This weekend I had plans to drive out to Kingston to visit my sister and brother, both who attend schools out there. I left Friday mid morning and planned to do a few stops along the way for birds. I didn't see much til I got to Thickson's Road area. While I was scanning the bay at the end of Thickson's Road, I was happy to hear two White-winged Crossbills fly over. They were my first WWCRs since the winter of 2008/2009! Other birds seen here included 1 Red-throated Loon and a whole bunch of ducks. I also stopped briefly at Presqui'lle Provincial Park. The male Eurasian Wigeon was still swimming near the campground office, but it was too late in the afternoon for photos, plus it was quite some distance from me. This was my second Eurasian Wigeon of the year - the first was a male I found at Blenheim in late April. Due to the waterfowl hunt I was unable to scan for shorebirds on Gull Island (I didn't want to get shot!).
I stopped at Presqui'lle again on the way back from Kingston today. This time there was no hunt going on so I was able to check out the situation. Unfortunately I neglected to bring any boots with me, so I ended up wading about 100m through ice-cold, knee-deep water to get to the island. I suppose it was worth it, since I scared up a Purple Sandpiper with all the other shorebirds. The diversity was pretty decent considering the late date - I also had:
79 Dunlin
2 White-rumped Sandpiper
10 Sanderling
6 Black-bellied Plover
2 Greater Yellowlegs
As expected, all the shorebirds were juveniles. I also had a skulking American Tree Sparrow on the island that was acting like a crazy rare sparrow or something, the way it skulked through the grasses. Other than a pipit and some Snow Buntings, it was the only Passerine I saw on Gull Island. Unfortunately there weren't any super interesting gulls or ducks out on the lake or on the island. The walk back through the icy water seemed twice as far as the walk there!
I did grab a few photos of a confiding White-rumped Sandpiper and Dunlin, so I will post them when I get time.
In recent news, check out these photos of the Lucy's Warbler found at Whitefish Point. What a crazy bird!!!
http://web.me.com/karloverman/Site/North_AmericaN_Birds_III/Pages/Lucys_Warbler.html
We have had persistent strong south and southwest winds lately, but we haven't had any southwestern specialties to show for it. Mainly this is because the low pressure systems are passing to the west of us.Michael Butler did an excellent write-up on some of the rarities showing up just to the west of us.
http://northshorenature.blogspot.com/2011/11/rash-of-vagrant-birds-in-western-great.html
Some low pressure systems are moving in from Texas, and they look like they could be more in line to go over Ontario. The weather forecast is calling for strong south and southwest winds for the next little while! I am finally going to predict that we will be getting Cave Swallows later this week/next weekend. Ash-throated Flycatchers are another species that could very easily show up at this time. Who knows whats out there, so get out birding!
Showing posts with label shorebirds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shorebirds. Show all posts
Sunday, 13 November 2011
Monday, 17 October 2011
Wet and wild times at Pelee
This weekend I zipped down to Pelee, hoping, as usual, for uber-rare vagrant birds. Strong west winds were forecasted for the weekend and I hoped that this would cause some Franklin's Gulls, cool shorebirds, or if we were really lucky, a rare western flycatcher to be found down in the southwestern corner of the province.
When it was all said and done, it was an excellent weekend with good company and a couple of decent birds (despite the persistent rain).
My first destination was a flooded field near Comber at the north end of the county. Large numbers of shorebirds had consistently been found there over the past week or two. When I arrived, there was no sign of the 11 Godwits which were frequenting the spot. However, one lonely Hudsonian Godwit was still present. The winds were so strong here that I had to hide in the cornfield next to the muddy field, using it as a windbreak. This was fairly succesful and I picked out the remaining species, in order of abundance. By the way, most of these counts are estimates:
Black-bellied Plover (250)
Dunlin (150)
White-rumped Sandpiper (60)
Semipalmated Sandpiper (50)
American Golden-Plover (25)
Killdeer (10)
Baird's Sandpiper (2)
and singles of Long-billed Dowitcher, Least Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, and of course the Hudsonian Godwit.
I ended up walking in the muddy field to get closer views at the peeps since I suspected one was a Western from a distance. Sure enough, it was! It was a fairly long-billed "female-type" bird. The Spotted Sandpiper is a pretty late date for the species.
A brief check of Tilbury yielded virtually nothing, so I headed on down towards Point Pelee. Wheatley harbour had a really fresh, crisp juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull but not much else. The onion fields were pretty devoid of all life too, so I called it a day early and headed to my favorite local joint (McDonald's for the free wifi - where else!) and Skype-called Laura from halfway around the world. Ah, modern technology. After that it was drinks with a good friend in Leamington, then I called it a night and slept in my car.
Sunday was as the forecast predicted - miserable with rain out of the southwest. I headed down to the tip and did a bit of a lakewatch with "the regulars" - Alan Wormington, Blake Mann, Richard Carr, Kevin McLaughlin, Steve Pike, and Marianne Balkwill. It was nice to finally meet Marianne!
Despite the winds it was pretty slow at the tip - highlights were probably Ring-billed Gull and Red-breasted Merganser... Well it wasn't THAT bad. A juvenile Red-necked Phalarope was nice to see and a Lesser Black-backed Gull made a few passes. The odd Merlin and Common Tern flew by as well. Despite scanning thousands of gulls, we didn't come up with any Franklins!
