The Floodgates Open

 Well, not for birds, but rain.  Although it has been patchy for the amount of rain in certain locations, around Wallaceburg we have had a crazy amount of rain.  The last couple of days, fields have been flooded, streams overflowing, and rivers raging.  It did not seem like a lot of rain, but obviously it was.

One needed to wear rubber boots to walk any trail.  At Peers Wetland, Otter Creek was backflowing into the wetland!

Gulls liked the wet fields around here, with hundreds last couple of days taking advantage of the situation.  I did not look too thoroughly at the gulls, as they were way out in the fields.  At least one Little Gull was around Port Lambton yesterday.

We are finally seeing a good movement of birds after a very quiet winter.  A couple of days ago I took advantage of the sunny day and toured around Rondeau.  We saw the first Yellow-rumped Warblers of the season in various locations.

Some sparrows have arrived, especially yesterday (Tuesday).  

Field

Eastern Towhees have shown up as well.  This one at Port Lambton did not co-operate for the camera!

The other day I checked out the south trail at Mitchell's Bay.  Numerous Great Egrets were in.

Still lots of ducks on the Bay, and Ruddy seemed to be the most numerous.

Horned Grebes are plentiful in some locations.

It has been warm on some days, and wildlife has been emerging.

I missed the big push of early birds at Rondeau yesterday, but hundreds of kinglets and juncos topped the list.

Today, at the last minute, I decided to go to Rondeau.  I met up with Steve at the marsh trail where we saw dozens of flickers migrating north, among other things.  We had over 60 in an hour!  Lighting was no good for photos today though.

There were still lots of juncos and kinglets, but obviously yesterday's birds had moved on for the most part.  A couple of the first Ruby-crowned Kinglets of the year caught our eye.

I stopped by Keith McLean C. L. before heading home, and left there just before a heavy storm rolled through.  Nothing of interest, but water levels are very high.

Several Tree Swallows were competing for nesting boxes.

An Osprey has shown up there recently.  I was too far away for a photo.

Looking forward to days ahead as time creeps by.

Rare Rondeau Spider