Middlesex Biggish Year: May Update

At what point does a "biggish year" become a "big year"?

May has just come to a close on my "Middlesex Biggish Year", and behind us we leave one of the busiest months of the year bird wise. And busy it was. In an absolute whirlwind of a month I saw SEVENTY (that's seven - zero) year birds. Maybe not a super crazy number on a provincial scale, but for Middlesex, and considering I had already seen over 80% of the birds reported in Middlesex at the end of April, I think it is quite exceptional. My year list now stands at 224 (over 90% of birds recorded in the county so far this year), which just so happens to be what I finished with at the end of last year. I have had a few misses this past month, including migrants such as Orange-crowned Warbler and Gray-cheeked Thrush, as well as some good rarities like Connecticut Warbler (not too torn up about that one, would rather self find my lifer anyways!), Kentucky Warbler (shows up the first morning in a week I don't go to Kilally), and Prairie Warbler. Never did get out to try for Whimbrel (would be a long shot, but doable), maybe next year. 

I should make a quick note about the weather: it sucked. Or rather, it sucked for birders. There were a few "good" days here and there, but nothing compared to what we had last year with "fallouts" of birds. The weather was conducive for migration the first few days of May, then we hit a patch of north winds with not much happening, followed by summer like temperatures with virtually no rain for a couple of weeks. Finally in the past few days we have had winds switch back to north, with temps down to the single digits. The clear nights coupled with south winds meant that birds got going...and just kept going. Although we had a pretty good diversity of birds this spring, we really had to work hard, and the case for many species was fewer individuals than normal (for example, I saw less than 20 individuals of Swainson's Thrush in the whole of May...what the heck??). 

The breakdown: 

Code 1: 129 (26 new)

Code 2: 60 (26 new)

Code 3: 22 (10 new)

Code 4: 8 (5 new)

Code 5: 4 (2 new)

A bunch of loose ends tied up with code 1s this month. In fact, 129 species marks every single one of the code 1s there are to see! It only gets harder from here. Flycatchers, warblers, vireos, gnatcatcher, a few thrushes...you know, the usual stuff.

Bay-breasted Warbler

Big increase in my code 2 list as well, leaving only three remaining (Marsh Wren, Gray-cheeked Thrush, and Orange-crowned Warbler). Quite a few shorebirds added here, as well as some of the more uncommon flycatchers, warblers, vireos etc. I worked pretty hard to get Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and Olive-sided Flycatcher, and it eventually paid off—I saw Yellow-bellied twice in the last week of May, and saw an Olive-sided yesterday in Skunks Misery! 

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Code 3s consist of mostly annual rarities, as well as scarce breeders. Up to 22/34, which I don't think is too shabby. A few good shorebirds such as Black-bellied Plover, Short-billed Dowitcher and White-rumped Sandpiper, as well as some rarer migrants like Common Gallinule and Golden-winged Warbler. The scarce breeders were made up of Acadian Flycatcher (seen both on migration and territory), Clay-colored Sparrow (which I actually saw as a migrant in my neighbourhood, a new patch bird!), and Cerulean Warbler. 

Common Gallinule

Acadian Flycatcher

Clay-colored Sparrow

What a crazy month for code 4s! More good shorebirds in the form of Ruddy Turnstone, Wilson's Phalarope and Red-necked Phalarope. Black Tern and Evening Grosbeak made up the other ones.

Evening Grosbeak

Phalaropes

One of my code 5s for the month was the Blue Grosbeak in Kilally Meadows. You can read more about that here. I also had a Western Meadowlark in early May.

So what's next going forward? Well, I think I will scale way back on my birding until the fall. Still a few birds to keep an eye out for over the late spring and summer months, so I guess we will have to wait and see what happens! For now, I think it is time to pay attention to insects and plants :) I have had an amazing time so far this year, and look forward to picking it up again! I guess I can actually sleep in now...

An Accidental Big Day

I did not set out to do a big day today, but it sort of turned into one.

