Some Long Walks and This and That

 Not really much to report recently, but things are coming along.  Did not have much to photograph the last few days!

Friday I spent time at Rondeau, but it was terribly quiet for birds, and the weather was not very nice.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

I did see my first Blue-headed Vireo of the year, but like most birds I encountered, it was not photogenic!

Saturday, I had the urge to head down into Essex County.  I did the long walk at Hillman Marsh.  Just the usual stuff, but one is always hopeful for something of interest.

I also visited Kopegaron Woods west of Wheatley.  I seldom go there, but it is sometimes a hotspot for birds.  Also good for forest wildflowers, although I did not take time to photograph much.  It was quite gloomy at the time!

Wood Anemone

I then spent an hour sitting at Wheatley Harbour, where there was quite a bit of action.  Only thing of note was an immature Little Gull that flew east with some Bonaparte's.

It was cloudy all morning, but by the time I got up to Mitchell's Bay, the sun was out and it was quite warm.  I walked the south shore nature trail.  A Bald Eagle was motionless in a tree the whole time, allowing a photo op.

Monday, was a calm sunny day, so I had to take advantage of it at Rondeau Park.  It was still very quiet for birds, but some first-of-years were tallied.  I walked about 6 km out marsh trail.  Rails are in, including Virginia and Sora.

I had hoped to come across a Least Bittern, but it was not to be!  Certainly some are out there.

Common Gallinules are in, and I encountered three.

One of the White-throated Sparrows posed quite nicely at one point.

Lots of American Painted-Lady were fluttering by.  This one appeared a bit faded though.

It was a day of long walks!  I figured I walked about 22 km in the park.  

I ended up going out south point trail west, and out the south beach as well.  A Piping Plover had been discovered out south beach, so I had to go take a look.  We kept our distance though, as always.

Yes, this bird was favouring its left leg.  Apparently that was noted in Florida, and it healed to some degree.  The bird seems to get around OK.

Most Piping Plovers we see are banded, so their origin can be traced.  This one apparently nested at North Manitou Island last year.  It spent the winter in Florida.

They nested on the Rondeau beaches historically, and too bad that could not happen again.  There are too many threats out there in this day and age (mainly human).

As with many of these, they are given names.  Our current plover is a female, named LeVel.  Hopefully she makes it safely to a nesting site!

Today was uneventful for the most part, depending where one was situated.  So, nothing to report at my end!

While out south beach, I noted a number of freshwater mussels, as always.  The specimens here are quiet worn and bleached due to wave action.

Most were Fatmucket, which I alluded to before as the most common there.

I noted another, which is Wabash Pigtoe.  Not much of it left, but enough to determine ID.

Wabash Pigtoe is a considered a vulnerable species in Ontario.

Also, I might mention, that a few years ago I picked up a fossilized mussel.  I do not remember where now, but it was obvious at the time as to what it was.

Once we get through this current weather, things should really pick up by this weekend!

Recent Bird and Plant Sightings and Other Things

 Spring is in full swing.  Leaf-out in Wallaceburg and area is quite advanced already, unlike the way it was 20+ years ago it seems! 

Scene at Reid Conservation Area April 19

I have been visiting the usual locations this past week, but I did get to Point Pelee on Tuesday.  I first started at Hillman Marsh and did the long walk.  Unfortunately, nothing exciting crossed my path.

At Pelee, the usual early stuff was around.  

Phoebe from the East

A Pine Warbler at the Tip was quite obliging.

Lots of Red Admirals and American Painted-Lady butterflies were throughout the park.

There were no bears at Point Pelee, but some Bearberry plants were coming into bloom.

After wearing out Pelee, I headed home via the lakeshore to Erieau.  Some shorebirds in a low wet spot along Erieau Road included some early American Golden Plover.  Nice to see those in numbers, as it seems they are not as plentiful as I remember.  The recent heavy rains filled this area, but apparently the farmer's pump had failed helping in that regard.

Wednesday we had a bit or rain with sunny breaks, so I stayed close to home.

Rondeau was on the agenda for Thursday.  I had high hopes of seeing lots of birds, but it was actually very quiet.  An odd first-of-year bird was a Red-breasted Nuthatch.  I have never gone this long without seeing one!  Usually I have one or two at the feeder all winter, but they did not show this past season.  And, certainly they were scarce this past winter all over.

Highlight was not a bird, but a rodent.  A Red Squirrel has been hanging around the back fence of the maintenance yard in the park.

The critter is not normally found around this area in present day, but quite possibly it got caught up in someone's trailer and was accidentally transported to the park.  Only speculation.....

I saw one once before in the park back in the summer of 1999, I believe it was.  No photo at that time though!  Ironically, it was just a little ways down Harrison from this location.

I also visited Erieau marsh trail and McGeachy Pond.  That area, too, was quiet for birds much to my disappointment.

The usual Blanding's Turtle was out sunning along the marsh trail.  My favourite type of turtle.

