Pinery Things To Rondeau Things

 A couple of days ago I headed up to Pinery Provincial Park.  It was a gorgeous day to be out looking for birds, or just going for a walk.  My goal was to look for a Bohemian Waxwing or two, as there had been an influx of waxwings a couple days previous.  However, they must have left!  I could not find any waxwing flocks. Neither could other birders.

photo from the past

Lately, Pinery has been sparse for birds, and this day was no exception.  However, I did manage to get a couple of "year" finches.  Flyovers included a Common Redpoll (very scarce this year even in the 'near' north), and a couple of Red Crossbills.  Although rare this far south, the crossbills have been widespread since last summer.  

photo from the past

It was no problem hearing the Red Crossbill, as I got my fill last September on the Algonquin trip where they were everywhere and elsewhere.

Algonquin Red Crossbill

A popular spot for birds is at P9 in Pinery.  Black-capped Chickadees expect to be fed there!  Although I had no offerings, the chickadees landed on my hand, and even my camera.

Nearby Red Squirrel

A look off P9 towards the birdless lake

I nice walk was along the river beside Riverside Campground.  I have good luck in the past along here, but it was almost birdless as well.

Canada Geese on the Ausable

Later, I briefly checked out Ipperwash at the old MNR parking lot.  I found eleven Cedar Waxwings.....more than in Pinery!  Alas, no Bohemians either.

On the way home, I noticed many Red-tailed Hawks, many paired up.

Yesterday, I stayed near home in the morning, but it was so nice I headed down to Rondeau Park for an afternoon walk.

The best option was marsh trail, albeit very few birds to be found.  The Bay was still frozen, but some open water was within the marsh.  I walked all the way to Long Pond, then headed back.  

The walk back revealed a couple of decent birds, included a pair of Gray Catbirds.  This was rather unexpected, as none had been reported in the park this year.  Obviously they wintered nearby.  True to form, they remained skulky.

Not sure what this one was trying to say.....

Also, a Northern Shrike made an appearance.  At least one has been out there this winter.

Signs of warmth included this Isabella Tiger Moth caterpillar.

Trailside, a cute Virginia Opossum was nibbling on a dead Racoon.

Along the trail, a Canadian Beaver was startled by my presence.  It had been sunning, so was dry, then took a dive.

Today was like April with balmy and windy conditions.  The temp went up to 15 C!

I stayed close to home, but saw very few birds.  Blackbirds have already arrived, and no doubt Killdeer are around.

I went for a long walk at Reid CA, then went to a private property west of Wallaceburg.  The trusty Eastern Screech-owl was absorbing some sun as it poked out of a duck box.  I only had the cell phone handy for a photo.

Withe the balmy weather and strong SW wind, it will be interesting to see what hops in this weekend.

Recent Lakewatches and Things In Between

 This week I attempted some lakewatches at different locations.  It was not a good week with the camera, as I could not get on things to photograph, or the camera simply did not co-operate, lol. Hence, some photos here are from the past!

Tuesday was a rainy day, so the only option was to go to Erieau and stand under the pavilion at Laverne Kelly Memorial Park.  It is an excellent spot on a rainy day when winds are from the east.  One is somewhat protected from the wind and rain!  And there are picnic tables for convenience.

A look at the pier area showed it was not a good place to hang around.

Erieau Pier Area

There were lots of ducks moving, but no standouts.  Highlight was when Steve spotted a Red Phalarope heading east, low at the surf line.  We had good looks to  determine the species.  Perhaps it ended up at the pier area.  It is always nice to see the rarest of our phalaropes. It seems to be a good year for them, as there have been quite a few in southern Ontario reported this past week.

Pelee Bird

Wednesday I did not go too far.  The annual showing of Sandhill Cranes west of Wallaceburg continues.  It is interesting that these creatures come from Michigan every morning, then depart later in the day for the night.  We have had over 100 at times.

The St. Clair River has been extremely quiet this fall any time I have been out there.  One of the few classic lakers left went by Port Lambton one morning.

CSL Tadoussac

Thursday looked good for a lakewatch at Rondeau's dog beach.  Nothing spectacular though.......once again.  Hopefully it will be a decent day on December 17, when the Blenheim/Rondeau CBC takes place.

Checking the campground afterwards, there were quite a few sparrow types and others.  A Blue-grey Gnatcatcher seems to be stuck in the campground, working the north end mostly. We usually get a late one here every year.

I attempted to photograph it, but for whatever reason, the camera would not focus.  Just one of those days!

Ruddy Ducks are hanging out on the east side as they usually do this time of year.  There were close to 1000 when I looked on Thursday.

After leaving the park, I stopped by Keith McLean C. L.  Some Dunlin were still kicking around, and a lone Black-bellied Plover was prancing around the little island.

In the afternoon, I went for a walk at a local property.

