Down and Up, As Another Week Streaks By

Time is flying by, and another week has passed. 

Making my rounds this week, I was down to Rondeau twice and up to Sarnia twice!

Tuesday I did a lakewatch at dog beach.  Again, nothing of note, but a tardy Spotted Sandpiper was on the beach.  It has been around for a few days.

A check of south point trail found it rather quiet.  There were "pockets" of birds.  One of the better groups contained this Blue-headed Vireo.

With the warm weather this week, butterflies and other things were active.

Mourning Cloak

Common Garter Snake

I do not usually look at grasshoppers, but for lack of anything else to look at, I photographed this one at Peers Wetland.  A Differential Grasshopper.  They are fairly abundant there, but turns out this species is apparently "vulnerable".

On Wednesday, I headed up to Sarnia in the afternoon, as there was a presentation I wanted to attend in the evening.  I first took the long walk at Perch Creek Habitat Management Area, then later Wawanosh Wetlands.  There were a few birds to look at, including this Northern Shrike.  It co-operated quite nicely, and was even singing.

Along the trails, I found this Monarch, and later one a large Snapping Turtle.  The Monarch was not moving much, but then neither was the turtle!

It started raining (again!) at Wawanosh, so that walk was fairly quick.

Thursday I slept in because of rain, but headed down to Rondeau where the sun was out!  I walked out marsh trail.  It was quite pleasant, but no notables for birds.

Here, I also saw Differential Grasshoppers.

Even a late bluet sp. was still out.

Asters are mostly done now, but I came across a couple.

Thursday, I was close to home taking walks at various locations.  In the afternoon, I ended up at Wilkesport.  Some insects were out in the warm weather.

Oblique Streaktail

Eastern Calligrapher

Autumn Meadowhawk

Few flowering plants are out now, but this Hairy White Oldfield Aster was still blooming.

Today, the north winds kicked in, so I headed up to Sarnia for a lakewatch.  I sat in the car most of the time since it was constant drizzle, too miserable to stand outside.  Therefore, no photos today!

Lots of ducks and loons were moving today.  There was heavy cloud, but each time the clouds cleared a bit, we could see lots of ducks and loons heading south.  To my eyes, most loons were Red-throated.  I caught sight of one, which I determined to be a Pacific.  I am sure a few go through every fall, most being undetected!

Eventually, the drizzle stopped enough to stand outside, but activity was dying off, and so was the wind.  It was then time to head home.

Wanderings of the Week

 I took the past week off work and did some wandering around.  Nothing too spectacular happened, but the weather was certainly up and down.  

Christmas Bird Counts are on the mind lately, which will certainly be different this year.  No gatherings at the end of the day, which is half the fun!  Blenheim/Rondeau is coming up on December 20, a bit later than usual due to the timing of the CBC period.

Last Sunday I headed up Sarnia way and went for a long walk at Perch Creek Habitat.  It has always been a good place for birding in the winter, but this year, like most places, is rather quiet.  Redpolls are always found here, especially along the old Blackwell Landfill site.  I did come across a small group.

A stop at Moore WMA (another good winter bird spot) was fruitless, as the valley was flooded.  A Purple Finch was a standout there.

Monday was a "do-nothing" day.  Just as well as it poured rain most of the day!

Tuesday we had some snow (not as much as forecast, but what is new?) and high winds.  I was out later on when things settled down.  In the morning I watched the yard and feeders and it was active.  Since I am usually not home during the day, it was nice to see what was around.  I saw a good variety of birds, including some Common Redpolls, a siskin and a lonely American Robin among other things.

Wednesday it was down to Rondeau as the weather had turned nice.  We found a very busy Orange-crowned Warbler on south point--that being the highlight.

Geoff Carpentier and Peter Hogenbirk found a different one near marsh trail on this day too.  Hopefully these warblers can stick around for the CBC!

A few Red Crossbills were flying overhead, while a single Evening Grosbeak was heard.

Ships were anchored in various location on Lake Erie due to the previous day's storm.  It is not often we see ships from Rondeau, but three were visible in the distance.

The campground was somewhat quiet. A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was seen earlier in the week, but remained elusive till today when Steve found it once again.

Few sparrows.

Field Sparrow (not in a field)

We did find a "usual" Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in the campground.

Yellow-rumped Warblers are scarce this winter, but a couple are still around at least.  Would be nice to find an "Audubon's" for a change at Rondeau!

I stopped by Ridgetown Lagoons before going home.  A Ross's Goose has been hanging out with Snow Geese lately.