Today started out rainy/drizzly much to my dismay.  I drove around a bit first thing.  Only thing of note was a pair of Spotted Sandpipers at Roberta Stewart Wetland, for first-of-year.  Expected by this time though.

Eventually the drizzle stopped, so I headed out to Mitchell's Bay where I really intended to go today.  However, on the way, a big rain cloud came in as I headed that direction!  I ended up sitting at the waterfront for 40 minutes until it mostly stopped.

I then headed over to the south shore nature trail.  It was still a bit miserable, but eventually the weather settled down again.  It turned out to be quite birdy, so I stayed about 1.5h where I had the trail to myself!

For warblers, there were quite a few Yellow-rumped (16) and three Pine Warblers.

I saw the female first, and it took me a few seconds to realize what it was (lol!).  It was still quite miserable weatherwise at that time, so that is my excuse.

A couple of House Wrens were chattering away unseen, as a first-of-year tally.  There were lots of Great Egrets, but no small white ones!

The same two Forster's Terns were on the dock as last time.

Highlight was a flyby of a male Yellow-headed Blackbird, but unfortunately no photo. Kind of expected in this area!

I visited Peers Wetland as well.  Yesterday there were ten Yellow-rumped Warblers there, and likely all were still there today.

A pair of American Coots was swimming around.

Of note, a couple of Purple Martins finally arrived at the housing structure.  I had seen none until today!

The afternoon was sunny and quite warm.  You guessed it, I headed up to Reid CA!  I looked for plants, as I find it quite interesting to see what I can find.  I want to seen how many different species I can document.

Two plants I specifically looked for today included Twinleaf and Largeflower Bellwort.  

Largeflower Bellwort

Of course, the Twinleaf is a ways off from flowering, but it is one of my favourite plants.

Here are some other:

Red Trillium

One of the many types of violets

Dwarf Ginseng

Wild Geranium

Jack-in-the-Pulpit

I actually found a couple more sites for Harbinger of Spring.  There seems to be quite a lot at Reid when one gets looking.  No doubt more to be found!  Flowers are long gone at this point of course.

The usual butterflies were fluttering about, including this comma.  I never got close, but I think it is a Grey.

Some nice birds have been reported the last day or so by various birders.  Some quite early!  So, things will be happening fast and furious soon.  Once again, it has begun......

April Anecdotes

 Looks like the weather has settled down a bit.  Lots of wind and rain recently!  Last Friday was a complete washout, so no walking around.  I did quite a bit of birding by car, but as usual did not see anything of note.  Lots of Lapland Longspurs have been moving through in the last week or so.  They are an attractive bird.

Saturday morning I headed down to Rondeau for a look around.  Nothing noteworthy with regards to birds, just the usual early stuff.

Foxy Sparrow

Lots of Red Admirals around of late.

And, this Garter Snake was taking advantage of the warm sun. I did not have  a "long" lens to get it all in a photograph.

There have been some prescribed burns in the park.  Here is one area near the maintenance yard.

In the afternoon it became quite warm and Reid CA was beckoning!  Some insects were out, including lots of Narrow-headed Marsh Flies.

Another very common, but very small creature was Margined Calligrapher.  Looks like there will be more when these two get done!

Bloodroot is not very common at Reid, but there are a few plants popping up here and there.

leaves

Some random forest scenes:

The evening was spent at the Sydenham Field Naturalist (SFN) annual banquet.  As always, it was an excellent affair.

Sunday, I had no other plans other than to go for a long walk at Rondeau Park.  I headed out marsh trail first thing.  The only new bird for the year was Virginia Rail.  A couple of them were calling in the same spot.

A Savannah Sparrow stuck around in the same spot all morning.

A pair of Field Sparrows was on the trail....quite far from a field.

More Ruby-crowned Kinglets are moving through.  Often we get the odd one attempting to winter, but there were none this year.  So, I did not get my first-of-year until late last week.  This one was too shy to be photographed.

Today, I stayed fairly local.  It was not too productive in the bird department, especially at Mitchell's Bay south shore trail.  I thought I would see more than I did!  

These Forster's Terns were resting on the dock.

Later, I walked Peers Wetland.  The Bald Eagle nest nearby had mostly blown down in the recent wind storm.  There were young there, but hopefully they had fledged before the incident.

I continued on up to Reid CA for a long walk (3.8 km) on my usual route.  As usual, I mainly looked at plant life.  Here are some common examples.

Wood Anemone

Downy Yellow Violet

White Trout Lily

One that I never paid attention to before (it looks like grass!), is a type of sedge.  At the SFN banquet Saturday, there were plants on the table that were to be taken by a lucky winner at the end of the evening.  This was one of them, called Oak Sedge.  I knew what to look for.

Oak Sedge

Of course, the flowers of Harbinger of Spring have long since disappeared.  I did keep an eye out for the plant, and I found yet another spot.

There are other plants yet to pop up, so I will be keeping an eye out for them in the future.

Here is one tiny insect  I tried to photograph.  

The Spotted Pink Lady Beetle is native, and I used to remember lots of these when I was very young.  I hardly see then anymore!