Week In Review and OFO Convention

 Lots of birding going on in the last week!  The Ontario Field Ornithologists annual convention was the highlight this past weekend.  Headquartered in Sarnia, it was nice to have it close to home!

Ontario Field Ornithologists logo

Bird sightings are recorded each convention just to see what can be found in the area.  They can be recorded on eBird, sharing with OFO.  On Friday, I toured locally on my own before heading up to Sarnia for the Friday evening event, which is called 'Birds and Beers'.  And yes, beer was available!

I did record Bobolink and White-crowned Sparrow at Wilkesport, first for this year's convention.  The sparrow was the first one of the fall for me.

The meeting was at the Dante Club in Sarnia.  Friday's highlight was the usual bird quiz, put on by Sarah Rupert.  As always, it was frustrating.  But fun!

Field trips are held in the general area.  On Saturday, I chose the heritage forest at Port Franks, led by Jeremy Hatt.  Birds were a bit scarce, but there was enough passing through to keep up our interest.  I did not carry the camera this day.

At L-Lake, we recorded the only Wood Thrush of the weekend.

Afterwards, I checked out the shoals at Kettle Point, then moved on to Sarnia.  One last walk on my own was at the Blackwell Landfill, and north end of Perch Creek Habitat.  I managed to see an Olive-sided Flycatcher, was at the time was first for the convention.  While watching that, a Virginia Rail called behind me!

The evening event was again held at the Dante Club.  As with every year, a Distinguished Ornithologist award is give to some individual.  This year, it was Doug McRae who worked at Presque Isle Provincial Park, among other places.  With a storied career, it was well-deserved.

When the OFO convention was at Kingston many years ago, I camped at the provincial park. I birded with him one morning out to High Bluff Island.

Sunday, I went out on my own, checking out Mitchell's Bay area.  It was fairly good for birds.  I recorded the only Purple Martins and a Long-billed Dowitcher for the convention!

I went to both the south and north shore trails.

Harrier of the north

Not sure if this Brown Thrasher was sending me a message or not....

At the south end, there were many Wilson's Snipe.  Close to twenty, with a flock of 13 at one point.

There is excellent shorebird habitat at the north end, and this is where the dowitcher was.

Long-billed Dowitcher (highly cropped)

Lots of American Pipits were moving Sunday morning.  At least 60 were present on my visit.

This morning, I did the same thing, but there was a lot less bird activity.  

Parula from the north

The dowitcher was not to be seen today.  Lots of Greater Yellowlegs around though.

The potential for a rare heron is high there!  Lots of Great Egrets only.

This afternoon, I went for a short walk at Reid Conservation Lands.  Trees are turning early this fall due to stress from lack of rain.

Hardly a bird, as usual, but I looked for insects.  Highlight was a Metric Paper Wasp, which is apparently critically imperiled.

A few butterflies, including this Peck's Skipper.

Lots of sulphurs today..

Some insects of the past week:

Least Skipper

Lance-tipped Darner

Viceroy

And, a Coyote at Bickford Oak Woods.  I fumbled too much with the camera....

A good week all in all!

Something Elusive and OFO Convention Weekend

 Warblers are still coming through in good numbers of late.

Peers Parula

And, sparrows are certainly increasing in numbers.

Lincoln's Sparrow

The afternoon before I left for Algonquin Park, I noticed a clubtail fly into the yard.  It set down on a cedar tree, as seen from my bedroom window.  I went outside with the camera, but could not get close to it.  It looked quite interesting!

I took some really crappy photos, and on further examination, I was fairly certain that it was an Elusive Clubtail.  This is an uncommon clubtail not seen often in late summer and early fall.  It can show up anywhere, but more likely along rivers such as the Sydenham or Thames.  I have only photographed some once, and that was at Brander Park, Port Lambton 14 October 2013.  So they can be quite late in the fall.

I put the photos on iNaturalist not expecting any results. A fellow naturalist confirmed it as such, so it will go down as an incredible yard record!

Here is a photo, and take it as you may.

Thursday was quite nice, and I went for some walks locally.  At Wilkesport, I found a Royal River Cruiser.  Getting late for them, and probably the latest one I have seen.

Other insects:

Oblique Streaktail

Comma of the East

Common Buckeyes are not problem anywhere this year!

This weekend was the annual Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) weekend, which was held at Leamington.  Nice to have it close to home!  Next year it will be even closer, at Sarnia.  First time for there, so it will be interesting.

