Rainy Rondeau Day

Yesterday I went down to the Rondeau area, in hopes of catching up with a couple of birds, one of which being the juvenile Purple Gallinule found by Steve Charbonneau on Tuesday, at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons. This is apparently the first record for Chatham-Kent. 

It rained most of the way there, and upon pulling up to the lagoons, there was quite a bit of lightning. It was decided that standing out in the open on the lagoons with a metal tripod was probably not in my best interest. So instead, I opted to go to Erieau first. There were quite a few gulls, terns, and cormorants on tbe pier, in the trees, and on the beaches. I picked through them, but was unable to turn up anything good. I had about 250 (probably more) Common Terns, which is the most I had ever seen at once. Hardly any shorebirds, other than three Sanderlings, and a few Spotted Sandpipers. I flushed a Black-crowned Night-Heron from the base of the pier, which seemed like a really odd spot. My first for the Rondeau area.

Afterwards, the rain seemed to let up a bit, so I went back to the sewage lagoons. The sky seemed sort of threatening, so I left the camera in the car. It took a bit, but finally the Purple Gallinule made its appearance. Quite the pretty thing, even if it wasn't an adult. It hopped up onto some Phragmites and sat and preened itself. It was up high enough we were able to have it at eye level!

We checked the sprinkler cell, and found lots of Semipalmated Sandpipers, Least Sandpipers, and yellowlegs, as well as a few Baird's Sandpipers, Pectoral Sandpipers, and Stilt Sandpipers. 

Afterwards, I went to Keith McLean. The birders from the lagoons also ended up there! It was raining, so again no camera!

The water is quite high, so we couldn't go too far back. We heard a Common Gallinule, which made it a two gallinule day. There was also a nice Baird's and Stilt Sandpiper together feeding quite close to us. 

I was joined by Ezra Campanelli, and we walked along the road to where my target bird was seen feeding. It took a couple minutes, but soon the Red Knot was spotted! A beautiful juvenile. Knots are probably my favourite bird! There was also a gorgeous juvenile Short-billed Dowitcher. 

Ezra and I then headed into the park. I didn't really know what to do, so we decided just to do South Point Trail and see what we could see. On the way, we decided to hit the beach access off the VC. There was a Red-headed Woodpecker there upon parking, which was nice. We noticed a large flock of loafing gulls and terns, so we started our way down the beach to see what was with them. The reoccurring theme of the day was that there were no good gulls to be found! As we walked back, we came across a group of three Ruddy Turnstones. They were a FOY for Ezra, and one we had hoped for, so that was a success. 

Next up was South Point. Not too much to be seen. We went out to the beach at the lighthouse, and along the way I caught a ribbonsnake, a lifer for the both of us. 

Again, we saw a huge group of gulls, so we went after them. Nothing to be seen! We ended up walking up to Dog Beach, where we cut in and walked back to the car along Lakeshore. Ezra had to leave back to Hamilton, so we parted ways. By this point the skies had cleared (finally), and I had noticed some cool plants along the walk, so I decided to retrace our steps, and see what I could see along the way. 

One of the highlights was this. I am pretty sure it is Yellow Flatsedge (Cyperus flavescens). It is an S2 in Ontario, and considered rare in Chatham-Kent.

Another highlight was Small-headed Rush (Juncus brachycephalus). I admittedly am not super good at rushes, but I am pretty confident in this ID! 

At one point I noticed a number of caterpillars feeding on Small-flower False Foxglove (Agalinis purpurea parviflora), which turned out to be Common Buckeyes. I had seen a number of adults of this species as well.

The host plant.

I also saw a Five-lined Skink. Always a treat. This is a juvenile, note the blue tail.

A photo dump of some of the other plants I saw.

Trailing Fuzzy Bean (Strophostyles helvola)

Northern Evening Primrose (Oenothera parviflora)

Redwhisker Clammyweed (Polanisia dodecandra)

Seaside Sandmat (Euphorbia polygonifolia)

Tumbleweed (Salsola tragus)

Cylindrical Blazing Star (Liatris cylindracea)

Golden Sedge (Carex aurea)

And of course, the mystery prickly pears (Opuntia sp.) of Rondeau. They are not native to the park, and I don't think anyone really knows for sure their species or origin! 

I cut inland, and went to the washout. Very little bird-wise, so here are some more plants :-)

Matted Spikerush (Eleocharis intermedia)

Blunt Spikerush (Eleocharis obtusa)

Straw-coloured Flatsedge (Cyperus strigosus)

I pished up a storm on the way back, and got a bunch of vireos (Red-eyed, Warbling, and a Philadelphia), a couple warblers, and some flycatchers. I am pretty sure I had a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, but it managed to hide behind the leaves!

Just before leaving, I head a Black-bellied Plover calling out towards the lake from the South Point parking lot. A bit unexpected, but welcome!

Overall, a very successful day in Rondeau, despite all the rain! 

Christmas Bird Counts 2019

This past weekend I participated in two Christmas Bird Counts (CBC).

On Saturday I did the London CBC. My area is a 5 kilometer stretch of pathway along the river in south London. It can be quite good, however this year I averaged lesser numbers of birds, and it was my lowest species count out of the previous years, with 30.

While there isn't too much to comment on, I did have a few highlights. Cardinal numbers were higher than previous years, with forty tallied. Early on I had a Red-winged Blackbird in a cattail marsh, which is a good one on the count. The best bird was a House Wren, which is the second record ever in the 100+ years of the count.

After the morning walk, I went down to the landfill. Best bird was a Slaty-backed Gull, which was found the previous day. The first record on the London CBC, and a first record for Middlesex county. Other gulls included thousands of Herring Gulls, lesser numbers of Ring-billed, and some Great Black-backed, Lesser Black-backed, and Glaucous. I couldn't turn up any Iceland Gulls.

