Soras to Sulphurs

 Tuesday morning I went for a long walk at Rondeau Park.  Marsh trail was the best option this day, and I needed the exercise anyway!  Out to Long Pond is a 11 km round trip.

There were quite a few birds, but nothing unexpected.  Even the 45 Soras I heard or saw was not unusual.  Dozens gather in the marshes here in late summer.

An American Mink scooted across the trail at one point.

I stopped by Keith McLean C. L. afterwards.  Looks inviting for shorebirds, but nothing new!

Greater Yellowlegs and Short-billed Dowitcher

In the afternoon I went for long walk at Reid CA.  

My usual walk is around the back field.

Shadow Darners keep popping up!

Lots of Common Buckeyes were flitting about and a few more Common Checkered-Skippers have arrived.

Question Mark

Wednesday I stayed fairly local, going for a walk at Mitchell's Bay.  A few birds kept me busy.  Along the shoreline various plants can be seen, including Marsh Tickseed.

In the afternoon I had the urge to go the Tecumseh Monument park along the Thames.  Nothing new, but I wanted to check it out!

Smoky Rubyspot

American Rubyspot

Pimpleback

Mucket

I also went over to Wardsville Woods for a walk.  Nothing unusual caught my eye though.  You never know until you look!

Wild Indigo Duskywing

Broad-leaved Goldenrod

Thursday I went down to Keith McLean C. L. hoping for something different.  However, with this stagnant weather, not much change.  A few shorebirds were there, including one peep that had Steve and I stumped.  We had fairly good scope views, but it did not fit anything familiar. Oh well.

In the ponds and around the edges, other flowers are very similar to Marsh Tickseed.  These beggar ticks are in the same family.  Only going by what comes up on iNaturalist!

Nodding Beggarticks

Smooth Beggarticks

The one pond is full of those!

I later stopped by the Blenheim lagoons.  Some shorebirds were in, including a pair of Red-necked Phalaropes.  A bit too distant in harsh lighting for my camera.

This Black-bellied Plover kept flying around and landing on the dike.

At home, I keep checking the garden for insects.  This very tiny one was new, which I inadvertently photographed.

Insidious Flower Bug

Today, after birding the shore trail at Mitchell's Bay, I went down to Point Pelee.  I wanted to get more looks at Dogface Sulphurs.  I found four.

At one point, an individual was competing with an Orange Sulphur for a knapweed flower.

At least I got some better flight shots to show the characteristic pattern.

There were lots of Orange Sulphurs as well.  Some were really orange!

I found only one Fiery Skipper, and a fleeting glimpse of a Grey Hairstreak.

Fiery Skipper

Early March.... errr, May Birding

 Cold and wet has been the theme this week.  Migrants are only at a trickle so far; certainly the slowest spring in recent memory.  There have been some decent birds, though, popping up if you are in the right locale or want to chase them.

A few days ago, a Yellow-throated Warbler was found in Canatara Park, Sarnia.  Remarkably, it was the third sighting in Lambton this year!  I ventured up early Sunday morning and managed to see it foraging at tree-top level.  It was a new 'Lambton' bird for me, as well as most other area birders.  I was not able to get decent photos though.  Just happy to see it.

The first Lambton record was in late April 2020 at the very same spot!  

Working my way home, I spotted a Yellow-headed Blackbird along Blackwell Road.  However, it was on the move.  A decent sighting in Lambton.

The day before I went to Rondeau.  Very few birds, but a couple of first-of-year birds were tallied.  This Northern Waterthrush was singing behind the maintenance yard.

We walked out marsh trail for lack of anything else to do.  Rails were showing/calling well, including this Sora.

Virginia also made an appearance, and a heard-only King Rail rounded out the rail situation.  King Rails are more often heard than seen, but once in a while you get lucky.  This one was from a few years ago.

A White-eyed Vireo was a nice surprise, but difficult to photograph.

Yesterday I went to Point Pelee, but as usual, it was the wrong day to do so!  Nothing of note.  Some shorebirds were seen at Hillman Marsh, including a couple of nice Willets.  Unable to photograph them though.

I have done quite a bit of driving around lately for lack of anything else to do, and nothing to show for it.  These Sandhill Cranes posed nicely near the road today.

Weather looks good for next week though, so the dam should break with a big influx of birds.

Another big tree at Reid CA (Burr Oak)

Rondeau Butterbutts

Today's Sunrise

I headed down to Rondeau this morning. Winds were very light out of the SSW so it was warm.  It was evident from the start that hundreds of Yellow-rumped Warblers and kinglets were all over.  Some trees were loaded with them!  I managed to come up with ten species of warblers in the park, but several were singletons.  Black-throated Blue Warblers were the most popular next to the butter-butts.  It is a common warbler--there were lots up at Algonquin on my recent trip.

Not many sparrows have come in yet it seems.  Only few White-throated here and there that I could see.
Winter Wrens were in good numbers today.
The lake was active on the east side with lots of gulls and cormorants.  A few Horned Grebes were out there.
Some birds present today that we did not see last Sunday included Brown Thrasher, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  Actually I had a few gnatcatchers today.
I spent three hours in the park sorting through the birds.  It started out gloomy, but the sun eventually came out for a few hours, then disappeared again!

At one point I came across this co-operative Bald Eagle.  I got fairly close, but lighting was poor (after all it was the weekend).

I went down to Erieau as well.  At the R/R track trail, Yellow-rumps were streaming through.  Over 250 went through by the time I got to the viewing stand.  Not much else there!
I checked the start of McGeachy and came across a Northern Waterthrush.  Getting late for them, but of course far from record late.

Several other birds were there as well.

American Redstart

Last stop was Blenheim Lagoons.  And, yes it is open again!  No edge left anymore, so shorebirds were on the concrete wondering what was going on.  However, the sprinkler cells are now cleaned out and have mud.  Two were working and some shorebirds were in.  Just both yellowlegs and pectoral that I could see.
I walked all around the lagoons.  A good variety of ducks present including about 15 Ring-necked Ducks which is good for this date.  Lots of Lesser Scaup in as well.
The back pond has opened up so has good habitat for ducks.
On my walk I found a skunking Sora.  Difficult to get a photo!

Rusty Blackbirds were in the shrubbery as well.

Some butterflies today included this Buckeye (rosa form).