Scenes Along the River St. Clair

 On this gloomy day, I had plans to check out the St. Clair River up to Corunna.  The river has always been an attraction for many reasons, and has been a big part of my life since I can remember.

The Good 'Ole Days!

I stopped by Roberta Stewart Wetland first thing.  With the low water levels, it is mostly mud!  Goes to show that the dike is not completely sealed from the Chenal Ecarte!

Next stop was Baby Point, aka Brander Park.  This is a very historic spot dating back to the earliest settlement in the area.

I have done extensive birding here since it was close to my old workplace.  Even an interpretive sign has my name on it!

The above photo is from many years ago, but unfortunately this sign is almost toast now!

Along the river there are other interpretive signs, one of which I wrote about before.

Here is a scene from low water times looking downriver, similar to today.

I always search the sand and have found some interesting things over the years.  Today, I found this mussel shell.  It appears to be a Spike, which is not often found along the river.  Or, at least it is the first one I have seen here.  We do not often find mussel shells along the river's edge.

Further upriver, I stopped at Cath's Cart Cathcart Park, always a good birding spot (at least in the past!).  We already have a big number of Common Mergansers hanging around here this winter.

Gulls tend to congregate here as well.

Larry, Curly and Moe?

A little farther upriver, I stopped at the outlet of Bowen Creek.  I had never checked out this outlet before, but I was alerted by a friend that there were mussels along the creek.  Since I am quite interested in mussels, I had to go and look!

There were oodles of Giant Floaters.

But, the highlight was an Eastern Pondmussel.  It is a species of concern in Canada, and listed as critically imperiled in Ontario.  I have found several at Rondeau Park, but it is rare along the St. Clair River.

Since water level is so low, one can walk along the shoreline.  There are lots of beaches along the river right now!  Beaches were common when I was little, as I remember swimming in the river at Port Lambton off the end of Gibson Lane.

Here are views at the outlet of Bowen Creek.

north

south

I stopped by Willow Park as well, which is in front of where the old Lambton Generating Station used to stand.

Common anymore, are alien species of clams and mussels, with thousands of shells littering the shoreline.  Here is an Asian Clam.

Most numerous are Quagga Mussels and Zebra Mussels.

The river was a bit quiet for birds today, not surprisingly.  By now in the past, we would be having colder weather and some ice forming.  Ducks and gulls would be congregating in the river.  But with climate change, that is a thing of the past.

I went as far as Guthrie Park, but there was hardly anything up that way.  The north parking lot, our favourite spot for gull watching, is closed off for some kind of construction.  Not sure for what, but it will be disappointing if it lasts all winter.

After stocking up in Corunna, I headed towards home and went for a walk at my old standby place of Nicholl's Memorial Forest and Wetland.  There were a few birds there, including a couple of Red-tailed Hawks.

Cold weather tomorrow, before the weather goes for a crap on the weekend....again.

Lambton Leps/Rondeau Rambles/Thames Tidbits

 Touring around this weekend, I ended up in north Lambton on Saturday morning.  I walked the Ipperwash Forested Dunes and Swales.  It was a pleasant walk, but there were few migrant birds.  Red-breasted Nuthatches were more plentiful, as they are elsewhere right now.

Near the end of my walk, a butterfly landed rather high in a tree.  I was not sure what it was at first, but turned out to be a Compton Tortoiseshell.  As mentioned previously, they are having a banner year.  First time I have seen one here!

I then moved up to Karner Blue Sanctuary at Port Franks.  It was terribly quiet for birds, but a family of Eastern Bluebirds kept me occupied in that department.

Here is a reliable spot to see Leonard's Skippers around the Rough and Cylindrical Blazing Star plants.  

This is a later-summer skipper that we see in August and September.

Other skippers included Silver-spotted, Peck's and Northern Broken-Dash.

A plant I remembered from a year ago on the bioblitz was Ebony Spleenwort.

I stopped by Forest Lagoons on the way back.  A few shorebirds there, but not much.  This place has not been producing of late!

Nearer home, a stop at McKeough revealed very little, as it was getting way too hot!

Eastern Amberwing

Today, was a toss-up so I went down to McLean Conservation Lands.  It is certainly the best spot around for shorebirds and lots of other birds.  Nothing new though....we need a change in weather!

The Red Knot was still kicking around, but it was right close to the road today.

The summering Dunlin need not be mentioned, and only one Baird's Sandpiper today.

I then went into the park.  Practically no warblers on south point, but vireos were plentiful.  I had five vireo species, including the White-eyed still singing away.

