Mid May Things

 Looks like the weather has finally smartened up!  We still had winds with an easterly component until yesterday, but it was SE.  It was warm for a change!

Been making trips to Rondeau every couple of days.  This is the first year since I cannot remember that I have not camped at Rondeau during May.  The weather has been the pits, and it has just not been convenient to do so.

Monday was a nice but cool day at Rondeau.  

There was a good variety of birds and was quite birdy in some spots.  I ended up with 95 species.

Blackburnian Warbler

I did get some first-of-year birds including Olive-sided Flycatcher (my favourite flycatcher) and Mourning Warbler.

Along the trails, I check out known spots for rare plants such as Goldenseal.

In the evening while relaxing on the back porch, some birds came in to the yard including a nice Canada Warbler (a FOY!).  My camera has been malfunctioning on occasion lately, and this was one of those times!

Tuesday, I stayed close to home and it was not too productive birdwise.

Wednesday it was back to Rondeau and we found an excellent variety of birds.  It was good in some areas of the park.

I opted to check out marsh trail first thing and went all the way to log pond.  Unfortunately, it sprinkled rain most of the time, and was not as birdy as I had hoped.  I needed the exercise in any case!

It is always worth a check though.  Sparrows along the way included Savannah and White-crowned working the trail.

By the time I finished, the sun was coming out for a gorgeous day.  I did a lot of walking again, and birds did not disappoint.

Magnolia Warbler

Saw my first Philadelphia Vireos of the year.  They are my favourite vireo.

It was nice to talk to familiar faces along the way.  Some we only see during the May birding season!

This time of year I always keep an eye out for Showy Orchis in a known location.

Today it was a change in scenery.  I wanted to check out some grassland birds towards Strathroy.  One has to travel some distance anymore to see these birds on territory in numbers.

I first went to a spot that had both Clay-colored Sparrow and Grasshopper Sparrow among the other grassland species.

The clay was a bit far as it sang atop a tree.

Next target was Upland Sandpiper (now rare in Ontario), and two were visible right away upon arrival in typical pose at a known location.  Unfortunately, I was looking towards the sun, so they were terribly backlit.

They used to be easy to find in the pastures in south Lambton north of Wallaceburg, but farming practices have changed all that.

With those out of the way, I headed down to Skunk's Misery since it is on the way home.  Seems many birds have yet to arrive as it was somewhat quiet.  However, it was quite pleasant there even though a few mosquitoes are now out.

Flowering Dogwood (imperiled in Canada) was obvious in many spots.

First walk was Sittler (no relation to Darryl) Woods, where I checked off Acadian Flycatcher singing for pizza (!).  Hooded Warblers were also there, but I never came across a Cerulean Warbler.

Cinnamon Fern in the woods

After driving some roads, I walked a familiar trail off Sassafras Road.  A fair number of birds were there.

Juvenal's Duskywings are out in full force now.

Last stop was Wardsville Woods, which was not too productive.  I did see a Giant Swallowtail for the first time this year, but it kept going!

I will be looking forward to many stops there later on in search for insects.

This afternoon I needed a walk at Reid CA.  Juvenal's Duskywings were plentiful.  In fact, it is the best crop I have seen in many years there.  Did not bother to photograph any.

Silver-spotted Skippers were even more plentiful, as I had more than 25.  Very flighty though.

A Grey Comma was in the field and not too photogenic.  

I saw my first Monarchs of the year at Reid today.  They were even less photogenic!

lol

I was just not successful in photographing any butterflies today!

With the holiday weekend approaching, we should see the greatest variety of birds along the trails.

Blues, Valves, Odes, Moccasins, Birds

 Now that the month of May is almost at an end....already (!) I have been looking more at insects.  Some days have not been all that good as we have had excessive amounts of rain.

This past Sunday, I went for a long walk at Hillman Marsh after looking at the shorebird cell.  Nothing of note in the shorebird department, but it was worth a look.

Sandhill Crane

Lots of Least Skippers were along the dyke.

Among the thousands of Eastern Forktails, some Skimming Bluets were seen.

Monday was a rainy day to start.  I wanted to head up Sarnia way to look at some things, but I had to take my time waiting out the rain.  After it stopped, and was still cloudy, I walked Dow Wetlands.  A decent bird in the form of a Sedge Wren was singing in the grasses.  It was a first-of-year bird for me, not all that common around here.  But, we do get the odd ones sticking around to nest.  Too distant for a photo though.

Nearby I found this rather large leech enjoying a puddle.

I then took a chance to go for a walk at Blackwell Trails park, an old dump site within Sarnia.  Luckily, the sun had come out by then so that I could look for the rare Silvery Blue.  All I was seeing were duskywings, likely Wild Indigo.  Perhaps Columbine as well, but they were too fresh to know.

After considerable time, I caught site of one Silvery Blue, but it kept going out of sight.  I persevered, then, right on the trail I found one nectaring on White Clover!

At least I did not have to go off trail and collect some ticks like in past years!

This is the only known site in Lambton for this species.  They are more common farther north.  The  only other Lambton record is of a couple along McCallum Line back in 2014.

With so much rain, Red Cedars are rusting!

Juniper Rust (fungus)

Tuesday was another rainy day, so I did not do much, but got some things done at home.

Wednesday I decided to give Rondeau one more go before May ended.  It was actually a calm and pleasant day as I checked out various places.

I walked along the beach off south point trail hoping for some decent gull.  It is a good time of year for Laughing or Franklin's or even a Black-headed, but no luck there.  However, there were up to seven Little Gulls.  All were first cycles except for one adult.  For some reason I never attempted to get photos!

Various mussel shells (mussels are sometimes called valves), were along the beach.  Just some plain old mussels.

