Finishing Out April: Some Nice Birds

 It was down to Rondeau again on Sunday where I added some more first-of-year birds.  However, the weather left something to be desired.  Lots of rain!  In fact, it was certainly more than the forecast called for.  

Later on, Steve and I started out on Spicebush trail and the floodgates (not the bird kind) opened up when we were less than half way around.  Needless to say, we headed home after that!

Solitary Sandpiper

Monday was a nicer day, and I was back to Rondeau to make up for lost time.  After walking Spicebush trail, I did the long walk down Rondeau Road along Gardiner and back up Harrison.  Not a lot of birds, but enough to keep one interested.  Some first-of-year were added.

Included were two Whip-poor-wills.  They happened to be trailside as I walked by, and they flushed.  The one did not go far, so I was able to get a photo.

While I was in group campground, an alert came out that a Summer Tanager was near Tulip Tree trail (TTT).  Since I completely missed that species last year, I HAD to go for it.

It took a while to get there, since I had to get back to the car and drive down that way.  It was soon found on TTT, alerted to us by its singing.  Unfortunately, I could not get on it with the camera, but we had good looks.

The only thing I could photograph there was this Pileated Woodpecker on the ground.

Next walk was down the west side of south point trail with Kevin.  Just a smattering of birds here and there, but lots of Wood Thrushes had come in.  

This one posed for us quite nicely.

Of course, the invasion of American Painted-Lady and Red Admiral continues.

At one point we encountered this small snapping turtle.

Lots of plants coming up, and for whatever reason, I photographed this Rattlesnake Fern.

Today, I intended not to go too far, but as fate had it, I did!  I started at the south shore nature trail at Mitchell's Bay, thinking there would be lots to see.  There was not.  The only new for the year was a Least Flycatcher.

The Snowy Egret that I found and reported on the 27th was still around.  I first saw it way off in the distance in a tree, as this little white dot in the photo shows.

It later came closer, but still not the best position.

After finishing the trail, I pondered what to do.  The Glossy Ibis was again seen near Hillman Marsh, so I decided to go for it.  While on the way, a Harris's Sparrow was reported within Point Pelee.  So, you guessed it, I ended up at Point Pelee too!

The ibis was in its place when I arrived, but a little distant.

It took flight at one point.

Ibis silhouette

I then checked out Hillman shorebird cell but nothing of note was there. It is always a crapshoot, but at least they finally drained some of the water.

Upon arrival at the VC in Point Pelee, I headed to the parking lot where the subject sparrow was being seen.  It was still there.

The rest of the morning was all walking.

Red-headed Woodpeckers are quite plentiful right now.  One wonders where they all go!

Lots of American Ladies and Red Admirals again.

And, Juvenal's Duskywings are having a good year in Pelee for whatever reason.  I counted eight on west beach trail between Dunes and NW Beach.

Quite a few Questionable Marks too.

Last highlight of the day were the 24 Willets on the beach at Wheatley Harbour.

Then it was time to head home, viewing flooded fields.  Down that way, there was a tremendous amount of rain....again!

Floodgate Opens and FOY Birds

 Tuesday April 27 looked good for an influx of spring migrants, and indeed it was!  The floodgates had finally opened after a somewhat slow spring.

I decided to delay a visit to Rondeau until today, April 28, as I had other things to do.  There was not much evident in my area, but some shorebirds did drop in.

Near the workplace, I have Roberta Stewart Wetland.  This spring we have a good mudflat, unlike a year ago.  Shorebirds have been taking advantage.  

I took a quick look in the morning and saw some shorebirds in the wetland.  One caught my eye as a phalarope.  Although Wilson's was most likely, that, it was not!  It turned out to be a Red-necked!  We do not see too many of these in spring migration.  Unfortunately, I did not have a camera on hand, and the cell phone was useless.

I heard reports of many birds, and some good ones throughout the day along Lake Erie.

Locally I stopped by Peers Wetland late in the afternoon.  A couple of Palm Warblers were present, including a "Yellow" (my third for the location!).  There was a regular Palm as well.

(Western) Palm Warbler

Today I headed down to Rondeau fairly early, but not early enough for nightjars such as Whip-poor-wills. Turns out I managed to see one in my travels today, as if flushed off the side of the trail!  

No need to get up early and get one for the year!