Steve was pretty stoked about the large number of "dicky-birds" around in the woods so I joined him for a bit in sparrow field then birded by myself for a few hours at the tip and along Shuster. There were Yellow-rumped Warblers everywhere, and I picked out 9 other species of warblers with them, including Orange-crowned, Magnolia, and Wilson's. All the other expected October fare was present, including Winter Wren, both kinglets, Eastern Phoebes, Hermit Thrushes, Rusty Blackbirds, and a Blue-headed Vireo. Steve mentioned that this was the most number of birds he had seen in the park all autumn.
My next stop was Hillman marsh where I donned the hipwaders and went splashing after Nelson's Sparrows. Despite the high winds I was somewhat successful in this venture, flushing three possible Nelson's (of which I only got a decent look at one of them). I also walked through the grassy field directly north of the shorebird cell and scared up a bunch of sparrows, including one that may or may not have been a Le Conte's. Sometimes they get away from you!
A quick check of Erieau harbour produced an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull and not much else. I checked Blenheim lagoons around sunset and found a few shorebirds in the sprinklers (including White-rumped and Long-billed Dowitcher). One shorebird had me stumped - it was hanging out with Lesser Yellowlegs and exhibited similar behaviour, but its bill was shaped more like a Stilt Sandpiper. It was a juvenile bird, and it was slightly smaller than the LEYEs but appeared marginally chunkier. It had a different facial pattern too - much blander actually, and with less of an obvious capped appearance. I only wish the lighting was better since I couldn't pick up much on this bird! Maybe it will hang around and someone will notice it and clear up it's identification.
All in all it was a decent weekend and really nice to get away from schoolwork for a bit. The few photos I took from the weekend will be added once I get a chance (might not be for a couple of days)
When it was all said and done, it was an excellent weekend with good company and a couple of decent birds (despite the persistent rain).
My first destination was a flooded field near Comber at the north end of the county. Large numbers of shorebirds had consistently been found there over the past week or two. When I arrived, there was no sign of the 11 Godwits which were frequenting the spot. However, one lonely Hudsonian Godwit was still present. The winds were so strong here that I had to hide in the cornfield next to the muddy field, using it as a windbreak. This was fairly succesful and I picked out the remaining species, in order of abundance. By the way, most of these counts are estimates:
Black-bellied Plover (250)
Dunlin (150)
White-rumped Sandpiper (60)
Semipalmated Sandpiper (50)
American Golden-Plover (25)
Killdeer (10)
Baird's Sandpiper (2)
and singles of Long-billed Dowitcher, Least Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, and of course the Hudsonian Godwit.
I ended up walking in the muddy field to get closer views at the peeps since I suspected one was a Western from a distance. Sure enough, it was! It was a fairly long-billed "female-type" bird. The Spotted Sandpiper is a pretty late date for the species.
A brief check of Tilbury yielded virtually nothing, so I headed on down towards Point Pelee. Wheatley harbour had a really fresh, crisp juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull but not much else. The onion fields were pretty devoid of all life too, so I called it a day early and headed to my favorite local joint (McDonald's for the free wifi - where else!) and Skype-called Laura from halfway around the world. Ah, modern technology. After that it was drinks with a good friend in Leamington, then I called it a night and slept in my car.
Sunday was as the forecast predicted - miserable with rain out of the southwest. I headed down to the tip and did a bit of a lakewatch with "the regulars" - Alan Wormington, Blake Mann, Richard Carr, Kevin McLaughlin, Steve Pike, and Marianne Balkwill. It was nice to finally meet Marianne!
Despite the winds it was pretty slow at the tip - highlights were probably Ring-billed Gull and Red-breasted Merganser... Well it wasn't THAT bad. A juvenile Red-necked Phalarope was nice to see and a Lesser Black-backed Gull made a few passes. The odd Merlin and Common Tern flew by as well. Despite scanning thousands of gulls, we didn't come up with any Franklins!
Steve was pretty stoked about the large number of "dicky-birds" around in the woods so I joined him for a bit in sparrow field then birded by myself for a few hours at the tip and along Shuster. There were Yellow-rumped Warblers everywhere, and I picked out 9 other species of warblers with them, including Orange-crowned, Magnolia, and Wilson's. All the other expected October fare was present, including Winter Wren, both kinglets, Eastern Phoebes, Hermit Thrushes, Rusty Blackbirds, and a Blue-headed Vireo. Steve mentioned that this was the most number of birds he had seen in the park all autumn.
My next stop was Hillman marsh where I donned the hipwaders and went splashing after Nelson's Sparrows. Despite the high winds I was somewhat successful in this venture, flushing three possible Nelson's (of which I only got a decent look at one of them). I also walked through the grassy field directly north of the shorebird cell and scared up a bunch of sparrows, including one that may or may not have been a Le Conte's. Sometimes they get away from you!
A quick check of Erieau harbour produced an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull and not much else. I checked Blenheim lagoons around sunset and found a few shorebirds in the sprinklers (including White-rumped and Long-billed Dowitcher). One shorebird had me stumped - it was hanging out with Lesser Yellowlegs and exhibited similar behaviour, but its bill was shaped more like a Stilt Sandpiper. It was a juvenile bird, and it was slightly smaller than the LEYEs but appeared marginally chunkier. It had a different facial pattern too - much blander actually, and with less of an obvious capped appearance. I only wish the lighting was better since I couldn't pick up much on this bird! Maybe it will hang around and someone will notice it and clear up it's identification.
