East Side Birding

 While we have had some calm days, there have been many with brisk westerly winds, especially of late.

This past Saturday, I decided to head to Point Pelee for a change.  I wanted to see the long "Tip".  With the low water levels, the sand has been exposed at the Tip of Point Pelee and extends well over 1 km.  It is certainly the longest I have ever seen it, but one must take into consideration the erosion of the land mass as well.  Trees used to extend quite a bit farther out as I recall, since I have been visiting Point Pelee.

The winds were very brisk  out of the west upon my arrival, so I opted to head out Shuster Trail and walk down the east beach.  Just as well, since the road to the Tip was gated, when it is usually open this time of year.

It was an easy walk along the wide beach, except for one area where many trees were down.

There were lots of ducks on the lake.  A large number were Common Goldeneye.

A Killdeer was along the water's edge early on.  It eventually ended up working its way down to near the Tip.

Killdeer heading south near the "pilings"

One spot along the beach was quite eroded.

Upon arriving at Tip, an immature Iceland Gull was huddled up at the edge.  Obviously in some distress.

A couple of American Pipits were playing around on the beach.

I would have liked to walk out the sand spit, but it would have been rather risky to do so.  Though a friend of mine did!

He was interested in seeing if the White-rumped Sandpiper was still present at the very end.  It was....record late for Essex.  It is unknown why this bird has stuck around, never mind the harsh environment way out the sand spit!  

This photo turned out a bit blurry and does not give the situation justice.

Yesterday was the Blenheim/Rondeau Christmas Bird Count.  It was sunny and quite cold, but not really unusual for this time of year.  The big thing was the brisk west wind, making it feel even colder.  At least it was not heavy rain and high winds like the last two years!

I have been doing this count since the late 1980's, and have seen almost every type of weather.

I always start with a lakewatch at dog beach.  One is a bit exposed there to the winds, so it was quite uncomfortable this time around.  I could only handle it for about twenty minutes!  There was not a lot moving on the lake anyway, so I had to move on.

The lake was not all that rough, as seen in the photos, but it sure was cold!

I changed my route a bit this year, cutting out to the beach at the light beacon, and walking down to the trail washout, and back the trail.  It was just to try and get out of the brisk WNW wind first thing.

Interesting to look at the layers of sand deposited over the years. Almost like counting tree rings.

Of course, I came across that tree that is stuck in the sand.  One can only wonder when this tree fell.

Another exposed fallen tree buried long ago:

There were not many birds to count on this walk.

I arrived back at the car for a break, and beside me, was a Pileated Woodpecker!  (see header photo as well).

I was up for more walking, but there was hardly a bird to be found.  I walked back the old Dillon trail to the big slough.

The once-drivable road is getting more and more difficult to discern anymore.

Then it was up Harrison to the VC.  Unbelievably, there was not a single bird on that stretch!

Along the way I found this fallen nest.  Not yet quite sure what bird made this, but it is well made.

Walking back the road, it was nicely out of the wind, and there were a few birds, but not many.

I ended up with 32 species, below average indeed.

The entire count is at 101 species last I heard.  I do not think there was anything spectacular found, but there were some nice finds though.

Birds have resorted to eating snow!

Just June Junk

 The other day, I headed north to Sarnia to see a somewhat uncommon butterfly for our region.  A few years ago, Silvery Blue was discovered at Blackwell Trails park.  The park is a former dump converted back to nature and has some good creatures within.

Last year if anyone recalls, I went there and saw the Silvery Blue, a rather attractive lep, for the first time.  This year, I had no problem finding several (about 10) on the wing.  They rarely stop, so getting a photo is difficult.  I managed one good photo, the same one on this blog header.

Silvery Blue is rare in SW Ontario.  There are some records going way back (1981, 1982) at Point Pelee, and there is one NE of Wallaceburg along McCallum Line in 2014.  One has to go farther afield to see them in any numbers!

There were several other species of butterflies, including these two:

Common Checkered-Skipper

Wild Indigo Duskywing

While there, I tallied an Olive-sided Flycatcher, which has been elusive for many this spring in our region.  In typical pose, dressed in a vest, atop a dead tree.

