Spring amphibians

April 8 dawned cool and rainy, but the rain persisted all day and the conditions seemed good for the first major night of amphibian migration to their breeding ponds. I headed out around dusk and made my way to one of my favorite local areas near Cambridge.

Right away I found frogs littering the road - mostly Spring Peepers and Wood Frogs. It was good to see these species again after a long, cold winter!

Spring Peeper

Wood Frog

The rain made photography difficult, but every now and then a break in the weather allowed me to take a few photos.

Wood Frog

As the night wore on, several Northern Leopard Frogs made appearances on a different road that passes through some grassy areas.

female Northern Leopard Frog

female Northern Leopard Frog

Eventually I stopped at a favorite forest of mine, complete with many ephemeral wetlands that a variety of amphibian species use for breeding each spring. After checking some small vernal ponds, I arrived at one of the better pools in the area - a shallow, wide, fish-less wetland that slowly drains into a large cattail and sedge marsh. I made it half way around the edge of the pond until my flashlight beam caught a glimpse of black and yellow. The first Spotted Salamander of the year!

Several males were near the edge, presumably waiting for a female to enter the pond. A few more latecomers were clambering down the hillsides.

male Spotted Salamander

I continued on after close to an hour with the Spotted Salamanders. It's always a special moment for me every spring to visit this particular site and lay eyes on the first Ambystomatid salamander of the spring.

The Blue-spotted Salamanders weren't in any ponds that I checked, but the first few ones were on the move, crossing trails in the light mist. Considering their short stubby legs and small body size, an obstacle as small as a large twig can be quite the obstruction. It is amazing to think that some of these salamanders will travel upwards of 1 km to find their wetland that they return to every year!

male Blue-spotted Salamander

While not a great photo, I thought I would share the following because of the cool behaviour it depicts. This is a female Spotted Salamander laying eggs near the bottom of the wetland. The small ball of eggs will be deposited on a stick, and as the eggs absorb water and swell they will increase substantially in size. I've only photographed this once before so I was happy to again.

female Spotted Salamander laying eggs

Estimates for the night:
20 Wood Frog
15 Spring Peeper (+ around 50 calling)
6 N. Leopard Frog:
35 Spotted Salamander
4 Blue-spotted Salamander

Surprisingly no newts were seen, but it was very early in the season. I also did not cross paths with any Jefferson Salamanders, though most seasons I only see a couple of them.

Ruffing it

Two days ago, Alan Wormington found a Ruff at Hillman Marsh, near Point Pelee National Park. This European species of shorebird is a fairly regular wanderer to North America including the Great Lakes region. Usually there are betwee 1 and 5 records annually in Ontario, though it is a species that I had never seen before. Barb Charlton, Brett Fried and I decided to drive down to Point Pelee and see if we could find it.

We ended up searching the Hillman Marsh area for the majority of our time, unsuccessfully I might add. We checked the entire perimeter of Hillman Marsh and we walked the length of the Hillman dyke. Shorebirds were in abundance with about 300 Pectoral Sandpipers, several dozen yellowlegs (of both species), good numbers of Dunlins, and about 40 Wilson's Snipes. A nice surprise was a pair of Snow Geese that flew overhead with 2 Canada Geese. Later on we found them in the southeast corner of the marsh.

Snow Geese - Hillman Marsh

Snow Geese - Hillman Marsh

In addition to all the shorebirds, a few other "first of spring" migrants were around. Several Marsh Wrens called deep within the phragmites, Blue-winged Teal had arrived in numbers, a single Caspian Tern was sitting on a mud flat with a gull flock, and about four Great Egrets were found in various locations. Among the numerous Tree Swallows were two each of Barn Swallow and Purple Martin.

I was happy to spot a/the Eurasian Wigeon in the boardwalk area of Hillman Marsh. This was a long-awaited new Pelee bird for me! You can kind of see a gray duck with a red head in the (heavily cropped) photo below.

Eurasian Wigeon - Hillman Marsh

After tallying about 75 species near Hillman, we entered the park to see what was going on. It was cold and fairly windy, but the west side of the point was calm and numerous phoebes were in abundance. The large sparrow flocks consisted of 50% Field Sparrows, with small numbers of a few other species mixed in. Feeding with the sparrows in some grassy areas were 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet and several Golden-crowned Kinglets, evidently new migrants. Hermit Thrush, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Winter Wren, Eastern Bluebird, and Horned Grebe rounded out some of the migrants.