All in all it was a decent weekend and really nice to get away from schoolwork for a bit. The few photos I took from the weekend will be added once I get a chance (might not be for a couple of days)
Monday, 19 September 2011
OFO convention at Pelee
Last night I returned from the OFO convention held at Point Pelee. Despite the low number of migrants in the park, I would still say the weekend was a success! It was great to meet old friends and to put some faces to names.
Saturday morning I drove from where I was staying in Windsor to Point Pelee. Steve Pike and I were scheduled to be a leading a hike throughout the onion fields and Hillman marsh in the morning. When I arrived Steve was already there, and he looked like death warmed over. He bowed out of the morning session and was hoping to be fine by afternoon, or at the latest, by the time of the dinner.
Our group first checked out the dyke that leads east towards the lake from the far end of concession road E. Despite relatively high winds we found a few pockets of songbirds, highlighted by Philadelphia Vireo and 10 species of warblers. A Wilson's Snipe flew by and some Harriers were seen flying around the marsh.
We made our way up to Wheatley harbour, which I had scouted the night before. Unfortunately both Lesser Black-backed Gulls weren't present, but 2 juvenile Ruddy Turnstones were.
After some discussion, our group decided to head north to a field near Wheatley which held American Golden-Plovers the day before. This turned out to be a very good move as not only did we have good looks at the Golden-plovers, but 5 Buff-breasted Sandpipers flew in to close range for a few minutes! The rest of the time, they were barely visible out in the fields. Also seen here were a few Black-bellied Plovers, Killdeer, Pectoral Sandpipers, and singles of Baird's Sandpiper and Lesser Yellowlegs.
Buoyed on by our success, we headed to Tilbury since it was close. The usuals were here, highlighted by a flock of 11 White-rumped Sandpipers. It was good to see birds actually using the "shorebird cell", now that it had a bit of water again.
The afternoon consisted of leading a convoy of over 30 cars back to the BBSA field. Fortunately for all the participants, we managed to see all 5 way off in the distance. Few other decent birds were seen that day, and I finished birding around 4:00 with close to 80 species for the day. Not bad considering I didn't even step inside the National Park!
I slept in my car Saturday night and decided to sleep in til about 8. I birded the park briefly, but it was very quiet for songbirds and I didn't see much. Highlights included Grey-cheeked Thrush and Mourning Warbler.
I did stop to photograph what I was told was a Variagated Meadowhawk.
On the way back home, I stopped at Tilbury but few new birds had arrived. The WRSA flock now numbered 14.
Photos to be added later!
Saturday morning I drove from where I was staying in Windsor to Point Pelee. Steve Pike and I were scheduled to be a leading a hike throughout the onion fields and Hillman marsh in the morning. When I arrived Steve was already there, and he looked like death warmed over. He bowed out of the morning session and was hoping to be fine by afternoon, or at the latest, by the time of the dinner.
Our group first checked out the dyke that leads east towards the lake from the far end of concession road E. Despite relatively high winds we found a few pockets of songbirds, highlighted by Philadelphia Vireo and 10 species of warblers. A Wilson's Snipe flew by and some Harriers were seen flying around the marsh.
We made our way up to Wheatley harbour, which I had scouted the night before. Unfortunately both Lesser Black-backed Gulls weren't present, but 2 juvenile Ruddy Turnstones were.
After some discussion, our group decided to head north to a field near Wheatley which held American Golden-Plovers the day before. This turned out to be a very good move as not only did we have good looks at the Golden-plovers, but 5 Buff-breasted Sandpipers flew in to close range for a few minutes! The rest of the time, they were barely visible out in the fields. Also seen here were a few Black-bellied Plovers, Killdeer, Pectoral Sandpipers, and singles of Baird's Sandpiper and Lesser Yellowlegs.
Buoyed on by our success, we headed to Tilbury since it was close. The usuals were here, highlighted by a flock of 11 White-rumped Sandpipers. It was good to see birds actually using the "shorebird cell", now that it had a bit of water again.
The afternoon consisted of leading a convoy of over 30 cars back to the BBSA field. Fortunately for all the participants, we managed to see all 5 way off in the distance. Few other decent birds were seen that day, and I finished birding around 4:00 with close to 80 species for the day. Not bad considering I didn't even step inside the National Park!
I slept in my car Saturday night and decided to sleep in til about 8. I birded the park briefly, but it was very quiet for songbirds and I didn't see much. Highlights included Grey-cheeked Thrush and Mourning Warbler.
I did stop to photograph what I was told was a Variagated Meadowhawk.
On the way back home, I stopped at Tilbury but few new birds had arrived. The WRSA flock now numbered 14.
Photos to be added later!
Friday, 16 September 2011
Birding along Lake Erie
I'll make it short since I'm short on time...currently I am parked outside of a McDonald's in Leamington making use of their wifi.
Today's birding took me along the lakeshore from Port Stanley to Point Pelee. Here's my Ontbirds post summarizing Port Stanley:
"I had about 16 species of shorebirds in the Port Stanley area this afternoon. There were 5 species on the
East pier, including a juvenile Red Knot. On the beach west of the pier were thousands of gulls, including a
1st cycle and adult Little Gull. At the lagoons, I ran into another birder and we had 6 A. Golden-plovers (j) 2 Baird's Sandpipers (j) 1 White-rumped Sandpiper (ad) 2 Red-necked Phalaropes (j) 1 Stilt Sandpiper (j) 1 Horned Grebe While along the lake there was a constant stream of raptors including all 3 falcons.
