Finishing Out April: Some Nice Birds

 It was down to Rondeau again on Sunday where I added some more first-of-year birds.  However, the weather left something to be desired.  Lots of rain!  In fact, it was certainly more than the forecast called for.  

Later on, Steve and I started out on Spicebush trail and the floodgates (not the bird kind) opened up when we were less than half way around.  Needless to say, we headed home after that!

Solitary Sandpiper

Monday was a nicer day, and I was back to Rondeau to make up for lost time.  After walking Spicebush trail, I did the long walk down Rondeau Road along Gardiner and back up Harrison.  Not a lot of birds, but enough to keep one interested.  Some first-of-year were added.

Included were two Whip-poor-wills.  They happened to be trailside as I walked by, and they flushed.  The one did not go far, so I was able to get a photo.

While I was in group campground, an alert came out that a Summer Tanager was near Tulip Tree trail (TTT).  Since I completely missed that species last year, I HAD to go for it.

It took a while to get there, since I had to get back to the car and drive down that way.  It was soon found on TTT, alerted to us by its singing.  Unfortunately, I could not get on it with the camera, but we had good looks.

The only thing I could photograph there was this Pileated Woodpecker on the ground.

Next walk was down the west side of south point trail with Kevin.  Just a smattering of birds here and there, but lots of Wood Thrushes had come in.  

This one posed for us quite nicely.

Of course, the invasion of American Painted-Lady and Red Admiral continues.

At one point we encountered this small snapping turtle.

Lots of plants coming up, and for whatever reason, I photographed this Rattlesnake Fern.

Today, I intended not to go too far, but as fate had it, I did!  I started at the south shore nature trail at Mitchell's Bay, thinking there would be lots to see.  There was not.  The only new for the year was a Least Flycatcher.

The Snowy Egret that I found and reported on the 27th was still around.  I first saw it way off in the distance in a tree, as this little white dot in the photo shows.

It later came closer, but still not the best position.

After finishing the trail, I pondered what to do.  The Glossy Ibis was again seen near Hillman Marsh, so I decided to go for it.  While on the way, a Harris's Sparrow was reported within Point Pelee.  So, you guessed it, I ended up at Point Pelee too!

The ibis was in its place when I arrived, but a little distant.

It took flight at one point.

Ibis silhouette

I then checked out Hillman shorebird cell but nothing of note was there. It is always a crapshoot, but at least they finally drained some of the water.

Upon arrival at the VC in Point Pelee, I headed to the parking lot where the subject sparrow was being seen.  It was still there.

The rest of the morning was all walking.

Red-headed Woodpeckers are quite plentiful right now.  One wonders where they all go!

Lots of American Ladies and Red Admirals again.

And, Juvenal's Duskywings are having a good year in Pelee for whatever reason.  I counted eight on west beach trail between Dunes and NW Beach.

Quite a few Questionable Marks too.

Last highlight of the day were the 24 Willets on the beach at Wheatley Harbour.

Then it was time to head home, viewing flooded fields.  Down that way, there was a tremendous amount of rain....again!

Sunday: Good Birding and An Irritating Ibis

 Yesterday the weather finally got its act together and it was a fine day for birding at Rondeau.  Once again the winds were no good for a lakewatch, so I went directly to south point trail.  Lots of birds were around to sort through.

Yellow-rumped Warblers were quite numerous once again, as one would expect this time of year.

Lots of Palm Warblers were mixed in as well.

A Chestnut-sided Warbler was a decent find, but did not come close for a decent photo.

White-throated Sparrows had finally arrived in numbers, but I found no uncommon sparrows.

A Winter Wren posed at one point.  I always found these guys difficult to photograph!

It was a good day for raptor migration with a stiff WNW wind.  I noticed a Red-shouldered at one point, and lots of Sharp-shinned Hawks were moving west.  At one point I saw a large accipiter which I decided was a Northern Goshawk.  We do not often see them, but they do pass through in small numbers.

Later, there were lots of raptors to see at Keith McLean C. L.  Turkey Vultures were having a good day!

After an enjoyable walk on south point, I headed up to maintenance area and the north end of Harrison Trail. While along the maintenance fence, I got an alert on Discord that a Glossy Ibis was at Keith McLean C. L.  Damn, I wanted to spend lots of time in Rondeau while there were lots of birds on a rare nice day!

Luckily I was not far away, and arrived at the place in short order.  An ibis is always a must-see!

The ibis was still on site but in the distance.  It was an juvenile type, so really not obvious to species at that distance, even though finder listed as Glossy.  

My camera was no match for the distance.

I do not think anyone could tell for sure what species it was at that distance.  A digiscoped photo suggested Glossy, but I was not sure, nor was anyone else.

At one point it got up for no apparent reason and circled for a few minutes, then landed back in the same spot.

Meanwhile, some other local birders had arrived and saw the ibis circling.  Included were Garry Sadler and his son Jeff.  With camera in hand, Jeff got some flight photos which were pretty decent even though highly cropped.  I am posting them here with permission from Garry.

An immature ibis (either White-faced or Glossy) can be difficult to ID at times.  Also they can be highly variable, and as well there are hybrids!

I recall reviewing one on the OBRC, and we could not determine species.  It went down as Plegadis sp.

The White-faced will show a red iris, not seen in Glossy.  The juvenile's eye can show subtle differences, but often will not show red (in White-faced) until later in the winter.  The ibis at McLean's seems to be dark, which suggest Glossy, but again it is a young bird.

One must look at the facial skin.  The juveniles can be very similar in both species, but turns reddish in White-faced.  Our bird is dark, but both species can show this at this age.

