A Little Blue This Week

 It has been an interesting week.  Certainly the star of this week was the Little Blue Heron near Kettle Point.  It was found by James Holdsworth on Saturday.  I was not able to get there until Tuesday morning.

To find the bird, it was not the easiest walk, as the last bit was through a wet marshy area past the end of the Fuller Road allowance.

I had to go, since it was a new county bird for us!  Indeed it is the first documented record for Lambton County, but I am told that Dennis Rupert had one at Canatara Park a long time ago.  I could not find any documentation of that bird though.

I found the subject bird upon my arrival at the lake edge, but did not get really close for a good photo.  It was more important that I just got a look at the heron.

It has been a good year in Lambton County.  The heron was the third new bird for my Lambton County list this year!

After that adventure, I went on up to Ipperwash Beach and looked at the lake for a while.  There was not a lot moving, but two distant jaegers were the highlight.  Simply too distant to positively ID, but most certainly a Parasitic.  The wind was not good anyway for there, but one has to look!

Wednesday I was at the museum, then late afternoon went to Sarnia, as there was an LWI meeting that evening.  Before the meeting I spent time at the park near the Marina at sunset.

Yesterday, I went down to Rondeau for a lakewatch.  As usual, there was nothing of note.  Lakewatches have been terrible this year!  The weather has been too nice I suppose.  Lots yet to come from the north.

A stop at Keith McLean C. L. revealed some shorebirds including a couple of Long-billed Dowitchers, Pectoral Sandpipers and of course Killdeer.

Today was a different story.  I had the urge to go into Elgin County for a change.  I first walked the Storey wetland at John E. Pearce P. P.  Quite a few birds on the move in the clear and crisp morning.

Continuing east, I stopped briefly at Port Stanley lagoons.  While there, I decided to go to Hawk Cliff since it is not too far from there.

I had not been to Hawk Cliff in many years!  I used to go at least once every year.  I had some good days there in the past.

Even though there was a bit of a NW wind, it was surprisingly quiet for migrating raptors. Those that did come through were quite high.  There was a good variety of raptors, lots of Purple Finches and other small birds moving through.  Some Common Ravens were also seen.

I was hoping for something like an American Goshawk, but that never materialized (stay tuned).

Scene along the road

On the way home I went for a walk at Wardsville Woods, but it was very quiet for birds.

This evening, was quite nice so I watched the back yard for a bit.  Good thing I did, because......an American Goshawk went through!  Go figure.  A first for here, needless to say.