I counted over 2500 Broad-winged Hawks in 1/2 an hour, so I am sure the hawkwatch
had huge numbers today.
 |
| 1st cycle Little Gull |
 |
| Bonaparte's Gull - Port Stanley |
 |
| Horned Grebe - Port Stanley Lagoons |
 |
| juv. Stilt Sandpiper - Port Stanley lagoons |
 |
| world's crappiest photo (Red-necked Phalarope juv) |
The rest of the day I hit up some spots between Port Stanley and Pelee, stopping at Ridgetown, Blenheim, Wheatley harbour, Hillman Marsh, and the Onion Fields. I didn't find anything really crazy, though another Horned Grebe (Blenheim lagoons) was weird.
 |
| Horned Grebe - Blenheim lagoons. |
I finished the day with 84 species - not bad considering I had almost zero songbirds (only 2 warbler species, 1 thrush, etc)
Monday, 22 August 2011
More phalarope awesomeness
I decided to once again make the short trek over to Tilbury this afternoon while taking a break from work. Many of the same ducks and herons were still present, including the female Northern Shoveler (she was joined by 5 others on Saturday, but they were now gone), a handful of teal, a couple of Black Ducks, and a dozen Wood Ducks. While scanning the shorebirds, I was happy to see that the young Red-necked Phalarope had returned. It had been absent yesterday, apparently.
This is an awesome little bird and one of my favorite species. The lighting wasn't ideal at this time of day, but even still I slowly crawled down the embankment and grabbed about 100 photos of the little guy. Makes me wish I had an extra 100 or 200 mm on my lens!
Every so often, the phalarope would spin quickly in a circle, creating a vortex that sucks tiny invertebrates up to the surface, which it promptly plucked off of the water.
About a dozen total species of shorebirds were present including 4 juvenile Baird's Sandpipers, an adult White-rumped Sandpiper (the first of the fall for me at Tilbury), and 3 adult Long-billed Dowitchers.
While I was watching the shorebirds, I noticed that they all started lifting a wary eye to the sky. I took this as a hint and looked up, but the only raptorish shape I could see was a Chimney Swift way up high. About 10 minutes later the same thing took place.
This time, though, the culprit was a juvenile Peregrine barelling in. It chased a flock of peeps around for a bit before eventually leaving. At one point the falcon was dangerously close to the phalarope, huddling close to the water! I found it interesting that the dowitchers and Greater Yellowlegs didn't fly when the Peregrine flew in - in fact the dowitchers never stopped feeding the entire time the aerial assault was on.
The flocks dissappeared, but over the next 20 minutes slowly started arriving and feeding. Here is a Lesser Yellowlegs trailed by a couple of peeps. I think the front two are Semi-sands and the back one is a Least.
Also seen was a single American Pipit, my first of the fall and first for Tilbury. I also heard a couple of Bobolinks as they migrated south over the lagoons (also new for my Tilbury list). I think I've seen close to 100 species of birds there over the last year.
This is an awesome little bird and one of my favorite species. The lighting wasn't ideal at this time of day, but even still I slowly crawled down the embankment and grabbed about 100 photos of the little guy. Makes me wish I had an extra 100 or 200 mm on my lens!
 |
| juvenile Red-necked Phalarope - Tilbury lagoons |
 |
| juvenile Red-necked Phalarope - Tilbury lagoons |
 |
| adult Long-billed Dowitcher - Tilbury lagoons |
While I was watching the shorebirds, I noticed that they all started lifting a wary eye to the sky. I took this as a hint and looked up, but the only raptorish shape I could see was a Chimney Swift way up high. About 10 minutes later the same thing took place.
 |
| juvenile Red-necked Phalarope - Tilbury lagoons |
 |
| Peregrine Falcon - Tilbury lagoons |
The flocks dissappeared, but over the next 20 minutes slowly started arriving and feeding. Here is a Lesser Yellowlegs trailed by a couple of peeps. I think the front two are Semi-sands and the back one is a Least.
 |
| shorebirds - Tilbury lagoons |
Also seen was a single American Pipit, my first of the fall and first for Tilbury. I also heard a couple of Bobolinks as they migrated south over the lagoons (also new for my Tilbury list). I think I've seen close to 100 species of birds there over the last year.
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Townsend Sewage Lagoons
This evening I headed to the Townsend sewage lagoons with Brett Fried with the hopes that the looming thunderstorms would ground some shorebirds. The first lagoon has had decent shorebird habitat all summer and good numbers of peeps had been reported. This was my first visit to the site in over a year.
The weather hadn't grounded as many shorebirds as we had anticipated but we still had good numbers of 11 species. Highlights included:
-Thousands and thousands of swallows. Brett and I estimated that there were somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 present. All 6 species were there including 3 lingering Purple Martins. Tree and Bank Swallows made up 95 percent of the swallows.
-1 White-rumped Sandpiper (adult)
-1 Short-billed Dowitcher (juv)
-3 Baird's Sandpipers (adult)
No pictures due to the weather.
