"Bill", Dunlins, Foxes, Mergs and Snipes

 Things are getting quieter for birdlife (except for waterfowl!).  Making my rounds this week, I found it a bit slim for numbers of birds.

Recently, a Hudsonian Godwit showed up at Keith McLean C. L.  It was distinctive in that it had a deformed bill.  These things readily identify a bird if it travels some distance.  Apparently, this same bird was in Durham region a couple days earlier!  I will name him Busted Bill!

The day I saw "Bill", he was on the distant shoreline of the pond.  Some observers got lucky and it was quite close.

The numbers of Dunlin this fall has been exceptional in some  locales.  Several hundred have been seen at McLean's and other places.

On Monday, I headed down down Hillman and Pelee way.  I was going to go there anyway, but the day before, a Purple Gallinule showed up along the dike at Hillman Marsh.  Unfortunately it was a one-day wonder, despite many birders searching on Monday.

Dunlin (600+) were plentiful here as well.

I checked out Point Pelee National Park.  Nothing of note came my way, and it was somewhat quiet for birds.

After Point Pelee, I once again stopped at Hillman marsh.  Meanwhile, a Black-legged Kittiwake was found by Steve Pike.  I checked later, and possibly saw it in the distance, but sitting on the water.  I was not 100% certain, so did not list it.

I walked around the shorebird cell.  It was a warm day, and some butterflies were out.

Eastern Comma

shy Orange Sulphur

Tuesday, I stayed fairly local.  At McKeough CA, there were lots of Pine Siskins among other things.  A lingering Eastern Phoebe was working a wet area.

Wednesday, a lakewatch was in order at dog beach in Rondeau Park.  It looked promising, but nothing substantial showed up.  A Red-necked Grebe was the highlight.

Red-breasted Mergansers are in exceptional numbers right now around Rondeau.  Steve reported over 55,000 the day before.  Likely the number persisted on my visit, but difficult to count.  Most were at the north end.

This species is usually in pure flocks, but some other ducks get mixed in.  In the past at Point Pelee, I have seen King Eider (twice) with them!

Passerines were few and far between.  I found a group of sparrows in the campground.  I saw at least 15 Fox Sparrows, but I know there were some more.  They were nice to see, since Fox is my favourite sparrow.

The next cold front should be better, especially in the campground.  Perhaps a rare warbler will pop out!

Today, I went to Mitchell's Bay and St. Clair NWA.  I  was waiting for a wind-less day with clear skies, and this was it!

There was nothing noteworthy along the south shore trail, but I had to try!

Winter Wren

Cooper's Hawk

I next moved on to St. Clair NWA.  It was littered with waterfowl, with 2000+ Tundra Swans, and a few thousand Canada Geese.  Lots of ducks, but lighting was too harsh to get on a lot of things.

A Marsh Wrens are still lingering, and lots of Swamp Sparrows.

I suppose the highlight was a flyover Common Redpoll!  First I have heard of in this area this fall.  Hopefully some will show up this winter.

One last walk this morning was at Peers Wetland.  Very quiet, as it always is once cold weather sets in.  Notable were the two Wilson's Snipe on the mudflat at the south end.

Too bad this mud was not showing during peak shorebird migration.

With climate change, weather has been quite warm lately.  This Midland Painted Turtle was taking advantage of the sun this morning at Peers.

Birding The Last Two Days

 As I often do, I went down to Rondeau Park early Friday morning.  I did a lakewatch with Steve Charbonneau first thing.  A variety of ducks went by, but the most common was Red-breasted Merganser.

This time of year we find them in big numbers, and this day we counted almost 15,000 in less than two hours.

Most of the flocks are pure, but sometimes there are other species mixed in, so one has to be on the ball!  I recall once at Point Pelee we spotted a King Eider.

I then walked south point trail on my own.  I flushed a late Amerian Woodcock along the trail.  Nothing unusual, but a single Evening Grosbeak flew overhead.  Most of the finches have moved through, but the odd one is still around.

The campground, always a must this time of year, was next.  Shortly into my walk, I heard the soft chip of a warbler.  I knew it was not a Yellow-rumped (never saw one this day!), but soon spotted it in a pine tree.