I had a few hours before I had class today, so I decided to head out and bird the Kilally Meadows ESA. Figured I'd shake it up! This park is situated along the Thames River, and as such is a corridor for migrating birds. 

I got there shortly before 6:00, and was immediately greeted by the songs of Yellow Warblers, of which there would be dozens, and my first Ovenbird of the year. As I continued on my walk, I got the feeling it would be quieter than I had expected it to be. I walked for quite awhile, and the only other warblers I managed to pick up were Common Yellowthroat and a Black-throated Green. Finally, my first Great Crested Flycatcher of the year started calling, which at least spiced it up a bit.

On my way back from the furthest reaches of the park, I came across my first Chestnut-sided Warbler of the year. Perhaps a tad earlier than when I normally see them, but certainly not unexpected. Was nice to see! Not too long after, I added a couple more FOYs in the form of an Indigo Bunting and Lincoln's Sparrow. 

Lincoln's Sparrow

At one point I came across a group of finches feeding, represented by four species: Purple Finch, House Finch, goldfinch, and siskin. Nice to see the Purple Finches coming back—will the Evening Grosbeaks be next??

Purple Finch

I walked around a bit more (it had started to rain by this point as well), but the only other year bird I could find was an American Redstart. I finished my outing with 62 species, not too bad! To see the eBird checklist, click here. 

After class, I was debating on what to do. I thought about going to the Strathroy Sewage Lagoons, but decided against it. That is, until I saw a report of a Common Gallinule. This is a decent bird for Middlesex, and I had only ever seen one previously. That changed my mind! Soon I was on route.

I arrived at the lagoons a short while later, and then began the task of finding the bird. A couple American Coots were posing nicely.

I was beginning to become discouraged, but then it occurred to me that I had been looking in the wrong area! Once I went to where I thought the right area would be, the gallinule made an appearance.

A gorgeous bird. 

With my target acquired, I decided to walk around the lagoons. What followed next was a fun couple of hours! I nailed several species of shorebirds, including Wilson's Snipe, Solitary Sandpipers, both yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpipers, and Least Sandpipers. There were a few ducks around as well. Plenty of Soras (I counted eight) and a Virginia Rail rounded out the rallids. Along the backside of the cells, the forest was hopping with migrants, especially Yellow-rumped and Yellow Warblers. As I picked through them, I found a Black-and-white Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Common Yellowthroats, Palm Warblers, a Chestnut-sided Warbler, and my FOY Blackburnian Warbler. There was also a Wood Thrush singing, another FOY. 

I tallied 65 species at the lagoons, quite a nice total! Click here to see the eBird checklist.

On my way home, I decided to take a detour to Komoka Provincial Park. There were a few birds around, including Eastern Meadowlark, Eastern Bluebird, and Brown Thrasher, all of which I hadn't seen yet that day. There was also a Grasshopper Sparrow, my main target, singing back in its usual spot.

The biggest highlight though was spotting my first ever Eastern Milksnake! 

And just to throw a bit of botany in here...

Leafcup (Polymnia canadensis)

After I got home and entered my eBird checklists for the day, I was shocked to see that my day list stood at 97 species! This surpassed my previous best for Middlesex County of 94, which I did last year on the eBird Global Big Day (which is coming up this Saturday by the way). Since I was so close to 100, after supper I decided to go out in the pouring rain and try to hit triple digits.

I first went and scoped Fanshawe Lake. Here I only was able to add Common Merganser, but I wasn't really expecting much else.

I then went up to Thorndale in hopes of getting Pine Warbler, but they remained silent. I did however hear a singing Golden-crowned Kinglet. The habitat isn't too bad here, so I will keep an eye on it for the atlas. 

I went and checked some gravel pits, but found them pretty much devoid of birds. As I was driving back, I spied number 100: a Bald Eagle sitting in a dead tree! 

I decided to try for one more bird, so I went and scoped out an Osprey nest. There was one sitting there! 

All in all, a great day. I definitely did not wake up today and expect to see over 100 species. Gotta love spring birding!  

