Monday morning I was due for another long walk at Rondeau Park. I chose the marsh trail and ventured out to Long Pond.
There were lots of ducks as one would expect, but nothing special. Mallard was most numerous, but there were also lots of Northern Pintail and American Wigeon. No new arrivals in the songbird department.
Like everyplace else, phragmites is a serious problem, and some places are getting choked out. Even the Long Pond sign is getting obscured!
A view from Long Pond trail.
A few pairs of Sandhill Cranes are already thinking about the nesting season.
After finishing at Rondeau, I headed over to Erieau to see what was on the Bay. Thousands of ducks are now littering that body of water, so there had to be something of interest. The previous day, a male Eurasian Wigeon was found not far off the firehall area. This species is a regular visitor every spring and fall here.
I first checked out the marsh (rail) trail, bringing my scope along. There were not many ducks close, but at one point I caught sight of four wigeon in flight. They were quite distant, but the lead duck was none other than a male Eurasian! I followed them until they set down quite far away. I was sure the duck could be found from the viewing area behind the firehall.
I quickly went there and set up the scope. Soon, several other birders arrived to scope the ducks. Oddly, after more than a hour, none of us could find the suspect duck! Viewing conditions were excellent, but obviously the creature can hide well. It is very early in the season, so there are lots of chances to see this species going forward.
Tuesday, I stayed fairly local, but did not find anything of interest. I noted lots of ducks on Lake St. Clair, but I did not have a scope on hand. It was a very balmy day! A good afternoon to do some yard cleanup.
Wednesday morning I went for a walk at Peers wetland. A scary-looking creature was on the trail. It was very small though!
A Digger Crayfish was on the prowl. It probably came out the day before in the very warm weather. This species is considered vulnerable by the NHIC. I regularly see many of their mud mounds, but rarely see them.
Wednesday, I headed up along the birdless St. Clair River and ended up at Sarnia. Quite a few gulls were around Sarnia. I only saw one Glaucous and one Iceland of the white-winged variety. It was certainly not a winter for white-winged gulls in our area! Let alone other things. It was too cold and windy, so birding was by car.
Today was very cold and windy again, so I stayed home for the most part. Early morning I braved the elements and went for a walk at Reid CA. I spent some of the time looking at lichens, even though Reid is not a good place for that subject it seems.
I was inspired yesterday when I picked up a new book on Lichens.
It came out last year and was written by Ontario native R. Troy McMullin. Not that I needed another book, but this one I could not resist! It is an excellent resource with good photos, range maps, and everything one would want to know about each species.
Looking at lichens is a whole different ball game, but there are so many different types and interesting species. One really needs a macro lens to photograph them, something I do not have. However, something else to do while walking through the woods.
Here are a couple from today, followed by some others from the past.
 |
| Common Greenshield Lichens |
 |
| Candleflame Lichens |
 |
| unknown |
 |
| pixie cup species |
 |
| rosette sp. |
.jpeg) |
| Common Script Lichens |
 |
| Speckled Blister Lichens |
No comments:
Post a Comment