Peep show

Peeps can be a tough group of shorebirds to identify. They are tiny, they are often seen at a distance, and they can have a myriad of plumages depending on the time of year. Juvenal plumage. Alternate plumage. Basic plumage. Intermediates between all of the above.

But when seen up close, such as by kayak, they can be very approachable! Here are a few from a photoshoot of a juvenile Least Sandpiper last weekend in the Point Pelee marsh.

Least Sandpiper - Point Pelee National Park

Jeremy Bensette and I had let the wind push our kayaks up to the mudflat that the little guy was hunkered down on. It didn't seem at all worried with our presence and picked away at the mud, occasionally giving us a wary glance.

Least Sandpiper - Point Pelee National Park

Least Sandpiper - Point Pelee National Park

Least Sandpiper - Point Pelee National Park

Every now and then it peered up an some unseen (by us) danger in the sky.

Least Sandpiper - Point Pelee National Park

This is a very bright juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper. Young Semipalmated Sandpipers can have a surprising amount of rufous in the scapulars, similar to a Western Sandpiper. The structure of the bird, pattern of the coverts, and bill length and shape all point to a Semipalmated, however.

Ontario has 5 regular species that are referred to as peeps: the common Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers, the rare but somewhat regular Western Sandpiper, and the two larger peeps: White-rumped and Baird's. Compared to the smaller three species, these two have a very long primary projection, giving them a longer, more attenuated profile. The photo below is of a group of White-rumped Sandpipers.

White-rumped and Baird's Sandpipers have the longer tapered appearance to the back end because they have really long wings. Here is a photo of some in flight, along with some Semipalmated Sandpipers and the larger Pectoral Sandpipers. Look at the 3 birds at the bottom-middle of the frame. The lower two are peeps with a longer-winged White-rumped just above them in the frame.

I have yet to obtain good photos of a Baird's Sandpiper, so the below photo will have to do (from James Bay last summer). We see predominately juveniles in Ontario during fall migration, and only occasionally is a Baird's seen somewhere in the province in the spring. 

This Baird's below has the long, attenuated profile, because of the long wings, a "buffier" upper breast/throat/head, a plainer face, and a scaly looking back caused by the silver and black patterning of the scapulars (back feathers). 

Baird`s Sandpiper - Longridge Point, James Bay

Update: Here are some better photos of a juvenile Baird`s; a very late bird that lingered until November at Netitishi Point in 2012.

Baird`s Sandpiper - Netitishi Point, James Bay

Baird`s Sandpiper - Netitishi Point, James Bay

Baird`s Sandpiper - Netitishi Point, James Bay

The next species isn't a peep - rather it is a plover. But Semipalmated Plovers are so darn cute that I had to throw in a few photos of them from last weekend!

Long weekend birding update - Monday

On Monday, September 2, I spend the morning paddling in the Pelee marsh with Jeremy Bensette before heading back home to Cambridge. No rarities this time around, though we did have some interesting sightings:

-1 female Northern Harrier eating a dead cormorant! I am assuming the cormie was already dead when the harrier found it...

- 1 Least Bittern seen flying low over us and landing in some reeds... we couldn`t relocate it for photos. My second Least Bittern for the weekend!

-2 Stilt Sandpipers (my first for Point Pelee National Park)

Stilt Sandpiper - Point Pelee NP

Lesserlegs and Stilt Sandpiper - Point Pelee NP

- an adult Least Sandpiper in basic plumage, something that I don`t see too often in Ontario. It had me fooled for a while since it seemed much paler than I had expected an adult Least to be.

adult Least Sandpiper - Point Pelee NP

Here is a selection of a few other species I photographed out on the mudflats from the kayak.

Lesser Yellowlegs - Point Pelee NP

Least Sandpiper - Point Pelee NP

Semipalmated Plover - Point Pelee NP

This Greater Yellowlegs was sitting down and resting in some grasses near the water`s edge. I went into "stealth mode" to get this shot.

Greater Yellowlegs - Point Pelee NP

And to finish it up, a Great Blue Heron with an identity crisis. It didn't read the memo on "typical perching locations for birds in the family Ardeidae".

