Some Recent Arrivals/Sightings

 It has been rather wintry the last few days, but spring arrivals are trickling in.

A few days ago, a couple of early Blue-winged Teal were at Roberta Stewart Wetland.  Earliest spring migrants I have seen.  Unfortunately, just as I was settling in, a Bald Eagle came in and flushed everything!

Down at Erieau, I finally went to see the Lesser Yellowlegs that came in a few weeks ago in February.  It likely wintered not too far away since it was so early.

Nearby, the Whooper Swan was having fun in a small pond.  Certainly an impressive-looking swan, but any seen in Ontario are escapees.

Horned Grebes have been arriving in the last week.

Yesterday was blustery and cold, but I went down Rondeau way anyway.  Lots of open water had frozen due to the cold.  Any shorebird types were indeed not happy!

Things were quite frozen at Keith McLean C. L.  

This early-arrival Wilson's Snipe was wondering what it was doing here, huddled out of the wind.

Nearby, a Killdeer was complaining about the ice.

Today started out cold, and everything was frozen, but it was a cloudless sunny day.  I did not find anything of note.  Seems the Wilkesport Long-eared Owl has finally left for the north, as I could not find it in its favourite tree.

A pleasant walk at Reid CA in the afternoon took advantage of the nice weather.

Since this blog has had little subject matter in recent weeks, I have another history note for the boatnerds.

March 12, 1907 was the launch date of the D. O. Mills lake freighter.  Later renamed G. A. Tomlinson, it lasted until 1979 when it was scrapped.

Back when I was very young, I took a photo of this vessel on the Detroit River while on one of the Bob-Lo steamers.

On the return trip from Bob-Lo Island, it was docked somewhere close to Windsor!

Today's Tour: Ups and Downs

 Today I toured around parts of three counties.  Starting off at Blenheim sewage lagoons revealed a number of birds, especially shorebirds.  Most were expected birds, but four Wilson's Phalaropes were notable.  They moved around quite a bit, always too far for the camera!

The place was loaded with young Spotted Sandpipers, plus a couple of Solitary Sandpipers mixed in.  In the sprinkler cells was a FOY Stilt Sandpiper, an adult.

They are rare in spring migration, and I never did catch up with the one at Hillman shorebird cell.

A Wilson's Snipe was beside it.

Notable was a Horned Grebe, but some do show up this time of year.  It never co-operated for a good photo though.

Next stop was Clear Creek nature reserve.  I wanted to check out the old quarry for odes and leps.  Comet Darner was on my mind, but despite searching for two hours, I never saw one.  They do tend to show up later here, so there is still a bit of time.

In fact, there were not a heck of a lot of odes here, but that is the case this year in many locales.

It is a good spot for butterflies, and hopefully the weather will be decent on Sunday for the Clear Creek count.  Who knows, as the forecasts are useless!  As usual the forecast was wrong today...it turned out to be a very nice day!

Hickory Hairstreak

I saw several Broad-winged Skippers here, but they never settled down as they worked through the phrag.

Another spot to check for Comet Darner is the Storey Wetland at Pearce P. P.  I arrived there in hopes of seeing them as I did last year.  However, the countless Common Green Darners never turned into a single Comet Darner!

Calico Pennant

My next stop was Wardsville Woods.  It too was rather quiet.

Nearby, I walked the trail off Sassafras Road in the Mosa Forest.  A couple of lingering hairstreaks were noted among dozens of Northern Broken-Dash and Dun Skippers.

Banded Hairstreak

Striped Hairstreak

Great-spangled Fritillary

Lots of hummingbird clear-wing moths were in the burgamot.

I headed towards home, but thought a stop at Moore WMA was worthwhile.  Thankfully the water levels are way down and one can cross the river.

Not much in the way of mussels this time around.

Deertoe

Mapleleaf

I searched for Mocha Emerald to no avail.  Dancers included Blue-fronted, Blue-tipped, and Variable and Stream Bluets.

Stream Bluet

Blue-fronted

Blue-tipped

Not as many odes as usual, but that is the trend this year.  Only one Royal River Cruiser was briefly seen just before I left.

Oh well, it was nice to be out on a sunny day, as I did not expect that since I made the mistake of listening to the weather forecast!

More Spring Walks

 Weather was up and down all week but by Friday it settled down enough for my long walk out Rondeau's marsh trail. It was till a bit windy, but at least it was out of the NE which is better for marsh trail.  Birds have been a bit slow in showing up this spring, but waterfowl has been plentiful on Rondeau Bay.

