Explorations of an Ecologist: 2024 (Part 1 of 2)

Another year has come and gone. As is tradition, I have written a couple of blog posts documenting some of my natural history highlights throughout the year.

January

Pre-dawn on January 1, 2024 saw me heading south towards Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia in search of a Gray Heron, which is a rarity in Canada. As the sky began to lighten, a strange lump on the utility wire revealed itself as a Barred Owl! This is the first time I can recall starting my year list with an owl as Species #1.

The month of January was relatively low-key for me. I was based in Nova Scotia for the few days and Hamilton, Ontario for the rest of the month. My naturalizing was limited to a few birding outings, alone or with Laura. Highlights included two great birds found by others in Waterloo Region: a Harris's Sparrow and Harlequin Duck.

Barred Owl

Gray Heron

Harris's Sparrow

American Tree Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Tufted Titmouse

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Bald Eagle

February

We planned to take the month of February off for a vacation somewhere sunny with lots of birds, snakes and bugs. This winter had been especially gloomy with very little sun, so we were more than ready for our trip when the calendar flipped to February.

We decided on northern Peru as we had unfinished business in this part of the country. In 2022 we visited Peru for almost three months, but we decided against exploring the north so that we could take our time and more thoroughly investigate other parts of the country. We figured we would return at some point to check out the north, and here we were, a year and a half later.

For the first sixteen days Laura and I rented a car from Chiclayo and completed a big loop in the north. Afterwards, we flew to Iquitos and visited several lodges deep in the Amazon.

The trip was absolutely incredible. We found some tantalizing bird species like the Long-whiskered Owlet, Marvelous Spatuletail, Wattled and Nocturnal Curassows and much much more. The herps and mammals were equally fantastic. It was just the break from winter that we needed!

Selfie at Reservorio de Tinajones

Sechuran Fox (Lycalopex sechurae)

Giant Parrot Snake (Leptophis ahaetulla occidentalis)

Superciliated Wren

Great Spinetail

Jelski's Chat-Tyrant

Gray-winged Inca-Finch

Yellow-faced Parrotlet

Curve-billed Tinamou

Sparkling Violetear

Possibly a new species of whorltail iguana (Stenocercus sp.)

Marvelous Spatuletail

White-chinned Thistletail

Gray-cowled Wood-Rail

Little Tinamou (chick)

Thestius meridionalis

Vermilion Tanager

Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda)

Emerald-bellied Puffleg

Chestnut Antpitta

Chestnut-crested Cotinga

Long-whiskered Owlet

Amaxia pulchra

Poecilochlora minor

Royal Sunangel

Laura with an unidentified caecilian (Caecilia sp.)

Cyrtochilum volubile

Marañón Crescentchest

Porculla Gray-chinned Hermit

Tumbes Chat-Tyrant

Whooping Motmot

Fasciated Wren

Guayaquil Squirrel (Sciurus stramineus)

Franklin's Gulls

Many-colored Rush-Tyrant

Zimmer's Woodcreeper

Leaden Antwren

Dark-breasted Spinetail

Apioscelis sp.

American Pygmy Kingfisher and Gorgone sp.

Pantropical Huntsman Spider (Heteropoda venatoria)

Band-tailed Cacique

Garden Tree Boa (Corallus hortulana)

Wattled Curassow

Black-skinned Parrot Snake (Leptophis ahaetulla nigromarginatus)

Northern Caiman Lizard (Dracaena guianensis)

Slender Opossum (Marmosops sp.)

Cream-colored Woodpecker

Elegant Eyed Lizard (Cercosaura argulus)

Pygmy Hatchet-faced Tree Frog (Sphaenorhynchus carneus)

Ladder-tailed Nightjar

March

The month's highlight was the opportunity to guide in Jamaica for Quest Nature Tours. I had never been to this island before and was looking forward to the food, the herps, and the relatively high proportion of endemic bird species. In all aspects the trip exceeded expectations. It was the perfect getaway during what is typically a pretty dreary month back home.

Back home in Ontario I only got out a few times to look for wildlife. I twitched the long-staying Bullock's Oriole in Toronto and on the same day re-found the Eurasian Green-winged Teal at Windermere Basin in Hamilton (a new Ontario bird for me). I also took part in a yearly tradition: spending some quality time with Northern Ribbonsnakes at a population that I have observed for decades.

Bullock's Oriole

Northern Ribbonsnake (Thamnophis saurita septentrionalis)

Eastern Gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis)

Bahama Mockingbird

Jamaican Mango (on nest)

Northern Potoo

Cassius Blue (Leptotes cassius)

Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo

White-tailed Tropicbird

Black-billed Streamertails

Jamaican Tody

Hypercompe nigriplaga

Dysdercus jamaicensis

Horama grotei

Pine Pink Orchid (Bletia purpurea)

Crested Quail-Dove

Black-crowned Night Heron

Red-billed Streamertail

Least Grebe

Graham's Anole (Anolis grahami)

Orangequit

Caribbean Dove

April

April is one of my favourite months of the year. The days progressively get longer, early wildflowers burst through the ground, new species of migrant birds are appearing daily and the songs of frogs are heard nearly everywhere. I was in Ontario for the entire month and soaked in this time of year. Highlights included the solar eclipse on April 9, a productive weekend of birding with friends at Point Pelee, finding some Harlequin Ducks at Port Stanley, and checking in again with the Bullock's Oriole in Toronto.

During the second half of the month I set up my moth traps locally on a few occasions, twitched a few rare birds (Loggerhead Shrike in Mississauga, Barnacle Goose near Peterborough), and stayed busy with my first consulting field work for 2024. During the last few days of April, the first pulse of Neotropical migrant birds appeared in southern Ontario.

Solar eclipse

Eastern Towhee

Common Grackle

Red-winged Blackbird

Bullock's Oriole

Cooper's Hawk eating an unidentified bird

Variable Carpet Moth (Anticlea vasiliata)

Barnacle Goose (centre)

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)

Hermit Thrush

Black-capped Chickadee

Willets

Double-crested Cormorants

Long-tailed Duck

Black-throated Green Warbler

Carolina Wren

May

Ah, the most glorious month of the year! I spent the first half of May at Point Pelee, Pelee Island, Long Point, and other locations along the north shore of Lake Erie. During many of these days I led private birding tours, while also leaving some days free for my own exploration. It was a wonderful way to spend a couple of weeks at this time of year.

Personal birding highlights included a Loggerhead Shrike, a Piping Plover, Willets and hundreds of American White Pelicans at Fish Point, Pelee Island, a Blue Grosbeak and Yellow-breasted Chat at the southern terminus of Zion Road, and the highest number of White-eyed Vireos that I've seen at one time (5!) at Fish Point. I added a new bird to my Ontario list with a very exciting chase to Chatham-Kent from Point Pelee with Dan Riley, after Brandon Holden had discovered a Ferruginous Hawk near Port Alma.

During the second half of May I had less time for my own naturalizing as my consulting field work took off. Starting May 17 I began a string of 56 consecutive days working. Luckily, my field work often involves surveying for birds, snakes, frogs and other wildlife so it is not a bad gig at this time of year.

Near the end of the month I checked out a vireo in the Holland Marsh that was originally reported as a Cassin's Vireo (which has no accepted records for Ontario). It was paired with a Yellow-throated Vireo and had some plumage and vocal characteristics that were similar to Yellow-throated Vireo. My thought is that it is a hybrid Yellow-throated x Blue-headed Vireo; an interesting combo.