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):

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.

The snakes of Ontario -part 2

Part 1 - Eastern Gartersnake, Dekay's Brownsnake, Northern Redbelly Snake, Northern Ribbonsnake
Part 2 - Northern Watersnake, Lake Erie Watersnake, Queensnake
Part 3 - Eastern Milksnake, Eastern Foxsnake, Eastern Hog-nosed Snake
Part 4 - Northern Ring-necked Snake, Smooth Greensnake
Part 5 - Gray Ratsnake, Butler's Gartersnake
Part 6 - Blue Racer, Eastern Massasauga


I will continue this series with some photos of Ontario's most aquatic species of snakes - The Northern Watersnake (Nerodia sipedon) and the Queen Snake (Regina septemvittata)

The Northern Watersnake is a snake familiar to most people who spend any amount of time outdoors. Just about everyone who has been to cottage country has most likely seen this conspicuous snake basking on rock outcrops or swimming along the shoreline. Two distinct subspecies occur in Ontario - the Northern (N. s. sipedon) and Lake Erie (N. s. insularium) Watersnakes.

Northern Watersnake (Nerodia sipedon sipedon)
 The Northern subspecies is found throughout all of southern Ontario, from the north side of Georgian Bay south to Point Pelee. It emerges from hibernation anytime from early April until early May - my earliest date is April 7.

young Northern Watersnake - Waterloo Region

While common throughout much of central Ontario, the Northern Watersnake is much more local in the south. It is absent from large areas, mainly due to extensive agriculture. However, it is still reasonably common near large rivers and the shorelines of the Great Lakes.

Northern Watersnake - Muskoka District

Northern Watersnake - Muskoka District

While generally perceived to be diurnal snakes, they will move around on warm rainy nights throughout the spring/summer. This snake was found crawling around during early April - the peak of salamander migration. Perhaps it had been rained out from where it was taking shelter, or maybe it was just looking for an easy meal.

Northern Watersnake - Waterloo Region

Northern Watersnake - Waterloo Region

Speaking of diet, the Northern Watersnake is quite opportunistic. In areas near the Great Lakes it is occasionally reported to take dead/decaying fish. Normally, their diet consists of frogs, snakes, fish, tadpoles, and other small vertebrates.

Northern Watersnake - Muskoka District

Lake Erie Watersnake (Nerodia sipedon insularium)

The Lake Erie Watersnake is restricted to 15 islands in southwestern Lake Erie - 4 in Ontario and 11 in Ohio. Additionally a small area on the Ohio shoreline has Lake Erie Watersnakes. This subspecies has one of the smallest known ranges of any North American snake (about 24 square kilometers), with numbers declining steadily. When the COSEWIC report was written for this subspecies, the total Canadian population was estimated at 565 animals - warranting good reason for its Endangered Status.

Lake Erie Watersnake - Essex County

As you can see from the above photo, the Lake Erie subspecies differs significantly from the Northern subspecies. The dorsal color is unique among all watersnakes, being slate-gray. Additionally, most mature individuals do not have obvious blotches or bands. Some say that this coloration is an adaptation to the limestone rocks in which these snakes spend the majority of their lives as an all gray snake is harder to detect by a gull or other predator when it basks on limestone rocks.

Lake Erie Watersnake - Essex County

I have had the pleasure of spending a good amount of time on Pelee Island, an area with a relatively high density of Lake Erie Watersnakes. In suitable habitat, they can even be quite common (I remember one herp survey where we tallied over 150 individuals in a weekend). Unfortunately I haven't been over in a few years, but hopefully that will change soon!

Lake Erie Watersnake - Essex County

Its somewhat interesting that in recent years their diet has shifted to consist primarily of the invasive Round Goby, especially dead individuals that wash up on shore. Other commonly taken prey items include Mudpuppies (Ontario's only exclusively aquatic salamander), logperch, and other darters.

Obviously, these snakes are quite variable, as you can see in the following picture...

