More May Birding

 I spent the last few days at Rondeau Park.  Initially, the weather did not look good for the week, but  needed to go anyway.  As usual, the forecast was almost 100% wrong!  Weather was quite pleasant except for today (Friday).

Birds were not in large numbers.  In fact, I have not seen a day yet this spring with a nice big fallout.  Maybe those days are a thing of the past.  Variety was there, if one worked for them.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Tuesday I birded around the park, and went out marsh trail in the evening.  I ended up with 121 species.  Mourning, Hooded and Blackpoll were first-of-year warblers.

Quite a few of the expected shorebirds were along the east beaches.

Least Sandpiper

This time of year, we see Showy Orchis in bloom.  I had a difficult time finding just one plant in a usual area.  Not as many as there used to be it seems.

Next day I was up early, as usual.  Birds were scarce, so I did not do as well as the previous day.

An Eastern Screech-owl has been sleeping out in the open of late, providing good photo ops for photographers.

In the afternoon, I had the urge to walk out south beach.  Not really worth it, but one has to satisfy one's curiosity!  There were some of the common shorebirds, including Least Sandpipers.

Still finding lots of Fatmucket mussels along the shoreline.

I spent the last part of the day at the entrance to the marsh trail hoping for Common Nighthawk.  Not!

Earlier, an Osprey was in the sky.

The night was clear as the waxing gibbous moon shone in the sky.

Thursday was a decent day, but I worked for the birds to tally 122 species.  I decided to do an early morning run of the marsh trail.  A couple of Willow Flycatchers were finally in.  Seems flycatchers are a bit late this year, as obviously there are a lot more to come.

I heard both Sora and Virginia Rails.  As a bonus, a King Rail was making itself known by making its characteristic calls deep in the marsh.  It remained unseen.

Interestingly, a King Rail was seen the previous day at the Erieau marsh trail, and again this day, delighting birder from far and wide.

Later in the day, I checked out the shorebirds on the east beaches.

Sanderling

Least Sandpiper

Dunlin

another Sanderling

A couple of Common Loons were far out, and three Long-tailed Ducks were resting on the beach.  Something about those that they like sitting on the beach!  Did not bother to take photos though.

Friday, the weather came!  This time they were right for a change.  I awoke about 04:15, and luckily I heard a Common Nighthawk overhead.  Nicer to see them, but the distinctive call was obvious and will have to do.

I packed up the tent early before the rain came and then drove around the park.  I was a bit late, and only got four Whip-poor-wills.  Seems there are not as many as in previous years.  I could not find any at the north end the month.

I got a walk in on south point trail before some rain came.  A Blue-winged Warbler was singing in the thick of things and remained unseen for us.  However, it was later seen and confirmed by another birder.

Rain started, so I parked at dog beach for a while.  After it stopped, I checked a few shorebirds, including this Greater Yellowlegs.

The rain stopped enough to go for a walk in the visitor centre area and down Harrison trail a bit.  Highlight was a singing Prairie Warbler.  A singing Canada Warbler was nice to see as well.

Rain came again, and I headed up to Bennett and Harrison.  It stopped again, so I went for a walk to the defunct group campground.  By the time I got back, it stared pouring.

That ended my birding in the park as it was going to be a long rain.  Then I was homebound!

Sunset May 16 Rondeau Park

Rondeau Campout and a "Lifer" in the Mix

 The past four nights I camped at Rondeau (place of choice for this time of year) as I usually do this time of year.  At least it cuts down on travel time in the car!  I never took many photographs though, but always had the camera on hand.

The weather was reasonably good with sunny days, except Thursday which was cloudy, cool and windy.  A bit of rain late in the afternoon dampened things.  Most rain, which was little, came at night.

Birding was generally slow for the most part, and there were not as many birds as I had hoped.  However, it is what it is and one makes the best of it!

Monday morning we started early on south point trail.  Some new birds had come in.  Highlight was an immature Little Gull flying by the washout.

