November Notes and Novelties

This past Saturday I checked out Dow Wetlands near Sarnia in the morning.  Nothing of note there!

In the afternoon, a Sydenham Field Naturalists outing was held at Honey Locust Homestead (Cornelis farm) just north of Wallaceburg.  Things have changed there over the years, especially since the Ruff showed up in 2006.

Here is the same view at present.  All grown in!

It was a good year there, as a Snowy Egret showed up later in the summer.  Then, there was the Vermilion Flycatcher that delighted many birders in December 2016.

Vermilion Flycatcher on its last day

 This past Sunday I headed towards Rondeau, but ended up taking a detour once I got to New Scotland Line.  A Purple Sandpiper was reported at Erieau on the pier!  Since that species was a sore miss last year, I had to give it a go.

Upon arrival, the subject bird was on the concrete just below the lighthouse.  Unfortunately, it was too far (and lighting bad) for my camera.

It was too risky to walk out the pier that day.

Here is one I found on the pier one November day in the past.  They are most often quite approachable!

After a bit of a lakewatch, I headed over to Rondeau Park and walked out marsh trail to half way point.  It was a nice and clear sunny day for a long walk.  Notable was a late Forster's Tern.

Tuesday it was back to Rondeau.  Another lack-lustre lakewatch started the day.  A flock of Rusty Blackbirds checked out the beach at dog beach.

There were enough birds in the park to keep my interest.

As usual, I stopped at McLean's on the way out.  It was a balmy day, and some butterflies were flying.  Included were three Fiery Skippers.

November 6 was my birthday!  One always hopes to find a "birthday bird", but there was not much around at all.  It was just too nice of a day!  No Sage Thrasher, even though I did check out the south shore nature trail at Mitchell's Bay.  It was  good day to do work around the house.

Today, there was a bit of a change in weather with WNW winds and cooler.  The potential for lots of birds or something good was in the air.  With White-winged Crossbills on the move, it seemed like there should be some around.  Maybe there was, but I did not come across any!

I headed down to Rondeau Park,  and started at south point trail and later other spots.  There were quite a few birds.  Lots of American Goldfinches were on the move, as well as more Pine Siskins, but no other finches (other than Purple and House).

A Cooper's Hawk against the clear sky caught my attention at one point.

As per tradition, I stopped by Keith McLean C. L. again.  Some raptors were moving, but not many.  And, those that were, were well to the north.  I did see a Golden Eagle and some Red-shouldered Hawks among other things.

Just before I left, I received word that a Cattle Egret was at the corner of Bisnett Line and Erieau Road.  Not surprising, as there have been several occurrences over the years at that location.

It had been well over an hour since the bird was seen as I drove towards the site.  Upon arrival, it was not in view, but eventually made its presence known much to my relief.

It appeared quite nervous and flew around quite a bit.  At one point, it flew right overhead and I fired off some shots with the camera.  Luckily, the photos turned out quite well!

That was a nice way to end this day of birding.

Autumn Meadowhawk in autumn

Christmas Bird Count and Purple Prizes

 Christmas season is upon us (already!) and so are the Christmas Bird Counts.  Some have already taken place, but my first one will be tomorrow (December 18) at Rondeau.  

On Friday, I went down to the park to see what was going on (or lack thereof), starting with a lakewatch at dog beach.

Dog beach is where I will start on Sunday to catch anything moving on the lake.  Several Red-throated Loons are still around.

Last year we had a crazy number on the count!

I thought I would be alone for the watch, but Steve Charbonneau soon joined me.  At one point, I caught sight of a shorebird.  A dark one!  It could only be a Purple Sandpiper.  It was motoring southwest nonstop, so I did not even try to take a record photo.  A bit unexpected, but nice to have that tick on the yearlist.

By coincidence, Keith Burk was out south beach and we alerted him to keep watch for a Purple Sandpiper.  Sure enough a while later, he found one feeding on the Bay side.  Although not guaranteed, this is likely the same bird.

It would be nice to get that one on the CBC.  It has happened before!  Back on 14 December 2014, Josh Bouman and I found one near dog beach.  As often is the case, Purple Sandpipers are quite approachable, and this one was no exception.

Just a few days ago, I changed the header photo of this blog showing a Purple Sandpiper.  A premonition of things to come, or just coincidence?

That photo shows a rare spring bird out south beach of Rondeau 8 March 2020.

They are most often found in the fall migration.  An exceptionally early one I found was at Mitchell's Bay  21 September 2013.  I was actually looking for something else (Marbled Godwits) that had been seen.  But, I took the consolation!

I have seen them in a number of places, and this one I found on the Erieau pier 9 November 2008.

One I recall, was the latest I have seen one at Erieau was 31 December 1997.

Birds are certainly few and far between this season, and I did not see much else on my walk.  I did check out the campground and actually found quite a few birds.  An Eastern Phoebe had been lurking in the area this week, and I managed to stumble upon it.