Herring Gulls and Glaucous Gull

Overall, the results of the London count revealed that it was a below average year, but with some exceptional highlights. Another new one for the count was a Wilson's Warbler. Other highlights included Greater White-fronted Goose, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Cackling Goose, and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

On Sunday I did the Rondeau/Blenheim CBC with Blake Mann. We did the area in the park south of the visitor center.

We started the day with a lakewatch off Dog Beach. It was quite cold with limited birds. We had four Red-throated Loons, which means I can keep my Red-throated streak! I have had them on every Rondeau count I've done. The one I had in my first count four years ago was the first seen since 1981. As others have noted, sighting of this species are increasing in the Rondeau area, which is quite odd.

After the lakewatch (we also had three Long-tailed Ducks, which was nice), we went and started our usual walking route; down South Point Trail to the washout, then back up Lakeshore to the VC, and back down Harrison. As it has been the last couple years, it was a fairly uneventful. Best bird was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, which was the only bird around it seems! A Pileated Woodpecker was also good to get.

On our Lakeshore walk, we had an Eastern Towhee, as well as Common Grackle. A Tufted Titmouse at the feeders may have been the only on the count. Harrison was mostly uneventful, but we did have a Hermit Thrush.

After lunch, we did a quick walk around the campground, where we basically had no birds! Seemed to be the theme that day...

Blake went off on his own to check some other areas, so I went to check a few areas on my own. I went to the maintenance loop, where the only notable birds were a Carolina Wren and Carolina Wren. I basically gave up on birding and did some botanizing.

I found two mulberry (Morus) species on the loop.

The rare Red Mulberry (Morus rubra) has one of its last population strongholds in Rondeau Park. From what I understand the Rondeau population includes some of the best examples of this species in Ontario. With only a few hundred trees left in the province, it is at risk due to habitat loss and this next species, White Mulberry (Morus alba) which is invasive, and rapidly hybridizing with Red Mulberry, which is resulting in genetically impure trees.

Next I went to the beach off of the VC. I found a few more plants.

Common Yucca (Yucca filamentosa)

Canadian Wild Rye (Elymus canadensis)

I also found this on the beach, not quite sure what it is. (EDIT: pharyngeal teeth of the fish Freshwater Drum, thanks Kate!)

 Afterwards I went to the trailhead of the Marsh Trail, because why not? Had a Winter Wren, as well as some more plants. I saw some winter stems of Swamp Rose Mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos), a somewhat rare plant in Ontario. Saw a couple other things too.

Swamp Loosestrife (Decodon verticillatus)

Swamp Rose Mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos)

Prairie Cordgrass (Sporobolus michauxianus)

Afterwards I went to Erieau to do a quick check before heading off to the compilation.
Not much of note, other than a couple Field Sparrows in a flock of tree sparrows, and a Winter Wren along the rail trail.

Common Hoptree (Ptelea trifoliata) was locally abundant in the sandunes.

A few Muskrats were around.

The dinner and compilation was good as always. In total the count had 102 species, which is quite good considering the circumstances. I always enjoy Rondeau!

Rondeau Afternoon

This past Monday I went down to the Rondeau area for a few hours in the afternoon. I didn't really have any targets in mind, and I just figured I'd see what I'd see!

I made a quick stop into Keith McLean Conservation area. I had visions of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, but it was quickly found it was not to be. Oh well.

There were a few birds of note around, including two rail species, Sora and Virginia Rail. Both flushed from the side of the marsh as I approached. Not often one gets to see rails! Lots of ducks were present, but the only shorebirds were Killdeer and a Spotted Sandpiper.

Green-winged Teal

Other than birds, there were a number of other things. Carp were quite (unfortunately) numerous in the wetland.

Lots of frogs and toads. I heard Leopard Frogs and a Western Chorus Frog, but no photos of those.

American Toad

A big ol' Snapping Turtle was laying on the bank.

Saw my first American Lady butterfly of the year.

Afterwards, we moved into the park. There was a number of wildflowers right beside the road.

Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria)

Cut-leaved Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata)

Virginia Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica)

As well a cousin of the American Lady, the Red Admiral. Red Admirals have really started to arrive back in Ontario in about the last week.

I made the obligatory drive up Lakeshore road to look for the returning White-winged Dove, which has come back for its fifth year. Some may know that bird and I have quite the "history", as it took me four year and numerous attempts to finally see him. Of course, when I went on Monday he was just sitting out in the open on top of the cottage owner's car.

The dove has had this strange ritual, since 2016, I believe, he had attempted to build "nests" on top of the car. Of course, cars move, so he must restart constantly, but he is very persistent! On this day, he was flying back and forth regularly with sticks to add to his collection.

It took me almost five years, but I finally got some photos I am happy with!

There were numerous sparrows feeding along the roads, mostly Chipping Sparrows with a few Field Sparrows mixed in.

Chipping Sparrow

Field Sparrow

After Lakeshore, we went down to Dog Beach. There were a couple plants of interest.

Torrey's Rush (Juncus torreyi)

Cyprus Spruge (Euphorbia cyparissias)

Also my first Caspian Terns of the year.

Finally, I stopped in for a quick walk of Tulip Tree Trail. Not much birdwise, save for a few Yellow-rumped Warblers and Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, but there were other things to look at!

Black Sooty Mold (Scorias spongiosa)

Red Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)

A number of mosses were present along the trail.

Common Haircap Moss (Polytrichum commune)

Brocade Moss (Hypnum imponens)

Goose Egg Moss (Arrhenopterum heterostichum)

All in all, quite the fun afternoon! I can't wait to get back, as spring has just begun!