Ups and Downs of This Week

 This past week was quite damp with fog, drizzle, rain and even some wet snow.  Wind changed direction several times, having an influence as to where I went!  With the damp weather, there was not much in the way of birding, let alone photography.

It was quite mild at times.  Frogs singing included many spring peepers, and even a Chorus Frog!

Tuesday I went to Rondeau on strong SE winds.  The lakewatch at dog beach had potential with lots of ducks moving.  Naturally, Red-breasted Mergansers were the most numerous and tallied over 24,000 during my watch.

Afterwards, I walked quite a few spots in the park.  Highlight was a roosting Eastern Red Bat!  It was in an odd spot I thought, right out in the open, hanging on a thin twig of a shrub.  How I noticed it was simply a miracle.

I no luck in photographing any birds, as they were quite active in poor light.  A tardy Common Yellowthroat was near the start of marsh trail.  The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher that will attempt to winter, was still in the campground.

Just before dark (it gets dark too early now!), a Chipping Sparrow showed up at the backyard feeder.  Been a while since I have had one this late here.  A Lark Sparrow would have been more interesting.....

(taken through a window)

Wednesday was essentially fog and rain all day.  I managed a walk at Mitchell's Bay and Peers Wetland in the morning during a break in the weather, but it was foggy.  Actually there was less fog on Lake St. Clair!

Peers Wetland

A Lambton Wildlife meeting was scheduled that evening, so I thought I might do some birding around Sarnia.  NOT!  It rained the whole time, so I spent most of the time in the car and driving around aimlessly!  Not doing that again....

Thursday was another dismal day, but by that night, the wind had switched to the NW and was stiff.  That signaled a visit to Lake Huron at Sarnia on Friday!

View from the parking lot

A good number of birders showed up for a lakewatch, but the weather was miserable with mostly rain and drizzle.  However, it was a good day for birds.  Lots of gulls.

The highlight was a Black-legged Kittiwake.  Finally one showed up (and four were at Bright's Grove as reported by Ken Burrell).  They had been absent this fall until now.  

Our bird was an adult, which is quite rare in our area of the Great Lakes.  I have only seen one other adult (at Van Wagner's Beach) in all the year's I have been birding.  Paul Pratt (also present) remarked that it was only the second one he has seen on the lakes as well.  However, it was too far out for photo attempts.

We also saw two adult Little Gulls, and not much variety in ducks.  Red-breasted Merganser was the most common besides Long-tailed.

Another highlight was a Short-eared Owl.  It circled aimlessly (as they often do) behind us and even came overhead at one point.  It was extremely backlit though.

As mentioned before, it has been a good fall for Short-eared sightings.

I left about noon, but some others stayed to tally a Red Phalarope!  Cannot get 'em all.

Algoma Compass downbound

Today, we had another NW wind, but lighter.  I figured it would not be as good of a day at Sarnia.  I have learned that most times when we have a good day, the next day is not so good!

However, farther north at Ipperwash, there was an impressive loon migration with over 1000 seen in about five hours.  Interesting how some decide to move en masse.

I opted to go to Rondeau today.  There were not a lot of birds around, but it was pleasant.  The lake was very quiet for moving ducks and gulls.

South point trail revealed quite a few Yellow-rumped Warblers, for whatever reason.  I managed to come across a Pine Warbler at one point, so that was the highlight of the day.

The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was still hanging around the campground.  Seems we get one every year that wants to try and spend the winter!

This Eastern Bluebird posed at one point, but I could not get a focus on it, except when it turned away.  Today was another one that I had no luck with the camera!

I did get an obscured view of a Pileated Woodpecker in the campground.

When I arrived home, a female Purple Finch was at the feeder.  Not often I get any staying here.

(taken through a window)

More seasonal weather is soon coming...and hopefully some rarities.

Rondeau Beach Walk and Some Nice Odes!

 Yesterday was calm and clear, so a walk out Rondeau's south beach was in order.  There were very few migrant passerines along the way, but there were lots of shorebirds out south beach.

Shorebirds were of the common and expected type, but I was hoping for a Red Knot or two.  Red Knots are difficult to come by anymore, unlike they were back in the 1990's.  There is still hope, but one will have to look towards fall migration soon!

Ruddy Turnstones seemed to be the most common, along with Dunlin.  This turnstone was keeping an eye to the sky.

Numerous gulls were out there, and four immature Little Gulls were the highlight.

Lots of Bonaparte's Gulls to sort through.

Good time for a Laughing Gull, but no dice so far.  I missed that one last year as well.

Of course, I kept an eye out for mussels.  Included was this Deertoe, bleached and worn as most are along here.

Speaking of mussels, recently I got a mention on iNaturalist about the range expansion of Lilliput.  As readers of this blog may recall, earlier this spring I found a new site for them at Reid CA, then I found a couple more up at Ausable River Cut CA.

Here is the quote from Sam Taylor on iNaturalist:

Lilliput Range Expansion Through iNat

Whereas some of our river mussels are charismatic (to a mussel enthusiast) with large sizes, dramatic colours and patterns, and interesting textures, the Lilliput (Toxolasma parvum) may be about as drab and inconspicuous as they come.

It's a small mussel often not much larger than a thumb with a plain brown, cloth-like exterior. While most mussels prefer running water and a mix of sand, cobble, and gravel substrate, the Lilliput is perfectly content in warm muddy backwaters - and even excels there! Because of their unassuming appearance and preference for mucky habitats, they're often missed in conventional mussel surveys.