At the Visitor Centre, dozens of kinglets were feeding in the grassy areas between the parking lots. It was obvious that the large number of kinglets, combined with the low temperatures made any available insects a hot commodity, with many birds forced to feed on the ground within a few feet of us. I wonder how many of these kinglets will perish after an episode like this. We did find one dead bird.

Golden-crowned Kinglet - Point Pelee National Park

Golden-crowned Kinglet - Point Pelee National Park

Golden-crowned Kinglet - Point Pelee National Park

Despite missing our prime target (the Ruff), we still saw quite a few interesting birds including lots of new migrants. I am excited for what the next few weeks bring!

Spring!

Spring has finally arrived. After weeks of below average to average temperatures, we finally are starting to feel some warm weather! As I type this, it is 16 degrees outside and predominately sunny with a strong southwest wind.

Since I hadn't gone birding in Ontario since about March 16, I went for a hour and a half walk around a local pond in south Cambridge today. Immediately it became apparent that a lot of migrants had come in!

It was almost a sensory overload of spring migrants. Normally I get out every day or every few days and so I see maybe only one or two new migrant species per outing. But since the last time I had birded in Ontario it was relatively cold and still the middle of March, almost everything was new! Robins and blackbirds were everywhere, and a few Killdeer called nearby. A quick scan of the pond reviewed a Great Blue Heron and 5 Pied-billed Grebes.

Later on I found my first two Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers of the spring, calling and chasing each other - one of my favourite species. Sparrows were abundant and while the strong winds made it difficult, I was able to find 1 Fox, 1 Savannah, and 2 Chipping Sparrows. In a nearby swampy area a flock of Rusty Blackbirds were quite vocal.

There were still some reminders that it was still early in the spring, though. Several Common Redpolls flew over, and a flock of 55 or so Bohemian Waxwings was also nearby.

The highlight of the walk for me was hearing the first few Spring Peepers of the spring calling!! The next few days look excellent for herps, so my birding will be put on hold as I see what herps I can find.

This week is forecast to have above average temperatures with a lot of southerly winds, especially early in the week. Following that will be lots of ups and downs. Quite a few birds will be on the move, and I wouldn't be surprised if the first warblers start to show up. Yellow-rumped and Pine are pretty much guaranteed soon, and Louisiana Waterthrush, Northern Parula, Palm Warbler, and Nashville Warbler won't be far behind. Unpredictable weather with lots of wind is generally good for causing rare birds to show up.

"Prime" birding season usually starts around my birthday, the 25th of April. However early and mid April can still be good for vagrants, and this time period is certainly a lot better than the previous three months! Some of the more regular rarities during this time period includes Henslow's and Le Conte's Sparrows, Eared Grebe, Black Vulture, chances at rare herons/ibis, and rare ducks.

Megas found between today's date and the 20th of April include Bewick's Wren (1981), Eurasian Jackdaw (1985), Burrowing Owl (1991), Ferruginous Hawk (1992), Garganey (1993), Prairie Falcon (1995), Black-headed Grosbeak (1998),  Townsend's Warbler (2000), and Black-necked Stilt ((2006).

I wouldn't mind one of these...

Oban, Scotland - March 22, 2013

March 21, 2013: A few hours in Edinburgh
March 22, 2013: Oban, Scotland
March 26, 2013: Rare duck in Scotland!
March 26, 2013: Aberlady Bay, Scotland
March 30, 2013: Unique photo of a lifer (Paris, France)
March 31, 2013: Photos d'oiseaux de France (Paris, France)
April 2, 2013: Seabird die-off on the east coast of Scotland


On March 22, Laura and I headed west to the town of Oban, located on the west coast of Scotland. This was a new area for me and I was excited to see if I could get any life birds.

The long bus ride took us west through some snowy highland areas on the way to the coast. The overnight snow had made the roads slick and several cars were in the ditch as we drove along. We eventually arrived at the coast and right away I started seeing Hooded Crows - a lifer! This distinctive species is closely related to the Carrion Crow which occurs to the east, with a narrow range of hybridization. On the west coast however, this is the default large crow species.

Hooded Crow - Oban, Scotland

It was a cold and windy day once again - no surprise there! The coastline was beautiful, even with the mostly overcast conditions. Many expected landbirds were in the brushy areas along the coast, including Eurasian Bullfinch, 3 species of tits, Goldcrest, and Dunnock. On a grassy field, a pair of Greylag geese foraged.