Lake Erie Watersnake - Essex County

Here's one of my favorite shots of the species - basking on a limestone outcrop overlooking Lake Erie.

Lake Erie Watersnake - Essex County

Queen Snake (Regina septemvittata)
The Queen Snake may not be the prettiest of snakes, but it is my favorite Ontario species. The ecology of this animal is fascinating - they spend their entire life within a few meters of large creeks and rivers, feeding exclusively on crayfish. Perhaps another reason why they are so endearing to me is their scarcity. This is undoubtably the least often reported snake in the province, and a species that I have only seen 9 individuals of, despite having spent a considerable amount of time looking.

Queensnake - Essex County

Queensnake scalation

Queen snakes spend the majority of the day either basking alongside the edges of creeks or foraging for crayfish under shoreline rocks. Most adult Queen Snake will have scars and injuries on their head from the constant rubbing against rocks or from the pincers of a large crayfish.

Queensnake - Essex County

Unfortunately, many of the creeks where Queen snakes have historically been found no longer can support populations. Human persecution is one factor, as is the degradation of water quality and shoreline habitat. Increases in silt in a river, the removal of shoreline vegetation, or the decline of crayfish will have severe impacts on Queen Snake populations. Fortunately though, the Queen Snake is still doing well in the midwest states, even though its Ontario numbers are declining. An example of good Queen Snake habitat:

Queensnake habitat - Brant County

A few more shots of this fascinating snake...

Queensnake - Middlesex County

Queensnake - Brant County

Coming up in the 3rd (of 6 installments) - a closer look at some of the larger snakes in Ontario: Eastern Milksnake, Eastern Foxsnake, and Eastern Hognose Snake.

Weekend birding

I headed back to Guelph with Laura for one last weekend before she disappears to Nova Scotia for the rest of the summer. On the Saturday we headed up to Luther Marsh for a few hours in the afternoon.

I really like Luther - it is only an hour from Guelph, it has some cool herps, and it has a lot of birds that typically breed much farther north. We arrived around 1 PM to surprisingly cool weather (20 degrees C) and no mosquitoes!!! A nice change to Windsor for sure. Almost immediately we heard and saw Yellow-rumped Warblers, American Redstarts, and Common Yellowthroats.  A walk down the east side added Magnolia, Yellow, Pine, and a bold male Chestnut-sided Warbler who didn't appreciate us intruders. A Common Loon was on the lake, an American Bittern called from in some sedges, and 5 species of swallow caught insects. The highlight was near a small marsh - I heard a Sedge Wren sing from some tall grasses near the edge of the marsh several times. Never did get a look at him!

Laura and I had some fun catching Mink frogs in my "secret pond" - a place that is absolutely loaded with Mink Frogs. For this Southern Ontarioer, it was a treat to see Mink Frogs once again. They truly are a frog of the northern forest, as their southern limit of distribution (Luther Marsh) is the highest latitude of any North American Frog.

Mink Frog

Mink Frog

Mink Frog

Sunday I slept in a bit, then checked out some other areas close to Guelph. At the Britton Tract near Campbellville, I had a few nice birds including 3+ singing Mourning Warblers, 2 Blue-winged Warblers, Black-billed Cuckoo, many Chestnut-sided, Redstarts, etc. I added a few new butterflies to my small but growing list - Northern Cloudywing, and Common Ringlet. On the way back to Guelph, a stop near Starkey's hill was quite productive. Just in the area around the parking lot and down the road, I saw many sparrows including 2 singing Clay-colored, 2 Grasshopper, and 5 Savannah. An Eastern Meadowlark was heard, a Purple Finch was seen, and many Bobolinks were around. 3 VERY territorial Blue-winged Warblers kept an eye on me and an Alder Flycatcher was singing. Not a bad afternoon near Guelph!

More butterflies

As promised here are a few butterfly photos from lately. A lot of new species have emerged in the past week or two and I've been trying to get decent photos of as many of them as I can.