Middlesex Biggish Year: April Update

Four months into my Middlesex Biggish Year! April is always an exiting time of year, and this past one was no exception. This past month I have added 42 species to my year list, which now stands at 154, or about 85% of the birds recorded in Middlesex this year. Nothing immediately sticks out as a "major miss", although Red-shouldered Hawk still evaded me—it might have to wait until the fall now! I also managed to see one of my outstanding targets, basically my only remaining one from the first few months of the year...Lapland Longspur! Finches still haven't really come through yet, so still holding out for some Evening Grosbeaks. 

The breakdown:

Code 1: 103 species (27 new)

Code 2: 34 species (13 new)

Code 3: 12 species (2 new)

Code 4: 3 species

Code 5: 2 species

Plenty of code 1 species were recorded this month, most of them typical April migrants with several warbler species, a few shorebirds, all of the swallows (other than Purple Martin), and some sparrows

Black-throated Green Warbler

Field Sparrow

As for the code 2 species, Lapland Longspur was a highlight, as well as a couple of the more uncommon shorebirds such as Wilson's Snipe and Least Sandpiper, as well as a Bonaparte's Gulls and a Caspian Tern. Some nice birds! 

Lapland Longspur

Code 3 additions were comprised of two species: American Bittern and Eastern Whip-poor-will. The bittern was a bit of a relief, it was in the same spot I had one in 2018 and 2020. Unlike last year however, it only seemed to stick around for a day—or its just good at hiding! The whip-poor-will was another great addition, a new Middlesex bird for me. 

Eastern Whip-poor-will

Well, that's all she wrote for April. Time for the most exciting and most anticipated month of the year— May! Should be plenty of year birds to come. I'm having a lot of fun birding around the county, and that's why I'm doing this! 

It is Slowly Starting...

The last few days have seen us starting to get some of our most anticipated spring migrants in Southern Ontario. I have gotten out as often as I can, and as the weather allows.

Up until yesterday, first of year (FOY) birds were becoming hard to come by. One bird I finally was able to cross paths with was a Rusty Blackbird in my neighbourhood. They definitely seem to be much more uncommon in the spring as opposed to the fall, but I had half expected to come across several by that point! 

Stakes were looking high going into yesterday (Tuesday). A good south wind with very limited to no precipitation overnight—it was shaping up to be a good looking day!

My game plan for the morning was to walk around Fanshawe CA, which is what I did for five hours. Ultimately, it seemed that all the birds that showed up on the radar were White-throated Sparrows, Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Yellow-rumped Warblers! I only managed to see two FOYs: Purple Finch (my first since November) and a Chimney Swift. I managed to rack up 69 species at Fanshawe—I just couldn't find a 70th! Find the morning's eBird checklist here.

Broad-winged Hawk

Today, my original plan was to go to the Strathroy Sewage Lagoons first thing in the morning, as I had hoped the forecasted thunderstorms would push down some good shorebirds. When I woke up, however, I found that there was no rain in the immediate forecast! Since I had limited time, I just opted to go birding in the neighbourhood.

It was fairly slow, but I can't complain too much considering it is April 28th! By any means, it seemed clear that today had more potential than the day prior! My first stop was Northbrook Park.

I flushed a Wilson's Snipe in the wetland, a first for this location. I was unable to turn up any rails. Virginia Rails had been present here for over a month last spring, but the habitat had been changed dramatically since last year due to phragmites management. 

I made my way through the ravine, and came across a few warblers, most notably my first Black-and-white Warbler and Black-throated Green Warbler of the year.

Black-throated Green Warbler

Long-spurred Violet (Viola rostrata) is starting to flower.

Next up I went up to the Uplands North Wetland, always a good stop. My most notable bird was a Baltimore Oriole, which was of course a first for this year. There were also a couple Green Herons flying around, and some Common Loons and Double-crested Cormorants were migrating overhead.

As I was leaving the wetland and walking back home, I saw that I had a text from Reuven Martin. He had found an Eastern Whip-poor-will (a would be county bird for me) in Kilally Meadows ESA. It was 8:30. I had class at 9:00. 