Red-headed Woodpecker is also at Blackwell Trails.

The rare Comet Darner is also found at Logan's Pond within the property.  I have seen it there in the past, but we will have to wait until about mid July to see it!

I zig-zagged home and stopped by Moore WMA.  Odonates are now showing up in variety, and I saw my first Midland Clubtails of the year there.

Water levels are dropping with the lack of rain, and more mussels were showing.  Nothing new, but this nice Mapleleaf wanted to be photographed.

On Thursday, I headed to east Chatham-Kent to see what was around.  Some good birds were seen/heard.

A female Calico Pennant had just emerged at the old quarry at Clear Creek.

Over at Erieau, some "summer" Canvasbacks were resting off the rail trail.

I headed to Point Pelee on Friday.  Some good birds had been showing up there recently, but of course not on my visit (again!).  Just a matter of luck, as some have better luck than others.

However, this time of year, American White Pelicans are a regular at the Tip.  Up to 19 came in on my watch.  Always nice to see!

A couple of immature Little Gulls were mixing with the bonies at the Tip.  Here is one resting on the sand.

Today I stayed close to home and did some bird atlassing.  I realized I had one more point count to do in one square, so I did that.

I did some birding at McKeough CA, then went down to Reid CA.  Nothing new really, but one always has to check!  A late Gray-cheeked Thrush was of note at Reid.

Speaking of odes, Racket-tailed Emerald has recently emerged.  I found a few at Reid today, an excellent place locally to find them.

Seems like the dog days of summer already, but it only early June!  When will we get some much-needed rain?

Late October Birding: More Rain But One Golden Day

 It was limited birding as the never-ending horrid weather continued this week.  We have had enough rain to last about two years!

Late Thursday I took a walk along the south shore trail at Mitchell's Bay.  Lots of Canada Geese, but no other geese.  Snow Geese seem to be few and far between this year.

One can always see the Detroit skyline on a clear day.

Friday, it was stationary birding as I tried to watch the lake during the endless rain.  I joined Steve at the end of Antrim Line east of Rondeau.  It seems to be a good spot on an east wind--something to check more often.  The previous day he had some good birds there, including a 'kitty-gull' and a Harlequin Duck.  Those are not seen every year in the Rondeau area!  We did not have anything of note on Friday, and certainly not as much action as the previous day.

I drove around a bit after that, and also stopped at Erieau, which was dead for birds.

I decided to go back to Rose Beach Line and watch from the car as the torrential rain continued.  (Better than sitting at home).  There was quite a bit of movement of Bonaparte's Gulls.  Luckily I did catch sight of a Black-legged Kittiwake!  Although close to the location of the previous day's bird, it most certainly would have to be considered a different bird. There are lots out there.

Here is the view out my car window:

Saturday, I went in the wrong direction!  At least we only had drizzle this day, but still......

I ended up at Ipperwash and Forest and it was just plain dead for birds.  I kept getting alerts of kittywakes and Sabine's Gulls at Pelee to add salt to the wound!

I had hoped for some finches, namely crossbills, but nothing was in the air that day.  Not much on the ground either!  And the lake was virtually birdless.

Today promised to be a better day, as this bright thing in the sky appeared.  It took me a while to remember what it was....the sun!  I went to Point Pelee early in anticipation of a good Tip watch.  There was a lot of action as I teamed up with the Burk's.  

A razorbill was certainly almost out of the question.  There has never been one on Lake Erie as far as I know, but in recent days, many were on Lake Ontario!  It was an invasion!  I have only seen one Razorbill--that at the mouth of the Niagara River.  Seems they cannot get up the falls!

Black-legged Kittiwakes have also been plentiful lately, but I do not know if that is related to the razorbill influx.  We often have kittiwakes this time of year anyway.

While I was looking west in my scope, I caught sight of a 'kitty-gull'.  It was brief but definitive, but I got messed up when a fallen tree branch got in my way.  I then lost sight of it.  Oh well, better than nothing!

There were lots of Common Loons motoring south to the east.  A couple did fly overhead as well.

As things got quiet at the Tip, we left.  I headed up to De Laurier.  Some hawks were moving, so kept my eye to the sky.  While walking the trail, I saw a couple of Red-shouldered Hawks, always nice to see.

