Halloween Birding

I decided to go to Point Pelee today, as Rondeau was somewhat disappointing yesterday and I did not foresee much change.  Ran into some terribly dense ice fog this morning south of Wallaceburg which lasted until almost Pain Court.  Must have come off Lake St. Clair.  Good thing it ended as I was tempted to just sit at Pain Court!

Lots of stuff was at the Tip first thing, but it dropped off very quickly.  A good number of
Bonaparte's Gulls, but that was it.  A few Horned Grebes and Common Loons were swimming around, but no rarities.  Things were desperate enough we tried to make one Horned into a Western!
The only warbler was a Blackpoll at the Tip.  (Yellow-rumped farther up the park).

I was with Marianne and Alan, so we went up to De Laurier to watch for flyovers.  More Pine
Siskins and Purple Finches.  Lots of Cedar Waxwings today.

Nothing much really, but later I went back down to West Beach Trail to look for...whatever.
I managed to find six species of butterflies--ones you would expect this time of year.  Buckeye was most numerous (~10).
A few Giant Green Darners were flying plus one Autumn (?) Meadowhawk dragonfly.




Along the way I watched for hawks, and they seemed to have started to move.  There were quite a few, mostly Red-tailed plus Red-shouldered, Cooper's and Sharp-shinned.  I even saw one juv Golden Eagle.

I decided to go back to De Laurier since there were hawks.  More Red-tailed plus a Rough-legged.  I also went down to the old maintenance area and looked for sparrows.  While there I had a Northern Goshawk (imm.) fly over among other things.  Eastern Bluebirds were around plus Blue-headed Vireo.

On the way home, I stopped at Tilbury Lagoon just for curiosity.  Just ducks and grebes (1 Horned and 3 Pied-billed) plus 2 Great Blue Herons.

 Near the mouth of Baptiste Creek there was a Great Egret.  Most have left as it was the first one I have seen in a while.

It is going to be warm for a few days, so not much movement with regards to birds. Perhaps some rare flycatcher will pop up this week.  We need some good birds down this way rather than at Hamilton or Ottawa!! (not for lack of trying).

Stick Together!

Gray Catbird

As I expected, there was only a fraction of the birds from yesterday.  It was a clear night and many birds took advantage.  I met Jim Burk at Rondeau Park for some birding at first light.
There were still lots of birds to look at.  There seemed to be more Pine Siskins and Purple Finches flying around.  The only different warbler from yesterday was a Black-throated Green, but we only saw Yellow-rumped, Nashville and Orange-crowned today.  Perhaps 4 O-C's.

Different birds from yesterday included a juv Red-headed Woodpecker and 2 Indigo Buntings.  The latest I have seen IB's at Rondeau is October 24, so getting late!

We split up after the park and I went to Erieau, while Jim went to Blenheim Lagoons.  As Jim walked up the bank, he caught sight of a juv Sabine's Gull!  He said it flew off right away though.Yah right!! Heard that before.... After a cell phone call, I arrived within ten minutes, but it was nowhere to be found.  Others arrived and we watched for over an hour to no avail. As it often happens, when you split up, your friend will see something good.
This will be only the second Rondeau area record.  One was seen off Erie Beach 15 Nov 2007 by S. R. Charbonneau.
Bonaparte's Gulls were hap-hazard all over the place flying in every direction and many on the lagoons. However, not as many as yesterday.  There were far fewer Ruddy Ducks as well.
Several hawks went over including an immature Bald Eagle and an Osprey.
The Red-necked Phalarope was still present.  Perhaps it will mimic the Wilson's from a year ago and stay a while!?!  The latest Red-necked date for the Rondeau area is 28 Oct 1966 by Keith Burk.
In other news, a Dickcissel was observed at Charing Cross yesterday by Dale Wurker.  A late Yellow-billed Cuckoo was on Rondeau's SPT yesterday just after I left!


Some butterflies were out today.  Lots of Buckeye with the deep red undersides.

Monarchs, Eastern Commas, both sulphurs and a lady species at the lagoons.  Likely an American Lady, as I had one at Port Lambton this afternoon.









Also at Port Lambton was Red Admiral and a rather late female Fiery Skipper (latest I have seen one).

