Early Thanksgiving Weekend Birding

Friday morning I headed down to Point Pelee as a brisk SE wind was blowing.  It was not overly strong, but the possibilities were there for a good Tip watch.  I much prefer doing lake watches this time of year!
I was the first to arrive at the Tip and noticed a good number of bonies moving south on the west side.  I was soon joined be Richard Carr (aka The Afternoon Shift) and we had a good time watching the lake.

Algoma Enterprise

At one point, Richard spotted a jaeger coming down the east side, somewhat distant.  As often is the case it was fast moving.

There were actually two jaegers and both chased a gull when they were directly SSW of the Tip.  We had good scope views, but trying to get any photos was difficult.  The two interacting with the gull would have been a good photo, but I could not get on them!

I was pretty sure the one was Parasitic, but left it as jaeger sp.  The other, after some analysis of photo at home, I put down a Pomarine.  When looking at jaegers, one should get a good look at the central tail feather (or retricies) which help in identifying the species.  They certainly were not Long-tailed Jaegers in any case.

All three scoter species were seen during this watch.  Black Scoters have put on a good showing so far this fall.

Surf Scoter at bottom

Things died out after a while so we headed back to the VC.

I then checked west beach trail for butterflies. There was quite a bit of overcast this day (even though the forecast said otherwise....), so butterfly activity was minimal.
I did however, come across my first and only Grey Hairstreak of the year.

I checked some other areas of the park for birds, but "land" birds were very scarce.  Winter Wrens were plentiful though.  Practically no warblers!

Blackpoll Warbler

Today, I headed down to Rondeau on a cold NW wind.  The lake was dead once again, so we moved on to south point trail.  Some warblers were hiding among the shrubs, including a late Black-and-white and Magnolia.
A Palm Warbler was in the mix as well.

A check of maintenance area revealed a few more birds.  Ruby-crowned Kinglets were certainly plentiful, as they often are this time of year.

A stop at McLean Conservation Lands added some more birds for the day's list.  A couple of Nelson's Sparrows were fun to watch.

The mudflat had some Semipalmated Plovers and a Greater Yellowlegs for shorebirds.  One has to wonder why we have not had a Hudsonian Godwit there yet this year!

This afternoon, I just wanted to go for a couple of walks north of Wallaceburg.  McKeough was first, then Reid CA.  Walking through the woods was nice today.

I came home along the Sydenham River.  Some shorebirds at the end of Charlemont Line included Long-billed Dowitchers and Lesser Yellowlegs.

Sunday calls for a strong SW wind, so you know what direction I am heading!

Take A Hike Day at Rondeau

It was down to Rondeau Park this morning under gloomy (as usual) skies.  Visibility was excellent though as we started with the obligatory lake watch at dog beach.
Not much was moving today.  A few Red-throated Loons and several Common Loons were seen among some Horned Grebes and ducks.  Bonaparte's Gulls numbered a paltry 3, not unusual for this fall.

On the trails, it was noticed that passerines had thinned out since last weekend as one would expect, but more sparrows were in.
My second visit into the campground revealed lots of Dark-eyed Juncos, and other sparrows mixed in.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet numbers had shrunk to less than ten this weekend.  As well, Black-capped Chickadees were reduced in numbers.

There were at least three Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers roaming the campground.

On my second visit to the campground, a large number of birds were in the centre of the grounds.  Goes to show how quickly things change in that locale!
Highlight was a flock of six Evening Grosbeaks chattering away in one tree.  Lighting was horrible, so good photos were impossible.

Over 100 Cedar Waxwings were working finding berries in the cedars and other places.


I tried in vain to spot a Bohemian.  One would think at least one would be around!  There is still time.

Sparrows were numerous too in this area.  White-throated, Field, Chipping and Fox were mixed in with the juncos.

I even spotted a White-crowned munching down a grape.

After leaving the park, I went over to McGeachy Pond dike, another must-stop for this time of year.  One has to work hard to spot birds in the thick tangles along the dike.  Things are always changing!

I did find at least two Common Yellowthroats and a Blue-headed Vireo.  They were quite active and impossible to photograph in the thickets.

I did briefly see the ass-end of another yellowish warbler which had to remain unidentified.

More Cedar Waxwings were along the dike. It was two years ago had a Bohemian mixed in here, but no such thing yet this year.
One waxwing had orange tail tips, which we occasionally see.

After wearing out the dike, I moved on west and decided to head over to Wheatley Harbour.  The number of gulls there was overwhelming (several thousand!), but I could only spot three species.  Likely Lesser Black-backed was around, but I did not see one.  And, not a single bonie!  They have been relatively scarce this fall in our neck of the woods (lake?).

In another month, we will amidst Christmas Bird Counts.....

A Visit to Middlesex County

On Sunday I took a tour of SW Middlesex County.  There are lots of pastures, unlike Chatham-Kent, that one can see some grassland birds.
Dickcissels were reported West of Strathroy over a week ago.  Unfortunately these birds picked a hay field that was due to be cut along Winter Drive.  One field to the north had already been cut, but a couple of birds were still singing.