It turned out to be a Black-throated Green Warbler!  Although it is a good time of year for a Townsend's, it was the next closest thing.  I did not have time to get proper camera settings though.

I assume it is record late for Rondeau.  The previous latest I saw was 7 November 1998 which was latest at that time.

The usual campground sapsucker was busy tapping trees.

Here is the list for Rondeau:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S76202444

After the park, I by-passed McLean's and went to the lagoons.  There was nothing new there, so I moved on to Craford Cemetery.  I met up with Allen Woodliffe who was already watching.

Not much was to be seen at that hour...prehaps first thing in the morning would have been better.  Certainly we are all "finched-out"!  A couple of redpolls did flyover the hour I was there, among other things.

Today it was northward bound.  It was a clear and crisp morning, just the way I like it!  As usual, I like to start at sunrise at my destination.  Ausable River Cut CA was the first stop.

I had hoped for a number of finch types this day, but not too many were left it seems!  Common Redpolls were at every stop today.

Some Evening Grosbeaks flew over the cut at one point, as well as a few migrant Common Loons.

A few Tundra Swans were heading to the fields.

I stopped by Ipperwash in a couple of spots.  The lake was somewhat devoid of birds at the two spots I looked out.  However, I was a bit early perhaps, as a Western Grebe was found a bit later!

A Red-throated Loon was fairly close, but no Western Grebe was visible to my eyes.

At beach 4, I did see a largish grebe flying way out.  Western crossed my mind, but I could not do anything with it.  Unbeknownst to me, one would be reported less than a hour later in this locale!

It is a good time of year to find them.  One was at Bright's Grove a couple of years ago, and I found one off Pinery 18 November 2006.

A stop at Forest Lagoons revealed a number of ducks, including about 60 Green-winged Teal among other species.

Common Redpolls were flying over here as well.

Closer to home, I stopped by McKellar Tract, Moore WMA and Nicholl's Memorial Forest and wetland.  Those locations had redpolls as well!

At Moore, a couple of Evening Grosbeaks were heard at the nearby house, but I never saw them.

At home late this afternoon, I finally had some Evening Grosbeaks stop by.  They fed briefly in the neighbours Manitoba Maple, then were gone!  The last time I had one here was 2010.

Looks like wicked weather for Sunday, so will see what transpires!

Pelee Cave

 Point Pelee was on the agenda today as gale-force winds were blowing.  Birds were having fun at the Tip with the WSW winds stirring things up.

It was too brutal to stand out on the Tip, so we managed to find a spot on the east beach behind the trees.  Red-breasted Mergansers were the bird of the day.  I really have no idea how many were being blown around, but it was upwards of 10,000.

There were no rare gulls seen, but one would think a Black-legged Kittiwake would make an appearance.  

We spotted a couple of shorebirds way out, but they were only Krazy Killdeer.

After some time doing a Tip watch, we headed up the east side to Sparrow Field.  Several Eastern Phoebes were busy.  A few other birds were seen as well.

Hermit Thrush

I left the Tip and checked out De Laurier.  Along with Jeremy Hatt and Mike Nelson, I spent some time on the viewing stand at the back hoping for something of interest such as a Cave Swallow.  The day before one was seen here!  No dice today, but while there, Keith reported one back at the Tip.  I thought it was just a flyby, so I left thinking that I would not see it even if I tried.  I was well out of the park when it was reported again in the same area.  Well, I had to go back!

Luckily, it was still there when I arrived.

Just in time too, as a bit later, a Merlin came along and the  swallow quickly vanished.  However, it was found resting on a Barn Swallow nest under the "pizza hut"!  Perhaps it was hiding there in the morning while we were watching the Tip!

It has been a few years since I have seen a Cave Swallow.  They used to be quite abundant late October/early November to the point the species was left off the review list for the OBRC.  However, it was reinstated a few years ago.

The first big invasion was way back in 1999.  I saw some at Erieau that time.  Subsequently I have seen them there several times and a couple of times at Point Pelee.  Also at Rondeau Park.