Greylag Geese - Oban, Scotland

We explored a couple of castles in the area...

The Oban harbour has breeding Black Guillemots - a Scottish specialty that is hard to get further south in the UK. With some effort I was finally able to spot one relatively close to shore. This was a new UK bird for me and so I grabbed a few photos.

Black Guillemot - Oban, Scotland

Of course many other common coastline birds were in abundance, including Common Eider, European Shag, Great Cormorant, and a few Long-tailed Ducks. Eurasian Oystercatchers were hanging out on the rocky shore. Despite them being one of the more common shorebirds in Scotland, they are a favorite of mine and can be quite photogenic at times!

Eurasian Oystercatcher - Oban, Scotland

I finally saw my first Mistle Thrushes ever; a species that somehow eluded me on my trip to Scotland last year. We ended up seeing about 20 of them from the bus, foraging on fields with various corvids, Northern Lapwings, and Eurasian Curlews.

Pied Wagtails are a common coastline bird, but they are often easily approached and fun to photograph. Who knows, maybe one day I will find one of these in Ontario!

Pied Wagtail - Oban, Scotland

Pied Wagtail - Oban, Scotland

Laura and I enjoying a sheltered spot on the coast :)

Seabird die-off on the east coast of Scotland

March 21, 2013: A few hours in Edinburgh
March 22, 2013: Oban, Scotland
March 26, 2013: Rare duck in Scotland!
March 26, 2013: Aberlady Bay, Scotland
March 30, 2013: Unique photo of a lifer (Paris, France)
March 31, 2013: Photos d'oiseaux de France (Paris, France)
April 2, 2013: Seabird die-off on the east coast of Scotland


About a week ago, the local Scottish listserv started buzzing with reports of people finding dead seabirds, predominately Atlantic Puffins, along the coast near the mouth of the Firth of Forth. With Laura and I having returned from France, we decided to spend the day along the north coast of the Firth, in the town of Kirkcaldy. It was actually a beautiful day for a change and we managed to see close to 50 species of birds as well as explore a castle. However the low-light of the day was when we discovered that the seabird die-off was not just limited to the south coast of the Firth.

dead Razorbill - Kirkcaldy, Scotland

The above Razorbill was one of the first dead seabirds we came across. While it looked relatively fresh, most of the carcasses were probably a week old or more. In one particular area, the tidal wrack was concentrated in one area due to the geography of the land. Here, about 30 dead seabirds were found.

dead alcids - Kirkcaldy, Scotland

In the above photo, it appears to be mostly Common Murres with a single Razorbill and a single Atlantic Puffin.

Atlantic Puffins certainly seemed to be hit the hardest as they were by far the most numerous species. As depressing as it was to come across such a sight, it also provided a rare opportunity to see some of these species up close. I was surprised at how tiny the puffins were compared to the murres.

dead Atlantic Puffin - Kirkcaldy, Scotland

I had never seen a Razorbill, Atlantic Puffin, or Dovekie in the U.K. before. It was super depressing that the first ones I laid eyes on were dead along the beach. Here is only the second Dovekie I have ever seen.

dead Dovekie - Kirkcaldy, Scotland

The carnage wasn't limited to just alcids. We also came across 5 European Shags, 2 Northern Gannets, 1 Black-legged Kittiwake, 1 Common Gull, and several unidentified birds. Reports in other regions included Common Seal, Harbour Porpoise, and many Black-legged Kittiwakes. Evidently this was a massive die-off that was widespread across many taxa.

dead Gannet and Puffin - Kirkcaldy, Scotland

Two of the birds were banded - both European Shags. If anyone knows who I can send the band combinations to, please let me know.

European Shag  band

The total number of dead seabirds we found in about 4 km of coastline included:

53  Atlantic Puffin
24  Common Murre
14  Razorbill
1    Dovekie
8    alcid sp.
5    European Shag
2    Northern Gannet
1    Common Gull
1    Black-legged Kittiwake
3    gull sp.
1    bird sp.

113 total birds

What would cause a massive die-off of birds like this? It was not due to an oil spill, as all of the birds were clean, plus there have been no reports of large gulls (which are often the victims of oil spills). Disease seems unlikely too since again, there were no large gulls and the die off was widespread with many species. It appears that in this case, it had something to do with food shortage.

