Late April Sightings: Shorebirds, Grebes and other Things

Migrant birds have been trickling in the last few days.  The weather (yes it is a hot topic!) has not been ideal with torrential rains all over the province.  Wallaceburg received an insane amount of rain early Friday morning and things were flooded and overflowing.  Farmer's fields were turned into hundreds of small lakes, and places like Peers Wetland were flooded to the point the trails was inaccessible.

Friday morning I found an early Least Sandpiper at Stewart Wetland.  The water levels had finally been drawn down creating excellent shorebird habitat.  However, after the ridiculous amount of rain, more pumping will be needed!

At my usual morning station in Port Lambton, I spotted a Red-necked Grebe on the St. Clair River.  Too far for a photo though.  They are quite rare in these parts!


Saturday morning I headed down to Rondeau quite early.  I got there in time to hear my first Whip-poor-will of the year.  Things were very quiet in the park for birds today though.
I braved south point trail (very similar to last year with the flooding).  Solitary Sandpipers love it though.

I spent quite some time checking all the usual areas in the park and only came up with about ten Yellow-rumped Warblers, and FOY's of Northern Waterthrush (2) and Black-throated Green Warbler (1).
The Clay-colored Sparrow from last week was still around, hanging out with a multitude of chippies.

An early Gray Catbird was beside maintenance, likely the first of the spring.

After wearing out the park, I decided to head out, but that was when Jim Burk found an Eared Grebe at Erieau.  Next stop!  We had not seen one since 2017 in the area, so it was a nice treat.  It was rather distant for my camera though.

Also at the pier was a young Glaucous Gull.

While there, eleven Willets came in to bump up the year list.  They blended in well with the rocks they were perched on!

I had heard that some American Avocets were at Hillman, so I just had to head that way.  Upon arrival, I counted 24 of the beauties.

Apparently numbers varied thoughout the day, and some were seen just outside the park.  Even a Stilt Sandpiper was along Road E from what I heard.  They are rare in spring migration.
The Marbled Godwits of the previous day were long gone.....as usual.

I met some friends while there who were also taking advantage of the birds present.

Things can only get better from here (hopefully the weather as well!).