I knew Thurdsay would be a quiet day and had no idea where to go.  I ended up heading back to Rondeau even though the winds were very strong out of the southwest.  Nothing to note!

I found one of the Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Some Double-crested Cormorants are still around, as usual.

On these sunny days, we can sometimes find spanworm moths fluttering about.

I then headed over to Erieau to walk the rail trail which I have not been on in ages.  I met up with Steve there.  The winds were howling, but I wanted to check it out anyway.  A couple of Common Redpolls were playing in the wind.

About 850 American Coots were towards the end of Lagoon Road, not unusual for the locale this time of year.

Today, I went in a northerly direction starting at Port Lambton.  I wanted to end up at Suncor Nature Way off Modeland Road at Sarnia.  

Recently, lots of redpolls have been reported along the "way".  It took a while to find them, but it was the biggest flock I have seen yet this fall, numbering well over 100.

They were moving around quite a bit.

Hoary types have been seen here as well, and I did consider one to be that type.  Some consider it a subspecies of the Common, so we will see what happens in the future with this one!

A Northern Shrike, always nice to see, was looking things over as well.

I was not sure what to do next, but ended up taking along walk at Perch Creek again.  I took a bit of a different route, and it paid off, as I found some Long-eared Owls!  We always have them at Perch Creek but the ones I found today were not in an expected location.  Bad lighting again!

There were only a couple of flyover redpolls here today.  

Three Northern Flickers in one spot was a good number for here.

I was home at the noon hour, so later I became bored and headed down to St. Clair NWA since the wind had died and the skies had brightened up a bit by then.

It was a good walk to the tower with lots of waterfowl to be seen.  Some Snow Geese and Cackling Geese were mixed in. At one point, the sky was littered with geese and ducks which often happens here.

I managed to hear about four Marsh Wrens along the way, not unusual for here in early winter. 

More to come....

Perch Creek Rock

If any of you 'Sarnians' know where this wedged rock is, that is where I found the owls at Perch Creek!

Leaping Around Lambton

Given the nice weather (unusual for a Saturday) I decided to do some Lambton County birding today.  Nothing new has been reported towards Lake Erie lately anyway!  Viewing conditions were excellent along the St. Clair River, and there was lots of waterfowl to look at.  Most ducks seemed to be in the lower parts ( Port Lambton-Sombra) of the river, except for Long-tailed which were still everywhere.

It was the same old stuff though! I thought for sure I could scrape up a Harlequin Duck today.  I went as far as Guthrie Park, Corunna.  Five Northern Pintail, though, were likely spring migrants at CF Indutries outfall.

Trumpeter Swan (this bird was at Cathcart Park in January)

I then headed inland and thought Perch Creek would be a nice walk.  I spent the better part of two hours there.  The redpolls were still on the east side of the landfill, and were quite co-operative today.  There is lots of teasel there and they love that stuff!

On the last leg of my walk, I checked an area where I had Long-eared Owls late last fall.  To my surprise, there were eight!  They never allow close approach, so when you accidently stumble upon them, they tend to flush.

No Northern Saw-whet was to be found today.

My next stop was the south pond of Blackwell Trails park.  Earlier, a Wood Duck had been reported.  It was a female and was visible upon my arrival.

Strangely, it was a "FOY".  Usually I see one or two during winter along the river.

Another Hybrid

After chatting with Ed Lavender, lunch was a necessity since my stomach was growling (I went to the Mall).  While there, I got a message that a pair of Common Ravens was at the east end of Churchill Line.  I was there in no time, and saw them soon after my arrival.  They had been reported earlier by Sean Jenniskens who lives not far from there.
Unfortunately, I was looking straight ahead into the sun through the windshield when I saw them in flight.  They briefly alighted on a dead tree, then took off.  However, their size and shape was distinctive.

These birds are becoming quite regular in north Lambton anymore.  There have been several sighted in the last few months.

During my travels today, there were lots of Red-tailed Hawks perched or on the wing as they gear up for nesting.

My last walk was at Wilkesport (Nicholl's Memorial Forest).  I came across another nice flock of Common Redpolls taking advantage of teasel.  They too, were co-operative.

This one was quite plump

And, beavers are busy in the area.

It was a nice day to be out, but as usual, we cannot get two good days in a row (on a weekend).  Some crappy weather is arriving tonight!  Supposedly anyway, as forecasts (long-term) seem to be too unreliable anymore.
Will see what tomorrow brings....

P.S.  Bird Trax may be dead now, but something new is supposed to come out next month.