Great Blue Heron - Leamington onion fields

Lake watching and a bonus Western Kingbird in Hamilton

I`ll post the last photos from last Monday at Point Pelee, but in the meantime I wanted to get some photos up from birding in the Hamilton area today.

Laura and I were based out of my parent`s place in Cambridge for the weekend, with plans to head back to Schomberg at some point. Around noon, I noticed that Cheryl Edgecombe had posted on Ontbirds about the lakewatching action down at Van Wagner`s beach in Hamilton. Since I hadn`t done any "jaegering" yet this autumn (apart from a surprise Parastic Jaeger at Pelee in August), I was eager to head down to the lake, and so Laura and I visited Hamilton on our way back (it is only somewhat out of the way!).

A large contingent of birders had already gathered at the west end of Lake Ontario including many familiar faces, so truthfully a lot more socializing was done than jaegering. However Cheryl Edgecombe, Barb Charlton, and Rob Dobos were manning the scopes throughout the afternoon and calling out good birds, so I still was able to see a handful of jaegers and a few distant Sabine's Gulls. Laura got on two jaegers with the scope at one point and watched them chase each other for a bit - a first for her. The only jaegers I identified were two Parasitics, though a couple of Pomarines had been seen throughout the day.

Suddenly news broke that the Western Kingbird in south Hamilton had been re-found. This bird was originally discovered by Dave Don on Friday afternoon but only a few birders were able to see it before dark and it was not re-found the following day. We all assumed that it had disappeared - often Westerns are one day wonders this early in the autumn.

About 20 birders converged on the scene 15 minutes later and we walked up and down the trail where it had been seen. After about an hour we hadn't had any luck and many were heading home. A single Eastern Kingbird kept appearing - it had apparently been keeping close company with the Western - but its paler, yellower friend failed to show.

Eastern Kingbird - Hamilton, ON

A bunch of us were standing around, joking at one point, not really expecting the Western Kingbird to show up. As I was making fun of Brett Fried at one point, he looked up and announced that the kingbird was flying across the trail!

Western Kingbird - Hamilton, ON

We all got on it, had brief looks, and the bird continued on further down the path. Luckily it returned and for next 45 minutes or so we all enjoyed great looks at this western rarity, illuminated perfectly by the sun, slowing going down.

Western Kingbird - Hamilton, ON

Occasionally it regurgitated what looks like pits from a fruit of some sort. Thoughts?

This was a lifer for some and a new Hamilton bird for most, including myself. It was a great experience to share the bird with many good friends, some who I hadn't seen in quite some time.

Long weekend birding update - Sunday

I started the morning early by checking the onion fields for shorebirds. I heard that there was a field near the TSC store in Leamington that consistently had American Golden-plovers, so that was on the agenda. Indeed it did and I counted approximately 310 of them - a good number for Point Pelee! A few Black-bellied Plovers were also present but I couldn't turn up anything rarer there.

I went into the park and met up with Kory Renaud for a walk down to the tip and back. We had a few nice pockets of migrant songbirds and came up with 15 species of warblers. The highlight was definitely the Golden-winged that Kory first spotted - the first I had ever seen before in autumn migration.

The number of flies down near the tip was absolutely insane! Kory was covered by them, as was Mike Nelson who we ran into at the tip. For some reason they left me mostly alone - probably due to my darker pants...

Kory and friends

We met up with Chris Law and Pauline Catling on the way back from the tip and decided to check out Blue Heron, since it was so productive the previous day. No luck there, and feeling a little bored, we decided to try the tourist trap known as the "marsh boardwalk". I much prefer going into the actual marsh via canoe/kayak, but even the marsh boardwalk occasionally has good birds! As we were walking along the south side of it, a small heron-type bird flushed into the edge of the reeds. Least Bittern! Of course I had left my camera in the car (to increase the odds of seeing something really great), so I went back to retrieve it. The LEBI was still around but slightly more hidden. This was my first autumn record of this species.

