I visited Rondeau Park, but birds were rather few. As I mentioned earlier, I believe that many birds overshot the Lake Erie shoreline this year and birding has been better farther inland or farther north.
The park remains flooded in many areas with the only trails that one can wear shoes are Spicebush and the maintenance loop. South Point trail is completely flooded on the east side and ordinary rubber boots will not cut it! Hip waders would do nicely.
The sloughs are overflowing!
Friday morning I parked at maintenance and walked down Rondeau Road across Bennett and back up Harrison. The Eastern Screech-owl was back on Water Street at its leafy hideout.
No doubt more birds are yet to come as many breeding birds were not present in numbers. There were very few Red-eyed Vireos. Among other things, I have not yet seen a cuckoo! Unprecedented for this date for me.
Some flycatchers are in, but no doubt more are to show.
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| Eastern Wood-Peewee |
I found a variety of warblers in my walk, but not in any numbers. I did come across 4 different Prothonotary Warblers, one being way up Harrison north of the VC. This one has been there over a week.
Black-throated Greens I have found scarce this year.
An American Woodcock was along Harrison Trail.
Being rather discouraged, I left the park well before noon and headed over to Hillman Marsh. Things are always changing there, so it is worth a try. Unfortunately I did not see anything of note. The Little Gull and Wilson's Phalarope that were there in the morning were not to be seen in the shorebird cell.
Today, just like clockwork, it was cloudy and rainy. (I just copy and paste this phrase each week). I needed a change of scenery so I headed up to Ipperwash and Port Franks. It was far more productive than a visit to Rondeau! My first walk was at Ipperwash Dunes and Swales, a truly unique natural area.
The series of dune ridges and low swales create a nice habitat.
I found a good variety of warblers there, plus other birds. Sandhill Cranes nest here, and fresh colt was accompanying its parents. I was not able to get a clear photo though.
The best warbler here was a singing Connecticut in a thick area. Despite some effort, it did not show its face with bold eye-ring!
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was here and likely nests.
It was an enjoyable walk despite the cloudy skies.
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| Usually an Acadian Flycatcher here! |
Next, I moved over to the Lambton Heritage Forest at Port Franks. This is one of my favourite spots as it is a large tract of forest. I was not disappointed here.
Acadian Flycatchers breed here and I found at least 3 this day. They tend to be around concentrations of hemlock trees for some reason.
Hooded Warblers are regular here and I heard at least two. Normally there are more though.
I found a good variety of warblers, and in good numbers. Many were migrants, but a singing male Cerulean was likely a resident.
I got quite a ways down the trail when it started to pour rain. I found a large hemlock tree to stand under until the rain passed.
Red-eyed Vireos were quite numerous today. Yellow-throated Vireos nest here and I found at least five individuals.
It was a joy to spend a couple of hours here looking for birds despite putting up with weekend weather.
The third walk was at L-Lake trail. At the start, a singing male Hooded Warbler greeted me. Much farther along the NCC trail, there was another singing male.
Where the second Hooded was, an Acadian Flycatcher was present--in the same spot as last year.
One needs to know bird songs and calls to seek these things out!
The NCC trail parallels part of the trail system at the Heritage Forest along a meandering creek.
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| old oxbow |
A couple of benches are along the way, including this one. I remember Delmar Ellis from my earlier days in Lambton Wildlife.
By this time, there were breaks of sun, so I headed over to the Karner Blue Sanctuary. Here we have one of the best spots to find duskywings. It was not an ideal day, but I did find a few including Juvenal's, Dreamy and Sleepy.
At one point I likely had an elfin, but it got a way on me.
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| Sleepy Duskywing |
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| Juvenal's Duskywing |
Also, there were a couple of dragonflies, including Springtime Darner (our earliest mosaic darner).
Despite the weather, it was quite an enjoyable day in one of my (many) favourite natural areas.
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| Forster's (not Forester's) Tern |
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