Early November Novelties

The weather has been much too nice this week and not too many birds have been around or on the move as a result.
I checked out Rondeau and area and beyond, today and the list was rather low.

It was almost a year ago that we had several late or record late warblers at Rondeau, but this year even Yellow-rumped are scarce!

Blackburnian Warbler 7 Nov 2015

There was an Orange-crowned on south point this morning among a couple of Yellow-rumped.

Lots of ducks are around though.  The lakewatch at Dog Beach this morning revealed good numbers of many species.  It was apparently the most active day this week. Seven Common Loons were seen in one hour also.

Of course, Rondeau Bay is full of ducks.  At least two Eurasian Wigeons are around and possibly more given the number of wigeon. I did not look for them today.
Two Cattle Egrets were at Blenheim this week, but only one this morning.

Steve and I checked out part of McGeachy Pond dike as well.  At the parking lot, 2 Eastern Commas were flitting about.  One was extremely fresh!

Earlier this week, Jim Burk had a Yellow Warbler along the dike, but it was rather quiet today for birds in the wind.
Perhaps things will change if the weather ever gets more seasonal!

Being only mid-day at this point, I wandered west and looked at the Cattle Egret along Mersea Rd. 21.  It had smudging on its right face, but not on the left.

I recall seeing one here a couple of years ago.  It is always worthwhile to check any paddock or pasture where horses or cattle are present.
Four, discovered by Sharon Nethercott, were at Lucasville east of Sarnia earlier this week as well!

I checked out Hillman Marsh shorebird cell while in the area.  A total of 18 Wilson's Snipe were in the weeds.  A Killdeer, 6 Dunlin  and a Greater Yellowlegs rounded out the shorebird numbers.

During the day, there were lots of Orange Sulphurs, a couple of Clouded Sulpurs and Cabbage White, as well as a couple of Monarchs.  One Monarch was at Hillman, while the other was at Rondeau.