Plain-pocket

Ducks included a single Bufflehead and a single Long-tailed, both of which are lingering later there.  I only got on the Long-tailed too late....

Some late warblers, but not unusual, were a singles of Tennessee, Canada, and Wilson's.  I found up to seven Blackpolls as well.

One has to ask where are the cuckoos?  Not a single one.  Also, Red Knots seemed to have fallen off the map anymore.  Another one I remotely hoped for.

After Rondeau, I decided to head over to Wardsville Woods to look for odes.  Unfortunately, clouds rolled in as I approached, and then the rain started.  I waited it out for a while, then went for a walk.  The sun never came, but I did see a few odes.

Pretty sure one was a Cobra Clubtail, then a couple of Midland Clubtails, a couple of Twelve-spotted Skimmers, Widow Skimmer, Common Whitetail, and Eastern Pondhawk.

The female  Twelve-spotted was missing part of one wing, so it was really a Ten-spotted Skimmer!

I did find one Double-striped Bluet.

A spreadwing caught my eye, which may be an Amber-winged.  It is somewhat uncommon and I have never seen one.  I did not know it at the time, so did not get all the photos needed.  Nobody on iNaturalist is brave enough to even comment on it, so that has not been helpful.

It was disappointing due to the crazy weather, but of course the sun came out as I drove home!

Today I headed to north Lambton.  I had the urge to walk the L-Lake trail and adjacent NCC trail.  There were not as many birds as I had thought there would be, but it was a decent walk.  

Up to five Acadian Flycatchers (not unusual there) and a Cerulean were singing among others.  Highlight was a singing Connecticut Warbler, remaining unseen.

It was too early in the cool day for odes, but I did see a couple Aurora Damsels.

A Chalk-fronted Corporal was at the start of the trail.

I decided to go farther north and check out the Klondyke Sports Park. Recently a Northern Mockingbird was found here, so I wanted to see it!  I could not get one anywhere else yet this year, so this one had to do. Not the prettiest one though.

They are certainly not as regular as they used to be.  Been a long time since I have seen one in Lambton.

Also here, a Grasshopper Sparrow seemed to favour the tennis court fence area.  They likely nest across the road (Clay-colored Sparrow has been here in the past as well).  Seemed odd it was hanging out in a groomed multi-use park.  Perhaps it was desperate for a mate.

Not finished for the day, I next went to Ipperwash Forested Dunes and Swales for  a walk.  With all the excessive rain this spring, I knew to wear boots!  The Cedar Trail was flooded in about seven spots, some areas quite deep.

A few Racket-tailed Emeralds were flying.  I never realized how common these are everywhere until recently.  I find them in most suitable places.  Even saw one at Peers Wetland earlier in the week!

A basking Blanding's Turtle caught my eye at one point.

Pink Moccasins (Pink Ladies Slipper) are quite common here.  I did not realize how common, but then I am not usually here at this time of year.  I saw dozens of plants.

It was a cool, but pleasant day on a light north wind.  The mosquitoes were not bothersome at all!

Speaking of north winds, they often push such things as kites to the Lake Erie shoreline.  Go figure, a Mississippi Kite was photographed at McGeachy Pond this morning!

Sparrow Spotting

 On Saturday, I ventured up to Forest Lagoons to check the birding scene.  The previous day, James Holdsworth found a LeConte's Sparrow, so that was a good reason for me to be there. I had not been to Forest in some weeks!

I arrived soon after first light, but a Sarnia birder had already gotten ahead of me.  I soon joined Deryl Nethercott and we carefully scrutinized the sparrows.  There were lots of them!

After about an hour, I spotted an orange-coloured sparrow and thought it was a Nelson's.  Could have been, but I never had a thorough look.  A few minutes later, Deryl spotted a bright LeConte's Sparrow!  We followed it a bit, but then lost it.  Meanwhile  I put out an alert for other birders. Soon, many arrived in search of the furtive sparrow.

We found it again and followed it around.  My photo is highly cropped.

It was obvious there were at least two LeConte's, as the one I did not photograph was not as colourful.  A furtive as they are, there could be more out there.  Who knows if we saw the same one James did the previous day.  They are out there, you just have to dig them out!

The Ammospiza sparrows are my favourite.  I have seen quite a few LeConte's over the years, both in spring and fall.  They are attractive indeed.

spring bird at Rondeau

The similar Nelson's shows more gray.  As you know, Keith McLean C. L. is the premier place to find them in recent years.  Multiple birds there are fairly easy to find in the fall.

We also have the Henslow's Sparrow.  I have seen a number of them in spring migration at either Point Pelee or Rondeau.  True to their nature, they are difficult to find, as they can crawl through grasses like a mouse.

They have almost been wiped off the map in Ontario, especially as breeding birds.  However, their secretive nature may be a factor.  This past summer, a couple were found in Chatham-Kent, perhaps due to the extra effort during the first year of the Breeding Bird Atlas Project.  One pair was actually successful in nesting!  I never got a photo of any of the ones in C-K, but did see the birds at both sites.

The Grasshopper Sparrow is another declining species, obviously due to habitat loss.  There are still quite a few in Lambton and Middlesex, but try and find one in Chatham-Kent in the breeding season!  We always see them in spring migration at Rondeau to some degree, but there is no nesting habitat nearby.

Lastly, Baird's Sparrow, a severely declining species, has been recorded only once in Ontario.  That is a story in itself, as Steve Charbonneau and myself happened to be in the right place at the right time to get in on this sighting.  (See the post on our epic trip to Rainy River!) Rainy River Trip .  

It was early July 1996 in Rainy River district and our trip coincided with John Lamey being there.  John found the bird on July 2, the day after our arrival.  We saw it for four days before we left.  I never had a proper camera at the time, so I drew a quick sketch for my OBRC report.  I remember on one of the days seeing it perched on a wire fence.