For about a week, the east coast of Scotland had been hit hard with strong easterlies. I don't know too much about the prey species of these seabirds, but perhaps the strong winds changed the dynamics of the fish populations which are crucial to the survival of these seabirds. The strong winds may have also pushed some of the birds closer in to shore, making it difficult for them to acquire sufficient prey in a weakened condition. If anyone has experience with these sorts of things I would love to hear an opinion on it, since I am just guessing.

dead Atlantic Puffin - Kirkcaldy, Scotland

Almost all of the birds we came across were adults. Surely this can be devastating to some seabird colonies in the immediate future. However, with most things (including this) there is a silver lining. These events are natural and happen on a regular, periodic basis. These birds have evolved in such a way that they can withstand occasional die-offs like this - and perhaps these are even beneficial to these populations in the long term due to this rapid natural selection event. Chances are that weaker birds are affected more than stronger birds, thus increasing the overall genetic "strength" of the population by eliminating birds with weaker genetics.

The problem is that with already declining seabird populations, it is much more difficult and it takes a longer period of time for populations to recover from episodes such as this.

I will finish this post with a photo of a live Razorbill we saw. Two immature Razorbills were sitting in the water very close to shore. Who knows if they were survive, but since the die off occurred about a week ago I would say that their chances are good.

Razorbill - Kirkcaldy, Scotland

Razorbills - Kirkcaldy, Scotland

Photos d'oiseaux de France

March 21, 2013: A few hours in Edinburgh
March 22, 2013: Oban, Scotland
March 26, 2013: Rare duck in Scotland!
March 26, 2013: Aberlady Bay, Scotland
March 30, 2013: Unique photo of a lifer (Paris, France)
March 31, 2013: Photos d'oiseaux de France (Paris, France)
April 2, 2013: Seabird die-off on the east coast of Scotland


Between March 27 and March 31, Laura and I were traveling in France. We were in Tours (about an hour southwest of Paris by train) for the first 3 days, and Paris for the last day and a half. Since this blog is about wildlife, I'll spare you all the "touristy" photos that Laura made me take ;)

While it wasn't exactly a birding trip, we did go on a hike or two throughout the trip. I wasn't really expecting any life birds on the trip but I still came away with 7!

The first was a relatively common species of tit which doesn't quite make it to the part of Scotland in which I had done most of my European birding - the Marsh Tit. I ended up seeing several of these Black-capped Chickadee look-a-likes, and by the end of the trip I had finally figured out their vocalizations. This certainly increased the number in which I located. All my photos are pretty poor, however.

Both species of "crests" were around as well. Firecrest (basically a Golden-crowned Kinglet) was a lifer, and several were seen in mixed migrant flocks with warblers and tits. This Goldcrest (basically a Ruby-crowned Kinglet with a yellow crown) decided to forage at eye level for a few minutes.

Goldcrest - Paris, France

While walking around a lake in the southern part of Tours on our second full day, I was happy to see that some migrant swallows had returned. Most were Barn Swallows, but a few Common House Martins were mixed in. These also make it to Scotland but I have never been visiting during the late spring/summer months. I didn't even attempt photos of these quick fliers on the dark, overcast day! Basically, they looked like Tree Swallows with white rumps. Lifer #3!

Also in the area were some Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers (the second being life bird #4), and just like that I was introduced to the intricacies of European warbler identification. Chiffchaffs are brown with olive and white, while Willow Warblers are brown with white and olive. A little bit different than the reds, blues, greens, oranges, and yellows of new world warblers which I am used to ;)

Green Woodpecker, while not a life bird, was super fun to lay eyes on. My only previous experience was a single bird calling in Edinburgh last year so to see them in a number of locations was fantastic. They seemed to fill the niche of Northern Flickers back across the pond.

Green Woodpecker - Paris, France

Lifer #5 was the Short-toed Treecreeper I photographed near La Tour Eiffel - check out the last post for a photo. I did take closer photos which were enough to separate it from the similar Eurasian Treecreeper but I'll leave them out since they are horrendous photos. 

On our last morning in Paris, Laura and I walked for close to 3 hours in the Bois de Boulogne; a massive park just outside of the city. The weather was better than we had seen all trip (cold, as opposed to really cold) and the sun actually came out for about 10 minutes! I really hoped to find a Crested Tit, a species that has a tiny population in the highlands of Scotland, but is more common in continental Europe.

