Some Recent Wanderings

 Quite a bit of driving around lately, especially today since we had more typical weekend weather....rain!  Way too much rain lately making things miserable.  Just too wet to walk trails and mosquitoes are horrendous.

Friday morning, I went as far as Clear Creek in east Chatham-Kent and walked around the old quarry.  I was there a bit too early to see many insects.  Comet Darners should be out soon there!  I will be there in two weeks for the butterfly count.

I did find a family of Belted Kingfishers.  Here are some of them.

Delaware Skipper at Clear Creek

After some driving around, I went to Blenheim Lagoons.  With fall migration upon us, some shorebirds are showing up.  Not much variety, but an early Short-billed Dowitcher was in.

Lots of southbound Least Sandpipers.

It was cloudy all morning, but by afternoon the sun finally came out and I went up to Reid CA in hopes of finding Dukes' Skippers.  An extensive search revealed none!  They should have been out by this date, so I planned to check the next day.

A few Banded Hairstreaks were around, some very worn, but others look fairly fresh.

Twelve-spotted Skimmer (f)

Saturday I headed down to Essex County where I wanted to walk around Hillman Marsh.  I had never walked out to the viewing platform before, so that is what I did!  There was nothing noteworthy along the way, but you never know until you look.

On the way there, I had to take a detour and ended up on some country roads.  I came across a good number of Dickcissels along Vanedie Road.

On the way back, I headed over to Blenheim Lagoons.  Fewer shorebirds this day, but a rather early Pectoral Sandpiper was in.

In the afternoon, I went up to Reid feeling confident Dukes' Skippers were out.  I found one right away!  It was the only one though.

Orchard Orioles are common along the McKeough floodway, but not so much at Reid.  This male flew in just in front of me.

A few hairstreaks were out, some of the last I will see this year.

A stop at McKeough to look for Flag-tailed Spinylegs was in order next.  I thought I had one in the grasses, but it turned out to be a Pronghorn Clubtail.😕

A Rainbow Bluet is always nice to see.

Just up Duthil Road, I stopped by to see the Sedge Wrens.  I actually saw the two, but they were very distant.

Note:  Correct spelling is Duthil with one 'L'.  On the map and signs you see a double L which is not really correct!  Maps are not always accurate!  I have made the mistake in the past as well.

I would be at McKeough today if it had been a nice day.  But then the Rondeau butterfly count was scheduled for today.  It was cancelled due to the crappy weather.  Hopefully next Sunday will be better, but then it is the weekend.....

Warblers to Shorebirds in the Rondeau Area

This morning I ventured down to Rondeau Park to see what was around.  Things started out quiet, but closer to the shoreline along south point trail, a number of migrant birds were found.  Several warbler species included 8 Blackburnian, 6 Cape May, 2 Tennessee, 2 Black-and-White, a Northern Waterthrush and a Canada.
The lake was fairly active, mostly with Common Terns.  Most were near Dog Beach.

A stop at Blenheim lagoons revealed a good variety of shorebirds.  Most were on the far side of the first two ponds on the right.  The one corner was good for photography where the birds were enjoying the green goop.

A single Wilson's Phalarope was still present.

Some Short-billed Dowitchers were feeding as well.

The Ring-necked Duck was still in place among several other ducks.
The sprinkler cells were bone-dry!

Now that we are well into fall migration, things will pick up.

Easter 2016 Birding

Today, Sunday was the nicest day of the year, finally!  Lots of early spring migrants showed up.  There was a good push of Tree Swallows, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Brown Creepers etc.  Some butterflies were also out and I finally saw a couple today.
A Red Admiral went through my yard this afternoon (Jim Burk had 3 today) and I saw an Easter(n) Comma at Peers Wetland.

Yesterday I ventured down to Hillman Marsh first thing to look for some early shorebirds.

While it is not unusual to have Dunlin and Pectoral Sandpipers this time of year, I saw both species for the first time this year.  They had showed up recently.  The Dunlin (7) were seen in the morning.

3 Distant Dunlin

On to Point Pelee, I saw a nice male Ring-necked Pheasant in a usual spot.  They are certainly difficult to find anymore.  I don't know where to find them around Rondeau these days!



I started walking at the Tip where it was uncomfortably cold.  Some recently-arrived Golden-crowned Kinglets were in the woods, but not much else.



I walked up west beach trail to the "serengeti tree" and while looking at the ducks on the lake, I heard the call note of a Yellow-rumped Warbler behind me.  It seemed to be a bit different, but I turned around to look for it.  I only got a brief look at first, but then managed a better look.  It turned out to be an "Audubon's" Yellow-rumped!  A female no doubt with the pale yellow throat and plain face.  It was, unfortunately on the move and I could not get a photo.  At least I saw it well-enough to ID.

