Mid-April Report: Some Highlights

 Not too much to report this past week, but there were some highlights.

Tuesday, while I had to spend some time in Chatham, I checked out O'Neil Nature Reserve (Paxton's Bush).  It is actually an impressive woodlot right on the north edge of Chatham that kind of sticks out.  A good variety of large trees are within.

The forest floor has typical plants that one can find in a woodlot.

Bloodroot

Yellow Trout Lily

On Wednesday I had the urge to go up to Sarnia's Canatara Park for some birding.  The weather was less than impressive (eventual rain!) but it is a good migrant trap for finding birds.

I saw my first Little Gull of the year on the lake.  

A House Wren was chattering on the edge of Tarzanland.  A bunch of them seemed to come early this year in various places.

Lots of Yellow-rumped Warblers were in the woods and migrating westward.

Thursday was quite disappointing with yet another rainy day.  I managed to get out to Mitchell's Bay first thing, but there was hardly anything to look at.  However, the same six Snow Geese were still in the area!

Friday was another nice weather day as I checked out Rondeau Park.  Turned out to be a good birding day, with some early stuff.

I walked out marsh trail to Long Pond.  Some first-of-year birds included Marsh Wren,  Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and both Sora and Virginia Rails.  Also, a couple of Palm Warblers.

                               

Palm Warbler

American Coot

Tundra Swans (young ones!)

On the way back we found some warblers!  Other than Yellow-rumped, a Northern Parula and a Nashville Warbler were singing in the tree tops.

The parula was record early by one day (we had one on Spicebush Trail back on April 18, 2010), and the Nashville was record early by a few days.  At least what I can see.

Nearer the parking lot, an early Yellow Warbler was singing its typical song as another first-of-year.  It was an early arrival, but not record early.  Steve and I had one April 13, 2001 on Tulip Tree trail.  That year was quite impressive with lots of very early birds.

While out marsh trail, we saw a couple of Blanding's Turtles.

Today, I wanted to head into Essex County.  It was another crappy weather day.  Seems we cannot get two good days in a row this spring!

A Laughing Gull had been frequenting Wheatley Harbour for three days, but as usual, it did not show up today much to my disappointment.

Highlight was a Baikal Teal in Hillman shorebird cell.  It was found a number of days ago there, and has stirred up quite a controversy.  I saw it right away, but it was distant in poor light.  

It was sleeping when I went back the second time, but very distant as well.

(attempt at digiscoping!)

A duck of this type is usually considered an escapee, but who knows.  There are a number of factors that might point towards this being a wild duck, but I will not delve into it here.  An attractive duck in any case!

An early Solitary Sandpiper (yes it was solitary and alone!) was in the cell as well.  Lighting was too horrible today to get any decent photos of anything, even with the ISO cranked up to 1000.

I left Hillman and went into Point Pelee for an hour.  It was quiet, so I went back to Hillman!

Two Marbled Godwits were in the cell when I arrived.

A couple of Little Gulls were also present, but not photographable.

Just before getting home, I made a quick stop at Mitchell's Bay.  Yellow-headed Blackbirds should be in now but I did not find one.

Only highlight was another early Yellow Warbler.

If this weather ever gets its act together, we should have some good birding days ahead.......

Entertainment at the Tip

 For a change in scenery, I headed down to Point Pelee on Sunday.  There was a brisk ENE wind that one would not think ideal for a Tip Watch.  However, it turned out rather productive as there was a flurry of activity off the Tip.

I arrived at first light to find others already stationed on the sand spit.  Hundreds of gulls were in view.

Along the trail, many birds, including kinglets and sparrows were littering the path.  There was a good fallout of birds getting out of the easterly winds.

The most entertaining aspect of the watch was the fact that small passerines were continually coming in off the lake.  Those included kinglets, sparrows, Brown Creepers and Winter Wrens.  Many landed on beach and some passed right by our feet.

