieau since there would be too many tourists in early afternoon as usual.

At Rondeau I did lots of walking. Just the usual butterflies and birds.
Tons of gulls (~3000) were on or off the east beach of south point, but of course nothing usual.  Some baby bonies were amongst them.

I stayed until dark as there was a Moth Night.

The slide show was interesting, but outside very few moths.  Not surprising as things are just plain slow right now!

Cylindrical Blazing Star at Rondeau

Sandhills

I found two Sandhill Cranes at Port Lambton yesterday (Thursday) and they were still present this morning.

There have been a lot of Sandhill Cranes near Wallaceburg this summer.  They seem to increase in numbers each year.  I am not sure of the origin of all these birds.  Some do breed on Walpole Island though.

Usually we get lots of migrants from the north in late October into November that feed in the fields west of Wallaceburg.
When I first started birding in the late 1980's, they were a rarity!  It took several years before I even saw one!

Eastern Tailed-Blue