April Anomalies (April 28)

It was down to Rondeau Park early this morning as usual.  Speaking as usual, the weather went for a crap just in time for weekend.  Look for nice weather come Monday, as usual.
It was slim pickings again with only one Yellow-rumped Warbler in 4.5h.  Rather crazy for this time of year!  There are more birds farther north actually.  Pine Warblers are on territory.  Lots of Yellow-rumped are around. For example, I had at least 22 at Reid CA yesterday in less than half an hour, while Steve had none in over six hours at Rondeau!

Reid Remnant

This morning however, I did hear an Ovenbird sing on south point trail.  It remained unseen, but I will take it.
The trail is just as flooded as last weekend, but that was not unexpected with this cool damp weather.
I birded with Larry Cornelis and Steve Charbonneau, making the usual rounds.

Jeepers Creepers (where are the birds?)

The most common duck off SPT was Long-tailed.  There have been quite a few this spring.
Lots of White-throated Sparrows were in this morning.
Not much else to say about Rondeau today!

On the agenda today was to head to Wheatley Harbour and Hillman Marsh.  Upon arrival at Wheatley, two cold Willets were on the beach. 

Yesterday there were almost sixty there!  I did not stay long as it was unbearably cold in the wind.  I wish it was January since we had better weather then!

Next stop was Hillman Marsh shorebird cell.  This time of year lots of things come and go there, and today was no exception.  Upon arrival about 35 American Golden Plover were in the cell.  Eventually they took off, leaving 8 or 9 Black-bellied.

Four Sandhill Cranes came in at one point, shuffling the deck of terns, gulls and shorebirds.

Lots of Greater Yellowlegs and a few Lesser Yellowlegs were in as well.  A few Horned Grebes were swimming around.

Over 200 Dunlin were present.

After about an hour and half shivering in the cold, I left for the warmth of the car.  I checked areas in the old Dover Township near Mitchell's Bay.
Some luck was still with me, as I came across a small flock of  (7) Yellow-headed Blackbirds.  These were at the corner of Marsh Line and Big Pointe Line.

They have not made it to Angler Line as many of the locals have been checking.  However, Thursday evening I was along Angler and the shore trail and heard one out on Ticky Tacky Point.  There was no wind (unusual anymore) and I could hear for long distances. 

Still the odd Snowy Owl around.  I saw two today-one at Prairie Siding and one of the lingering ones along Angler.

That area remains a great birding spot with lots of things coming and going.  After sunrise or just before sunset are the best times.  I often like to stand at the parking lot of the shore trail on Angler at sunset and watch for birds.

Point Pelee Saturday Stuff

It was time to visit Point Pelee again.  Today I headed out early towards Leamington and the first item on the agenda was the reported Eurasian Collared-Doves on Seacliffe Drive.  A pair was on the wire right away, so I barely stopped!  Due to the position I was in, I did not bother to get a photo.
A pair was along Point Pelee Drive last year, so who knows if this is the same pair that returned to the area. There are not many records of Ontario, but a few are scattered around.  There have been three appearances for Rondeau Park (only the first one documented in 2003), for example.



That was a good start to the day as I headed into the park.  I walked directly to the Tip as there was a stiff SW breeze blowing.  I was the only one there for the first 1.5 hours!  Nothing rare showed up, but the potential was there.
The only shorebird species was Sanderling (one was a flyby).

An Osprey headed over to Pelee Island at one point.  A year old Little Gull flew by as well.
After a while, I got bored and headed towards Sparrow Field.  I met up with Josh Vandermeulen near the tram loop.  He had also seen the collard doves this morning, and apparently five minutes before I did!

I ran into a nice flock of birds at the north end of Sparrow Field. Several warbler species including Cape May, Bay-breasted, etc.  Quite a few of the birds were in a shaded spot, so photos quality not good.

female Cape May

I decided to head back to the Tip as some other friends were just arriving for a Tip watch.  Lots of goldfish and wax cedarwings were flying off the Tip today (lol).  At one point, Josh spotted an American Golden Plover flying overhead, heading west.  A Rock Pigeon came along later to round out the dove list for the day.

After a while, it was time to head up the west side to look for butterflies.  I walked with Steve Pike and Lindsey Valliant. Once again, there were not many butterflies, but we looked at everything along the way.

At one point, Steve saw a female Velvet Ant.  I had never really looked at those before, but it is a type of wasp.

The female is wingless, looking like an ant, and is rather hairy.  It can give a powerful sting.  This species parasitizes larvae of ground-nesting bees and wasps.

Continuing on, the call of Greater Yellowlegs caught our attention along the way, and we saw a group of 15 heading south along the shoreline.  Not many shorebirds seen today.

I broke off from the group after that walk and checked out the cactus trail. Lots of goldenrod there and many insects.  A couple of Cape May Warblers and some flycatcher including Willow were feeding.

Cicada Killer!

I stopped at NW Beach as usual and found a Fiery Skipper for the day.  Also 3 or 4 Buckeye there.

Hillman Marsh was the next stop.  I was the only one in the whole place!  I wanted to walk the shorebird cell dike.  I found at least 20 Peck's Skippers, but unfortunately nothing else of note.

Looks like a bit of rain tomorrow, but maybe it could make for some good birding!

Spring Fling at Pelee

One of dozens of Sapsuckers

As one might have expected, the floodgates opened overnight and migrants poured in!  Birds were everywhere this morning as I birded with Chris Law, Steve Pike and Steve's girlfriend Cassandra.  And yes, I saw a Chipping Sparrow!  Dozens actually.  All kinds of sparrows all over inc. Fox, Savannah, Vesper, and juncos too.

Savannah Sparrow

Eastern birds such at towhee, meadowlark and phoebe were everywhere as well, not to mention Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers.  Creepers and Golden-crowned Kinglets worked the lower areas of the woods.  Hermit Thrushes arrived too, and so did a few Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Many birds were reversing including the blackbirds, Eastern Meadowlarks and Northern Flickers.
Swallow-types included many Tree, a Barn and a Purple Martin or two.
It was nice to see numbers of birds after a long winter!

The Tip area was a abuzz first thing despite the strong SW wind.  Difficult to hear anything at times.

For the afternoon shift, Richard Carr and I walked Woodland Trail.  We noted three spring Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Several Winter Wrens were popping up here and there.  At one point a rare Woodland Duck made an appearance.

Later I headed over to Hillman Marsh and found lots of shorebirds.  A good spot was the dead end of 'A' (Rd 20) where at least 80 Pectoral Sandpipers were working the mud.  I also spotted 3 American Golden Plovers there.  Several gulls plus a Caspian Tern were on the mud as well.

Over near the entrance of Hillman were more Pectoral, Dunlin, Wilson's Snipe and both yellowlegs.  I walked to the shorebird cell and several ducks were in plus yellowlegs. At the wooded area it was loaded with kinglets and I spotted another Yellow-rumped Warbler.
More shorebirds were seen from the bridge along Mersea Rd. 2.  Over 100 Pectoral Sandpiper were around today!

Strangely, I did not come across a butterfly today!