Another feature is the lining of the facial skin, which can be a very thin, very light blue in young Glossy.  On Glossy, it is on the upper and lower edge, but not around the back of the eye. There is a hint of this on the upper edge in our bird (see photo above).  As well, there is no indication that the lining goes around the back of the eye.

Leg colour is another feature to study.  The legs in our bird are not helpful.  They are certainly dark, but both species can be dark at this age.  The legs are brighter red in White-faced of older birds.

Our bird is indeed a tricky one to ID.  I think it leans towards Glossy (which I would prefer...lol.... since we had a White-faced there in the spring!).  The face seems to be the best feature here.

I suppose some "experts" should weigh in on this bird.  But, we may not know for sure the species of our bird.

In any case, an ibis is always a neat bird to see!

Blue-winged Teal at McLean's

Fog 'n Blog: May 17 Birding

I arrived at Rondeau Park early this morning in dense fog.  Not many new birds had come in and birding was not all that exciting today.  Most of the birds were along Lakeshore Road, but that is not the best place to get out and look for birds.  Elsewhere in the park it was very quiet for birds.
Bennett Road was virtually abandoned in the early morning!  Our only highlight was a close view of one of the Prothonotary Warblers--too active for photos.

As usual, we checked south point trail first thing.  A Hooded Warbler was singing along the way and that American Tree Sparrow was still hobbling around.  More Canada and Wilson's Warblers were evident.
The haunting calls of unseen loons on the foggy lake added to the atmosphere.


Bored by 10:30, I headed over to Hillman Marsh.  I met up with Adam Pinch and we checked out the shorebird cell.  Some fog was rolling in and out making visibility difficult at times.  We moved over to the westerly side where things were better-seen. We joined Jean Iron who was taking one last look at shorebirds before returning to Toronto.

The Glossy Ibis was feeding, as well as the two American Avocets.

distant Avocets

Ibis with two Avocets

Twice the ibis took off, but eventually came back.

Birds kept coming and going with hundreds of Black-bellied Plovers with many Dunlin.  Some Ruddy Turnstones and Short-billed Dowitchers were mixed in.


We spent considerable time there as birds kept changing.  Soon it was time to move on and we went over to the area where rails were being heard.  We did not hear any such rail today, but certainly did hear a Least Bittern.
Shorebirds were still flying over and when we got back to the parking lot, and that was likely when the reported Whimbrel flew into the shorebird cell!

On the way home I checked in on the Yellow-headed Blackbirds.  As I mentioned before, things are always changing there and one never know what may show up. One has to keep looking!

Weekend Birding-The Last Hurrah

Not much in the way of numbers of birds this weekend.  Quite disappointing actually.  This has certainly been one of the poorest May migrations I have seen.  Horrendous weather and very few birds.  There were some good rarities/uncommon birds here and there, but it would have been nice just to see volumes of birds.  Scary thought actually.
Rondeau was rather dead yesterday and today as one birder put it, a funeral.  Lots of gulls are around Rondeau and Erieau, but nothing special.  Only one Little Gull has been seen all month.  Yesterday some Whimbrel showed up at Erieau which were nice to see.

Today I headed down to Point Pelee to see what was going on at the Tip.   Some good flocks of Whimbrel went by and lots of gulls.  There was some reverse migration which is always interesting, but nothing too special.  A Northern Mockingbird flew off as well as a couple of Red-headed Woodpeckers.
Shorebirds new for the year included a group of Sanderlings.

Warblers were scattered here and there throughout the park.  I had about 18 species, and still no Cape May!

I decided to stop at Hillman Marsh on the way home.  Lots of Dunlin and some Black-bellied Plover.  Also a large group of Semipalmated Plovers (at least a dozen). 
While scanning, two Glossy Ibis landed in my field of view!  With the sun the way it was, the greenish irridescence stood out.  They started moving to the other side and by the time I decided to take a photo, they were quite distant.

Obviously there are more birds to come, but I guess the bulk of the birds have gone through.  One would think that there would be some record late things to come with the crazy weather we have had.

More butterflies are now appearing with the warm weather.  Also had a Question Mark on De Laurier.

An Ibis to end the day!

I started at Rondeau Park this morning.  Once again there was dense fog and rather few birds.  Seems to be a trend!  One had to work hard again to find pockets of birds.  Most warblers were directly above major sloughs.  I did not add anything new there today.

With some time left in the day and a need to check on the boat at Port Lambton, I made a quick stop at my favourite hotspot, Brander Park. I walked to the NE corner beside the woodlot to look at the wet spot in the field.  There is just a small opening in the treeline and I noticed 3 Dunlin, 3 Least Sandpipers and a Solitary Sandpiper.  Usual stuff.  I then pished a bit and in came a flock of about 15 yellow-rumped Warblers plus a Palm and a female Scarlet Tanager.  It seemed a bit surprising to find that many Yellow-rumped because I think I only had about 6 in all of Rondeau this morning!

I took one last look at the shorebirds, but moved a little closer so I could see the whole wet area.  Holy ****!  An Ibis was just to my right!  I took a good look to see that it had dark legs and a dark eye, dark facial skin, etc.

Unfortunately I did not take the camera out of the car, so I ran back to get it and return to take some record photos.  I could only get so close without spooking the bird.
The only other Glossy Ibis here I know of is one that John Lamey had at the Lagoons just across the field quite a number of years ago.

As my workplace is only two minutes away from Brander Park, I check this place regularly throughout the year.  It is a good migrant trap at times and an amazing number of birds stop here.  I keep a list which includes the park and anything I can see from it plus the lagoons which are directly behind the woodlot.  My best bird here was a Virginia's Warbler on May 14, 2003.  The Glossy Ibis brings my list here to an even 200 species.

Some photos from Rondeau this foggy morning.