While we were walking, Laura excitedly pointed out a woodpecker drumming in a tree. It was a Great Spotted Woodpecker, lifer #6 of the trip. This species superficially resembles a Hairy Woodpecker with a white face and red undertail coverts, and it seems to fill a similar niche in Europe. The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is a smaller version (very much like a Downy Woodpecker) that I probably heard at one point, but I could not track it down. Excuse the poor photo...

Great Spotted Woodpecker - Paris, France

We continued on, checking every stand of conifers for Crested Tits. Eventually we noticed movement near the bottom of a rather large and bushy conifer. The movement was revealed to be a trio of Crested Tits, foraging deep within the tree! I was pretty happy to see this cool species. They were nearly impossible to photograph so here is the best that I could do.

Crested Tit - Paris, France

Crested Tit - Paris, France

And for good measure, here is one of the most common birds in Europe, a Great Tit. I do love tits.

Great Tit - Paris, France

We are now in Edinburgh for the remaining 5 days of my trip. I'll get the remaining photos taken before we went to France up on the blog in the upcoming days.

Unique photo of a lifer

March 21, 2013: A few hours in Edinburgh
March 22, 2013: Oban, Scotland
March 26, 2013: Rare duck in Scotland!
March 26, 2013: Aberlady Bay, Scotland
March 30, 2013: Unique photo of a lifer (Paris, France)
March 31, 2013: Photos d'oiseaux de France (Paris, France)
April 2, 2013: Seabird die-off on the east coast of Scotland


I often find it difficult to find motivation to photograph famous buildings/landmarks. Usually, whatever photos I end up with are ones that are identical to the photos taken by thousands (or even millions) of people before me. It is really hard to get a unique photo, and so I often don't bother.

Yesterday, I was exploring Paris with Laura and our friend Jared, on exchange in France for a year. When we stopped to view the La Tour Eiffel, things were not lining up for me to be able to take some unique photos of it. It was hazy, the lighting wasn't the greatest, we were short on time, I had no tripod, and there were many tourists around. 

However, just as we were approaching, a small brown bird alighted on a nearby tree. A Short-toed Treecreeper! I had seen several Eurasian Treecreepers in Scotland, but this similar species (that isn't found in the U.K.) was a lifer for me. It also provided a unique opportunity to photograph the Eiffel Tower. 

Short-toed Treecreeper and Eiffel Tower

That little bump on the right side of the tree is the Short-toed Treecreeper (taken with my 18-55 mm lens). I wonder if it is the first time that a birder has photographed a life bird as well as the Eiffel Tower at the same time.

Anyways, Laura and I are back in Edinburgh after 4 or 5 days in France. It wasn't a birding trip, but I did see a few things including several life birds. I'll go through my photos and make some posts in the upcoming days.

Aberlady Bay, Scotland

March 21, 2013: A few hours in Edinburgh
March 22, 2013: Oban, Scotland
March 26, 2013: Rare duck in Scotland!
March 26, 2013: Aberlady Bay, Scotland
March 30, 2013: Unique photo of a lifer (Paris, France)
March 31, 2013: Photos d'oiseaux de France (Paris, France)
April 2, 2013: Seabird die-off on the east coast of Scotland


The wigeon in the last post was from the afternoon trip that Laura and I made to Aberlady Bay, east of Edinburgh along the Firth of Forth. Some more photos from the day...

We found a freshwater pond and began searching for amphibians.

 Laura found a toad! It had seen better days, and was decomposed, missing its hind limbs.

Laura and dead Common Toad (Bufo bufo)

We did find some amphibian eggs as well - recently laid Common Frog eggs to be exact.

 Common Toad eggs

I was happy to discover a European Stonechat a little farther along, staking out its territory along a fencerow. This was a life bird so I tried to get some photos.

We flushed a Eurasian Woodcock in the same area, another life bird.

Two Roe Deer were further along the path. There are two native deer species in Scotland - the Roe Deer and the very impressive Red Deer. Maybe next year we will venture into the highlands for a few days and see these.

We made our way back to the coast, watching the large flocks of shorebirds and ducks. I was happy seeing large numbers of Common Shelducks; a species I had only seen once before in Scotland. All the usual shorebirds (or waders, as they are called out here) were present, including lots of Eurasian Curlews.

Checking out the shorebirds...

It was around this time that we had the excitement with the wigeon (see previous blog entry).

A flock of Dunlin, with some Common Shelducks and a few other species of ducks in the water.

And a massive boat.

Currently I am in Tours, France for a few days as Laura and I visit her friend Jared, who is on exchange out here. The weather is certainly a bit nicer here than in Scotland!