Friday's weather was fairly nice, but very windy as the remnants of hurricane Helene blew in.  A Red Knot was found at the Erieau pier, so I decided that was a good place to start my weekend.  I was just getting things together at home when it was reported, so I then made a beeline to Erieau in hopes that it was still there.  It was, and it was  a nice addition to my year list.  I was worried that I would miss it this year.

It spent quite a bit of time on the leeside of the pier.

Red Knots have taken a nosedive in numbers the last fifteen years or so.  We often just see single birds anymore, if any at all.  I recall when I first started birding, we could get good-sized flocks at Rondeau later in May.  Mostly a thing of the past!

It was very windy at Erieau (and elsewhere), and I stayed for a couple of hours in hopes of seeing something else of interest.  Did not happen though.

A couple of Peregrine Falcons hung around though.

Erieau Pier

It was then off to Point Pelee to start my OFO convention weekend.  

*their logo*

The weather was nice enough to look for butterflies, but I did not seen too much.  This Fiery Skipper caught my eye at one point.

It probably noticed me as well.

I also later saw a Southern Dogface-Sulphur at Sanctuary.  They are getting worn and fewer in numbers.  Strangely, no other bigtime rarities from the south have been seen yet.

I spent other time looking for birds.  Along the way, this melanistic Garter Snake was slithering around on the trail.  I was not in a position to get the whole creature in a photo.

Lots of moths are seen this time of year.  I think this one is a Corn Earworm Moth.  I could not get in a better position to photograph it.  Note the green eye!

With the wind, some lake ships were anchored.  I think this one is the John J. Boland.

With the high east winds, the constantly changing Tip was gone.  Lots of spray over the shallow waters.

Friday evening there was an informal dinner at the Portuguese Club Leamington.  Sarah Rupert's famous bird quiz was once again challenging!

Saturday was another story.  It was constant rain and drizzle most of the day.  As usual, the weather forecast was wrong and we received way more rain than predicted.  The high winds made it quite miserable as well!  I guess I am used to that....

As a result, I did not bring out the camera, so no photos unfortunately.

However, we were all out looking for birds.  I opted to go to the Tip (and get soaked).  Lots of birds were seen, but nothing spectacular.  However, a couple of distant jaegers were seen, and two American White Pelicans put on a show for observers.

At one point, I caught sight of a shorebird flying quickly south.  It turned out to be a Red-necked Phalarope, and I got a few dedicated birders on it.

Later, I spent most of time around De Laurier, where I found a multitude of birds.  Through off and on rain, I actually found it interesting and racked up a good list.

Orange-crowned Warbler (example of one species I found)

I was soaked during the day and had no change of clothes as I did not expect all this rain, but dried out enough to attend the evening festivities.

This year's Distinguished Ornithologist is Mark Peck, well-deserved with his decades of work at the Royal Ontario Museum, shorebirds surveys especially on James Bay and elsewhere, writings, and other things.

The keynote speakers made an interesting presentation on indigenous bird names.  Quite informative!

I went home after the event, rather than stay another night.

The OFO Convention is certainly a wonderful social affair which I enjoy immensely and look forward to it every year.  Next year, I can stay at home to attend the event!

Algonquin-Griffith-OFO In Peterborough

 I was gone a full week!  My first destination was Algonquin Park, certainly one of my favourite places to visit.  I left early Sunday morning, and minus a couple of stops, I made it to the park in 5.5h from Wallaceburg.

As per usual, I first checked out the old railway bed that is part of Mizzy Lake trail off Arowhon Road.  Under cloudy skies, I lucked out fairly well from the start.  Red Crossbills were flying over (they were everywhere this trip!), a Black-backed Woodpecker made an appearance, and I found a large pocket of warblers/passerines.

I could not look at all of them, as they were moving quickly.  I tallied 13 species of warblers, some of which are flagged rare on eBird at this time, including two Orange-crowned, 7 Tennessee, 12 Nashville, two Bay-breasted, 3 Northern Parula and a Cape May.

Magnolia Warbler (the next day)

However, as I moved along, rain came. I pondered, are we going to go through this again for the third year in a row?  I stood under a tree for some time, but it never let up much, so I booked it back to the car.

With rain continuing off and on, I decided to check out Spruce Bog Boardwalk, where I bumped into Henrique, so we chatted a bit.  The trail was very quiet, but at least the rain let up for a while.

Visitor Centre is just across the road, so I went in there for a bit as it rained.....again.

Mid afternoon, it stopped enough to walk the old airfield.  Quiet!  Later I walked it again, but it was still quiet for birds.

(photo the next day)

It was rain or drizzle all night, and all the next day!  Never quit for 36 hours!  However, I was not there to sit in the car, so walked some trails.  