I weighed my options, and decided that it would have to wait, so I told Reuven I would pop out after class. He told me that it was being mobbed by robins, and might not stick around. I reconsidered my choices. I had to go. So at 8:35, I was pulling out of my driveway.

I arrived at Kilally at 8:42, and found that I had gone to the wrong access point, which added another half kilometer of unnecessary running. By the time I had found the right spot and met up with Reuven it was 8:45. 

Reuven took me to the spot and pointed it out. Good thing he did, I probably would have had one heck of a time trying to find it otherwise! I snapped a few photos.

It was now 8:50. 

I pulled back into my driveway at 8:59, and managed to sprint up stairs in time to log into class at 9am. Not a minute to spare. 

It is a good thing I took the chance, because it seemingly disappeared later that morning! 

After class, there was rain in the forecast, so I opted to go to the Strathroy lagoons. Unfortunately, the rain was short lived, and it cleared up pretty fast :(  No rare shorebirds today.

I still had an okay shorebird count, with around 25 Pectorals, both yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpipers, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpipers, and a slightly early Least Sandpiper (although not too unexpected). 

Pectoral Sandpipers

There were several warblers along the edges of the cells as well, the best being a Northern Parula. The first time I have seen this species in April.

I also found my first Rose-breasted Grosbeak of the year.

I had a pretty good species count at the lagoons, which included several species of ducks, a Caspian Tern, and both the rails: Virginia Rails and Sora. 

It was a splendid day of late April birding, and I ended up with 80 species, not too shabby since I wasn't trying for a high species count. Looking forward to the days ahead (although I don't think we'll see a ton of movement until next week)! 

Kilally Meadows Birding (May 19, 2020)

Its cold and snowy outside, so time to reminisce about more colourful times... 

I never got around to blogging about it apparently, but last spring (May 19, 2020), I had one of my best birding days in the city of London. I birded the Kilally Meadows ESA in North London, with hopes of coming across one of the reported Golden-winged Warblers. As it would turn out, I saw everything but! 

I arrived at the park shortly before 6:30am. After locking up my bike, I began taking in the sights and sounds of spring. 

The warblers stole the show of course. I ended up with 20 species, a total that is comparable to Rondeau or Point Pelee! Conditions overnight had resulted in large numbers of birds, and I easily had close to 400 individuals. I tried to remain conservative in my counting, so I undoubtfully missed a few! The most numerous species were Yellow Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Blackburnian Warbler, and Chestnut-sided Warbler.

Canada Warbler

Northern Parula

Magnolia Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Bay-breasted Warbler

Thrushes made a decent showing. A few Veery and Swainson's, as well as four Gray-cheeked.

Veery

Swainson's Thrush

Gray-cheeked Thrush

I didn't have a ton of flycatchers, but my first Olive-sided Flycatcher of the year was nice to see.

Eastern Phoebe

There was an abundance of Carolina Wrens, as there were plenty of fledged young. I came up with 17 individuals.

Many Rose-breasted Grosbeaks were around, with some beginning to build nests

In total, I spent nearly 6 hours birding, and tallied 76 species. Although just a few days prior I had recorded 80 species in the Rondeau campground in about an hour's time, I think that my total is awfully good for the location! You can see the eBird checklist here.

Only a few more months!

2020: A Neighbourhood Year in Review

As much as I love to bird in areas further afield, my neighbourhood is where I do the bulk of my birding. While this is mostly because of its convenience, the birding isn't actually half bad. At the beginning of 2020 I had pretty much zero intention of doing much birding. Sure, I would do some spring birding in my usual haunts like Rondeau and Point Pelee (which as we all know, wasn't to be!), but I wanted to focus mostly on field botany, a hobby that was quickly growing on me! 