Ring-necked Ducks

A couple of Tundra Swans were still out marsh trail in one of the ponds.

Last week there was one tucked in the reeds not looking too well at this location.  Maybe it perked up!

My walk was a little less interesting than the previous week, but it was still good to get out there for fresh air and exercise.

Two Horned Grebe were fairly close, seen near the end of my walk

After that walk, I drove around the park, then walked the campground.  The reliable owl was visible again after a hard night, as I passed by.

The campground was not too productive, but a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was a possible early spring migrant.  Difficult to say since one or two wintered there!  This one was quite bright.

I also looked at ducks off the old dock.  There was much to see, but no sign of a Euro wigeon.  Probably one there somewhere, but I did not get a long look as a local boater came along and flushed the ducks en masse.

Today was one of the nicest days of the spring with clear skies and no wind.  The temp warmed up nicely as the day wore on.  I needed a change in scenery and headed up to Port Franks and Ipperwash area.  

Although there were not too many birds, it was quite enjoyable walking through the woods.  I started at Ausable River Cut CA.  The only northern finch was a Common Redpoll flyover.  I was hoping for other things since all those finches that headed south last fall have to come back north!

Tufted Titmouse was common there and elsewhere today....as expected.

Next walk was the L-Lake/NCC trail at Port Franks.  A good variety of birds were here, including a drumming Ruffed Grouse.  It was quite peaceful walking through the woods.

It will be interesting to see how the trees recover from last summer's Gypsy Moth infestation which was quite severe.  Even the hemlock trees were devestated.

There are plans to spray for the moths this year, which does the other lep types no good.  Although there is widespread support for spraying the general public has no clue how much damage this can do to other butterflies and moths.  This area is rich in leps, so I do not want to see any spraying.

I also stopped to walk around the MNR parking lot area at Ipperwash.  Another flyover Common Redpoll was the only northern finch I heard.  There was nothing else of note except a Common Raven, which seems regular anymore in north Lambton.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

I did come across an attractive moth fluttering in the warm morning sun.  It is called The Infant, a fairly common moth seen in early spring when there can still be snow on the ground.  (There were still a few patches of snow in the shaded areas!).

In any case, it was an enjoyable early spring outing.

Saturday Stuff

On this cool but sunny Saturday, I headed down to Rondeau Park to look around.  Near the end of Lakeshore Road, Jim Burk and I took note of a Northern Shrike.  It is not often we see one in the park (not often outside the park either!), but we stopped to hear it calling.

It was distant against the sunlight though.

This time of year, one must look out for a Loggerhead Shrike, but this one was obviously a Northern.

Along south point trail, there was not much to see.  With American Woodcocks now arriving there was hope in flushing one, but it was not to be.
A Fox Sparrow was farther along, possibly an early spring migrant as none have been down that far in the park this winter.
On the lake, a Horned Grebe was of note.

An Eastern Towhee was singing along Lakeshore Road, farther north than where the one was all winter.

The campground had a few birds, including a few Yellow-rumped Warblers.

The field across from McGeachy Pond has more water than we have seen in many years.  It was chucked full of waterfowl.

American Wigeons were the most numerous duck, but none of the European variety were among them.

I continued on to Hillman Marsh, in hopes of coming across the Trumpeter Swans that had been seen recently.
The shorebird cell was not too productive and certainly nothing of note was there.
Off the boardwalk area, I noticed two large swans.  I assumed they were Mute, as a pair was there last week.  However, they were Trumpeter Swans!

Lots of Gadwall were in this area as well.

Being this close to Point Pelee, I headed there next.  Some gulls were in the onion fields, including a single Glaucous.

Within the park, I saw an Eastern Bluebird near Sleepy Hollow.
I thought I would try for the Townsend's Solitaire that was seen along west beach trail.  I met up with Josh Vandermeulen and Jeremy Bensette, so we checked out the trail.  There was no solitaire to be found!
On the way out, Jeremy found out that the solitaire had apparently been seen north of Black Willow.  They looked but did not find it.

On the way home, I noted Red-shouldered Hawk, Turkey Vulture and Snowy Owl.  A pair of Sandhill Cranes was near St. Clair NWA.  Likely the same ones as last week nearby.

It was a fine day to be out and take advantage of rare Saturday sun.