Mid May Report: Many Birds Have Arrived!

 We have finally seen good numbers of birds while the weather has turned around to more seasonal.

This past Friday, I went to Rondeau Park to get in on the action.  Lots of birds and some good ones!

I did a long walk around the north central block, including a stint down to the old group campground.

The group campground can be quite productive, as it is a large open space in the middle of park.  It has not been used in at least six years.

It was fairly steady along the way.  In one slough, a long-staying Solitary Sandpiper made a showing.  I kept missing it on previous visits!

A few flycatchers had arrived, including Eastern Wood-Peewees and Great-crested Flycatchers.

I checked the beach off dog beach.  A lone Long-tailed Duck was beached!  I have seen this many times before.

At one point, I got word that a Lark Sparrow was working the lawn south of the Park Store.  Although quite co-operative, it was difficult to see at times.

In the same area, a Clay-colored Sparrow got in on the action.

Some butterflies were taking advantage of the warm sun, including this Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Next day I headed down to Hillman Marsh, as I wanted to see the White-faced Ibis.  It has been around for some time, which is unusal for an ibis.  It was still present today.

I headed back along Talbot Trail and checked out the old rail trail and McGeachy.  There was not muct at all!

Then it was up to Blenheim lagoons before the rain started.  Among a few shorebirds, a large number of Wilson's Phalaropes were present.  Up to 17 have been counted,  but I only stayed long enough to count 11.  The impending storm shortened my stay.

Yesterday, I was close to home, but there were surprisingly few migrants to be found.  One of my stops was Mitchell's Bay.

The "south" trail just has not been producing yet this year.

In the afternoon, I took a short walk at Reid C. L.  I had not been there in two weeks or so!  Some Juvenal's Duskywings and Silver-spotted Skippers were flying, but they were completely unco-operative.  Too much flying around!

Today, I headed down to Rondeau quite early. It was very warm for a change.  I had almost forgotten what warm weather was like!

It was a fabulous day, as birds had finally arrived in numbers.  Lots of first-of-year birds were tallied.

New warblers included Mourning, Blackpoll, Wilson's, while some flycatchers included Yellow-bellied and Acadian.

I had no luck with photography today but I tried to get the Acadian.

Some birders managed to spot a roosting Common Nighthawk at maintenance.  Many of us went to view this bird, seen high in a tree.

Although I did not catch up with more rare birds such as Yellow-breasted Chat, it was nice to finally see or hear lots of birds today.

Summer At Blenheim and Piper at Erieau

 Today I had high hopes of seeing lots of birds. It is still a bit early, but there should have been a lot more birds than what I found at Rondeau Park today.  I covered quite a bit of ground!

I arrived quite early in order to hear some Whip-poor-wills and timber doodles.  As day broke, it was heavily overcast.

I heard a couple of Wood Thrushes, as well as an Ovenbird for first-of-years.

I did a quick check of Keith McLean C. L., but it was extremely windy by that time, and water levels were terribly high.  Hardly any birds!

I then ventured over to Erieau to walk the "rail trail".  The only new thing was a Blue-winged Warbler which did not want to be photographed.

One or two White-crowned Sparrows are still hanging on there.

It was off to Blenheim Lagoons.  Last evening, a young birder (along with his parents) from Wallaceburg found an adult male Summer Tanager along the fence!

I had not heard if it was seen again today, but there were several birders there upon my arrival.  I was informed that it was still present, albeit very elusive.

It took some time, but we had brief views of the handsome bird.

We usually see first year males or females in the spring, so this was nice to observe.  I think I have only seen one adult male before.  It was till showing a little bit of green in the wings, so not quite entirely in full adult plumage.

This past Friday I was at Rondeau.  First thing, Steve an I walked the north central block of the park.  We did encounter quite a few warblers at one point, including an Orange-crowned atop a tree.  I attempted photos....but I think it was trying to tell us something.

I took a long walk out the marsh trail to the half-way point.  There were some birds of interest, but none wanted their photo taken.....again!

I started off with a first-of-year Common Yellowthroat.  Shortly afterwards,  an Eastern Kingbird made an appearance.  It tied the early dates in the county except for one a number of years ago that seen on the 19th (eBird records only).

An early Warbling Vireo made an appearance not far from the late one I saw last fall.

Farther along, I encountered a flighty White-eyed Vireo.

Some Northern Yellow Warblers were along the way.  For some reason, quite a few came in this year quite early all over.