Early on, we saw a Winter Wren hit the water about a metre from shore after being chased by a gull.  Amazingly it recovered and took flight for the woods!

"I made it!!"

Other birds were there too.

Even more entertaining was the fact that a large number of these migrants were Winter Wrens.  We saw many out over the water, but many were being chased by gulls.  Often we see gulls picking off passerines out over the water so that is not unusual.  Unfortunately, the wrens had a small success rate in making to land!  We saw perhaps 7 or 8 of these helpless wrens getting picked off by gulls.

This went on all morning, when usually we see the passerines coming in just after first light.

Another interesting thing was the fact that Northern Saw-whet Owls were coming in!  At one point, Jim Burk caught sight of one coming in.  Ok, that was interesting.  However, a while later we saw one barrelling in right at us!

"I think I can, I think I can..."

"Almost there...."

It came in a point blank range and flew right between us just above the ground, crashing into the underbrush.

It was certainly something I have never seen before with an owl.  No doubt it breathed a sigh of relief once it reached safety!

After several hours of entertainment at the Tip, we headed up the west side, finding several birds.  Most were sparrows and kinglets.  There were very few Yellow-rumped Warblers and one Nashville Warbler made an appearance.

Near the "serengeti tree" I was alone at one point and heard the familiar call of an Evening Grosbeak.  I could not see it but it was a certainty.  I think it is the first one of these I have come across in Point Pelee, let alone Essex County.  For some reason, these finches from the north are not too popular in Essex County.

It was an interesting day at Point Pelee, and it looks like an interesting fall with the finch irruption in the works.

November Gnatcatcher and Other Notables

Sunrise off Rondeau

It was another clear but crisp autumn day.  I decided to head down to Rondeau Park as usual this morning and meet up with Steve Charbonneau and Jim Burk.  The usual routine was in order.

A lakewatch at Dog Beach noted lots of passing ducks, especially Red-breasted Mergansers.  Lots of Bufflehead were on the move as well.  The only scoters were a few White-winged.
There was a fairly good loon movement this morning, so I kept track and counted 73.
Only a few Horned Grebes.  Where are the Eared Grebes?

After things started warming up, we headed down to south point trail.  It is always interesting this time of year to especially seek out late warblers.  We did note one Nashville low in the tangles--somewhat expected this time of year.
A few Yellow-rumped were kicking around, but they were not of the "Audubon's" type.  lol.  One always has to look though.  It was a good year for them in the spring as a few were noted elsewhere.
After the brutal north wind yesterday, one had hopes of finding something of interest.

After the south point walk, Jim and I checked out the campground while Steve headed out to find a Gyrfalcon! Oh well.
The north end of the campground was busy as usual with lots of waxwings, juncos, etc.  Two Chipping Sparrows were in the mix.

Later, I headed over the pier area to seek out the continuing male Eurasian Wigeon that I found two weeks ago. It took some time to find it, but it was there not far off shore.  There is always at least one in this area every fall, so it is rather expected. Scope is usually required to find them.

I went back to the maintenance area and met Jim where we noted a Gray Catbird.  Hope it stays a while!

Next destination was the rail trail at Erieau (AKA marsh trail).  Jim and I started walking and Steve came along behind us.  We were talking about the Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher that Jim found yesterday, and sure enough on the way back, we found it!

There was one here last year that I found as well and it stayed towards the end of the month.

I went on to Blenheim Lagoons and a good number of ducks was present.  Northern Shovelers were quite plentiful today.

Surprisingly, no shorebirds today!

I only saw two butterflies at the lagoons, one being a tattered Cabbage White, and this Common Buckeye.

