Adventures In The First Week of April

 Some days were nice, but some days were just plain frigid!

Last Friday I started at Mitchell's Bay.  There was a brisk southwest wind, but a good movement of birds was noted.  Forster's Terns had arrived in numbers.

There were lots of ducks, but most notable was a big movement of Northern Pintail into the wind.  A conservative estimate was 275.

There was not much opportunity for photographing things, but this Northern Harrier passed by at one point.

By the time I left, some turtles were coming out to warm out in the sun.

In the afternoon, it was just too nice not to go for a walk at Reid C. L.

Plants were starting to pop up through the leaf litter, including hepaticas.  I have only found Sharp-lobed there though.

In the onion family, Wild Leek was just making an appearance.

And, of course I kept an eye out for Harbinger of Spring.

I only saw two garter snakes, and they were both together.

I walked randomly through the forest, but I came across that old pop can that I first found almost 15 years ago!

Came across this moth, called a Wedgling.

Walking along the river, I noticed this beaver swimming across.

Saturday was a rainy day, so not much went on.

Sunday, I went to Rondeau and walked various places.  I got some first-of-year birds, some of which were long overdue.  Included was Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

Along the way, I noted this twisted tree.  I have seen it before.

Before leaving, Steve and I looked for the Eurasian Wigeon.  We found it off the yacht club.  Remarkably, I set up my scope and first look I had the scope dead on the wigeon!  Strange how that happens!

On Tuesday, I checked out the St. Clair River from Port Lambton to Sombra area.  

A river watch at the Port noted a good movement of gulls and terns northbound into the cold north wind.  Lots of Bonaparte's Gulls!

Yesterday was sunny but very cold.  I needed a long walk, so went out Rondeau's marsh trail about 4 km.  

Lots of Fox Sparrows out there.

There were still thousands of ducks on the Bay, but I did not bring a scope for the walk.

Gadwall

Still not done, I walked the length of south point trail (west).  

There were lots of Eastern Phoebes along the way.

Any oldtimer would remember the Dillon trail (was even drivable!) that connected each side of south point trail in the middle.  This photo shows where it came out.  One would never know it today.

Before leaving, I took a quick look at the Bay off the yacht club.  I had no problem picking out the Eurasian Wigeon with binoculars!  Too far for proper photo though.

Today started out rainy, but the afternoon was actually quite warm and sunny.  As you might guess, I went for a walk at Reid C. L.

Several butterflies were out including commas and cloaks, and my first-of-year Red Admiral.

Some flies and bees were out, including this (possible) Horn-faced Mason Bee, which is actually an introduced species.  Note that it is on Harbinger of Spring!

Birds included a few Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers.

And even a Common Raven croaking its way around the property!

Some other plants just appearing included.....

Cut-leaved Toothwort

Dutchman's Breeches

Looks like lots of rain in the coming week, but hopefully the birds will keep coming!

More Rondeau Visits and Middlesex Meanderings

 Tuesday it was down to Rondeau Park once again.  It seems like the best option for long walks and looking for birds and other things. The St. Clair River is useless this winter and there is not much around Wallaceburg.

I headed to south point trail first thing.  A rain cloud came over just after I started walking, but it did not last long.  I was on the trail to the light beacon when a light rain fell.  It produced a rainbow, as seen in the current header of this blog.

The sun soon came back out for a nice day.

While on the trail, an Eastern Towhee was calling in the underbrush.  We had not encountered one here recently, so I do not know where it came from.  I ventured slightly off trail to look at it, but that was a mistake.  Black-legged Ticks are in full force!  I picked off at least five from my pantlegs.  Not doing that again!  We never used to worry much about these ticks, but in recent years they have exploded in population it seems.

Later, I walked all of Black Oak trail.  Here is another common lichens.

Common Greenshield Lichens

Another, I think is Bark Scribble (the little black marks).  Lichens is not a popular subject on iNaturalist, so I am not sure.

A visit to Rondeau is not complete this time of year without walking the campground.  I finally came across the wintering Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.  It moved around quite a bit, so was difficult to get on.

Only two regular Yellow-rumped Warblers were encountered.  The Audubon's is likely still lurking around.

One last walk was at Keith McLean C. L.  Nothing of note, but shorebirds will soon be appearing.  A Turkey Vulture was lazily soaring over during my visit.

Nothing to report on Wednesday.  A large branch came off the Silver Maple in the yard, which had some lichens on it.  A common species, the Star Rosette is quite interesting-looking when one gets up close.

Thursday was another nice day, so it was back to Rondeau.  I walked marsh trail to half way point.  Nothing new, other than a few more Song Sparrow arrivals.

There were lots of ducks on the Bay.  Before leaving the marsh trail, I scoped from the dock.  It took only a minute to get on a Eurasian Wigeon male!  It is quite possible there is more than one on the Bay, but this one was I assume was the same one spotted by the Pye brothers on Tuesday.  It was just too far for a photo, as one can see from this useless photo!

Mussels always catch my eye, and of course there was one at the dock.  Another Fatmucket, which seems very common at Rondeau.

Today, I had to do something different.  I went as far as Strathroy and checked out the sewage lagoons.  This site is easily accessible to the public with no permit required.  Too bad others were not like this.  It is a superb birding hotspot.

Oodles of ducks here, most being Ring-necked.  Upwards of 200!

A number of Northern Shovelers, early for the locale, had already arrived.

Some Yellow-rumped Warblers winter here in the back woods.  I encountered four today.

Along the back dike, I encountered some Dark-eyed Juncos.  One stood out with a defined hood and crisp breast line.  I suspected it might be of the Cassiar type.

Juncos are highly variable and can exhibit characteristics of the different subspecies.  The Cassiar type include the subspecies cismontanus which are normally found in the Rocky Mountains.  There are numerous records in Ontario and the midwest.  However, they are quiet variable in appearance.  Basically it is a cross between Oregon and Dark-eyed Junco.  This one may be approaching that type.

After the lagoon visit, I headed back west and checked out the Winter Line area.  A pair of Common Ravens were croaking in one pasture.  These are not rare anymore in Middlesex and Lambton!

I worked my way home via Skunk's Misery, and walked my favourite trail off Sassafras Road.  Unfortunately this trail was decimated earlier last year by some unnecessary dredging.  However, it still can be a good place to walk.

The spoils brought up some interesting creatures.  Tiny molluscs called fingernail (or pea) clams can be seen. This one appears to be Striated Fingernail Clam.

Also some ramshorn snails, another tiny creature, are here.

Later, driving through the misery, I got lucky and saw a Golden Eagle.  Although they regularly winter in the area, sometimes they can be missed.

Next walk was at Wardsville Woods.  The morning had been gloomy, but thankfully the sun came out for this walk. It was almost warm enough for butterflies, but I saw none.  The only insects were various flies.

This Red Squirrel posed for a bit while I was there.

Weather deteriorated the rest of the day, so nothing to report after Wardsville.