Middlesex Biggish Year—What Happened???

As some readers may recall, in January 2021 I decided to go for a laid back "biggish" year in Middlesex County. I wasn't going for any records, but wanted to see how well I could do if I actually put in some effort. For the first six months of the year I was really cooking...but then, I just faded out of Middlesex birding existence. 

For all intents and purposes, I still think I did a biggish something, just that something was a "Biggish Half-Year". I got a job in Algonquin Park starting in July, and with incredible luck (and perhaps a little bit of hard work), I have managed to keep employment here throughout the remainder of 2021, and into the new year. As such, no new Middlesex year birds, save for Marsh Wren and Baird's Sandpiper when I visited home over Labour Day weekend. 

My grand total for the year was 228 species, 226 of which I saw by June, which certainly exceeded my expectations. Remember those codes from way back when? Here is the breakdown. 

Code 1: 129 species

Code 2: 61 species

Code 3: 24 species (1 new)

Code 4: 9 species (1 new)

Code 5: 4 species

Which adds up to 227, so I missed adding something in there, but it probably isn't crucial, so meh, close enough. Its a "biggish" year, I don't need to put in THAT much effort figuring it out. 

Basically I saw all the code 1 species (yay me), all but two of the code 2 species, all but 10 of the code 3s and then didn't see a bunch of the others, as expected.

There were many highlights from the year, some of which I will detail below:

It was a great start of the year with winter finches. Quite funny actually, crossbills had pretty much all left by the end of November, and then bam, on January 1st I found over 40 White-winged Crossbills. Pine Grosbeak ended up being the only winter finch to evade me. 

Common Redpoll

Red Crossbill

First big rarity of the year was a Harlequin Duck that we had to do some sleuthing to find out the most likely location that is was being seen at. Seems I picked the right spot, and managed to refind it!

First (and I think only) OBRC bird of the year was a Spotted Towhee coming to a feeder in North London. My first lifer of the year as well. 

A Trumpeter Swan down along the river was another great pick up. I only encountered one other pair during the year.

Short-eared Owls, always a highlight. This photo is actually from Lambton County, but I could see them from Middlesex...

I saw two Snow Geese in 2021, and this is one of them. It was not at the original reported location in Strathroy when I went, but I found it on a hunch in a nearby field. 

Golden Eagles didn't give me nearly as much trouble in 2021 as they did in 2020. This is one from Newbury, where they overwinter.

Some Northern Shrike action is always appreciated. 

Arguably the "rarest" bird I found this year, a "Cassiar" Dark-eyed Junco from North London in March. I just didn't seem to luck out with any good rarities this spring.

Common Ravens are a formally rare species in Middlesex, but we now have a few breeding pairs. This pair occupied the site in 2020, and then again in 2021. 

I found several Vesper Sparrows throughout the course of the spring. A species I had honestly only encountered a handful of times before.

A good sized flock of 30+ Lapland Longspurs in April was a highlight. 

This is one of two Eastern Whip-poor-wills that I saw this year. 

A Common Gallinule took up residence at the Strathroy Sewage Lagoons for a couple of weeks, proving that I had not needed to abandon my schoolwork and drive over there as fast as possible. 

Evening Grosbeak!!! Very few were reported this year in the county, after the previous fall's major flight. I was lucky enough to come across a grand total of three.

A rarity that was enjoyed by many was a Blue Grosbeak in Kilally Meadows in North London back in May. It was extremely elusive, and despite me birding there every day for most of May, I only saw it twice. Easily could have been "my" bird, as I had walked right by where it was found several times that same day! 

We enjoyed a variety of shorebirds in Middlesex this spring, including dowitchers, Ruddy Turnstone, White-rumped Sandpiper, and two phalaropes. My only Black-bellied Plover of the entire year anywhere in Ontario was a single bird that flew in at dusk at the Dingman Wetland in mid May.

Short-billed Dowitcher

Semipalmated Plover...there was a surplus of these in May

Wilson's Phalarope

Short-billed Dowitcher and Lesser Yellowlegs

Least Sandpiper

Dunlin

Short-billed Dowitcher

Wilson's and Red-necked Phalarope

What I would consider my best find of May was an Acadian Flycatcher at Kilally Meadows, my spring birding patch. I saw a number of nice birds here this spring, including Golden-winged Warbler, Red-headed Woodpecker, and a couple of Yellow-bellied Flycatchers.

