Some Long Walks and This and That

 Not really much to report recently, but things are coming along.  Did not have much to photograph the last few days!

Friday I spent time at Rondeau, but it was terribly quiet for birds, and the weather was not very nice.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

I did see my first Blue-headed Vireo of the year, but like most birds I encountered, it was not photogenic!

Saturday, I had the urge to head down into Essex County.  I did the long walk at Hillman Marsh.  Just the usual stuff, but one is always hopeful for something of interest.

I also visited Kopegaron Woods west of Wheatley.  I seldom go there, but it is sometimes a hotspot for birds.  Also good for forest wildflowers, although I did not take time to photograph much.  It was quite gloomy at the time!

Wood Anemone

I then spent an hour sitting at Wheatley Harbour, where there was quite a bit of action.  Only thing of note was an immature Little Gull that flew east with some Bonaparte's.

It was cloudy all morning, but by the time I got up to Mitchell's Bay, the sun was out and it was quite warm.  I walked the south shore nature trail.  A Bald Eagle was motionless in a tree the whole time, allowing a photo op.

Monday, was a calm sunny day, so I had to take advantage of it at Rondeau Park.  It was still very quiet for birds, but some first-of-years were tallied.  I walked about 6 km out marsh trail.  Rails are in, including Virginia and Sora.

I had hoped to come across a Least Bittern, but it was not to be!  Certainly some are out there.

Common Gallinules are in, and I encountered three.

One of the White-throated Sparrows posed quite nicely at one point.

Lots of American Painted-Lady were fluttering by.  This one appeared a bit faded though.

It was a day of long walks!  I figured I walked about 22 km in the park.  

I ended up going out south point trail west, and out the south beach as well.  A Piping Plover had been discovered out south beach, so I had to go take a look.  We kept our distance though, as always.

Yes, this bird was favouring its left leg.  Apparently that was noted in Florida, and it healed to some degree.  The bird seems to get around OK.

Most Piping Plovers we see are banded, so their origin can be traced.  This one apparently nested at North Manitou Island, Michigan (Sleeping Bear Dunes) last year.  It spent the winter in Florida.

They nested on the Rondeau beaches historically, and too bad that could not happen again.  There are too many threats out there in this day and age (mainly human).

As with many of these, they are given names.  Our current plover is a female, named LeVel.  Hopefully she makes it safely to a nesting site!

Today was uneventful for the most part, depending where one was situated.  So, nothing to report at my end!

While out south beach, I noted a number of freshwater mussels, as always.  The specimens here are quiet worn and bleached due to wave action.

Most were Fatmucket, which I alluded to before as the most common there.

I noted another, which is Wabash Pigtoe.  Not much of it left, but enough to determine ID.

Wabash Pigtoe is a considered a vulnerable species in Ontario.

Also, I might mention, that a few years ago I picked up a fossilized mussel.  I do not remember where now, but it was obvious at the time as to what it was.

Once we get through this current weather, things should really pick up by this weekend!

Showing More Mussel(s)

 I spent quite a bit of time at Rondeau on Thursday.  It was quite calm, at least on the east side, so it was good for lake-watching, not to mention walking through the woods.  I started at dog beach.  Most numerous duck was Long-tailed.  There were hundreds out there, many beyond scope range.  There are more out there than you think!

Horny Grebe

A number of Horned Grebes were floating around too.  

My hope was to see a Red-necked Grebe at some point, and I actually did!  In fact I caught sight of two from that vantage point, but too distant for a photo.

I checked out south point trail next.  Nothing earth-shattering, but more Fox Sparrows and kinglets were in.

I noticed a  few mussels at the washout beach....needless to say.

Eastern Pondmussel (species of concern)

One of the more common ones I find at Rondeau is Fatmucket.  This one below caused a bit of a controversy on iNaturalist as it was not the usual shape.

The "new" washout is just beach now.  Although I did not take a photo, the beach is fairly wide at that point, at least for now.  One would never know there was a road there!

Here is a scene of the erosion where the trail used to be.  It continues to erode.  One can always see the layers of time, so to speak.

Speaking of erosion, the other day there was an interesting article in the Chatham Daily News about a camp at the end of Kenesserie Road.  Camp Kenesserie, a church camp, has been in existence since 1903.  I had no idea!

The article concerns erosion of the cliff there and the buildings are in jeopardy.  Funds are being raised to move some of the buildings.  Here is a link to that article:

Camp Kenesserie Article

This is of interest to me as I was a camper there for a week in the summer of 1972.  I happened to save the shown item from that time!

I remember we had to name our cabin, and we chose "Canada".

That was not the only time I was there.  Back in the summer of 1969 (medieval age!), I recall staying a couple of days when my mother was assisting in the kitchen.  I remember the craft cabin and archery site.  Fox Snakes would hide in the hay bales!  Probably the first time I had ever seen a Fox Snake.

The buildings were WAY back from the shoreline then, and I recall a staircase going down to the beach.  One afternoon, when I was a camper there, we hiked the beach from Kenesserie to Palmyra, then back the highway.  Imagine that....we would be way out in the lake now!

Some wildflowers are starting to peak out at Rondeau, including Bloodroot.

And, Cut-leaved Toothwort.

Today, I was crazy enough to head north.  There were some clear skies, but I ran into several snow squalls.  I just needed to do something different.  Not much in the way of birds, so obviously I picked the wrong day for birding up that way.....again!

However, the sun was out when I stopped into Ausable River Cut CA.  

(old photo)

Usually there are never many birds there, and this held true today.  I wanted to look for mussels along the river's edge, as there are always oodles of them in one area.

There were lots to choose from, so I just picked out some select ones.  Three-ridge is quite common here.

         

Mapleleaf and Deertoe are here as well.

Deertoe

      

Fatmucket is common here it seems.  More normal in appearance than the "lake" specimens at Rondeau.

I found a couple of small ones, which I suspected to be Lilliput.  Sure enough upon examining photos at home, they were (!).

This was significant as they are rare in our area as alluded to in previous blog posts.  There is only one other record on the Ausable River.  

And, as you recall, I found them at Reid CA last week as well.  I have been looking at mussels for many years, and for whatever reason, this is the first year I have seen them.  Perhaps I have overlooked them before, but I do not think so.

They are typically small, usually being about 3 cm, as these ones were today.

Lilliput

It is interesting that this portion of the Ausable is a dredge cut, and there was never a river here.  Shows how things will colonize when given the chance.  The dredging was started in 1872.

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.