Ausable Afternoon

Yesterday I spent a few hours in the afternoon along the Ausable River near Arkona. This place has been of recent interest after James Holdsworth found a good number of clubtail dragonflies, including the provincially rare Rapids Clubtail and Green-faced Clubtail. I was hoping to mimic his success.

I first stopped along Fossil Road, which is actually quite a neat little spot, alongside the Ausable. I had intended just to stop quickly for some plants, but realized there were odes to be seen! 

Several Swift River Cruisers and Midland Clubtails patrolled the river, with a couple other species of clubtail I was unable to catch and identify. 

Midland Clubtail

Swift River Cruiser

Tons of damselflies too! Lots of American Rubyspots, Powdered and Violet Dancers, and Stream Bluets.

Stream Bluet

In case you were wondering, I did some plants of interest. I saw a new species for me, Emory's Sedge (Carex emoryi), which turned out to be the dominant sedge along the river. It apparently enjoys calcareous areas, so this fits the bill! 

 

I went up to the Mystery Falls Trail, where I intended to access the river. There are breeding Acadian Flycatchers here, but I didn't hear any. I did have a singing Cerulean Warbler though. When I reached the river, I realized things were going to be much more difficult than I was hoping, since the river was much deeper than I wanted to wade in. I began to bushwack down the shore.

Of course I stopped to look at sedges (are you really surprised at this point?).

Handsome Sedge (Carex formosa)

Smooth-sheathed Sedges (Carex laevivaginata)

Bur Reed Sedge (Carex sparganoides)

Woolly Sedge (Carex pellita)

Finally, I reached a point where I'd be able to get into the river and wade. Shortly after I saw a suspicious looking clubtail with a narrower club than the Midlands. I netted it and confirmed it to be my lifer Rapid's Clubtail. My 120th species of ode for Ontario!

Rapids Clubtails are considered endangered, and were the first species of dragonfly to be put on the endangered list. This is a completely new population, and a new river for where this species is found. I saw mine on the Middlesex side of the river, so a nice addition to my county list. This population represents the first record for the county since 1989, when they were last seen near Putnam on the Thames River in the southeast portion of the county. 

I was quite happy after my success. I continued to wade down the river towards the Rock Glen Conservation Area. I was forced up onto the bank a few times. At one point I was walking and spied a spring fed creek/seepage area from afar, I thought to myself "That looks like a good spot for Carex prasina", and sure enough, I got closer and there were a few clumps! Drooping Sedge (Carex prasina) is an uncommon species on Ontario, and a new one for me.

Something I haven't seen during the summer before is American Bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia).

There were a bunch of Twelve-spotted Tiger Beetles in a sandy part of the river bank. A new species for me. Tiger beetles are pretty cool.

I walked about 5 kilometers in total, a good workout. A neat little area, will have to check it out again.

Yarmouth Yellow-throated

Yesterday I went down to the Yarmouth Natural Heritage Area near Sparta in Elgin county. There has been a Yellow-throated Warbler seen there for the past couple weeks, and since I had never seen one before, I wanted to go try and see it.

My dad and I arrived around 11 am. It was quite hot, so I was worried that the birds would have quieted down and the target bird would be difficult to locate. Thankfully, it seemed that at least some birds were still active. As soon as I got out of the car, I was serenaded by Indigo Buntings and a Yellow-throated Vireo. As we started to make our way down the trail, I noted a few first of year odes, such as Eastern Forktail, Dot-tailed Whiteface, Common Whitetail, and a smaller darner, probably Springtime.

Eastern Forktail (with a connected shoulder stripe)

There were a couple Northern Parulas singing in the area where the Yellow-throated had been seen, but no Yellow-throated. As we made our way down the trail, I picked out a few other birds such as Eastern Towhee, some more Yellow-throated Vireos (I put down three total, there were probably more), and a nice male Indigo Bunting. At one point I picked out a song that was familiar, but I couldn't place what it was. I was quite pleased when the Yellow-throated Warbler popped up! I believe this individual is of the subspecies albilora. 

Happy that we were able to see our target species, we continued on our way. I had never been to Yarmouth before, and it seemed like quite the neat place!

Dad spotted a small patch of Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica). Always a treat to see.

There were a couple other plants of interest throughout the area. Will definitely have to go back and explore more thoroughly!

Blue Ridge Carrion Flower (Smilax lasioneura)

Seneca Snakeroot (Polygala senega)

Bastard Toadflax (Comandra umbellata)

Red Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)

Grove Bluegrass (Poa alsodes)

In the main pond, I saw one of the two continuing Least Bittern. I also found a Common Gallinule, which seems to be a pretty good bird for Elgin county! It has been a good spring for the species.