The difficulty in detecting this species has led to uncertainty about its population status, prompting its assessment as Endangered federally, and Threatened in Ontario. Currently, populations are known in Ontario in the following locations.
In Lake St. Clair Watersheds:
-Canard River
-Ruscom River
-Belle River
-Sydenham River
In Lake Erie Watersheds:
-Grand River
-Thames River (with new occurrences detected in 2022),
-Pelee Island
-Welland River
-Lake Erie proper
In Lake Ontario Watersheds:
-Hamilton Harbour
-Jordan Harbour

That said, in December of last year I was fortunate to find a tiny weathered valve of a Lilliput in Port Franks of the Ausable River. This would represent a significant range expansion into the Canadian side of Lake Huron! Though with only a single weathered valve there are always doubts.. could this be a one-off? is the identification correct? But then in April 2024, @burgbirder discovered two more Lilliput valves from the same location! This provided additional confidence in the first valve and seems to suggest there is indeed a population currently within the Ausable River. Although it's unknown if this population has been introduced (Lilliput are fantastic colonizers) or always present and just undetected, it certainly warrants future investigations into Lake Huron-draining watersheds.

Without iNat, this expansion certainly wouldn't have been possible. So big thanks to @burgirder and of course many thanks to everyone who has contributed to the Canaiad project thus far. Some may remember me reaching out in 2022 for information regarding Lilliput observations; the Canaiad project was happy to provide Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) with Lilliput coordinates for the reassessment of the species currently underway. I look forward to seeing what other discoveries can be made.

In the future, I hope to write more journal posts highlighting interesting finds, and maybe bring some attention to previous ones as well.

Happy musseling,
Sam

Today, Saturday, we had some rain in the morning, so I did little birding.

This afternoon, I suddenly had the urge to check out Wardsville Woods.  

Some good odonates are starting to show, and I was not disappointed.

Lots of Midland Clubtails were out and about.

Early on, I caught sight of an ode I was hoping for.  A Cobra Clubtail, which is a rarity around here!

Its massive club is a good give-away.

Next was a decent damsel which I have not seen many of, and certainly not one at Wardsville.  This little Sedge Sprite caught my eye.

Around the back pond, some Double-striped Bluets were doing their thing.  Another somewhat rare species.

Up the hill at the back, I saw another single.

There were several common odes as well, but this Four-spotted Skimmer was a first for me at Wardsville apparently.

I made several rounds in key areas, and was on my last pass when a familiar large dragon caught my eye.  An Arrowhead Spiketail!

There may have been two, but this is another rarity in our parts.  I discovered this species as well as Twin-spotted Spiketail at Wardsville a few years ago.  First for Middlesex then, apparently.

Another interesting insect was this Green-legged Spur-throat Grasshopper.  Not one I have noticed before, but it certainly has a catchy name.

A first-of-year Peck's Skipper was at the pond.

So, the day was not a washout afterall.

Late May Meanderings

 Things are winding down with regards to migration, but there are still goodies to find.  Some good birds have been found, but unfortunately, I am usually in the wrong place or just do not have the luck others do!

The holiday Monday I went back to Rondeau.  More flycatchers were in including lots of Alder.  Finally I added Yellow-bellied to the year's list.

Many Canada and Wilson's Warblers were singing in the shrubbery with most unseen.

We spent some time watching the lake.  White-winged Scoters have been in unusually high numbers lately.  We observed over 60 in the short time we watched.

One lucky birder saw a King Eider just after we departed!  Very rare for Rondeau!  In all those thousands of mergansers in the fall, we always hoped to see a King Eider.  No such luck!

I was busy during the week, but got out to Reid one evening.  Four-spotted Skimmers were out and about.

In three weeks, Oak Hairstreaks will be out!

Friday was certainly a washout!  Brutal NE winds and rain most of the day kept us at bay.  I drove around endlessly for lack of anything else to do.  One of my last stops was Erieau, where I watched the beach and lake at Laverne Kelly Memorial Park.  Wish I had been there earlier, as there was lots of action!

Dozens of shorebirds were on the sand, scurrying around.

Gulls and terns were on the move including a couple of Little Gulls.

Today, I went down to Rondeau under sunny but cool skies.  The wind was still brisk out of the NE.  I wanted to get out to the south beach, so I went anyway!

There were fewer shorebirds than previous visits. Knotta Knot!  The 31 knots I had over a week ago was actually a record high count for Rondeau.  I knew it was significant at the time.

Nothing unusual, but several Least, Semisands, Semiplovers and Dunlin were out there.

Semipalmated Plovers are in high numbers this year.

More gulls were out there, as expected.  I managed to count five Little Gulls in the mix.

Along the trails, lots of Wilson's Warblers were chattering in the shrubbery.

The only other migrant warblers I came across were 3 Magnolia, 3 Canada, a couple of Mourning and a Northern Parula.

The usual mix of flycatchers was evident, most of which were breeding birds.

I saw quite a few dragonflies, including this Painted Skimmer.  It did not co-operate for a good photo!

Nearby was another skimmer with twelve spots.

I stopped by Keith McLean Conservation Lands around 1 p.m.  I took a good look around and nothing unusual struck my eye.  A few common shorebirds were at the back.

The pair of Osprey were busy in nesting mode.  Nice to see some finally nesting on that platform!

On to another day...