Anyway, I started on south point trail as we often do this time of year.  It was a decent morning with many first-of-year (FOY) birds.  Red-headed Woodpecker, White-eyed Vireo, Sedge Wren, Blue-winged Warbler and Orchard Oriole were notables among other FOY birds.

Unco-operative White-eyed Vireo

I then walked Tulip Tree trail which was virtually dead!  I continued on up Harrison trail where I found a few birds, including three Black-and-White Warblers at the group campground.

Swainson's Thrushes were also seen.

I ended up walking all the way around back via Rondeau Road.  A bit of a mistake, as nothing was along Rondeau Road except a FOY Common Yellowthroat.

Yellow-rumped Warblers were few and far between today.

While on the walk, I heard about a Prairie Warbler near maintenance, so I headed up in that direction.  No such warbler on my visit (someone I know had one on their property yesterday in Lambton!), but we did have Black-throated Green and Blue-winged Warbler.

Highlight was another White-eyed Vireo which was on the move.

I decided to head out of the park and over to Hillman Marsh to take advantage of the shorebird arrivals.

Upon arrival, many American Avocets were visible.

Willet to left

My favourite shorebird!  I even saw one pair copulating, so that is good breeding evidence for Essex County (LOL!).

With them was a single Willet, better than none, but not as good as the ~100 seen yesterday.

Also present were about twenty American Golden Plovers, always nice to see.

It started raining so I went back to the car to wait it out.

I went back to find a few Avocets had left as well as all of the plovers.  No godwits were seen today as far as I know.  Hopefully more of those to come.

All in all, a decent day with about 20 FOY birds!

Some Early November Birding Rondeau Area

With anticipation of decent weather (for a change), I headed down to Rondeau Park early this morning as a finch invasion is underway.  Sure seemed strange to not be dodging rain!  The weather was bad all week ( with way too much rain), opposite to what it has been all year.

I birded throughout the morning with Steve Charbonneau, starting with a bit of a lakewatch at dog beach first thing.
Not much was moving today, as the lake was calm.  We did see a few loons and at least one Red-throated Loon among the ducks and a few Horned Grebes.
A couple of Common Redpolls flew over as we were leaving the beach, starting our finch list for the day.
Along south point trail, a few Pine Siskins were moving as well as several Purple Finches.
Yellow-rumped Warblers have thinned out considerably, making it easier to spot some other late warblers.

At one spot, Steve noticed a tardy Cape May Warbler.

This same spot held a Northern Parula, which was very active but never posed for a photo.
At one point I thought I saw a Nashville as well (it may well have been).

Now that it is November, the campground is closed for camping, and birders have free reign. Late fall is the best time for checking this locale and many good birds can be found.  It is a must stop on each visit this time of year.
Early on, we heard the first Evening Grosbeak of the day.  Although Steve was one lane over, I managed to get a good look at the bird as it flew northward.  I never got a photo of one today, so an old photo will have to suffice. Target bird of the day achieved!

There were a few Yellow-rumped Warblers in the area, but the best warbler of the day was a Bay-breasted.  It was very active, so no decent photo was obtained.

It was near the north end, and in the very tree I found the Townsend's Warbler last year--the only day it was seen WITHIN the park.
The Bay-breasted may be record late for Rondeau, but I have no other information at this time.

Lots of Cedar Waxwings were around, but their cousin that sports a cinnamon butt was nowhere to be found.  I have faith that one will be seen soon!

Three Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers were together in the campground which was interesting to see.

A couple always spend the winter here, so perhaps these may stay.

We then moved to Water Street near marsh trail where a number of birds were actively feeding.  A lingering Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was still present.  Also, another three Evening Grosbeaks briefly made their presence known.

The Great Kiskadee was looking good near the curve in Water Street.  There are still many birdwatchers seeking this rarity.

Later, I headed over to Erieau and checked out McGeachy Pond dike.  This is another good spot at this time of year, for whatever reason.
A number of birds were present, but at one point I was going to stand on one of the docks, when I flushed an interesting bird.
It was only a brief view, but I instantly knew it was a nightjar!  It gave a sound when flushed and my initial impression was Whip-poor-will.
I alerted Steve and he came over within a half hour.  We checked the same area, and luck was with us, as the bird flushed again.  We got a fairly decent view to confirm it as a Whip-poor-will!

Strangely, back on 4 November 2012 (the last good finch year!) we saw one at Rondeau park which was record late.