On my way back to the car, I heard three warblers of interest. The Yellow-throated had moved upstream, a Mourning Warbler (great habitat, I was wondering if I'd get one), and a Cerulean! The Cerulean had been reported previously, and I was hoping to cross paths with it.

It took a bit of bushwacking, but I managed to get a visual of the Cerulean. This is the first male I have actually seen!

I found a second Mourning Warbler. Not the greatest photo, but it beats my previous ones!

A Yellow-throated Vireo stopped in.

It was neat to find an American Redstart nest. 

 It was a very successful outing! I will definitely have to go back to this hidden gem.

Early May Big Day

Yesterday was the eBird Global Big Day, and I had a jam packed day of birding planned!

I awoke (sort of) at five in the morning, and then went out and scoured my neighborhood for some birds. My first stop was to a spot where American Woodcocks are known to perform their "dance". Unfortunately when I arrived, they weren't peenting, but I managed to catch one flying from the display grounds back into the forest. Also seen was a flyover Wood Duck.

Next stop was a patch of forest and wetland. Quite a few birds to sort through! There were a few warblers, including Orange-crowned, Blackburnian, Yellow, Palm, Magnolia, and Nashville.

Palm Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

There were a couple vireo species as well, Blue-headed, and a White-eyed Vireo. White-eyed Vireos are quite rare in London, so I was very happy, and surprised, to find this individual a few days ago. thankfully it stuck around for yesterday, and it was still there this morning!

Blue-headed Vireo

White-eyed Vireo (photo from May 4th)

I made a couple more quick stops, and I managed to pick up Warbling Vireo, my first one of the year.

Next up, Rondeau!

I started with the maintenance loop, where I found a few more things such as Swainson's Thrush, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Black-throated Green Warbler, Gray Catbird, and Northern Waterthrush.

Swainson's Thrush

Gray Catbird

I got word of a female Cerulean Warbler not too far away, so I walked over. She allowed for some close up looks!

I was about to go to the Pony Barn when I got a text from Blake about a Summer Tanager in the campground, which I just so happened to be driving through! It sure wasn't hard to find, as there were almost a dozen people looking at it! I think that may have been one of the highest concentrations of birders I have ever seen in Rondeau :-)

Next I went to check out a reported Kentucky Warbler on Water Street. I missed it by about two minutes! We spent about an hour looking to no avail. I did manage to see a few other birds, including some more thrushes, warblers, and a Tufted Titmouse.

Gray-cheeked Thrush

The Pony Barn was mostly quiet, but I did mange to come across a few things.

Baltimore Oriole

Wood Thrush

Next stop was the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons. My intention was just to quickly run in to get Savannah Sparrow and Eastern Meadowlark, but I noticed a crowd back by the sprinkler cell. I ran over to investigate, where I was told there were three Long-billed Dowitchers! They were a lifer for me, so I ran back to the car to grab my camera. Thankfully, they were very cooperative!

There were a few other shorebirds in the sprinkler cell as well.

Least Sandpiper

Greater Yellowlegs

Dunlin and Lesser Yellowlegs

My next stop was the Pelee area, where I was going to meet up with a few friends. We first checked out Hillman. There were a few shorebirds to be found, including Black-bellied Plover, American Golden Plover, Dunlin, yellowlegs, Ruddy Turnstone and 27 Long-billed Dowitchers.

Long-billed Dowitchers

Next up was Pelee. My friends went to get something to eat, so I got a head start on Tilden's. I managed to come across a few things, including a Blue-winged Warbler, Hermit Thrush, and a singing Louisiana Waterthrush.

Blue-winged Warbler

Carolina Wren

Wood Duck

I did the trail a second time once my friends showed up. We manged to find a Northern Waterthrush near where the Louisiana was.

We decided to try our luck with the Kentucky Warbler which had been spotted on Tilden's. As it usually is by 7pm, the trail was more or less deserted, so we'd have to find it ourselves! We had almost given up when my friend spotted it practically on the path! It flew to a tangle just off the trail, where it sat, allowing us to have some great looks!

After our success, and my fourth lifer of the day, we continued on, managing to find a Dark-eyed Junco and a Solitary Sandpiper on Tilden's, and a few Wild Turkeys on Woodland Nature Trail.

Solitary Sandpiper

Dark-eyed Junco

I said good-bye to my friends (I'll see them again next weekend!) and then started to head home. Last stop of the day was Hillman, where I found some woodcocks, and my last two new birds for the day list, Trumpeter Swan and Great Horned Owl.

It was an amazing day, and I finished with a total of 126 species, completely obliterating my previous personal big day record of 108.

Stay tuned...I'll be tackling Point Pelee next Saturday!