Tomorrow I will check out Tilbury on my way to work. I'm getting pretty excited - only 2 more weeks of work and then I am done. My job is great, don't get me wrong (after all, I spend all day wandering around in tallgrass prairie!) but I am ready for a change. I have a flight booked to Nova Scotia on August 26th, where I will spend 10 days with my lovely girlfriend, Laura. I doubt I will get out birding much, but we might do a bit of shorebirding on the coast, a much more scenic location than the stinky sewage lagoons of Ontario. After that I will be back in Guelph for my last year at the university.
The weather hadn't grounded as many shorebirds as we had anticipated but we still had good numbers of 11 species. Highlights included:
-Thousands and thousands of swallows. Brett and I estimated that there were somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 present. All 6 species were there including 3 lingering Purple Martins. Tree and Bank Swallows made up 95 percent of the swallows.
-1 White-rumped Sandpiper (adult)
-1 Short-billed Dowitcher (juv)
-3 Baird's Sandpipers (adult)
No pictures due to the weather.
Tomorrow I will check out Tilbury on my way to work. I'm getting pretty excited - only 2 more weeks of work and then I am done. My job is great, don't get me wrong (after all, I spend all day wandering around in tallgrass prairie!) but I am ready for a change. I have a flight booked to Nova Scotia on August 26th, where I will spend 10 days with my lovely girlfriend, Laura. I doubt I will get out birding much, but we might do a bit of shorebirding on the coast, a much more scenic location than the stinky sewage lagoons of Ontario. After that I will be back in Guelph for my last year at the university.
Saturday, 6 August 2011
This and that
Another week has come and gone with me unable to get out and go birding as often as I would like. I have been seeing a few things at work, including this Common Ringlet.
Common Ringlet has never been common in extreme southwestern Ontario, but it has been expanding as of late. The first Essex Co. record was only 10 years ago! This one location on my study site seems to be a hotspot for them - two days ago I had a high count of 6. I wouldn't be surprised if this is a record high count for Essex county?
Here is a neonate Butler's Gartersnake (regurgitating an earthworm) from the study site a few days ago. These guys have already tripled their weight since they were born (all my radio snakes gave birth between July 14 and July 27). They eat earthworms presumably every evening, and some then move under our coverboards to thermo-regulate and digest their meal.
This 12-point buck is usually seen most days in one particular area of the study site. I happened to bring my camera with the new lens out in the field with me and got a few half decent shots in the fading light.
Yesterday afternoon I heard from Russ Jones about a mysterious sighting of a possible Whooping Crane near the St. Joachim exit. I called Steve Pike and he mentioned that a friend of his who knows birds saw a "large white bird with black wingtips and a black face" fly over him while he was driving on the 401. This person saw the bird land in a field on the south side of the road. I guess another possibility is that this bird was a wood stork.
Dan Riley and I decided to check it out. We didn't find anything, so we continued on to check the Tilbury lagoons.
4 species of herons were present including 18 Great Egrets. This is the most that I have seen there this summer, and so I continue to hold out hope for a Cattle Egret, or maybe a Little Blue Heron! Reddish Egret would be nice too...
This Black-crowned Night-Heron kept a watchful eye on me. It was one of five seen.
There were decent numbers of shorebirds present of 10 species. The highlight were the dowitchers - 2 were definite Long-billed Dowitchers, and 2 were Short-billed. The two LBDOs were hanging out together up close, providing a great oppurtunity to study their plumage. The darker back, rounder body shape, more distinct lower half of eye-ring, and patterning on the undertail coverts/flanks were easy to see. 1 bird was most likely a female as it had an extremely long bill.
Thats all for now. I hope to do a round of shorebirding tomorrow, hitting up some of the hotspots in Essex/Chatham-Kent.
 |
| Common Ringlet - Windsor, Ontario |
Common Ringlet has never been common in extreme southwestern Ontario, but it has been expanding as of late. The first Essex Co. record was only 10 years ago! This one location on my study site seems to be a hotspot for them - two days ago I had a high count of 6. I wouldn't be surprised if this is a record high count for Essex county?
Here is a neonate Butler's Gartersnake (regurgitating an earthworm) from the study site a few days ago. These guys have already tripled their weight since they were born (all my radio snakes gave birth between July 14 and July 27). They eat earthworms presumably every evening, and some then move under our coverboards to thermo-regulate and digest their meal.
 |
| Butler's Gartersnake - Windsor, Ontario |
This 12-point buck is usually seen most days in one particular area of the study site. I happened to bring my camera with the new lens out in the field with me and got a few half decent shots in the fading light.
 |
| White-tailed Deer - Windsor, Ontario |
Yesterday afternoon I heard from Russ Jones about a mysterious sighting of a possible Whooping Crane near the St. Joachim exit. I called Steve Pike and he mentioned that a friend of his who knows birds saw a "large white bird with black wingtips and a black face" fly over him while he was driving on the 401. This person saw the bird land in a field on the south side of the road. I guess another possibility is that this bird was a wood stork.
Dan Riley and I decided to check it out. We didn't find anything, so we continued on to check the Tilbury lagoons.