I saw my first Prothonotary Warbler of the year on Tulip Tree trail.  It afforded close-up views!  (Hence a new header photo for this blog!).

Although a female, it was nice to see.

I ended up with 94 species for the day in the park.

Later in the afternoon, I took a jaunt over to Keith McLean C. L.  Highlight was a Willet, but probably not Willie the Willet.

In the evening, conditions were excellent to walk out marsh trail (ended up with 50 species).  I found it a bit quiet, but added Least Bittern (6) for the year's list.  Some Sora were calling, but no Virginia Rails were heard.

As usual, hundreds of swallows were heading back to the marsh to roost a dusk.  Difficult to count, but most seemed to be Bank.

I stayed out till dark, but oddly, no Whip-poor-wills were heard at the north end.  Are more to come?

Tuesday I was up bright and early.  I counted eight Whip-poor-wills along Lakeshore Road down to south point trail.  It ended up being a quiet day, although some new birds had come in.  The only new bird for the year was Gray-cheeked Thrush.

Plants are doing their thing.  One of the more abundant forest floor plants is Canada Mayflower.  Not quite in bloom though.

Maidenhair Fern

As I was crawling in the tent for the night, a Black-crowned Night-Heron flew over, calling incessantly.  Other birders in the campground noted it as well, as shown on their eBird lists!

Wednesday was a good day, where I surpassed 100 species in the park.  Added for the year were only two, including Eastern Wood Peewee and Wilson's Warbler.

More White-crowned Sparrows had come in. One would think a Harris's Sparrow might pop in with them!

Later in the afternoon, I walked south point east trail.  Not many birds, but for amusement I looked at some reptilian creatures!

Five-lined Skink

Dekay's Brown Snake

Also some leps.

Eastern-tailed Blue

Spicebush Swallowtail

While out there, word came in that a Ferruginous Hawk was found at Port Crewe by Brandon Holden.  It caused a flurry of activity by birders, as expected.  I really had no ambition to chase after it, so stayed in the park!

Thursday was a gloomy day.  With the traditional east winds for this time of year, the east side of the park was not desirable.  Steve and I walked south point west trail.  Once we got to the beach, we decided to keep going out south beach!

Shorebirds included Least Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Dunlin, Semipalmated Plover and Sanderling.  Later in the month is better for shorebirds out there.

A lone Long-tailed Duck kept going up on the beach.  It looked Ok and seemed to fly well, but we wondered about it.

On our way back, word came in that the Ferruginous Hawk was found again, closer to Port Alma.  With few birds in the park and nothing else to do, I took a run for it.

It was well out in the field when I arrived, but scope views afforded satisfaction.  For all it is worth, here is a photo!

Needless to say, it was a 'lifer' for many, or at least an Ontario 'lifer' for others.

On the way back, I checked out Erieau marsh trail, which was somewhat birdy.

I walked Tulip Tree trail upon returning to the park.  It was quite birdy, with numerous warblers.  Included was a pair of Prothonotary Warblers.  This time, the male was point blank in front of me.  Unfortunately, I did not bring the camera along!

A late Winter Wren was singing, but in the past they have nested in the park as I recall.

Later in the afternoon we had light rain, so not much happened.

Today, Friday, was another sunny day.  We started at south point trail where a few new birds had come in.  However, not many.  There were lots of Cape May and Chestnut-sided Warblers.

I later walked Harrison Trail south from Bennett to the old group campground.  It was actually quite pleasant with lots of birds.  While in group camp, word came out that a Swallow-tailed Kite had made an appearance over pony barn!

It was not far away from me, but I never saw it.  There is an open area in group camp where I watched the sky for some time, but it never passed my location.

Later it was briefly seen at dog beach, but several of us never did see it despite standing vigil there for some time  afterwards.

The bird must have been moving quickly, as it (presumably) was seen in west Chatham-Kent not long after.  I have yet to catch up with one in Chatham-Kent.  Been close a couple of times!

Generally speaking, there are lots of birds yet to come.  Most flycatchers have yet to arrive for example. This coming week should give us lots to look at, although the weather may be something to be desired.

