Recent Observations As May Marches On

 The days are quickly passing!  Most migrants have moved through, but there were still lots this past week.

I was at Rondeau on Tuesday for a long walk.  I started at south point trail (west) and continued a ways out the south beach.  It was not overly productive, but that was what I wanted to do.

It was windy yet again, and there was not much out the beach.

As always, I look down once in a while.  An easily recognizable mussel shell was an Eastern Pondshell.

Before leaving, I checked around maintenance. A Yellow-billed Cuckoo was showing nicely.

I then decided to head west in hopes of seeing Hudsonian Whimbrel.  I completely struck out!  Typical luck.

There were a few warblers along the Erieau marsh trail, including this Canada which was moving too much to focus on.

There was not much at Wheatley Harbour.  This duskywing was likely a Columbine.

I stopped in at Hillman Marsh.  The long-staying White-faced Ibis was still present.

Wednesday was not overly productive around the home area.

Thursday I made an early morning run to Mitchell's Bay before going to the museum.

I did finally see some very distant Hudsonian Whimbrel over Ticky-Tacky Point.

Friday it was back to Rondeau.  Yet again, very windy!  I had been itching to make the long walk out south beach for some time, but I went out anyway despite the wind.  It was somewhat disappointing birdwise.

I was focusing on shorebirds, and had hopes of seeing Red Knots (Knot!).  There were other common species out there.

Dunlin

Least Sandiper

more Dunlin

There were some warbler on the way back, but many were silent foraging in the treetops.  Good thing I looked up once in a while!

I looked at plants as well.

White Bear Sedge

Maidenhair Fern

Upright Carrion Flower

I managed to see Showy Orchis as well.  Unfortunately, I was late this year in getting it in fresh flowering mode.

I always like to find this orchid each spring.  Seems more difficult these days, as I have not found them lately in spots I had them in the past.

More American Redstarts were finally in, as well as Philadelphia Vireos.

Saturday was a complete washout as everyone knows!  Must be the weekend......

Today was finally a calm, but cloudy day.  Fairly warm as well.  I went out to Mitchell's Bay first thing.

Quite a few birds had come in overnight.  There were many in the yard when I got up, so I had high hopes for the south trail at the Bay.

There were indeed more birds along the way, but certainly not big numbers.  Highlight was a  singing Connecticut Warbler.  It is a regular migrant, but often difficult to find, let alone see. It was singing up a storm, but true to its nature, I did not even see it.  It was only about 3m away at one point!

I attempted a recording. (never mind the feet!).  You can hear it once.

A few Wilson's Warblers were among the crowd.

At one point I heard a Yellow-headed Blackbird, but it remained unseen.  Not really unusual out that way.

A Grey-cheeked Thrush made an appearance on the trail.

Back near home, I checked out Peers Wetland, then decided to head up along Marthaville Road where there are some pastures.

Upland Sandpiper, difficult to find anymore, are here every year.  It took a while, but two finally popped up on their tyical perch (wooden fence posts).

That was enough for today!

On A Lark (Sparrow)

 Things are finally picking up with nicer weather and more migrants.  In the grand scheme of things, birds are on schedule.  A few birds have been quite early! Some years in the past we get spoiled with nice weather and birds coming early.

Today was a fine day with warmer weather.  It started out rainy (what is a weekend without rain?), but soon cleared up.  I went to Rondeau Park.  I started at south point trail before it cleared up, as I wanted to go out marsh trail at some point.

Some loons (both kinds) and ducks were moving on the lake, but hardly any gulls.

Along the trail, a couple of House Wrens were FOY birds.

Steve and I went our separate ways, and I headed out marsh trail.  With an east wind, it is often the best choice.  It was quite nice, with only a light east wind.

I was going to walk at least to Long Pond, but that got cut short as you will find out later.  Along the way, I came across a FOY Yellow Warbler.  The first one is always nice to see, but eventually we will get sick of them!

Lots of kinglets (mainly Ruby's) were flitting about  along the way.

About a half kilometre past the 'half way' point I saw a Savannah Sparrow, then a Vesper Sparrow.  The Vesper was nice, but all of a sudden there was another sparrow with it.  It was different and I recognized it as a Lark Sparrow!

It kept moving along, but in an instant they were gone. I was not sure where they went, so started back as to not flush them any further.  Somehow the two had flew past me and were back on the trail to the north!  

I watched for some time, then they flushed.  The Lark Sparrow took a long flight out toward the Bay, then headed north.  I lost sight, thinking that was it.  However, I refound it on the trail north of the old parking area!

(photo by Steve Charbonneau)

By this time, Steve was well on his way out, so I kept following it along until he got there to see it.

The Lark Sparrow is one of the more handsome sparrows I think.  There are several records in the park, but only the third one I have seen within the park.