After completing the trail, I stood at the parking lot for a long time.  There were lots of Red-tailed Hawks, including a very dark one.  A few more Red-shouldered Hawks passed over, but the highlight was three Golden Eagles.  

This one was interesting as blackbirds were mobbing it!

Earlier, Keith had alerted me from the VC parking lot that a Golden was heading north.  Eventually I set eyes on it.

One thing about Pelee, those at the VC can alert other birders (at De Laurier for example) that something is heading north, or vice versa.

After I left the park, I stopped by Hillman Marsh and walked around the shorebird cell.  I had to take advantage of the rare nice day!

The cell had lots of ducks, but some Sandhill Cranes stood out in the bright sun.

Shorebirds included two Greater Yellowlegs and three Long-billed Dowitchers.  Too distant for a photo though.

I went home via Talbot Trail to Port Alma.  Saw one Golden Eagle along the way, but I probably missed some!  Seemed to be a good day for them.

This Northern Harrier was in a field near Grande Pointe as I neared home.

November is here, and colder weather is around the corner.  And drier weather I hope!  Should be some good birding soon.

Some Lakewatches and Things In-between

 There has been lack of subject matter for me lately, but I still go out at every opportunity.  It has been tough with this crazy weather and southerly winds.  The rain never seems to end!  Our climate sure has changed.

Last Monday on the holiday, I went down to Point Pelee.  A decent SSE wind was blowing so I though I would give it a try.  There was not really much movement, but a couple of jaegers were seen.  Just a few minutes before I got to the Tip, Michael observed a couple of Parasitic Jaegers.  There was some hope!

Later, we did observe another jaeger quite distant which was likely a Parasitic.  Soon, I spotted a fairly close jaeger coming down the west side.  I immediately thought it was a Pomarine.

There was some discussion with some uncertainty as to species.

Sometimes they are quite obvious, but other times not so much.  This one I had to do some study at home to be sure, but concluded it was a Pomarine.

I have seen only two other Poms at Pelee.

Algoma Compass in Pelee Passage

I was hoping to find some butterflies later, but there was not much to be found.....yet again!

Friday I went to Rondeau and once again fought with the rain.  Yet again it was not a good day for a lakewatch.  The lake was almost birdless!  I hope by late October into November things will change there.

Birds were moving along the east side, especially Yellow-rumped Warblers and some Palm Warblers.  While at dog beach, I noticed a flock of 60-70 Yellow-rumped get up at one point.  By the end of the stay, I had well over 400 Yellow-rumped.  

There was not many other species, but I added Blackpoll, Black-throated Blue and Black-throated Green.

Later, I got word of a Cattle Egret at Shrewsbury, so I went over there.  We looked around and even went for a short boat ride but came up empty.  So, I took a short walk at Keith McLean C. L. I did not get far before the rain hit again.

I went back into the park, and eventually took another walk on south point.

Parked Peregrine

On the way home, I stopped again at McLean's.  I did see a couple of Nelson's, but not much else.  A good spot for a Cattle Egret though!  Not to be this time.

Today I needed a change in scenery, so went up to Kettle Point. It has been a long time since I have done a lake watch there.  Yet again, we had to fight with the endless rain.  Is it ever going to quit?

It was not the best wind, but it was fairly brisk out of the NNW.

There was some movement, especially ducks later, but nothing of note.  A number of birders were there, so it was quite a social event!  Nice to do once in a while.

The scenery sure has changed there.  Here is a view today at the "point".  The shale has made a berm.

We used to be able to walk out almost a kilometre when the water was much lower.  Here is a view I took back in November 2007 at the same spot.  Quite a difference!

Here is a view I took from way out!  This was a good kilometre out on the point! (c. 2010)

Of course, Kettle Point is known for the concretions called kettles.

I stopped by Forest Lagoons on the way back. It was just too windy for good birding there.  There were more White-crowned Sparrows than anything.

I took a quick walk at Wilkesport just before home to stretch my legs.  I guess the best bird of the day was a "Yellow" Palm Warbler there.  The only warbler I saw!