Next day, I started at Mitchell's Bay.  Nothing of note, so I continued on to Blenheim.  The weather got crappier as I went!

An early Wilson's Phalarope was at Blenheim lagoons.  Conditions were terrible with drizzle and fog and wind.

Since I was that far, I continued on to Erieau where a Piping Plover was on the beach of the tip of the Rondeau spit.  Two had been found the previous evening there.

Only one remained, but it took a while to find it.  It was too far off to try for a photo.  This bird appeared unbanded.

Here is a photo of another at Rondeau in the past.

Sunday was a rather nice day.  I started at Mitchell's Bay on the south shore nature trail.  A Black-crowned Night-Heron was right near the parking lot.

There was not much out on the lake.

In the afternoon, I took a walk at Reid C. L.

Large-flowered Bellwort was coming along nicely, albeit a very common plant.

Also looked at the Twinleaf patch.

Surprisingly, not much in the way of butterflies.

American Painted-Lady

Yesterday, I went a little later in the morning to Mitchell's Bay.  Still not much in the way of birds!

Turtles were taking advantage of the warm sun.

Next couple of days are going to be rather cold.  Par for the course this spring.....one extreme to the next!

Recent Rambles and a Good Lambton Gull

 I have been checking out the usual spots lately, but nothing spectacular to report.  Since the weather has been very unseasonal this month with continuous north winds, it has been uncomfortable at times.

I have been to Rondeau a couple of times, including this past Tuesday.  I did the long walk out marsh trail first thing, then walked down Harrison trail a bit.

This Mourning Warbler popped up at one point.

Then it was over to Erieau.  An obliging Wilson's Warbler was trailside.

Next day, this Gray Catbird was skulking around the yard at home.

On the Thursday, the weather was absolutely horrible, but I went up to Kettle Point anyway.  A bit of a lakewatch was in order since a Black-headed Gull had recently been found.

If it was October, the weather would fit right in!  Uncomfortably cold, but the lakewatch revealed the Black-headed Gull.  It was too distant for a photo though, but the following shows where it was.

This gull was the first of its kind since about 1994 or so in Lambton (according to eBird), so it was a new one for our Lambton list.

Some Whimbrel had been seen already that day (and the day before), but I only managed to get a glimpse of one.  They are rather rare in Lambton at this time!

It was back to Rondeau on Friday.  Cool but sunny, and there were lots of birds.  Nothing rare though, as I checked out quite a few areas.

Eastern Towhee (singing an odd song!)

Chestnut-sided Warbler

thrush of the woods

There were lots of Bay-breasted Warblers this day, not one being very still.

Saturday I felt like staying close to home.  Started out clear, but quickly clouded over.  The skies cleared again for a while, but most of the day was cloudy with northerly winds making it uncomfortable.

I went for a long walk at Reid CA.  Would have been nice it was more seasonably warm to look for insects, but that was not to be.....again!

While the sun was out, it was nice! Some Cedar Waxwings were checking out some blossums.

There were rather few birds, and only a couple of "migrants" during my walk.

Random Scene:  Chinquapin Oak!

Today, was clear and sunny and eventually became fairly warm, despite the relentless NE winds.

I started at Blenheim lagoons where nothing of note (again!) was seen.  Good birds rarely stay, as a Red-necked Phalarope was seen the previous day.  This species is quite rare in spring!

Then went to Erieau to walk the marsh trail and McGeachy Pond trail.  Quite a few birds!

McGeachy was more interesting with the highlight being a singing Connecticut Warbler.  It was in the thick area and never made an appearance!  Apparently it is a RBA.

Also unseen were a couple of Mourning Warblers.

It was still early in the day, so I headed west to Hillman Marsh.  Lots of shorebirds coming and going at the shorebird cell.  It is the time of year we get hundreds of Black-bellied Plovers, and today  was no exception.  Well over 600 during my tenure there.  And just as many Dunlin.

A male Wilson's Phalarope was fairly close, but the time of day had poor lighting.

Interestingly, it was following a Blue-winged Teal. The teal was obviously stirring up critters for the phalarope!

Two Stilt Sandpipers were also seen, but again in horrible light and not very close.  The stilts are very rare spring migrants, but regular in fall migration.  I guess they take different routes.

A few things have been filtering through the yard each day.  Yesterday, a couple of Swainson's Thrushes stayed the day.

Also, a little bandit passed through.

Today, among other things, a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher was hunting for insects.

Looks like warmer weather ahead....finally!