Rondeau Big Day

Yesterday I conducted a "big day of sorts" in the Rondeau birding circle. It wasn't a true big day in the sense I was out for 24 hours, so perhaps I better call it a "big 12 hours". I ended up with 131 species in the circle, which surpassed my goal of "let's see if we can hit 100". Of course, after I got home and checked eBird I saw just how many things I missed. Perhaps the worst was driving right past Keith McLean in the evening, which had six species of shorebird species I "needed", but hey, that's birding!

I started around 7:30, making a quick stop into Keith McLean. A few birds kicking around, but as it turned out nothing there was "crucial" for the final tally. Notable were my first Yellow Warblers, Marsh Wrens, Warbling Vireo, and Bobolink of the year. There was a Sora way the heck out.

Sora

Upon arriving at the park, I first walked around the campground. Nothing too unusual, but there was an Eastern Wood-Pewee. perhaps a tad early. There was also an odd looking swift, which I determined to be a Chimney Swift. Seemed a lot larger and stronger flying than any one I've seen before.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Solitary Sandpiper being solitary

Black-throated Green Warbler

Veery

Afterward, it was over to the maintenance loop. But not before getting a look at a "lifer" of sorts, a Brewster's Warbler. Brewster's Warblers aren't their own species, but rather a hybrid between Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warblers. There is another "version" of the hybrid, the Lawernce's Warbler, that was seen on this day in Rondeau, but I didn't see it.

Maintenance loop and Pony Barn ended up being uncharacteristically quiet. Just a few birds here and there. And by "few" I mean species, hundreds of White-throated Sparrows!

Hermit Thrush

Ovenbird

After seeing a Black-billed Cuckoo in the campground (hi Josh), I went over to check the bay. A couple of new species for the day.

Black-billed Cuckoo

Forster's Tern 

Northern Waterthrush

Black-and-white Warbler

I then decided to to the "first little bit" of the Marsh Trail, which for those who don't know is seven kilometers in length one way. The "first little bit" soon morphed into "just a tad bit further" which eventually ended up with "oh hey, I reached the end". I managed to do the whole 14 kilometers in about four hours, three hours to walk out, and an hour to get back, so I like to think I made pretty good time. This was my first time going further than the old observation tower (which is now gone), and I must say, it was quite the nice trail.

Red-headed Woodpecker

There were hundreds of birds along the trail, especially along the second half. The majority were sparrows, comprised of largely White-throated. White-crowned, Song, and Swamp. Other included many Marsh Wrens, which replaced the House Wrens once I reached the more open marsh section of the trail. There quite a few warblers as well, such as Palm, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-rumped, and Yellow, working their way north. A couple individuals of American Redstart, Black-throated Blue, Blackburnian, and Orange-crowned were seen here and there as well. There was a Wood Thrush along the open marsh section, which seemed like an odd place for one.

American Redstart

Palm Warbler

There were plenty of marsh birds, including at least 23 Soras, 6 Virginia Rails, and 7 American Bitterns. The rails even ran across the path every once in a while. There were a number of Sandhill Cranes in the marsh as well.

American Bittern 

Sandhill Crane

Plenty of ducks, and a couple families of Canada Geese.

Near the end of my return trip, I was surprised to find an American Tree Sparrow. It is likely to be the last one I see this season, unless one pops up in the Bruce Penisula (like one did last year, not that'd you'd know because I procrastinated big time, and ended up never writing a post on that trip!)

Upon arriving back to the car, my dad enlightened me to the fact he had seen a Hooded Warbler fly right through the parking lot! Arrgh, another miss on this day (I should have done Tulip tree trail!)

The White-winged Dove was back to its old shenanigans, and I missed it, even after two attempts. At least I scored Red-breasted Nuthatch, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, and Pine Siskin at the VC feeders!

I did a quick walk of Bennett, but nothing of note there. Next up was Spicebush Trail. Not too, too much action, but Blue-winged Warbler and Least Bittern were gotten in quick succession.

Blue-winged Warbler

One last quick loop of Maintenance revealed Tufted Titmouse, as well as a flyby Cooper's Hawk. Just before leaving, I scoped out the bay and secured Pied-billed Grebe (I was getting worried!) and Ring-necked Duck. 121(.5) species just in the park, not too shabby!

I picked up American Kestrel and Savannah Sparrow on the way to the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons. My first kestrel for Chatham-Kent actually!

The lagoons were quite birdy. I didn't stay too long, but managed to see four new ones for the day; Bank Swallow, Eastern Meadowlark, Northern Shoveler, and Redhead. I had surpassed my personal best for a big day. and the final push to 130 was on!

Bobolink

McGeachy pond in Erieau did not produce any more shorebirds (I only saw 4 species in the circle that day, eek1!), but did give me a Great Egret. #129, one more!

There were no birds on the pier when we arrived. Uh oh. I turned my attention to the distant beaches of Rondeau, and there in all its glory, was a Great Black-backed Gull. Twenty of them actually.