I took a break for an hour with my coworker Shane on June 13th, so we ventured into the Spring-garden area to see what we could find. Along with Summer Azures, Northern Crescents, Black Swallowtails, and a few more of the regulars, we also saw:

Silvery Checkerspot

Least Skipper

Peck's Skipper

And the highlight of the walk - 2 adult Eastern Foxsnakes. This female was pit-tagged by Ojibway in 2004. She was 66 grams then (just a baby) and was now over 450 grams. Considering that some of our Eastern Foxsnakes are close to 900 grams, this puts into perspective the longevity of these snakes.

Eastern Foxsnake

A few more butterflies from this week:

Northern/Pearl Crescent

European Skipper

European Skipper

 The Baltimore Checkerspots are still common in the Tallgrass Prairie across from the Ojibway Nature Centre.

Baltimore Checkerspot

Baltimore Checkerspot

 Some of the next few I am not too sure on the IDs.

Southern Cloudywing

Hobomok Skipper

European Skipper

Wild Indigo Duskywing

In other news, I finally ordered a Nikon 300mm f/4 AF-S lens. While not one of the huge telephotos that are 5,000-10,000$, this is still a very good quality lens for a fraction of the price. Image quality appears excellent with this lens - the only drawbacks being reach (its only 300 mm) and brightness (if it is used with a teleconverter). This is my first lens that isn't a macro or wide-angle lens, so I am pretty excited to test it out with some butterflies and birds...

Updates

Sorry I've been MIA, but work has been hectic as usual and I did not have internet this weekend (yes, weekend - first days off in 3 weeks!). I'll update tonight or tomorrow night after work. Lots of new Butterfly photos to come. As well I found a Hoary Edge in Windsor, but no photos as I didn't have my camera with me.

Also - I will be hopefully going on a Bobwhite hunt in the next few days! Todd Pepper and Rosann Kovalcik found a pair in Ojibway a few days ago - if these are indeed wild birds, they are the first that I have heard of in the Windsor area for quite some time! A link to their ontbirds post: http://ontbirds.ca/pipermail/birdalert_ontbirds.ca/Week-of-Mon-20110613/027729.html
The location is about 500 meters from my study site - yet another rarity found in my "backyard" this spring! (On top of Western Tanager and Yellow-crowned Night-Heron).

Bugs and stuff

I broke out of my usual birding/herping routine today and delved into something totally different - butterflies. I find that looking for butterflies is a lot like birding - they fly (obviously), they each are found in specific microhabitats, some migrate long distances, etc. So Dan Riley and I headed out to Ojibway prairie for a few hours this evening. Some highlights:

This is some sort of Duskywing - our best guess is Dreamy Duskywing.

The majority of the butterflies we found were skippers - European, Least, and Hobomok. I think that this is a Hobomok:

The regular birds were present, including Field Sparrows, Baltimore and Orchard Orioles, Eastern Towhees, etc. We found a few Bluebirds and heard a Pheasant as well. No cuckoos this time.

While walking through the field, we stumbled upon this Baltimore Checkerspot. It didn't take long to locate about 10 more - maybe it will be a good year for a flight of them.

What the hell is this skipper?

This Northern Crescent was looking pretty worn already.

And finally, a Silver-spotted Skipper before the rain came down. Not a bad hour of butterflying by a couple of idiots.

The snakes of Ontario -part 1

Part 1 - Eastern Gartersnake, Dekay's Brownsnake, Northern Redbelly Snake, Northern Ribbonsnake
Part 2 - Northern Watersnake, Lake Erie Watersnake, Queensnake
Part 3 - Eastern Milksnake, Eastern Foxsnake, Eastern Hog-nosed Snake
Part 4 - Northern Ring-necked Snake, Smooth Greensnake
Part 5 - Gray Ratsnake, Butler's Gartersnake
Part 6 - Blue Racer, Eastern Massasauga


The purpose of this post is exactly how the title says: I will showcase every species of snake that is currently found in Ontario. Especially before I got into birds, herps were my main interest and I have found and photographed each of the 15 species native to Ontario. This number is often surprising to most people - this is the Great White North after all! Without further ado, part one of the post...