Cave Swallows next weekend?

More Photos from Pelee

Although birding was very slow this weekend, some birds were plentiful such as Blue Jays and Double-crested Cormorants.  Thousands of jays were attempting to head off the Tip.

Cormorants were coming in droves. Sunday morning a big feeding frenzy was off East Beach.

Black Walnut trees are producing a bumper crop this year. In the campground all you could hear were walnuts hitting the shelter roofs or the ground.

Some more butterflies:
Silver-spotted Skipper

white female form of Orange Sulphur

Today, I just went for a walk at Rondeau and then checked the lagoons.  Again things were quiet, but at least there were some passerines to look at (compared to Pelee).  A few Yellow-rumped and Blackpoll were around, and a single Black-throated Green and two female Black-throated Blues.  The lone vireo was a Blue-headed.  Lots of Brown Creepers and both kinglets were in.

At Blenheim I found the lagoons full of Ruddy Ducks.  Perhaps 450?  A few yellowlegs were in the sprinkler cells.

Butterflies included a worn Viceroy (getting late) a Bronze Copper, a couple of Fiery Skippers and numerous Buckeyes.  Many of those were the dark form, or Rosa form. The underside is reddish.  These were very active and would not pose for photos!

Monday Report

Well, not much of a report.  The weather was just too nice to ignore, so I went down to Rondeau Park.  I saw a few warblers including several Black and White.  Others included Blackburnian, Tennessee, Bay-breasted, Northern Waterthrush and of course American Redstart and Yellow.  Also I heard a Yellow-rumped.  One good flycatcher included Olive-sided.

Common Buckeye

Monarchs have finally appeared in good numbers.  Many were nectaring on Cylindrical Blazing Star in the dune area. There were lots of Tiger Swallowtails and Question Marks.  Northern Crescents were in big numbers, especially on Harrison Trail.  There were "flocks" of them!  Buckeyes were very numerous. Not surprising considering the number saw yesterday.

Tiger Swallowtail

Question Mark

Spicebush Swallowtail (worn)

Sweltering Sunday

Yet another unbearably hot and humid day without rain!  For more than the last week and a half the weather forecast has called for a chance of rain each day.  Still is has not rained.  Useless forecasts!  I did get a brief downpour just north of Chatham on the way home from Erieau though.
Buckets of Buckeyes were at Erieau.  I thought there were lots at Blenheim S. L., but I counted at least 85 along the McGeachy Pond dike at Erieau.  Most I have ever seen in one brief walk!  They were all fresh.

Hardly any other species.
No camera this afternoon, but if you have seen one Buckeye, you have seen them all!
At Blenheim S. L. there are still lots of shorebirds, but the pond 1 is almost dried up.  Different from previously was a Wilson's Phalarope.
No Ruff yet, but there was one at Grand Bend S. L. on Thursday.  It was a one day wonder found by Alf H. Rider.  Along with it were 5 Red-ecked Phalaropes.
This morning I checked some spots north of Wallaceburg, but nothing unusual.  Interesting was a moulting male Scarlet Tanager.  It is not often we see them like this, as they seem to change quickly.

I did see two more Sandhill Cranes west of Wallaceburg this morning.

Thursday at Rondeau

Took a walk along the dunes of south point trail this morning, and a bit out Marsh Trail.  Cylindrical Blazing Star is quite abundant this year.  I even found some of the white form. 

Some butterflies were nectaring on it.  Most were Monarch.  Monarchs were fairly abundant today.

Several Buckeye were around in various states of repair or disrepair.  I saw one Little Yellow along the trail as I walked back.

Little Yellow

There were a lot of gulls along the beach.  I should have took time to sift through them, but lighting was not good as it usually is early in the morning.  A number of juvenile Bonaparte's Gulls were amongst them.  At least a dozen, probably more. 

Little Gulls were probably around, as they are fairly common this time of year.
At Blenheim Lagoons, the shorebirds have left!  I did eventually see 9 Greater Yellowlegs and a single Short-billed Dowitcher.  Quite a change from the weekend.
Butterflies there included a Little Yellow...no surprise....a dirt butterfly this summer!

Spot-winged Glider