Screech owl poking out of this box!

Today, there was a strong NNW wind, so you guessed it, I headed up to Ipperwash.  Upon arrival, the sky was littered with Ring-billed Gulls, perhaps numbering close to 3000!  I attempted a photo with my cell phone, but it is difficult to see the gulls here.

The lakewatch was quite lame with low numbers of ducks moving and not a lot of gulls after the initial movement.  At times, there was nothing to look at!  Difficult to figure out sometimes.

Afterwards, I ventured up to Pinery P.P.  I do not go there that often anymore.  It is just not the same as it used to be, as there are very few birds anymore, or so it seems.  Looking at other's eBird lists, it is the same thing.

I was on the hunt for waxwings, especially Bohemian.  I finally found a big group in Dunes campground.  I only had a brief period of time to sort through, but I did find a couple of Bohemians.  Before I could get a good look, a Sharp-shinned Hawk came through and the flock took off.  Just my typical luck.

At Erieau a few years ago

Other than that, there were very few birds to be found.

I stopped by McKeough CA for a short walk just before getting home.  It too was rather quiet today.  A few juncos were kicking around.

Some North Lambton Insects

 Today, I ventured up to Pinery Provincial Park, and then stopped at Ipperwash Beach area.  Primary goal was to see some of the butterflies and tally some birds on the side.

Well, there were not as many as I usually see this time of year.  The Common Basketail caught my eye at one point.  Looked a bit deformed.

Perhaps it should be called a basketcase!

I did see a few Dusted Skippers, but none co-operated for the camera.  A couple of elfins did not co-operate as well, but I did get record photos.

Hoary

Eastern Pine

There were other more common butterflies and skippers along the way that I did not photograph.  I could have spent more time looking for others types, but time was marching on and it was getting hot.

After Pinery, I stopped by Ipperwash Beach and found a small number of Dusted Skippers.  Seems thee little bandits are scarce compared to previous visits in past years.

It is a rare skipper, only found in the Ipperwash/Pinery area.

One or two Common Roadside Skippers came along as well.

I also walked the Cedar Trail in Ipperwash Forested dunes and Swales, but it was a quiet time of day.  Pleasant walk in any case.

Common Ringlets have shown up this week in various locales.

Yesterday while doing some atlas recording, I came across this young Great Horned Owl.  I knew they had nested in the area though.

It watched me intently as I kept my distance.

Also came across this Pale Beauty moth.

Breeding bird atlas work is the on the main agenda for the next while.  However, the mosquitoes have come out in full force.  As well, ticks are too plentiful anymore.  We never used to worry about ticks, but in recent years, they have exploded in population!

Need some rain.....

Some Wanderings and A Crossbill Fix

Quiet times are upon us now.  It is difficult to find many birds on the trails, but we keep looking!

I went down to Rondeau on Friday.  I started with a lakewatch at dog beach, but it was not for long.  The stiff wind was out of the east and it was cold.  Some Red-throated Loons are out there, and hopefully a number will be tallied on the CBC next Sunday.  I always start with a lakewatch at dog beach!

The only birds in numbers was a flock of Dark-eyed Juncos near the campground.  Nothing of note caught my eye with them.

I stopped by Keith McLean C. L. as well.  Lots of Killdeer still around (I counted 14).  Also, one Wilson's Snipe was present.

Today, it was up to Pinery Provincial Park.  I rarely get there anymore, but the weather promised to be nice.  And it was!  Clear skies and sun while there.

My goal was to see some Red Crossbills and hopefully a Bohemian Waxwing or two.  I lucked out with Red Crossbills from the get-go!

A total of eight was a nice number!

I have not had much luck with Red Crossbills at all in the past. The few I have seen or heard were flyovers.  Today was actually the first time I photographed any!  They were quite high in a tree though.

White-winged Crossbills are not around right now.  In the past, I have even had them in my yard.

At the store parking lot, I met up with Deryl, Sharon and Donna.  We went for a long walk all the way to the beach at Dunes campground.  A dark morph Rough-legged Hawk flew over at one point, being the only highlight.

Lots of Black-capped Chickadees are around.  Where is that Boreal?

Later, I walked around by myself, but never came across any sort of waxwing.  Maybe next time...

I stopped by Ausable River Cut CA.  Going over the bridge, I noticed the water level was very low, so I checked out some of the shoreline for mussels.  I found three or four types.  Most notable was a Wabash Pigtoe (a "vulnerable" species).

I think the only other one of this type I found was at Rondeau south beach.

Some Three-ridge were readily found, which I find very common here.

I passed through Port Franks too.  Lots of gulls, but nothing stood out.

Ipperwash was very quiet....again!

One last walk before getting home was at McKellar Tract on Bickford Line.  It was essentially birdless, like most places early this winter.  Going to be a very quiet winter....