During this time, four Willets were found at Keith McLean C. L., so that was my next walk.

Tired, but not done for the day, I stopped by Blenheim lagoons.  Garry Sadler was there and informed me that a dowitcher was in the sprinkler cells.  I thought more likely a Long-billed a this date, but upon seeing it without a scope, I was not sure.  At one point, the birds flushed and disappeared.  I could not hear it call due to the wind.

Turned out to be a Short-billed Dowitcher!

Yesterday I went to Hillman Marsh and Point Pelee.  It was very quiet for birds.  Two Western Sandpipers were still at the shorebird cell.

one of them!

Getting back near the car, there was a brief sighting of an exceptionally early Yellow-billed Cuckoo!

I did quite a bit of walking in the National Park, but did not come up with much.

Pair of Trumpeter Swans at De Laurier

Surf Scoter

I did have a Hairy Woodpecker, which is uncommon in the park.

This past Tuesday I stopped by Roberta Stewart Wetland late in the day.  I took some random photos.  One was a Gadwall, or so I thought.  I was half right, as it turned out to be a Northern Pintail X Gadwall!  I did not realize it until I processed the photo at home.  My excuse is that the lighting was very poor.

I have had this uncommon hybrid here before, oddly enough.  Not the same bird though.

Sunday looks like there may be some good arrivals....only time will tell.

"Six more weeks of good birding!"

May's Last Hurrah

Saturday, I headed towards Essex County for a change.  My first stop was Hillman Marsh shorebird cell at first light.  I ended up spending about an hour there looking at the birds and chatting with Kevin McLaughlin.
One of the Trumpeter Swans was in the cell.  It eventually started honking, then took off!

There was nothing noteworthy  in the way of shorebirds, but it is always worth a check since things are constantly changing there.

Moving on to Point Pelee National Park, I walked to the Tip.  Songbird migration is quickly coming to a stop, as there were very few birds.  I spent a little bit of time at the Tip with an Anonymous Birder.

CSL Tadoussac in Pelee Passage

A Northern Mockingbird was flitting around the Tip.

It is time to look for odes and leps.  Painted Skimmers are around, as I found this one on the east beach not far from Sparrow Field.

I did not spend much time in the park, as there was a sprint run going on from the VC to the Tip. (I seem to run into these things far too often, screwing up my day!).

I once again stopped at Hillman Marsh shorebird cell.  Basically the same shorebirds were present, plus more gulls.  Highlight was a beautiful adult Franklin's Gull.  Too bad it was not a little closer.

They do not come much nicer than this!  The bird had been around a couple of days, so it was one of my targets for the day.

Up to seven Short-billed Dowitchers were in the cell.

I went home via highway 3 to Erieau.  A number of shorebirds were present in the fields north of the McGeachy Pond, including some distant Red Knots as reported earlier by Steve Charbonneau. Ruddy Turnstones and Black-bellied Plovers, as well as an American Golden-Plover were in the mix. Too distant and too much heat shimmer for photos.

Young Great Horned Owl at Erieau

There was not much of note at Blenheim Lagoons, where the day before a pair of Black-necked Stilts was present.  Those kinds of birds only show up on weekdays!  I probably could have seen them around supper time, but I was not up to rushing down in the Friday traffic.

A few of these are around

Sunday dawned a bit foggy along Lake Erie.  It turned out to be a gorgeous sunny day weatherwise, highly unusual for a weekend.
I checked out Rondeau to see what lingering migrants were around.  There were very few!  For warblers, I did get Blackburnian, Blackpoll (4), and a Mourning which may or may not stay.
Lots of Eastern Wood-Peewees and Great-crested Flycatchers are now in.

I was going to go cuckoo today if I did find a certain target bird.  Yellow-billed Cuckoo has eluded me all month, but both cuckoos are finally present in numbers, as I found several of both kinds today. The cuckoos typically do not arrive in numbers until late May, and this year was no exception.

Black-billed Cuckoo

A pair of White-eyed Vireos at spicebush trail will likely take up residence.

Quite a few Swainson's Thrushes are still hopping around.

Keith and I also saw a Painted Skimmer at maintenance this morning.

Near there, we looked at a plant that is rather rare in Ontario.  Although not a real showy plant, American Gromwell (Lithospermum latifolium ) was something of which we took note.

Here are some entries of plant sightings on iNaturalist.

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/224010-Lithospermum-latifolium

There are often some late migrants passerines into June, but it is now time to look for breeding birds or insects!
Here are a couple of moths I saw today.
This one I believe is a Tulip Tree Beauty.  Host plants include Tulip Tree, Sassafras, Pawpaw, and Poplar.  It blends in well with the bark!

Eight-spotted Forester

Snowy Owl at Pain Court (Thursday!)