Rondeau: Dog Beach to Caribou Isle

Round number two this weekend at Rondeau found clear skies and no wind.  Starting with the lakewatch at Dog Beach, Red-breasted Mergansers were quite plentiful today.  Loons and grebes were fewer in number, but we did pick out 3 Red-throated Loons.
A pair of Bald Eagles was perched in the distance as we watched the lake

highly cropped in early morning light

Today we did get some shorebirds in the form of a flock of 48 Dunlin (no White-rumped Sandpipers involved!).  Early on, an American Woodcock came in off the lake and made a beeline for the woods.  A nearby-perched Sharp-shinned Hawk gave chase, but the woodcock survived to live another day.


We did not spend as much time at the lakewatch today as things died down rather quickly.  On south point trail, Dark-eyed Juncos and American Tree Sparrows were in good supply.  Many were noted on the drive in first thing this morning as well.  Ruby-crowned Kinglest out-numbered Golden perhaps 2:1.


Regarding warblers, the female Blackburnian Warbler is going for record late.  We found it again in the same area actively feeding.

It is pretty neat to have one in November!

There was less demand for Yellow-rumped Warblers today.  We did get a Nashville Warbler on our return walk.

Strangely, we did not encounter an Orange-crowned.

Maintenance area was rather quiet again, as was the campground.  The campground did have quite a few juncos and Cedar Waxwings.  We thoroughly sifted through the waxwings, but failed to find a Bohemian.

Outside the park, Horned Grebes were rather numerous near the end of McKinley Line.  Often large numbers are found in this area.

Out next stop, of course, was the marsh trail at Erieau.  The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher greeted us at the start of the trail.  Nothing of note was seen after that including the long-gone Northern Parula.

No swallows were seen today, but perhaps they will be weekday birds!

CCGS Caribou Isle at Erieau

Rondeau: Waterbirds to Warblers

It turned out to be a nice day at Rondeau Park today.  The usual routine revealed a good variety of birds. I met up with Steve Charbonneau at Dog Beach for a lakewatch to start the day.
Common Loons were on the move again today, with a tally of 101 in just over an hour.  Pacific Loon was on our minds, but once again it was a no-show!
A few different ducks included a large number of Bufflehead.  There were a few White-winged Scoters and a single Surf, as well as a single Long-tailed Duck.

As the sun started rising, we headed over to south point trail.  It was somewhat quiet until we were well-along the trail, where a good mixed flock of birds was milling about. It included two Nashville Warblers (somewhat expected this time of year) and quite a few Ruby-crowned Kinglets.

Purple Finches seem to be in decent numbers right now.

A flock of Cedar Waxwings near the washout failed to contain a Bohemian.  Somehow I think we will see a Bohemian this fall or winter.  There are only about 4 records for Rondeau, strange as it may seem.

On the return walk, we again encountered the mixed flock.  Knowing we did not see all the birds previously, we turned up a Blackpoll Warbler.  As it is getting very late for it, I had a record late Blackpoll way back in 1997 (8 November), but that may have been exceeded.
We saw one of the Nashville Warblers quite well, but the camera did not.

At one point, we both got on a warbler with its back to us, and we knew it was something different. Turned out to be the Blackburnian Warbler!  Steve had it this past Wednesday in the same area.

This is the second latest record.  I already mentioned the latest (11 November 1965) in a previous post!

We walked the campground, but it was surprisingly quiet this day.

After Rondeau Park, we headed over to Erieau in hopes of finding that Northern Parula.  We gave it a good try, but no dice.  Irene Woods had the bird November 5, which constitutes a new record late date for the Rondeau birding area.
The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was still present though!  Somehow we think there are two there (I had the same thought last week), but the usual strong weekend wind did not help matters.  This one was laying low out of the wind.

A couple of Marsh Wrens were chipping in the reeds near the viewing platform. not unusual for there.
We had Cave Swallow on our mind, but that species never materialized after some looking.  Perhaps tomorrow.

Insects today included a Common Buckeye and Monarch at Rondeau, some Orange and Clouded Sulphurs at the lagoons and a Red Admiral at Erieau.  Dragonflies included Autumn Meadowhawk and Green Darner as expected.

This Katydid was on south point trail.