"Out-of-place" boulder on Bat Lake Trail

Later in the morning, I sat at Two Rivers picnic area where some Red Crossbills were feeding. It was raining here under dreary skies, so photos not the best.

With several "types" of crossbills, I am not sure what ones these are.  They are large-billed in any case.

Rest of the day, I checked out the old airfield a couple of times.  I added another Black-backed Woodpecker here.  Some warblers were at the east end.  There were lots of Bay-breasted Warblers on this trip, even though they are flagged "rare" on eBird.

Bay-breasted Warbler

Ovenbird

Eastern Phoebe

The rain finally stopped around 02:00 that night!  The morning dawned very clear, and I decided to walk the old airfield first thing.  I had just started out, and Henrique Pacheco, Kevin Gevaert and Peter Simons came along before work.  We joined forces to see what was around.

It was a nice morning, with a few things flying over, including lots of Canada Geese and a Common Loon booking it for Lake Ontario.

After this, I headed over to Mizzy Lake trail, my favourite long hiking trail.  I found it somewhat quiet for birds, and after more than four hours of walking, I was tired!  (I am getting too old for this!).  However, it was a gorgeous day weatherwise.

Mizzy Lake

West Rose Lake

I saw another Black-backed Woodpecker, and a few warblers along the way.

Later in the afternoon, I walked the old airfield. 

 Another Black-backed Woodpecker was working the burned area.  Some sparrows were popping up in the grassy area at the east end.  Not sure what all was there, but I laid eyes on a Grasshopper Sparrow.  I knew it was rather rare, but it may apparently be the first fall record for Algonquin!  I had good looks at it to eliminate other species.

The sparrows dove into a thicket, and I photographed this one.  It may be a LeConte's, if not the Grasshopper Sparrow.  A LeConte's was found here the next morning by Sarah Lamond, though.

That night, I heard Northern Saw-whet Owl calling near the campground.  A first for me in Algonquin!

Next morning was absolutely clear and calm but patched of thick fog. I went to Spruce Bog Boardwalk first, as I find it the best time to find Spruce Grouse.  This day it was in the fog!

I then walked Beaver Pond Trail, just down the road, then the Logging Museum trail towards the east end of the park.  Usually I find Canada Jay at the museum, but no dice this year, although I thought I heard one.

It was another gorgeous day.  I added yet another Black-backed Woodpecker here.

There were not many insects due to the rain, and cold mornings.  I did see a few Clouded Sulphurs in the old airfield, and some odes here and there.

Spotted Spreadwing

Yellow-legged Flowerfly

I was done in Algonquin, so headed to Janet (my aunt) and Herman's cottage east of the village of Griffith on highway 41.

It is a remote place, with no hydro service in that area, and no cell service.  They have power supplied by a large solar panel, and communications by satellite dish.  The property is over 90 acres with a small lake.  This photo was taken Friday morning on one of the nicest days I have ever seen!

There were not many birds here, but Red Crossbills were often calling.  During the second night, I heard Barred Owls, not unexpectedly.

View of swampy area near the cottage

The first day, we took a tour, first stopped at Tooey's Lake picnic area up the road.  Red Crossbills here too!  And, a good-sized flock of Pine Siskins.

We ended up at Bonnechere Caves park at Eganville.  One can view the caves formed by an ancient sea here.  It is quite impressive I am told.  We opted out of the tour as it was a pricey $22 per head!

View of the river:

Friday morning I headed out early down highway 41 towards Peterborough.  Just for the heck of it, I stopped at Bon Echo Provincial Park. It is not a birding park per se, but I had never been there before.

I arrived at Peterborough early afternoon, and stopped by to see the lift lock.  I last saw this in 1976 on  family trip!

I was at Peterborough for the Ontario Field Ornithologist's Convention.  A three-day event with field trips, a get-together Friday evening and the main banquet Saturday evening.

The only field trip I went on was to Petroglyphs Provincial Park, and nearby Nephton Ridge.  I had not been to Petroglyphs since 1997!  Birding was a bit slow Saturday morning.

Nephton Ridge is a well-known spot, mainly for ATV's!  We hiked up to the ridge which gives quite a view in all directions.

We saw a good diversity of birds along the way.  A few butterflies, including this fritillary that I never got close to.  Likely an Aphrodite.

That was it for me after this, as I went back to the motel to gear up for the evening event.

Sunday morning, I headed home early.  The 407 now goes to hwy 115 south of Peterborough, so I took that  to the 401 at Mississauga.  Although it will cost some money, it was pretty slick!  I made it home after 4.5h driving.