Just as I thought my day was over, I heard it. Buzz-buzz-buzz-buzz. Clay-colored Sparrow! #131!

It was a pretty good day, despite the birds I missed. And next weekend I get to do it all over again in Point Pelee!

Point Pelee on Sunday

This past Sunday I travelled down to Point Pelee to try for the 150 species challenge. To do so, I would have to find 43 new species, but I was up for it.

The day started around 5:25 am, when we arrived in the park. Just driving along the road produced Swainson's Thrush, which was 108.

I chose to go to the tip first thing, hoping that I would maybe catch a "fallout". It was a mistake, as there was no tip, and the only way to really go anywhere past the washout was by hopping over a couple rocks and logs to stand on a small patch of sand.

I added a few new birds to the list, including Wilson's Warbler, Indigo Bunting, Surf Scoter, Willow Flycatcher, and, surprisingly, Rock Pigeon.

Others observed include orioles, mergansers, Northern Parula, Chestnut-sided Warblers, and a Blue-winged Warbler.

Tilden's was next. It was pretty slow, but we still turned up a few birds. FOY Magnolia Warblers were nice, as were some great looks at Wilson's Warbler, Canada Warbler, and a Yellow Warbler on a nest. A Great-crested Flycatcher was my first visual of the year.

Magnolia Warbler

Wilson's Warbler

By this point it was raining steadily, so we decided to get out of the park and explore the areas to the north, stopping by the Marsh Boardwalk first. The target in the marsh were the Black Terns, which I did end up seeing and getting some great photos of.

We headed through the Onion Fields, where we picked up a Ring-necked Pheasant.

Heading into Hillman, the rain was pretty bad, and by this point I had given up on keeping my equipment dry.

The shorebird cell was productive with a number of Least Sandpipers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Semipalmated Plovers, Ruddy Turnstones, Lesser Yellowlegs and Whimbrel.

Whimbrel

Woodland birds included Alder Flycatcher, Willow Flycatcher, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, and Chestnut-sided Warbler.

Chestnut-sided Warbler

After Hillman, we went to the Wheatley harbour. Here we found numerous shorebirds such as Ruddy Turnstones, Sanderlings, Least Sandpipers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, and Dunlin.

Dunlin

Least Sandpiper

Sanderling

Ruddy Turnstone

There were a couple gulls and terns too.

Herring Gull

By the time we headed back into the park, it had stopped raining. We decided to check out Woodland Nature Trail next. Here we were greeted by birds like Gray-cheeked and Swainson's Thrushes.

Swainson's Thrush

Also seen was a single male Prothonotary Warbler.

A hike down Redbud produced a FOY Monarch Butterfly.

Many other birds were seen, including a Black-billed Cuckoo that was calling somewhere off to the side of the trail. Baltimore Orioles were abundant.

I decided to walk to Sparrow Field, and as soon as I got there, a small brown bird flew up from the brush out into the open on a branch. Here is what I saw:

My heart was pumping, I had just seen a Henslow's Sparrow, and had gotten some great photos to boot. I high-tailed it back to the VC to alert everyone of my find. It wasn't until I was half way there that I finally clued in...

It was a female Bobolink. Still a decent bird that many birders miss while down in Pelee, but it's not a Henslow's Sparrow.

There were a couple nice flowers along the pathways.

Wild Columbine

Mayapple

Cactus Field didn't produce the Eastern Bluebirds I was hoping for, but we did get some great looks at some Indigo Buntings and nesting Yellow Warblers.

Since the sun had come out, I wanted to have another go at photographing the Black Terns. Unfortunately, there were just too many tourists, and the Marsh Boardwalk was very busy, so the terns weren't coming to close. I did get a couple shots that I'm happy with.

The last stop of the day was Hillman Marsh. It was much drier now, so scoping out the shorebird cell was a bit more enjoyable than earlier. It's a good thing that I took the time to scope, because I soon found two White-rumped Sandpipers. It seems to be a good year for them. I attempted photos, but I'm not sure how they turned out. I'm thinking this is one of the WRSA, but I could very well be one of the SESA.

There were a few White-tailed Deer hanging around.

I headed out toward the marsh, and began to listen for rails and herons. It wasn't long before I found about five or so Marsh Wrens.

Soon, I saw a Least Bittern, which was a lifer, flying over the cattails, then started calling. Not long after that another one came in and perched where is was visible.

An immature Black-crowned Night-heron joined in too.

It wasn't long before an American Bittern was found as well. A great ending to a great day.


While I never did reach 150 species (I still had 9 species to go), I surprisingly did better species wise this trip than last trip, as I finished with 108 species. Considering the conditions, and that almost all of my 141 species were "self found" I'm proud of my accomplishment.

I'll be heading up to the Bruce Saturday evening for the night, so hopefully I can at least get my month list up to 150 species. More on that, and part two of my Pelee Big Day, later.

Good birding!