A female was found earlier in the winter by Jeremy Bensette farther north in the park on February 5. I looked for that one the next day to no avail.  It was found again March 12 by Jeremy Hatt at the Tip parking lot. The bird is well-travelled.

Some are found each year somewhere in the province, but not all are documented.  I know there are a couple for Rondeau undocumented and I am guilty of not documenting one I saw 21 years (!) ago north of Wallaceburg.

2015 Sarnia bird found by C.B.

After a couple hours in the park, I went back to Hillman Marsh shorebird cell and ticked off some Pectoral Sandpipers.  Too distant for any sort of a photograph in the poor weekend light.
Lots of Northern Shovelers (200+) were present.

Looking in an easterly direction at the viewing hut, there were lots of ducks.  Most were Gadwall and one was leucistic.  It may have been a Redhead though.  I had one identical bird at Erieau in early January.

On the way home, I checked the old Dover Township and St. Clair NWA environs.  There were still a few groups of Tundra Swans.  Lots of wet spots, but no shorebirds.  Greater Yellowlegs were seen the previous day.

Today, Sunday, I went down to Rondeau Park for a while.  It was a nice day for a change but nothing spectacular was seen.  However, I heard there was a Caspian Tern, which would be record early by 8 days.


I did have a FOS Common Loon fly by south point.
More Easter(n) Phoebes were in among the dozens of kinglets and a few Easter(n) Towhees.

Bald Eagles are nesting in the area and this one always seems to be perched along the south point shoreline.

I quick check of Erieau revealed lots of ducks, but not the Harlequins.  They can be elusive at times, so possibly still present.  It is quite unusual to have a pair there.

The next week should see more new migrants as spring is in the air.

Slow Saturday at Rondeau

A very nice day, but difficult to find any number of birds.  Not even a Yellow-rumped Warbler!  I have not seen a spring migrant Yellow-rumped yet, but a Palm Warbler topped the list today.

The Palm Warbler was not something I was expecting today, but there it was. 

Jim Burk first spotted it as we were driving along the picnic area near marsh trail.  There were dozens of juncos, but a yellowish bird with them stood out.

My previous early date for Rondeau was 14 April 2002 and that was a of the hypochrysea type.

Fox Sparrows were singing throughout the park, but other than a couple of Chipping and Field Sparrows, there were few of that family.

Not really much else to report!

Blenheim Lagoons (sprinkler cells) had a few shorebirds including about 15 Pectoral Sandpipers, 5+ Dunlin and a Lesser Yellowlegs.

Two Horned Grebes were with the ducks, but no sign of an Eared yet.

Dozens of Bonaparte's Gulls to sort through.

Spring Fling at Pelee

One of dozens of Sapsuckers

As one might have expected, the floodgates opened overnight and migrants poured in!  Birds were everywhere this morning as I birded with Chris Law, Steve Pike and Steve's girlfriend Cassandra.  And yes, I saw a Chipping Sparrow!  Dozens actually.  All kinds of sparrows all over inc. Fox, Savannah, Vesper, and juncos too.

Savannah Sparrow

Eastern birds such at towhee, meadowlark and phoebe were everywhere as well, not to mention Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers.  Creepers and Golden-crowned Kinglets worked the lower areas of the woods.  Hermit Thrushes arrived too, and so did a few Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Many birds were reversing including the blackbirds, Eastern Meadowlarks and Northern Flickers.
Swallow-types included many Tree, a Barn and a Purple Martin or two.
It was nice to see numbers of birds after a long winter!

The Tip area was a abuzz first thing despite the strong SW wind.  Difficult to hear anything at times.

For the afternoon shift, Richard Carr and I walked Woodland Trail.  We noted three spring Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Several Winter Wrens were popping up here and there.  At one point a rare Woodland Duck made an appearance.

Later I headed over to Hillman Marsh and found lots of shorebirds.  A good spot was the dead end of 'A' (Rd 20) where at least 80 Pectoral Sandpipers were working the mud.  I also spotted 3 American Golden Plovers there.  Several gulls plus a Caspian Tern were on the mud as well.

Over near the entrance of Hillman were more Pectoral, Dunlin, Wilson's Snipe and both yellowlegs.  I walked to the shorebird cell and several ducks were in plus yellowlegs. At the wooded area it was loaded with kinglets and I spotted another Yellow-rumped Warbler.
More shorebirds were seen from the bridge along Mersea Rd. 2.  Over 100 Pectoral Sandpiper were around today!

Strangely, I did not come across a butterfly today!