After my birding trip to Cochrane at the start of March Break, and the start of the pandemic, I found myself stuck at home without much to do except look for birds. Having such a successful northern trip definitely helped "rekindle" my excitement for birding just enough to make me muster up the energy to go outside (which admittedly, didn't happen sometimes for days on end!). Other than a few trips a bit further afield (COVID aware of course), I pretty much spent the entirety of spring migration in my neighbourhood! I typically don't do much birding during the summer (too many plants and insects to see!), but by the time the first fall migrants started to arrive, it was time again for almost daily pilgrimages out to my neighbourhood. Nearer to the end of fall, I was spending most of my free mornings out at Fanshawe CA, but I still got out every once in a while. My grand total for for my neighborhood in 2020 was 164 species out of the 179 species I have seen all time. I know of at least a few other species seen by others that I missed. Hopefully this year I can find some of those species!

I'll walk through some highlights in chronological order.

Even before the start of the pandemic and I started to bird more, something I look forward to each spring is the arrival of the blackbirds. They arrived pretty much on time on February 24th. Soon after, I recorded my first Turkey Vulture and American Woodcock on March 7th. Also that same day, March 7th, I was elated to find my first ever Eastern Screech-Owl for my neighbourhood list, a species I had been hoping to come across for awhile. It was my first "patch bird" of the year! I found another Screech-owl later in a different woodlot.

Throughout the end of March and into early April I continued to go out to my patch with some regularity. I saw several notable species including American Wigeon (March 21), Sandhill Cranes (March 26), Eastern Phoebe (March 26, a bit early), and Blue-winged Teal (April 6). April 18th was a big day, and perhaps the turning point for my patch birding in 2020. I was super happy to find my first Lesser Scaup for my neighborhood list at one of the local ponds. That same day, I managed to turn up a Virginia Rail, which would soon turn into two Virginia Rails. These rails were fairly cooperative and reliable, and remained in this wetland into mid May.

Lesser Scaup

On April 19th, I did my first yard watch of the year. I would complete several more of these stationary counts in the early mornings in my yard over the next few weeks. I saw my first Common Loons and cormorants of the year. The next day, I did another yard watch, and came up with my first Broad-winged Hawks of the year.

Common Loon

On April 24, I got a message that there was an American Bittern in a local wetland, the same place I had found one in 2018. I went over and saw it. I saw this elusive bird several more times into the beginning of May. 

April 25th was a pretty good day for a yard watch. I saw my first Eastern Meadowlark for my patch list, which landed in a tree for a moment. It was also my first big loon day of the year, with 124 recorded.

The first of year birds kept coming throughout the end of April, with highlights being Fox Sparrow, Wood Thrush, Eastern Towhee, Blue-headed Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Black-throated Green Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Brown Thrasher, and my first Great Black-backed Gulls for my neighbourhood, which flew over my yard on April 28th. April 28th also marked the first day of my daily early morning (starting before sunrise) walks of the spring, which I continued for the better part of three weeks. I certainly got my exercise in with these walks, and I estimated I walked a total of 10-15km every morning!

Fox Sparrow

Finally it was May, but unseasonably cold weather was really putting a damper on the arrival of spring migrants. I had a high count of migrating loons with 299 on May 5. We got a thin trickle of birds, including Sora (May 2), Great Egret, Savannah Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, Baltimore Oriole, Ovenbird, and Palm Warbler (all May 3, the first "good" day), and Solitary Sandpiper (May 6). On May 9th, the global eBird big day, we got snow! It wasn't until May 10th I got my first Blackburnian Warbler and Least Flycatcher. May 12th brought Lesser Yellowlegs.

Palm Warbler

Lincoln's Sparrow

Then, on May 14th, the weather changed, and the floodgates opened. Warblers! Thrushes! WARBLERS! I found my first  Yellow-throated Vireo and Scarlet Tanager for my neighbourhood list. The vireo in particular was quite awesome, as it completed my set of all the regularly occurring vireos in Ontario for my patch. In the evening, I found a Gambel's White-crowned Sparrow in my yard, a somewhat rare subspecies in this area of Ontario. I had made it my goal to find one that spring!

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Yellow-throated Vireo

Gambel's White-crowned Sparrow

I spent May 15th in Rondeau, the first day it was open to the public after being closed all spring. Although apparently it was a great day for birds in London, I am glad I spent it here!