It should be around somewhere for the count on Sunday.

A stop at Keith McLean C. L. still revealed some lingering Killdeer.  Lots of sparrows are there, but nothing unusual.  Maybe Sunday's count will turn up something of interest there!

Today, I checked out the St. Clair River and Sarnia.  Certainly a far cry from what it used to be this time of year.  Climate change has certainly made things different. Not much to see on the river, or even at Sarnia today.

There is a Harlequin Duck south of Marine City, Michigan.  One can scope the area from the south end of Sombra if the water is calm.  It was a bit choppy today, so I was not able to pick anything out.  Maybe it was stick around for the Wallaceburg CBC on December 27.

Stay tuned......

Weekend Birding and Purple Prize

It was all birding the last three days for me.  It is still somewhat quiet for migrants other than blackbirds and ducks so there was not much to note.
Friday I went to Rondeau Park.  It was disappointingly quiet!  For landbirds anyway.  Perhaps the best bird was an Eastern Towhee along Lakeshore Road, possibly an early migrant.
Lots of ducks were moving on the lake though which was nice to see since the lake has been "dead" all winter.
I stopped by Erieau mid-day, but it was a waste of time.  The annual Eurasion Wigeon had been spotted the day before, so I wanted to look for it.  The wind had picked up considerably out of the north and was pointless to try and look at the Bay.  There was too much activity anyway with shoreline work, etc.

Saturday, I opted to go to Point Pelee.  I was going to go Sunday which might have been a better day, but I was anxious to go there for a change.  Again, rather quiet.
A couple of Ruby-crowned Kinglets that have been wintering around the Tip tram loop made themselves visible.  Not co-operative for the camera though.

I stopped by Hillman Marsh, where there was a fair bit of waterfowl, but not as much as I had hoped.  The shorebird cell had some waterfowl, but lighting was brutal.  Nothing of note though.

Over by the boardwalk area, I could pick out the two resident Trumpeter Swans and a number of ducks.

Wheatley Harbour was virtually dead, but I ate my lunch there anyway!

On the way home, I stopped by Mitchell's Bay.  As one would expect, there is lots of waterfowl activity.  Most seemed to be Canvasback.
At one point, an airboat took off and scattered the ducks.

Sunday (today) I went back to Rondeau Park.  I thought a lakewatch at dog beach was in order so I started there with Steve charbonneau.  I did not get to the park early enough to hear some of the woodcock which are now in.  I was having difficulty adjusting to the time change!

A number of ducks and geese were moving, but nothing of note that we could see.

Steve and I walked south point, then the campground.  The sapsucker was on the same tree as last week.  Highlight there was an Eastern Towhee which we think just came in.

I stayed in the park, while Steve left, but things changed in short order.  Craig Anderson and his girlfriend had taken the long walk out south beach and stumbled across a Purple Sandpiper!

Unfortunately it was WAY out, so Steve and I discussed the situation.  Well, nothing better to do, so we headed that way.  The only thing is that it was a six kilometre walk ONE WAY!  And to boot, not the easiest walk along the beach where there was some bush-wacking and trudging though soft sand.

Some ducks were seen along the way.

We made it out to the spot and found the subject bird no problem.  True to its nature, it was quite co-operative.

This creature was not on anyone's radar today.  Purple Sandpipers are very rare in spring, let alone fall.  To have one this early is a novelty.  One has to speculate if this wintered somewhere nearby or is a very early migrant.
These sandpipers commonly winter on the east coast of the US, but on rare occasion one may be found on the Great Lakes in winter.
I looked up records on eBird.  Alan Wormington had one around Hamilton March 1, 1969.  One was at Humber Bay March 8, 1985 (same day of month as our's!), and one was at Niagara Falls March 23, 2013.  There is a wintering record at Cleveland, Ohio this year.

Certainly a record-early for Rondeau, and nice way to end the weekend!

A Long Way to Tipperary!

Some Recollections

With the recent presence of the Townsend's Warbler at Rondeau (still present today!), today I had recollections of the past on this boring evening.  Nine years ago, a Black-throated Gray Warbler was found working the cedars at the north end of Rondeau Park.
To be specific, it was November 23, 2008 when Jim Burk and I were checking out the campground.  We heard a chip note in a Red Cedar which sounded interesting.  Jim soon spotted the bird, a first record for Rondeau!  It stayed around for a few days for many to see.

Below is my original blog post on the subject bird:

A new bird species for the Rondeau list was found today. Jim Burk and I came across a Black-throated Gray Warbler at the north end of Rondeau Provincial Park feeding in the Red Cedars.

Black-throated Gray Warbler at Rondeau

Just before Jim spotted it at the top a Red Cedar, I had heard a chip note that sounded something like a Yellow-rumped Warbler. Something did not seem right about it being a Yellow-rumped, but I passed it off because the Yellow-rumped frequently winters in this particular spot. After finding the bird, we heard it chip several times.