Eastern Gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis)

This is the most common snake in Ontario, with records ranging all the way up to James Bay. I am pretty sure that just about any habitat can support them, from grassy fields to woodlands to alvars to parking lots. I once even found one in the grassy area of a highway interchange, surrounded by roads. 

Eastern Gartersnake - Waterloo Region

My records indicate that I have seen 1696 Eastern garter snakes in Ontario since I started keeping track in 2007.

Eastern Gartersnake - Waterloo Region

The melanistic form is quite common in some locations that are adjacent to Lake Erie or Lake Ontario. This genetic strain proliferates in relatively closed populations of the Leslie street spit, Long Point, Point Pelee, and Pelee Island. The Pelee Island population contains about 1/3 melanistic individuals.

melanistic Eastern Gartersnake - Essex County

melanistic Eastern Gartersnake - Essex County

Dekay's Brownsnake (Storeria dekayi)

Another super common snake in Ontario, but rarely seen due to their small size and brownish colorations. Biggest ID point is that they look like a worm. I like the little buggers though!

Dekay's Brownsnake - Essex County

Dekay's Brownsnake - Essex County

Dekay's Brownsnake - Essex County

Northern Redbelly Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata occipitomaculata)

Redbelly snakes are the cousins of the much more common Brown Snakes, and are typically found in edge habitats. They also have a large range and can be found as far north as Lake Superior. This is the smallest species of snake in Ontario, and most adults are about 10 inches long. The babies, on the other hand, weigh less than a gram.

Northern Redbelly Snake - Norfolk County

Northern Redbelly Snake - Muskoka District

This fine specimen was found under a board in the Norfolk area, an area with a very high diversity of snakes. She looks like she is about to drop about 15 babies. (Within one km of where this snake was found, my friend Jon and I have seen E. Garter, Northern Watersnake, Northern Redbelly, Brown, Eastern Fox, Eastern Hognose, Northern Ringneck, Smooth Green, and Eastern Milksnakes).  

Northern Redbelly Snake - Norfolk County

I don't find huge numbers of them, but in some areas they can be locally abundant. In our study site in Windsor, about 0.5 percent of the snakes we find are Redbelly snakes, to give you an idea of how sparse they can be in areas.

Northern Redbelly Snake - Muskoka District

Two main forms are found in Ontario - the above snake with slate gray dorsal color, and the below snake with brown dorsal coloration.

Northern Redbelly Snake - Norfolk County

Definitely a pretty species, and underrated.

Northern Redbelly Snake - Muskoka District

Northern Redbelly Snake - Muskoka District

Northern Ribbonsnake (Thamnophis sauritus septentrionalis)

Ribbonsnakes are closely related to Gartersnakes but are much more specific in their habitat requirements. I tend to find them in marshy fens/marshes that are immediately adjacent to hilly deciduous woodland in Southern Ontario. In central Ontario, any wetland that is close to an open area seems to do!

Northern Ribbonsnake - Waterloo Region

Northern Ribbonsnake - Waterloo Region

As obvious in the above photo, the white crescent anterior to the eye is diagnostic of this species. Also note the slender head, as well as the brown coloration just ventral of the yellowish stripe on the snake's side.

I am fortunate to have a large population of ribbonsnakes quite close to my parent's house in Cambridge, which allowed many opportunities to study this species while I was growing up. Here area  few of my favorite photos from over the years:

Northern Ribbonsnake - Waterloo Region

Northern Ribbonsnake - Waterloo Region

Northern Ribbonsnake - Waterloo Region

Northern Ribbonsnake - Waterloo Region

Northern Ribbonsnake - Waterloo Region

One last shot of my favorite snake species in Ontario, feeding on their favorite prey item - frogs.

Northern Ribbonsnake - Muskoka District

Stay tuned - the next post will cover Northern Watersnake, Lake Erie Watersnake (including some very strange individuals), and Queen Snake.