4 species of herons were present including 18 Great Egrets. This is the most that I have seen there this summer, and so I continue to hold out hope for a Cattle Egret, or maybe a Little Blue Heron! Reddish Egret would be nice too...
 |
| Great Egret - Tilbury Lagoons |
This Black-crowned Night-Heron kept a watchful eye on me. It was one of five seen.
 |
| Black-crowned Night-Heron - Tilbury lagoons |
There were decent numbers of shorebirds present of 10 species. The highlight were the dowitchers - 2 were definite Long-billed Dowitchers, and 2 were Short-billed. The two LBDOs were hanging out together up close, providing a great oppurtunity to study their plumage. The darker back, rounder body shape, more distinct lower half of eye-ring, and patterning on the undertail coverts/flanks were easy to see. 1 bird was most likely a female as it had an extremely long bill.
Thats all for now. I hope to do a round of shorebirding tomorrow, hitting up some of the hotspots in Essex/Chatham-Kent.
Sunday, 31 July 2011
Shorebirding - July 31
I decided to finish off the month of July by doing a round of shorebirding to the northwest. Brett Fried and Erika Hentsch joined me, and the goal was to check out the conditions of a few lesser known lagoons on our way to Grand Bend.
The first stop was the Mitchell lagoons. To be honest, this location really sucks right now. The only bit of shorebird habitat was the narrow island. All we found were:
8 Lesser Yellowlegs
5 Least Sandpipers
1 Semipalmated Sandpiper
1 Spotted Sandpiper
a few Killdeer
The next spot was the Seaforth Sewage lagoons. I had no idea if there was even access to this place. The gate was open however so we drove right in. All the lagoons were very full, but there were a few scattered LESAs and LEYEs around the edges. The highlight for me though was a leucistic Mallard!
We continued on to the Hensall lagoons. The gate was locked and no trespassing signs were everywhere. We didn't want to be shot, so we continued to Exeter.
This was actually probably the highlight of the day. As we arrived, we saw a Vesper Sparrow flush from the road. After parking the buzzing notes of Grasshopper Sparrows were everywhere. Other sparrows seen here include Field, Chipping, Song, and Savannah.
While checking out the numerous swallows we were surprised to see an all white thing. I managed to get some shots from a very long distance with the new lens, and it appeared to be an albino or leucistic tree swallow. The day of abnormally plumaged birds continued.
Also, check out this swallow. Unlike the nearby Cliff swallows, this one had a dark forehead, much like a Cave Swallow. However the throat pattern seemed more in line with Cliff. Can anyone provide any insight?
In comparison, here is a normal Cliff Swallow from further down the wire.
Water levels were high but there were still a good variety of ducks. Only a few common shorebirds were present.
The last stop was Grand Bend. Unfortunately there were not really any huge numbers of shorebirds like we expected. I saw my first Semi Plovers of the fall, and there were also a bunch of Solitary, LEYE, LESA, semi sands, etc. No Pectorals, Dowitchers, Stilt Sands, Baird's, Greater Yellowlegs etc. Quite dissapointing actually. The White-throated Sparrow was still singing strong, and we also had a bunch of Bobolinks near the entrance. A Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Eastern Phoebe rounded out the sightings. At this point the day was getting quite warm so we called it quits and headed back home.
The first stop was the Mitchell lagoons. To be honest, this location really sucks right now. The only bit of shorebird habitat was the narrow island. All we found were:
8 Lesser Yellowlegs
5 Least Sandpipers
1 Semipalmated Sandpiper
1 Spotted Sandpiper
a few Killdeer
The next spot was the Seaforth Sewage lagoons. I had no idea if there was even access to this place. The gate was open however so we drove right in. All the lagoons were very full, but there were a few scattered LESAs and LEYEs around the edges. The highlight for me though was a leucistic Mallard!
We continued on to the Hensall lagoons. The gate was locked and no trespassing signs were everywhere. We didn't want to be shot, so we continued to Exeter.
This was actually probably the highlight of the day. As we arrived, we saw a Vesper Sparrow flush from the road. After parking the buzzing notes of Grasshopper Sparrows were everywhere. Other sparrows seen here include Field, Chipping, Song, and Savannah.
While checking out the numerous swallows we were surprised to see an all white thing. I managed to get some shots from a very long distance with the new lens, and it appeared to be an albino or leucistic tree swallow. The day of abnormally plumaged birds continued.
 |
| leucistic Tree Swallow |
Also, check out this swallow. Unlike the nearby Cliff swallows, this one had a dark forehead, much like a Cave Swallow. However the throat pattern seemed more in line with Cliff. Can anyone provide any insight?
 |
| Petrochelidon swallow - Exeter sewage lagoons |
 |
| Petrochelidon swallow - Exeter sewage lagoons |
 |
| Petrochelidon swallow - Exeter sewage lagoons |
Water levels were high but there were still a good variety of ducks. Only a few common shorebirds were present.