The warbler worked the cedar trees exclusively, moving from one to another. We watched it for over an hour. At one point we lost it for a long period of time, but then I refound it where we first spotted it.


Reading through blog posts of late fall 2008 through winter 2009, it was an excellent birding year.  There were some good lake watches at both Point Pelee and Sarnia.  Jaegers were seen at Lake Huron, among other birds.
Even Erieau had some good birds such as Franklin's Gull, Cave Swallows, Black-legged Kittiwake and Purple Sandpiper.
I found this Purple Sandpiper on Erieau's pier earlier that November.  They are quite often approachable.



Here is the kittiwake:



A good Tip watch on November 8, 2008 with Alan Wormington and Kevin McLaughlin produced some Cave Swallows, Little Gull and a flock of 22 Franklin's Gulls.  I never took photos that day due to weather conditions and the fast moving birds!
Tip watches were and always are fun at times.  I have this photo in my archives, but I do not remember who took it.  (Thanks goes to whoever did!).

Alan Wormington, Steve Pike, Blake Mann, Marianne Balkwill

There was a long-staying Spotted Towhee at the Tip of Point Pelee that winter.  I never got any really good photos though.

The winter of 2008-2009 was known for the big invasion of White-winged Crossbills.  They were everywhere all winter.  I had several sightings in my own yard here in Wallaceburg.



Just thought I'd make some recollections of the past on this dark, damp evening!

Rondeau CBC December 14 !

Today was the Blenheim/Rondeau CBC.  It was very damp and cloudy today, but at least the rain held off for a very successful count.
Some very good birds were found and several records shattered for high counts (not all mentioned here).  Total species at time of this writing is 105 but I am sure some ducks will be added as some obvious misses were evident at the compilation.
I did my usual area area south of Gardiner Avenue and south point trail.  This year I was ably assisted by Josh Bouman.
We arrived before 7 a.m. to check for some owls.  Just in from the parking lot we got 2 Eastern Screech and 2 Great Horned.  I had one screech earlier.
While waiting at the parking lot for better light to begin our walk, a Common Redpoll flew over.  This was actually the first one I had this year!  I was happy with that, but later we encountered a flock of 18 along the beach while looking at a couple of birds that will be mentioned later.

This year it was no problem getting Pileated Woodpecker, as we had 3.  Often it remains totally elusive!
Out on the lake, not a lot was moving in our sector, but it was evident White-winged Scoters were in good numbers. Turns out this was a record to be shattered as there were several hundred on the count! Final tally is to be determined, but perhaps over 600. Rather difficult to believe!

We saw one Common Loon flying in the distance which turned out to be the only one of the count. A couple of Horned Grebes spent the whole day on the lake in our sector.

A walk back in along the old Dillon Trail proved productive with another Pileated, 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and some other birds.  I added a third ruby later.  This was another record crushed (which we expected) with 12 seen on the count.

There were over 200 Golden-crowned Kinglets which is a new high.

Pine Siskins departed a while ago en masse as we did not have any in the park.  I guess the redpolls made up for it!

Harrison Trail was rather quiet, but we did add a Hermit Thrush.

Woodpeckers were plentiful with lots of Red-bellied and Hairy this year.

Earlier, we walked up Lakeshore Road from south point and took a quick detour to Dog Beach.  This turned out to be the highlight of the day as I spotted two shorebirds in the distance. Oh crap, now we have to make a long walk down the beach!  I suspected Dunlin, but they were too distant.  As we got closer I noticed the two were different species.  One was quite dark which I assumed to be......a Purple Sandpiper!  The other was a mystery for a few minutes.
They were in company with some gulls, and lost sight of them for a while.  The gulls departed as we approached and finally a little farther down we spotted them.

Definitely a Purple Sandpiper and a Dunlin!

As often is the case with a Purple, it was rather approachable.

This is the first time I have had those on a count.

Our last walk was the campground.  Early on I heard an Eastern Phoebe, then finally spotted it.  A nice count bird!

One wonders if there are two, as Jim had it or another farther north.

A couple of Snowy Owls were out on the Bay ice.  The previous record for Snowy Owls (12) was completely blown away this year, as an incredible 25 were tallied.

Saw three snowy owls on the way to Keith's including this co-operative one.

Chatham-Kent seems to be the Snowy Owl capital of southern Ontario right now.

Other good birds on the count included a Common Yellowthroat, Orange-crowned Warbler (5-previous high 2), Sandhill Crane (2), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Marsh Wren.

A couple of killer count birds were a Forster's Tern (remarkably in the same spot as 2001!), and a very first for the count, a Great Egret at Ridgetown.

This was a good count in damp but warm weather.  I saw one large moth this morning, and I came across this beetle on the path.