I didn't seem to go out in the patch on May 16th, I assume it was because of rain. I remember hearing about the Kirtland's Warblers that had been found at Rondeau that day, but being quit bummed as I wouldn't be able to go down to see them! 

When my alarm went off on May 17th, I was hoping it was raining outside so I would have an excuse to go back to bed. I looked out my window, and found it dry. I debated about going back to bed anyways, but I reasoned that if I didn't go out, I wouldn't find anything. I was outside by 5:30am to begin my 10 minute walk to the place I started in the morning. I thought of all the rarities I could see, including Kirtland's Warbler, which was on my mind after the ones in Rondeau the day prior. When I arrived to the park, I began to regret my decision to go outside, as there were basically no birds. I had seen one warbler. As I was walking along, I heard a chip note, and saw a warbler at the top of a tree. I raised my binoculars and my jaw hit the ground. Now, I can't repeat here exactly what came out of my mouth, but bottom line, not only was it a patch bird, but my full out lifer Kirtland's Warbler. My observation lasted for no more than two minutes, and the bird wasn't very cooperative, but it was undoubtedly the highlight of my year.

Kirtland's Warbler

Oh, and I saw my first Cliff Swallows and Eastern Kingbird of the year that day too, but they are but a footnote...

That day was the last of my almost daily morning walks. I was feeling quite tired, and my other interests like bugs and plants were starting to get the best of me! I added six more species to my neighbourhood year list over the rest of May, bringing my total up to 124 species.

The summer months are often quiet, but I added a few more species here and there. My biggest highlight of the summer was a pair of Black Vultures on June 6th, a new neighborhood and Middlesex bird for me. I was out looking for dragonflies, so I didn't have a good camera lens or even my binoculars! Thankfully, I managed to get some record photos that managed to confirm the identification. 

Black Vultures

July came around, and with it some of the first southbound shorebirds. I was pretty excited to find that I had good shorebird habitat this year, however this excitement was short-lived, and with a period of heavy rain, it all flooded and was useless by early August, before the bulk of the "good" shorebirds would come through. I never had anything crazy, but Least Sandpiper and Lesser Yellowlegs were highlights.

Also during July, while out counting dragonflies, I found my first Marsh Wrens for the neighbourhood. 

At the end of August, I began once again to make near daily visits out to one of my favourite migrant traps. In short order I added Olive-sided Flycatcher, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and several warblers to my year list. I added one new patch bird, Black-billed Cuckoo. Purple Finches began to move through, a sign of things to come.

Olive-sided Flycatcher

I did a couple hawk watches in early September, with my best day topping 600 Broad-winged Hawks.

By late September, many of the neotropical passerines had passed through. I found some Wilson's Snipes, a species that I hadn't seen for a couple years in the neighborhood. After being strangely absent for awhile, the Green-winged Teals finally showed up.

Wilson's Snipe

Late September gave way to early October, and with that, Winter Wrens, American Pipits, and more ducks showed up. Pine Siskins arrived, and I finally saw some Greater Yellowlegs. Later on in the month, I did a lot of hawk watching, and scored a Red-shouldered Hawk. I never could get a Golden Eagle though!

Northern Pintail and Green-winged Teal

Early November came around. A highlight in the first few days was a Vesper Sparrow, a new neighbourhood bird. Number 160 for the year was a Common Redpoll on the same day, the first of many. By mid November, we were getting crossbills, and I had both Red Crossbill and White-winged Crossbill fly over my yard. I never could connect with an Evening Grosbeak, although someone else did spot some!

My last two new birds of the year came just a few days apart, Snow Bunting (November 16) and Rough-legged Hawk (November 23). Although I did go out some more here and there over the next month, the quiet of winter had settled in.

So there you have it, a short(ish) recap of some of the highlights of my year in my neighbourhood. I certainly wrote a lot (I have been plugging away at writing this post for three days!), but there was so much more I could have included! For an area that is mostly subdivision with only a few greenspaces, I think I did pretty good! Just goes to show what can be seen once you look for it!