Will be spending more time at my place of choice next week.

May Birding: The Fun Begins

Now that we are well into the month of May, birders are beating the bushes for birds in their favourite spots. 

On May 1, I stayed fairly close to home.  There were not many birds that day around anyway.

Along the St. Clair River, the Nautica Queen was upbound.  It is a cruise and dinner vessel out of Cleveland, Ohio.  Not sure where it was going.

In the afternoon, I went for a walk at Reid CA just admiring the scenery.  There are lots of hickory trees there, including some Bitternut Hickory.  One of the large ones fell down for some reason during the winter.  It would have made for some nice lumber!

Nearby, another of same size was looking healthy.

Blue Phlox is blooming, but I found this one not quite out.

I happened to come across a rather large patch of Harbinger of Spring in a spot I missed before.  It is amazing how much is within Reid CA.  Not worth a photo at this stage though.

Other scenes:

Sedgy Area

Aspen patch

Eastern Forktail emerged in recent days.

On Thursday I went to Rondeau.  There were lots of new birds, including a good influx of White-crowned Sparrows.  This one was showing off its white crown!

After Rondeau, I slid over to Erieau.  It was  a good turtle day everywhere, as they were all out taking advantage of the warm sun.  I saw five species along the rail trail!

Spiny Softshell

Blanding's Turtle

Northern Map Turtle

Heading home, I decided I was not done for the day, so took a detour over to the south shore nature trail at Mitchell's Bay.  Lots of turtles there as well.  I saw at least 30 Map Turtles along the trail.

I have seen Spiny Softshell on the Bay there in the past, but not on this particular day.

The Snowy Egret was apparently still present, but somehow it remained hidden during my visit.  I missed it by about 15 minutes!

I kept an eye on the field, as often Yellow-headed Blackbirds forage in it.  I was not disappointed, and noted five.  Just too difficult to get a proper photo though.

Friday, I started out at Mitchell's Bay on the trail again.  It was rather quiet for birds though, but I always have to check.  Not knowing what else to do later, I eventually ended up at Point Pelee!  It turned out to be a good choice.

There had been a massive influx of birds overnight (same thing at Rondeau), but many were streaming out.  I parked at northwest beach just in time to see lots of warblers streaming north.  Most were Yellow-rumped (we finally got numbers!), but others were mixed in.

Along the west side, the grasses were littered with Palm Warblers as well.

Some warblers lingered.  Many first-of-years birds were tallied, including lots of Cape May Warblers.

A few Black-throated Green

Lots of Northern Parula

I had some good finds, including Golden-winged Warbler, Summer Tanager, and Fish Crow.

After birding the park for a few hours, I was too tired to stop in Hillman Marsh, so ventured home.

Today, it was back to Rondeau.  The "morning flight" fizzled!  In fact, the park was very quiet for birds.

I happened to be in the right place at the right time, when Jeff Tunstall spotted an Olive-sided Flycatcher.  He managed photos, but I did not as it flew back too far, then out of sight.  This is remarkably early for that species, but some have been reported elsewhere already.  Usually we look for this one in the second week of May and beyond!

The other decent bird was a Yellow-breasted Chat.  I completely missed this one last year (there were not many), so nice to see.  Unfortunately, it was very elusive (true to nature) and did not co-operate for the camera.

The chat is much scarcer than it used to be needless to say, but there has been a good showing already this year in various places.  Hopefully some stay to nest.

As always, I keep an eye out for plants.  I believe this one is Oak Sedge, an easily over-looked plant that looks like grass.

I also took a look at the trusty Goldenseal, which is already well-advanced in flowering.  This rare plant is always nice to see.

A brief stop at Keith McLean C. L. did not reveal much.

Sandpiper by itself (Solitary)

Possibly the Red-headed Woodpecker that wintered nearby

This Bald Eagle may be ill.  It rarely moves, and is easily approached.

This coming week should be good, as I will spend most of it at Rondeau Park.