I checked out Blenheim Lagoons before heading home.  Shorebirds have thinned out considerably since last weekend.  About 20 Greater Yellowlegs and one Lesser were present among Dunlin.  At least one White-rumped and a possible Semipalmated Sandpiper (never got a decent look) were still hanging around.
The two Trumpeter Swans were still in the area as well.

Sunday I will be heading in the opposite direction which should prove interesting.

Sunset at Mitchell's Bay this past week

May Madness Update 8-11

Not really madness, since birding has been painfully slow as the wacky weather continues.   We have had some quality birds though.

On May 8, I went back to Rondeau Park for another three days.  This is my favourite spot rather than the rat race at Point Pelee!  More places to go, more spread out, more relaxing and I can get more birds there.

The north end of the park has been rather productive this year.  South Point trail has been slow and one has to slosh through water anyway.  Solitary Sandpipers like south point though!

Summer Tanagers are still kicking around.  Rondeau has had 4 or 5 and two along Water Street are quite reliable.  One is a female, while the other is supposedly a young male.

While wandering around the north end of the park, I came across two Willets resting on a stick.

In the morning, a Yellow-headed Blackbird was found in Bate's marsh beside the causeway.  A nice addition to the day's list!

And, of course, the crazy White-winged Dove continues its routine along Lakeshore Road.

In the evening I walked out marsh trail with Keith Burk.  The "slow" day continued and the walk produced few passerines.  However, the only warbler we saw (besides the staple Yellows, and Common Yellowthroats) was a female Golden-winged.  It was only seen briefly as it worked on some dead leaves, hence no photo.  (We did see a Palm as well).

We did hear four American Bitterns and a couple of Least Bitterns, as well as two Soras.

Apparently we did not walk far enough, as  young couple that passed us found a Harris's Sparrow farther along!  We saw the record photo.

Wednesday morning was one of the better days.  Steve Charbonneau, Keith Burk and I worked the start of marsh trail, basically standing in one spot.  Birds were streaming north north and we saw up to 20 species of warblers, tanagers, orioles, etc.

It is an interesting phenomenon we often see under certain conditions.  It is fun to experience, but sometimes you cannot ID 90% of the birds!

We pounded the trails all day, sometimes missing some good birds.

"Where is that Kentucky?"

The Summer Tanagers were again seen along Water Street.  They are very active and difficult to photograph at times.

A perched Whip-poor-will on TTT was a novelty to see.  It was unusually high in a small tree!

This day was one of the best days of the week even though it was not hopping with birds.  Some were "walking" though.

Ovenbird

Thursday was painfully slow for birds.  The first few hours Steve and I spent with David Pryor and Iain Fleming.  It was good comradery and much fun was had looking for birds.

Cape May Warbler

Some pockets of birds were found such as the one at "log pond".  A nice variety of warblers was there, including the first Mourning of the season and several Northern Parulas.

At three Summer Tanagers were seen this day.  One colourful young male was visiting feeders in the campground.

At one point, I looked south towards the former sandspit of Rondeau.  It is incredible to see how much of it is gone.  We used to walk to the end often in the "old" days.

Thursday night got very cold.  Birding Friday morning was rather atrocious to say the least!  Steve and I spent some time birding with Ron Ridout.  Our highlight was a brief look at a Prairie Warbler along Water Street.  It flew in, stopped momentarily, sang once, and moved on!
We also saw the female Summer Tanager.  It has found a hole in a tree where bees are living.

It started raining by noon, so I called it quits and headed towards home.  Before actually going home, I checked a couple of local haunts such as Peers Wetland (more Yellow-rumped there than at Rondeau!), then out to Stewart Wetland.
To say the least, that paid off!  A number of birds were present at Stewart including the FOY Black Terns, as well as some shorebirds.  I saw a large dark reddish shorebird and had to look twice to confirm ID.  Hudsonian Godwit?  Holy....!

I watched it for about 15 minutes, meanwhile putting out an alert.  Next thing I know, a second one comes waddling up!

I did not get out of the car since it was pouring rain at the time, but record photos will have to suffice.

This probably the first record for the "Wallaceburg birding area" that I know about.  We do not see these often in southern Ontario, and certainly not every year for our individual lists.
Roberta Stewart Wetland can be good at times.  It is a spot I check every day as I work just down the road, but on a rare occasion, something good shows.
I had a very early Long-billed Dowitcher here once 23-26 April 2006 and I found a female Ruff 8-9 May 2006. This was in the wetland's first year.

A nice ending to an otherwise slow day!