The last stop was Grand Bend. Unfortunately there were not really any huge numbers of shorebirds like we expected. I saw my first Semi Plovers of the fall, and there were also a bunch of Solitary, LEYE, LESA, semi sands, etc. No Pectorals, Dowitchers, Stilt Sands, Baird's, Greater Yellowlegs etc. Quite dissapointing actually. The White-throated Sparrow was still singing strong, and we also had a bunch of Bobolinks near the entrance. A Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Eastern Phoebe rounded out the sightings. At this point the day was getting quite warm so we called it quits and headed back home.
 |
| Bobolinks - Grand Bend sewage lagoons |
Sunday, 24 July 2011
Birding around Essex
I met up with Ken Burrell and 3 of his coworkers - Megan, Nate, and Charlotte - for a day of birding/butterflying around Essex County. Bird-wise, it was pretty quiet: Some Moorhens and various wading birds at Holiday Beach (though no Cattle Egret), Sanderlings at the tip of Point Pelee, and the shorebirds at Tilbury were probably the highlight. Amongst the regular hoard of Spotted Sandpipers and Killdeer, we also picked out:
4 Stilt Sandpiper
4 Short-billed Dowitcher
1 Greater Yellowlegs
1 Solitary Sandpiper
40 Lesser Yellowlegs
40 Least Sandpiper
20 Semi-palmated Sandpiper
Butterflies were also in the news. At Pelee we saw many Giant Swallowtails, some Spicebush Swallowtails, Emperors (both Tawny and Hackberry), and an American Snout among others. My highlight was finding a worn Juniper Hairstreak right next to the trail on the west side of the tip. No photos, though Ken might have grabbed some on his camera.
Despite the lack of "good" birds, it was an enjoyable and relaxing day away from work!
4 Stilt Sandpiper
4 Short-billed Dowitcher
1 Greater Yellowlegs
1 Solitary Sandpiper
40 Lesser Yellowlegs
40 Least Sandpiper
20 Semi-palmated Sandpiper
Butterflies were also in the news. At Pelee we saw many Giant Swallowtails, some Spicebush Swallowtails, Emperors (both Tawny and Hackberry), and an American Snout among others. My highlight was finding a worn Juniper Hairstreak right next to the trail on the west side of the tip. No photos, though Ken might have grabbed some on his camera.
Despite the lack of "good" birds, it was an enjoyable and relaxing day away from work!
Thursday, 14 July 2011
Another day, another avocet
I almost canned my plans to check out some of the lagoons nearby after napping much longer than planned. In the end, I made the one hour drive to Blenheim, arriving with about an hour of light left. Due to my rushed schedule I didn't check out any of the lagoons and headed straight for the sprinkler system. The first bird that caught my eye was a huge shorebird with an upturned bill - an American Avocet. This avocet was much more advanced in its prebasic molt than the one I found at Tilbury, leading me to think that its a different individual. I watched it in the scope for about a minute before the shorebirds got spooked by something and took off. Last I saw of the avocet, it was heading south. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of this one because I left my camera in the car, and frankly, its a long walk back! Most of the shorebirds returned (minus the avocet), and they included:
30 Lesser Yellowlegs
20 Least Sandpipers
3 Solitary Sandpipers
1 Greater Yellowlegs
3 Pectoral Sandpipers
1 Semipalmated Sandpiper (first of fall for me)
X Killdeer, Spotted Sandpipers.
As I was scanning the birds I could hear two Dickcissels calling, one on either side of me. Sweet! It appears that the late spring/early summer droughts in the southern states may have pushed quite a few into southwestern Ontario.
Also, when I entered the avocet in the book at Blenheim, there was a mysterious sighting for an avocet on July 18 at noon. Is it a typo or is it a prediction? Hmmm.....
I rushed over to Tilbury just before sunset to see what was around. And guess what I saw???
Not much, really. A few Black-crowned Night-Herons, a Short-billed Dowitcher, and a smattering of Least Sandpipers and Lesser Yellowlegs among the usuals. I had a female Hooded Merganser with the ducks, which is a new Tilbury bird for me. As night fell, ~10 Chimney Swifts were hawking insects with the swallows. The duck flock is now growing, with now over 100 mallards and a few other things mixed in. Last fall quite a few teal used this place, so I'm going to predict a Cinnamon Teal this fall!
30 Lesser Yellowlegs
20 Least Sandpipers
3 Solitary Sandpipers
1 Greater Yellowlegs
3 Pectoral Sandpipers
1 Semipalmated Sandpiper (first of fall for me)
X Killdeer, Spotted Sandpipers.
As I was scanning the birds I could hear two Dickcissels calling, one on either side of me. Sweet! It appears that the late spring/early summer droughts in the southern states may have pushed quite a few into southwestern Ontario.
Also, when I entered the avocet in the book at Blenheim, there was a mysterious sighting for an avocet on July 18 at noon. Is it a typo or is it a prediction? Hmmm.....
I rushed over to Tilbury just before sunset to see what was around. And guess what I saw???
Not much, really. A few Black-crowned Night-Herons, a Short-billed Dowitcher, and a smattering of Least Sandpipers and Lesser Yellowlegs among the usuals. I had a female Hooded Merganser with the ducks, which is a new Tilbury bird for me. As night fell, ~10 Chimney Swifts were hawking insects with the swallows. The duck flock is now growing, with now over 100 mallards and a few other things mixed in. Last fall quite a few teal used this place, so I'm going to predict a Cinnamon Teal this fall!
Sunday, 10 July 2011
Tilbury tonight
On a whim I took advantage of the hour or two of light I had left this evening and drove down to Tilbury. Lots of birds were present, but only a few shorebirds. They were:
Killdeer - 40+
Spotted Sandpiper - 30+
Least Sandpiper - 9
Lesser Yellowlegs - 5
Pectoral Sandpiper - 2 (first of fall for me)
Solitary Sandpiper - 1
Also around were a few Great Egrets, 4 Caspian Terns, 2 Chimney Swifts (my first for Tilbury), Great Egrets, Black-crowned Night Herons, etc. Looks good for a rare heron soon! I checked the back of the lagoons and had many marsh wrens calling. No luck playing tapes for rails.
