Whistling Down To Wheatley

This afternoon while leaving work, I received an alert that nine Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks were at Muddy Creek near Wheatley Harbour.  Just my luck, things were busy at work and I went a bit overtime.  After a quick supper at home, I motored on down to Wheatley in record time.
Luckily, the nine ducks were still sleeping in a dead ash tree when I arrived!

Several familiar birders were there taking in the spectacle.  No doubt the ducks were resting after a long journey.

This spring, there has been a surge of this species to the north.  In late April, two were seen near Port Crewe in Chatham-Kent.  Unfortunately, the circumstances of the day prevented me from seeing those co-operative creatures.
Just last Thursday, two were near Petrolia in Lambton County on private property.  A few lucky Lambton birders who were in the right place at the right time got to see them.  I made an attempt, but could not see them and was not willing to knock on some doors at the time.

I had never caught up with this unique duck in Ontario before.  There have not been all that many records until recent years.

We have been talking about this species the last few days and speculating that some more would show up soon.  Indeed they did!

Pelee Funereal and More!

Another Sachem!

Well, another good butterfly happened my way again today.  I was not sure if I would go to Pelee today, looking at weather forecasts.  Yesterday they were all over the map with wind direction, and wind is critical for certain activities at Pelee.  Go anyway...weather forecasts are wrong most of the time anymore!
I started at Blenheim Lagoons and Erieau first thing this morning.  A good number of shorebirds at the lagoons, but nothing new.  There was a Red-necked Phalarope ( a normal one!) in pond 5.  That is the fourth one there this month that I know of.
On to Erieau where there was not much to see.  Sky was clearing, so why not try Point Pelee.
I headed straight for west beach parking lot and headed down the edge of the beach.  This has been the best spot recently. Lots of knapweed, etc.
I found a total of 11 Sachems this time.  At one point I found a mating pair!

More Sachems in a month?

A few Fiery Skippers and Common Checkered-skippers were found.  Gray Hairstreaks as well.
At one point I caught sight of a fairly large duskywing.  This one flew around alot and never settled.  I eventually lost sight of it thinking possibly funeralis. It did not strike me as Horace's, and I have never seen one this far down the beach.

Just south of the serengeti tree, there was Steve Pike and Chris Law and another couple.  They had seen a total of 26 Gray Hairstreaks near the solar panel.  When I got there, I only found 5!  Too much traffic ahead of me.  All in the timing as usual.

Common Checkered-Skipper

I headed back the same route not really adding anything new.

Next stop was the old parking lot south of NW Beach parking.  More of the same there.  Just as I was about to step onto the road, a duskywing caught my eye.  Funereal! This one was quite active and I got good looks at it, but not a good photo.  It took off south and I never saw it again even though I looked.

It was almost 2 p.m. so I headed out.  I briefly stopped at the end of conc. E road and looked on the dike.  A good spot for White-M, but no luck.

Gray Hairstreak with Fiery Skipper in background

I stopped at Liddle's fish place for a lunch, then went over the ramp area.  While eating there, I noticed quite a few butterflies in the grass and weeds.  Turned out to be several Wild Indigo Duskywings, a Common Sootywing, Fiery Skippers and a Gray Hairstreak.

A decent day!
I am back to work tomorrow, so there will be a lull in the storm.....

wasp with Orange Sulphur (?) caterpillar 

It is Starting

The spring rush is just beginning.  Some good birds are being reported.
Today started out miserable again--rain and cold temps.  A far cry from yesterday.  It is now quite nice, but starting at Rondeau this morning was depressing.  Not a good day for photography.
The only thing new were two Pine Warblers on South Point Trail.
Just after seeing absolutely nothing on Tulip Tree Trail, I got a call from Irene about a Neotropic Cormorant at Wheatley.  Having nothing to lose, I headed over there with Jim Burk in about 40 minutes and saw it right away.
I missed the last one there due to my usual bad luck, so it was nice to get a life bird for a change.

I headed into Pelee for a bit and picked up (new for the year) a Great-crested Flycatcher on west beach trail.  A Palm Warbler was at West Beach parking lot, also new for the year.

There were birds all the way to the Tip, but not many.  I thought I heard a Worm-eating Warbler at one point, but it only sang once.  I waited but never heard it again nor saw it.
I came across Brandon Holden (finder of the Neotropic Cormorant) and we walked back the west beach trail.  Nothing of note on the way back.
I also checked out the Willets near Hillman Marsh.  Too far away for me to determine if they were really the Western type.
A snowy Egret was also reported at Pelee.  All I found were some Great Egrets.  Two, here in a field were with a Great Blue Heron.  One egret appeared to be a tad smaller.

Lots of wet spots in fields, but the birds are just not here in numbers yet.  Some yellowlegs and Dunlin were near Wallaceburg.

Not a stellar day for photography!

Birding Point Pelee

I spent the morning in Point Pelee park. It was a gloomy day, and yes it was supposed to be sunny, but the weather forecast was wrong yet again. They just cannot get it right!
I started at the Tip, and was surprised by the number of gulls.

Large gulls at Tip

Richard Carr was already there scanning the birds. It was actually quite active with lots of ducks moving (mostly Common Mergansers) and the gulls. The gulls were a bit distant, so it was difficult to make out some of them.

I estimated upwards of 3000 gulls. At least 800 were Bonaparte's, but probably 1000, as I tend to underestimate.

Bonaparte's Gulls off Tip (Little Gull in there!)

After a while, we headed back to the parking lot. I stayed to look around the Tip area and only found a few White-throated Sparrows and Cardinals. A Sharp-shinned and a Cooper's Hawk (both mature birds) were patrolling the area.

I went back to the Tip and scanned the gulls again. Many had settled onto the ice, but the Bonaparte's were still active. I managed to pick out at least one adult Little Gull in the mix. I also saw what appeared to be an adult Lesser-Black-backed Gull on the ice.

Strangely, there were no white-winged gulls at all. It seems like there are not many around this winter. Quite a few Greater black-backed Gulls were out there as well.
I could have stood there for hours, as things were always changing. There must have been some rarity out there!
Next stop was Shuster Trail. More White-throated Sparrows and Cardinals were here. (Actually I noticed that there were large numbers of Cardinals in the park. They were all over the place!)

Also along this trail was a Flicker and a Carolina Wren. All of these birds were farther down the trail around the Sumac trees. I did not come across the Gray Catbird.

Around the cemetery, I came across two Chickadees (the only two of the day in the park!) and some Golden-crowned Kinglets.

I walked the Ander's loop up to De Laurier and back, but did not get anything. On the lake off White Pine, I saw about six White-winged Scoters flying by.

Brown Creeper (camouflaged)

By Hillman Marsh I saw some Chickadees and a Brown Creeper among some Tree Sparrows.

At Wheatley Harbour, a number of Ring-billed Gulls were standing on the slush ice. Not a Mew Gull in the bunch! The only Mew Gull I have ever seen was here at Wheatley, coincidentally.

Great Blue Herons at Muddy Creek

At Muddy Creek I saw a total of six Great Blue Herons huddled up. Obviously these are wintering birds, too lazy to head south.

Ring-billed Gulls on Slush Ice at Wheatley

I decided to check out Wheatley Provincial Park for a change. Turned out to be an exercise in futility. Or at least it was an opportunity for some exercise. Once again I met up with Richard Carr and we walked around the park counting squirrels (!). There were virtually no birds! Some years there are lots of birds in the park.

We talked about owls and I recalled one time that I found a Northern Saw-whet Owl (dead) there. It was still clinging to a tree, but upside down. It must have died while perched and its talons held tight.

Entrance to Wheatley Harbour