I also came across another singing bird near the corner of McDougall and Sexton.
Grasshopper Sparrows are still fairly plentiful and I came across quite a few.

Upland Sandpipers can be found  as well.

After seeing the Dickcissels, I headed down Napier Road where singing Clay-colored Sparrows can be found.  They like a spruce plantation and are there every year.  I was not able to get any photos.

My first walk was at Clark Wright CA just SW of Strathroy.  It is a neat little place with a good variety of birds and butterflies.

The past few years a White-eyed Vireo has frequented the place, but this year, or at least recently, a Blue-headed Vireo has been there.

Breakfast!

Pine Warblers nest here as well, and American Redstarts are present.  I also came across a Blue-winged Warbler yesterday, but the lens of my camera could not find it!

Not far away is Strathroy Lagoons.  It is easily accessible to the public off Pike Street.  At times, it can be good for shorebirds.  A couple of years ago I found an American Avocet there, and it seems to me a Snowy Plover was there once in the past.
This day, a late Semipalmated Plover was there with 4 Semipalmated Sandpipers.

Very Distant!

After this stop, I zig-zagged back to the county line at Argyll and Watterworth Roads.  A piece of Crown Land here hosts Hooded Warbler and Acadian Flycatcher among other warblers of interest.
It was extremely windy, so I could not hear much.  A couple of years ago a Magnolia Warbler was here in the breeding season.

Red-spotted Purple, more or less!

I drove through Skunk's Misery as well and walked one trail.  The Mourning Warbler was still stuck singing a Common Yellowthroat song along Sassafras Road.

My last walk was at Wardsville Woods.  I like this place!

A nice butterfly in the form of a Baltimore Checkerspot was present.  In fact, I saw two of them.

I was home by noon, and in the afternoon took a walk through the woods at Reid CA where you can find some impressive trees.

Red Oaks

Bur Oak

Black Walnut

Sunday in South Chatham-Kent

Dawn at Rondeau

Rondeau and area was Sunday's destination.  I arrived in the park early and took a quick look at the ducks near the boat ramp in the park.  A couple days previous, Steve Charbonneau found a Eurasian Wigeon in the vicinity.  It is an annual thing to find one (and sometimes two) in this area.  Rondeau Bay is currently littered with ducks, so likely there are multiples!
Needless to say, I could not find it in the dull dawn light.

I headed down to south point trail to meet up with Jim Burk as we usually do on most Sunday's. Fewer and fewer birds are seen each week but we always hope for something of note such as a rarity or a late date for something.

A few Yellow-rumped Warblers were encountered and we did find two Orange-crowned Warblers not far apart.  That was it for warblers on that trail.  Even Orange-crowned is fairly decent at this date, although I have seen them a couple of times on a Christmas Bird Count.

A rather late Blue-headed Vireo was high in a tree.

We walked along the shoreline a bit.  As I mentioned before there has been extreme erosion along this section.

The trail used to be paved all the way around, but in the last 40 years or so much of it has washed away to perhaps several hundred metres back.

The White-throated Sparrows have thinned out but quite a few Fox Sparrows were in the park on Sunday.  Chipping Sparrows were scattered in a few locations throughout the park as well.

American Tree Sparrow vs. Chipping Sparrow

Our next walk was the campground.  The south end was rather quiet, but the north end was active with a variety of birds.  That is usually the case this time of year and into the winter.  There were several species of sparrows, several Brown Creepers and kinglets.  Ruby-crowned seemed to outnumber Golden-crowned on this day.

I came across an odd Cedar Waxwing. I first saw it in a Red Cedar feeding on the berries, then it flew down into some shrubbery to feed on berries.  It was noticeably pale.

Further analysis revealed it had some kind of lump on the chest.  Although it was actively feeding on various berries, no doubt it was unhealthy.

After the campground check, we split up.  I went to look at ducks off marsh trail, while Jim encountered a flock of birds at maintenance.  He found a White-eyed Vireo.  By the time I got over there, we could not re-locate it even though it was undoubtedly in the area.  I did not pursue it either.  That is one species that is overdue for the Rondeau CBC!

Another check of the ducks off the ramp finally turned up the Eurasian Wigeon. It was certainly far from the brightest individual I have seen, so perhaps that it why I missed it before.

The rest of the day was somewhat uneventful for finding birds.  Lots of Bonaparte's Gulls were feeding in fields.  I had Franklin's Gull on my mind, but never came across one!

I decided to go over to Wheatley Harbour since it was crawling with gulls.  Not a Franklin's there either!  Or Black-headed for that matter.
Lots of Grebes including one Eared.  As well, quite a few Common Loons were just offshore (I counted up to 40 close ones).

Ass-end of a Horned Grebe

I also saw that same Bonaparte's Gull again!

                                       
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This morning there was good light early so I headed out the door before 7 a.m.  I watched the river till I had to go to work.  Of note, 15 Sandhill Cranes flew over from Michigan to feed in the corn fields.  Various ducks headed downriver, but no Harlequin (!).

Tecumseh downbound Port Lambton