Check out this Black-crowned Night-Heron - a plumage I haven't really seen before. 1st summer or 2nd summer? Excuse the photo quality - digiscoping around sunset is not really a recipe for great photos...
Killdeer - 40+
Spotted Sandpiper - 30+
Least Sandpiper - 9
Lesser Yellowlegs - 5
Pectoral Sandpiper - 2 (first of fall for me)
Solitary Sandpiper - 1
Also around were a few Great Egrets, 4 Caspian Terns, 2 Chimney Swifts (my first for Tilbury), Great Egrets, Black-crowned Night Herons, etc. Looks good for a rare heron soon! I checked the back of the lagoons and had many marsh wrens calling. No luck playing tapes for rails.
Check out this Black-crowned Night-Heron - a plumage I haven't really seen before. 1st summer or 2nd summer? Excuse the photo quality - digiscoping around sunset is not really a recipe for great photos...
Tuesday, 5 July 2011
Fall shorebird blitz - kicks off with a rarity
Shorebirds are probably my favorite group of birds for a few reasons. First, there is a wide variety of species that migrate through in large numbers. Second, many of the shorebirds can be difficult to identify, making it more of a challenge. And third, the chance of vagrancy is high with this group, making the search for rarities quite enticing.
Seeing as it is now early July, a few species are already on the move southbound. For the next few months, I am going to spend as much time as I can searching some of my favorite haunts for these migrants. Today was my first chance to go out and check my two regular spots that are relative close to where I work in Windsor - the Blenheim sewage lagoons, and the Tilbury lagoons.
After checking Hillman Marsh (it is pretty dead this time of year), I headed east to Blenheim, making a quick stop near Wheatley where a few Dickcissels have been hanging out for a while. Ken Burrell found a male here on June 16 and since then 2-3 males have been seen regularly. The birds did not disappoint and I had excellent scope views of one singing, with 2 others also singing off in the distance.
The Blenheim lagoons had a nice selection of early southbound migrants. Among 40+ Killdeer and 34 Spotted Sandpipers, I also found 2 Short-billed Dowitchers, 1 Greater Yellowlegs, 1 Solitary Sandpiper, 17 Lesser Yellowlegs, and 8 Least Sandpipers. They were all hanging out in the irrigation cells as the water levels were still quite high in all 5 lagoons. The back lagoon (number 5) also held a few families of Wood Ducks, a female Ringneck Duck, a male Green-winged Teal, some Ruddy Ducks, and 4 American Wigeons.
Tilbury was my next stop and it did not disappoint. I noticed a few ducks and shorebirds on a small exposed mudflat, and after looking with my scope, a nice American Avocet stood out. This is only my second sighting of this species in Ontario and my first for a few years. A few photos of the beast (please excuse the image quality - I was digiscoping with my 18-55 kit lens):
Also at Tilbury were 1 Black-crowned Night-heron (new for the year, surprisingly), 1 Great Egret, a few ducks of various species, 1 Lesser Yellowlegs, and about 10 Least Sandpipers.
So there you go. A nice start to the fall shorebird blitz! Last year I didn't get any rarities among the ~25 species of shorebirds I saw during the months of July, August, and September.
Seeing as it is now early July, a few species are already on the move southbound. For the next few months, I am going to spend as much time as I can searching some of my favorite haunts for these migrants. Today was my first chance to go out and check my two regular spots that are relative close to where I work in Windsor - the Blenheim sewage lagoons, and the Tilbury lagoons.
After checking Hillman Marsh (it is pretty dead this time of year), I headed east to Blenheim, making a quick stop near Wheatley where a few Dickcissels have been hanging out for a while. Ken Burrell found a male here on June 16 and since then 2-3 males have been seen regularly. The birds did not disappoint and I had excellent scope views of one singing, with 2 others also singing off in the distance.
The Blenheim lagoons had a nice selection of early southbound migrants. Among 40+ Killdeer and 34 Spotted Sandpipers, I also found 2 Short-billed Dowitchers, 1 Greater Yellowlegs, 1 Solitary Sandpiper, 17 Lesser Yellowlegs, and 8 Least Sandpipers. They were all hanging out in the irrigation cells as the water levels were still quite high in all 5 lagoons. The back lagoon (number 5) also held a few families of Wood Ducks, a female Ringneck Duck, a male Green-winged Teal, some Ruddy Ducks, and 4 American Wigeons.
Tilbury was my next stop and it did not disappoint. I noticed a few ducks and shorebirds on a small exposed mudflat, and after looking with my scope, a nice American Avocet stood out. This is only my second sighting of this species in Ontario and my first for a few years. A few photos of the beast (please excuse the image quality - I was digiscoping with my 18-55 kit lens):
 |
| American Avocet with Mallards - Tilbury lagoons |
 |
| American Avocet - Tilbury lagoons |
 |
| American Avocet - Tilbury lagoons |
 |
| American Avocet - Tilbury lagoons |
Also at Tilbury were 1 Black-crowned Night-heron (new for the year, surprisingly), 1 Great Egret, a few ducks of various species, 1 Lesser Yellowlegs, and about 10 Least Sandpipers.
So there you go. A nice start to the fall shorebird blitz! Last year I didn't get any rarities among the ~25 species of shorebirds I saw during the months of July, August, and September.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)