Least Bittern - Point Pelee National Park

Least Bittern - Point Pelee National Park

The rest of the day had few highlights as I didn't do a whole lot of birding. I did meet up with Jeremy Bensette for a paddle in the marsh that night, but by the time we got out there we only had a little bit of light until sunset, and we ended up making the long paddle back in the pitch black.

Messed up shorebirds

Check out these photos of a Short-billed Dowitcher on the weekend. Looks like it narrowly escaped death.

Short-billed Dowitcher - Point Pelee National Park

Short-billed Dowitcher - Point Pelee National Park

Here is a Lesser Yellowlegs. It has one good leg, and one dead leg hanging off of it.

Lesser Yellowlegs - Point Pelee National Park

Long weekend birding update - Saturday evening paddling

Kory Renaud and I took his canoe into the Pelee marsh on Saturday evening. The conditions were perfect - warm but not too hot, calm, and perfect lighting for photography.

As we approached the exposed mud in Lake Pond, we observed the first shorebirds of the evening. A few Spotted Sandpipers, a handful of Short-billed Dowitchers, and some rather skittish Black-bellied Plovers.

Short-billed Dowitcher - Point Pelee marsh

One nice thing about approaching shorebirds by kayak or canoe is that they do not seem startled by your presence. These dowitcher photos are all full frame, and at one point I was photographing them from 5 feet away - the minimum focusing distance for my lens.

Short-billed Dowitchers - Point Pelee marsh

It is not just shorebirds that tolerate a closer approach. This Sandhill Crane let us float by at a distance of no more than 10 or 15 feet!

Sandhill Crane - Point Pelee marsh

I spent a few minutes with the Semipalmated Sandpiper and was super happy how some of the shots came out. Here are some favorites...

Semipalmated Sandpiper - Point Pelee marsh

Semipalmated Sandpiper - Point Pelee marsh

The combination of soft lighting, a close approach, a low angle, and the juvenile shorebirds' sharp plumage makes for easy conditions to take good photos. Sitting in the boat as the sun set, listening to a medley of marsh birds and hearing Sandhill Cranes overhead while viewing shorebirds from less than 10 feet away - this was birding at it's finest!

Sandhill Cranes - Point Pelee marsh 

West Cranberry Pond held more mudflats and a nice variety of shorebirds. The biggest surprise was this adult Sanderling, looking a little out of place in the mud! In my experience this species is almost never seen away from sand during migration.

Sanderling - Point Pelee marsh 

It is now getting later into the shorebird season, and the first few White-rumped Sandpipers are trickling through. Unlike most of the shorebirds present, this White-rumped Sandpiper is an adult. Adult shorebirds migrate before juveniles, so the first wave of a species migrating through is composed of adults. Some of the early autumn migrants, like adult Least Sandpipers and  adult Short-billed Dowitchers, are already in their South American wintering grounds. The juveniles however are still common.

White-rumped Sandpiper - Point Pelee marsh 

As we approached one mudflat, a few Caspian Terns took off. This youngster hung back and started yelling at what were presumably its siblings.

Caspian Tern - Point Pelee marsh 

Caspian Tern - Point Pelee marsh 

This juvenile Semipalmated Plover also allowed me to observe it from a few feet away. Simply amazing to be so close to a bird like this!

Semipalmated Plover - Point Pelee marsh 

Semipalmated Plover - Point Pelee marsh 

And since I've been focusing on some of the smaller shorebirds for most of this post, here is a Greater Yellowlegs to change things up. These birds have a tendency to be skittish and loud, often scaring everything else away, but from a boat even the "yelling"legs sat quietly.

Greater Yellowlegs - Point Pelee marsh 

Long weekend birding update - Saturday

Friday night I slept in my car in the Port Stanley area. Normally I sleep great in my car, but not so on Friday night. It was the potent combination of hot temperatures, mosquitoes, and my ragweed allergies, but eventually a thunder storm in the area caused some moderately strong rain for about 15 minutes, just enough to cool the air to a reasonable sleeping temperature. By sunrise I was on the go again, this time to check some spots between Port Stanley and Point Pelee.

I scanned the beaches and breakwall at Port Stanley harbour, hoping for a Brown Pelican but finding instead some cormorants. Exciting stuff! There were a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls to make things interesting.