There were even more gulls and terns on the east beach today.  At least 1000 Ring-billed, plus several hundred Common Terns, Bonaparte's etc., but no rarities.

I was so intrigued by the stop along the Thames east of Thamesville on Friday, that I went back today.  Several Smoky Rubyspots were there, but were rather skittish and I only got a photo of one today.

Here is a photo of both a Smoky and an American Rubyspot on the same rock.

There is a shallow spot where I found many mussels.  Several species there, which I still have problems ID'ing.

Pimpleback

Deertoe

Pimpleback

possible Elktoe

Another checkered skipper in the yard this afternoon....

Some Shorebirds, More Insects, Moore Mussels

I have been wandering around recently fairly close to home looking for anything of interest.
The Dukes' Skippers are doing well at Reid CA.

Today I found quite a few, but they were not too co-operative for photos!

Friday I decided to head up to Strathroy.  The lagoons are easily accessible and one cell has some excellent mud for shorebirds.  ( A Ruff was there just over a week ago!).  As I left home, there was patchy fog, but it got worse as I headed towards Strathroy!  By the time I arrived, it was too foggy to see the mudflat by scope, so I walked around the one cell.

Solitary Sandpiper in Fog

By the time I finished, it had cleared enough to bring out the scope.  There was not a lot of variety, but Least Sandpipers numbered over 50, with a couple Semipalmated Sandpipers, a Semipalmated Plover and several Lesser Yellowlegs.

Solitary Sandpipers numbered four or five.

After finishing there, I headed over to Clark Wright CA, not too far away.  This is a neat little spot I visit at least once a year.  I find it good for butterflies when conditions are right.  I had American Coppers here several years ago, but the trail has been re-routed away from where they were.

A decent find popped up in the form of a Mulberry Wing.  This elusive sedge skipper was one I thought I would not find this year, so that made the day.

After this walk, I decided to head back south west and ended up at Wardsville Woods.  This is a favourite spot to walk and a good place to look for butterflies.  Some odes are here too!

Not done yet, I kept going and ended up at Clear Creek.  I wanted to walk the old quarry area as it is excellent for odes and butterflies.  Goal was to see a Comet Darner, which I discovered here a couple of years ago.
They will patrol over the pond, so I kept looking.  Soon, I spotted one!  Very distinctive red abdomen!

They are considered rare vagrant to Ontario, but some are established in known locations.

Calico Pennants are very common here.

I spent quite a bit of time in the area.  There is another pond up the slope to the north.

After some time, I spotted a couple of Broad-winged Skippers around some phragmites.  This species apparently uses phragmites as a food plant.

Later, I caught sight of an American Snout.  It was not too co-operative, lol.

Today, I headed to north Lambton for lack of anything else to do.  I checked out Forest lagoons--always an excellent place for fall shorebird migration.  There was not much there today, but quite a few Lesser Yellowlegs.

Shoveler Silhouette

Moving on, I thought Ipperwash Forested Dunes and Swales would be a nice walk in early morning.  There were not too many birds, but many mosquitoes!
I spotted a Green Heron sitting on a nest at one point.

I was looking for insects as well.  A Shadow Darner posed briefly.

Not sure what this other darner is.

It was getting too hot and humid by the time I finished, but just before I left, I spotted a Coral Hairstreak.  It was a first for this year, one that I thought I would miss for the first time.

Closer to home, I stopped by Moore WMA, McKeough and Reid for some brief looks.  I wanted to get a photo of a Royal River Cruiser, but that never happened even though I saw them at each location!

There were quite a few mussels at Moore today.  This one caught my eye as it was one I had not seen before.  I thought it may be a Fawnsfoot, which is quite rare, but that was my guess.  Certainly looked different with the greenish colour and pattern.  Likely a Deertoe which is "vulnerable" in Ontario.
Deertoes seem to be rather numerous at Moore.

Other Moore mussels:

Mapleleaf

Deetoe

At McKeough I did see one Flag-tailed Spinyleg.

Eastern Amberwing (f)

At Reid, several Dukes' Skippers were flying, as mentioned above.

I did not find any hairstreaks at all.  There will be some kicking around, but we are mostly done with them in this area for yet another year.

Banded from a few days ago

It is a horrible year for the invasion of Gypsy Moths.  They are everywhere, and in many areas the oaks are leaf-less.  I found this Eastern Pondhawk having lunch at Reid.  It appears to have a Gypsy Moth!