A couple of days ago, I headed up to north Lambton to look around. It continued to be extremely slow for birds! I had the notion to check out Forest lagoons first thing, spending the better part of two hours there. There was nothing of note, except a flyover flock of 28 American Golden Plover.
I concentrated on sparrows, but could not come up with some hopefulls such as Le Conte's or Nelson's. Habitat has changed there in the last year or so though, with denser vegetation and more phragmites.
A few Marsh Wrens were present.
I continued on to Ausable River Cut CA. I knew there would not be any birds, so looked at a few mussels.
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| Wabash Pigtoe |
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| Fatmucket |
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| Threeridge |
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| Deertoe |
Nothing of note was at Kettle Point either, so I headed back south. After a stop in Sarnia for shopping, I went to Moore WMA. The high water surge earlier this summer certainly left its mark. Back in July, I noticed a large oak tree that had fell perpendicular to the river bank just upstream of the causeway.
Well, this is where it is now!
It has moved a bit downriver and completely covered the causeway! Water levels highly fluctuate here, and this shows how powerful moving water can be. It is now totally impossible to cross the river. Amazing, the forces of nature!
I managed to find a few mussels here as well.
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| White Heelsplitter |
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| Fragile Papershell |
Yesterday I stayed fairly local. Very few birds at the places I visited. In the afternoon I took a walk around the back field at Reid CA. This time of year various asters are in bloom. I am no expert at aster ID, except New England, which is very common.
I photographed a couple of insects as well. One has an interesting name:
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| Eight-toothed Cuckoo Leaf-cutter Bee |
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| Bramble Mason Wasp |
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| Silver-spotted Skipper |
Today, it was down to Rondeau Park for some exercise! I did a short lakewatch at dog beach. The wind was not all that ideal, but we have been in a drought with appropriate winds for lake-watches, and I was anxious to for one. A few ducks were moving, including the first four White-winged Scoters of the season for me.
I then walked south point trail. Kinglets were the main attraction, but I did come across a nice little pocket of warblers at one point.
Feeling ambitious, I then walked out marsh trail to the half way point. I thought I would come across something of interest, but that never materialized....again!
Asters....
To finish the outing, I checked out Keith McLean C. L. Where are those Nelson's Sparrows this year?
Of interest today, an historic ship tow is in the St. Clair River as I write this. The Norisle, built in Collingwood in 1946 is being towed to Port Colborne for scrapping. It was one of the passenger ferries that ran from Tobermory to Manitoulin Island before 1974 when the Chi Cheemaun took over. It was steam-powered to boot!
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| post card view |
The Norisle became a museum ship in Manitowaning on Manitoulin Island after its retirement. It remained open for about 20 years, before it was closed due to deterioration. There were pipe dreams of restoring it back to service over the years, but who has tens of millions of dollars for such a venture?
Back in 1978, my father and I took a camping trip circling Lake Huron, and one of the stops was to visit this particular ship. Here is a photo of me on the top deck!
It is unfortunate this tow took place after dark, otherwise I would have gone out to bid it farewell. I guess we can say it will now be put out of its misery.
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