The Port Stanley lagoons were next, and they held many of the same shorebirds as the previous evening. I did pick out a Sora feeding on the edge of a mudflat with the yellowlegs - not something you see every day (or ever). 

Ridgetown lagoons:

-11 species of shorebirds

-10 juvenile Stilt Sandpipers were the most I've seen at this location before

-2 continuing juvenile Red-necked Phalaropes were the other highlight

Blenheim lagoons:

-a Blake Mann sighting!

-unfortunately, no interesting birds

-lots of habitat in the near pond - check it out before they close the lagoons sometime in September!

Erieau pier:

-lots of gulls, but nothing interesting

Wheatley harbour:

-see comments under "Erieau pier"

After that largely unproductive morning, I arrived in Point Pelee National Park and immediately went to the picnic/trail known as Blue Heron, a location where Kory Renaud had discovered a Prothonotary Warbler earlier in the day. Along with Dwayne M, Jeremy Bensette, Blake Mann, and Kory, I saw a nice variety of warblers - 16 species or so - but no Prothonotary. However, as a group of us were eating lunch that Kory had provided (thanks Kory!!), Blake picked out the Prothon with a few warblers high up a tree. Eventually we all got on it, though this was the best photo I could manage.

Prothonotary Warbler - Point Pelee N.P.

I spent a few minutes photographing a Wilson's Warbler that kept returning to the same shrub.

Wilson's Warbler - Point Pelee N.P.

Jumping warbler.

Wilson's Warbler - Point Pelee N.P.

I really like this photo for some reason. I know it is not what is conventionally considered a great shot, but I like how it shows the bird in typical habitat.

Wilson's Warbler - Point Pelee N.P.

One more of Wilson:

Wilson's Warbler - Point Pelee N.P.

After hiking DeLaurier trail, several of the group took off, and Kory and I enjoyed a few hours out in his canoe in the Pelee marsh. I'll cover that in the next post, but here is a sneak peak!

Long weekend birding update - Friday

I was able to take Friday off this week so I decided to head down to southern Ontario and do some serious birding for the weekend. I didn't really have any target species in mind - mainly I wanted to check out a bunch of shorebird locations and do some fall warblering at Point Pelee!

Some highlights from Friday:

My goal of being at the Hamilton lakeshore by sunrise failed due to a "faulty" alarm clock....nonetheless by mid-morning I was looking at shorebirds.

North shore islands in Burlington:
-1 Baird's Sandpiper

Windermere Basin:
-only Black-bellied Plover of the day
-3 Short-billed Dowitcher
-nothing else interesting!

Mines Road sodfarm near Mt. Hope:
-16 American Golden-plovers (3 had been reported here by others in previous days)
-1 Buff-breasted Sandpiper! My first for the "Hamilton Study Area" were less-than-ideal looks, as is often the case with this species. Eventually it flew to the east, though apparently it returned since it was seen by birders an hour later. Some of the Goldens were a little more confiding...

American Golden-plover

American Golden-Plovers

Townsend lagoons:
-Lots of great shorebird habitat in the nearest pond!
-1 Red-necked Phalarope in the northwest pond
-2 adult American Golden-Plovers
-4 Stilt Sandpipers
-a good variety of ducks for August - Northern Pintail, Ring-necked Duck, Northern Shoveler, Ruddy, both teals, etc

Silver Lake in Port Dover
-lots of habitat, but not much variety of shorebirds! This is a spot worth checking in the future.

Port Rowan lagoons:
-I "dipped" on the recently reported Wilson's Phalarope, but still had a ton of shorebirds (about 130 individuals of 11 species). 4 juv Baird's were nice

Aylmer WMA (by the police college)
-the only Wilson's Snipe of the day!
-a couple of Bald Eagles keeping an eye on things.

Bald Eagle - Aylmer lagoons

Aylmer lagoons:
-lots of wind and not much else

Port Stanley lagoons:
-lots of habitat, but again, not a whole lot of variety! A couple of juv Short-billed Dowitchers were the only thing moderately interesting (and even that is a stretch!)

I finished with 17 shorebird species so it was a pretty good day.