The past four nights I camped at Rondeau (place of choice for this time of year) as I usually do this time of year. At least it cuts down on travel time in the car! I never took many photographs though, but always had the camera on hand.
The weather was reasonably good with sunny days, except Thursday which was cloudy, cool and windy. A bit of rain late in the afternoon dampened things. Most rain, which was little, came at night.
Birding was generally slow for the most part, and there were not as many birds as I had hoped. However, it is what it is and one makes the best of it!
Monday morning we started early on south point trail. Some new birds had come in. Highlight was an immature Little Gull flying by the washout.
I saw my first Prothonotary Warbler of the year on Tulip Tree trail. It afforded close-up views! (Hence a new header photo for this blog!).
Although a female, it was nice to see.
I ended up with 94 species for the day in the park.
Later in the afternoon, I took a jaunt over to Keith McLean C. L. Highlight was a Willet, but probably not Willie the Willet.
In the evening, conditions were excellent to walk out marsh trail (ended up with 50 species). I found it a bit quiet, but added Least Bittern (6) for the year's list. Some Sora were calling, but no Virginia Rails were heard.
As usual, hundreds of swallows were heading back to the marsh to roost a dusk. Difficult to count, but most seemed to be Bank.
I stayed out till dark, but oddly, no Whip-poor-wills were heard at the north end. Are more to come?
Tuesday I was up bright and early. I counted eight Whip-poor-wills along Lakeshore Road down to south point trail. It ended up being a quiet day, although some new birds had come in. The only new bird for the year was Gray-cheeked Thrush.
Plants are doing their thing. One of the more abundant forest floor plants is Canada Mayflower. Not quite in bloom though.
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| Maidenhair Fern |
As I was crawling in the tent for the night, a Black-crowned Night-Heron flew over, calling incessantly. Other birders in the campground noted it as well, as shown on their eBird lists!
Wednesday was a good day, where I surpassed 100 species in the park. Added for the year were only two, including Eastern Wood Peewee and Wilson's Warbler.
More White-crowned Sparrows had come in. One would think a Harris's Sparrow might pop in with them!
Later in the afternoon, I walked south point east trail. Not many birds, but for amusement I looked at some reptilian creatures!
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| Five-lined Skink |
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| Dekay's Brown Snake |
Also some leps.
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| Eastern-tailed Blue |
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| Spicebush Swallowtail |
While out there, word came in that a Ferruginous Hawk was found at Port Crewe by Brandon Holden. It caused a flurry of activity by birders, as expected. I really had no ambition to chase after it, so stayed in the park!
Thursday was a gloomy day. With the traditional east winds for this time of year, the east side of the park was not desirable. Steve and I walked south point west trail. Once we got to the beach, we decided to keep going out south beach!
Shorebirds included Least Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Dunlin, Semipalmated Plover and Sanderling. Later in the month is better for shorebirds out there.
A lone Long-tailed Duck kept going up on the beach. It looked Ok and seemed to fly well, but we wondered about it.
On our way back, word came in that the Ferruginous Hawk was found again, closer to Port Alma. With few birds in the park and nothing else to do, I took a run for it.
It was well out in the field when I arrived, but scope views afforded satisfaction. For all it is worth, here is a photo!
Needless to say, it was a 'lifer' for many, or at least an Ontario 'lifer' for others.
On the way back, I checked out Erieau marsh trail, which was somewhat birdy.
I walked Tulip Tree trail upon returning to the park. It was quite birdy, with numerous warblers. Included was a pair of Prothonotary Warblers. This time, the male was point blank in front of me. Unfortunately, I did not bring the camera along!
A late Winter Wren was singing, but in the past they have nested in the park as I recall.
Later in the afternoon we had light rain, so not much happened.
Today, Friday, was another sunny day. We started at south point trail where a few new birds had come in. However, not many. There were lots of Cape May and Chestnut-sided Warblers.
I later walked Harrison Trail south from Bennett to the old group campground. It was actually quite pleasant with lots of birds. While in group camp, word came out that a Swallow-tailed Kite had made an appearance over pony barn!
It was not far away from me, but I never saw it. There is an open area in group camp where I watched the sky for some time, but it never passed my location.
Later it was briefly seen at dog beach, but several of us never did see it despite standing vigil there for some time afterwards.
The bird must have been moving quickly, as it (presumably) was seen in west Chatham-Kent not long after. I have yet to catch up with one in Chatham-Kent. Been close a couple of times!
Generally speaking, there are lots of birds yet to come. Most flycatchers have yet to arrive for example. This coming week should give us lots to look at, although the weather may be something to be desired.
Will be spending more time at my place of choice next week.
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