My last year bird before leaving in July was this Prothonotary Warbler that was only around for a day in South London. I had spent some time in Skunk's Misery at the end of May trying to find some, encountering Cerulean Warbler and Acadian Flycatcher along the way, but no luck.

A big highlight of the year was a Western Meadowlark near Glencoe. I first saw it on May 8th, but my photos from late June turned out much better...

Not pictured are many other nice species such as Dickcissel, Northern Mockingbird, Forster's Tern, American Bittern and Upland Sandpiper.

Now for some honourable misses...

Orange-crowned Warbler - this is a tricky species in the spring (although usually I see at least one), so I wasn't really worried since they are a dime a dozen in the fall...but then I just never came back in the fall.

Gray-cheeked Thrush - I don't really have a good excuse for this one. I am very surprised I didn't see any in May (though as I recall, Catharus thrushes were actually fairly difficult to come by). I think this is just one I was also counting on as being fairly easy in the fall, at least as a nocturnal migrant flight call.

Red-shouldered Hawk - this one is all about patience with a healthy dose of pure luck. I did do a few hawkwatches in the spring during a time they were supposed to migrate through, but no dice. Middlesex isn't a great place for hawkwatching, and I find that my yard seems to be as good a place as anywhere (both my Middlesex observations of this species come from there). There was a wintering one early in the year I didn't connect with, and of course, no fall for me!

Red-necked Grebe - not a huge miss actually, as I believe there was only one seen all year! I birded Fanshawe CA pretty heavily in April, but I couldn't find one. 

Cattle Egret - just adding this to say that I searched unsuccessfully for two different birds during my visits home in November

Now, other than those, I don't think that I really "missed" anything. Sure, there were lots of other rare shorebirds (Hudsonian Godwit), some geese (Ross's Geese, Greater White-fronted Geese), a Sedge Wren, and a saw-whet owl, but I wasn't around for those! It stings a bit, but nothing I can do.

So in conclusion, I am quite happy with my six month effort, and even happier that I wasn't able to complete the remaining four months of the year as initially planned. I probably would have surpassed 240, maybe even 250 species, had I been around for the entirety of 2021, but oh well. I had more fun finding a Black-legged Kittiwake on Lake Opeongo in the cold than waiting for a Gray-cheeked Thrush to call while sitting on my back deck in the cold.

Well. That's all folks. 

Middlesex Biggish Year: June Update

 June has just come to an end, and as such we have come to the approximate halfway point of my "Middlesex Biggish Year". I ended up seeing two new species for my year list, putting me at 226, which I think is pretty swell! This beats my total from last year, and becomes the second or third highest year list total in Middlesex history (recorded, anyways), and we're only 6 months in! The one bird I was kind of hoping to find this month was Marsh Wren, and I actually went out to the sewage lagoons on a few occasions to try and find the ones that were sporadically reported, but no luck. I will have to cross my fingers for the fall!

The breakdown:

Code 1: 129 species

Code 2: 60 species

Code 3: 23 species (1 new)

Code 4: 9 species (1 new)

Code 5: 4 species

On June 11th, I saw one of my most sought after breeding species for the year, a Prothonotary Warbler in southeast London. We thought that the habitat looked pretty good, but the next day, it was gone. Who knows how long it had been there before it was reported. 

My other new addition for the month was a code 4. On June 1st, the day right after I had wrote I was giving birding a break for a bit, I got an alert for a Common Tern in south London. I skedaddled right over there, and found that it was actually a Forster's Tern, which was soon joined by a second while I was there. Despite being a bit more expected, it was a new Middlesex species for me, so I was happy anyways! I'm up to three tern species this year in Middlesex, which is pretty nuts. Still time to make it four...or five. 

I'll more than likely not be in Middlesex much over the next couple of months, so I will take this up again in September! The only thing I can think of maybe missing (barring rarities) would be Baird's Sandpiper, just because of how unpredictable they are in the county to begin with. I guess time will tell! 

Early June Insects

Early June is always a great time of year to go out and look for bugs. I have gotten out on a few occasions to try and nail down some of my target species for this time of year. I have compiled some of the more notable sightings into this post.

Back on June 5th I went to Lambton Shores in search of some of the neat insects that call that place home. I didn't see too much of interest when I visited The Pinery, other than a Cyrano Darner and an Eastern Pine Elfin butterfly on a dock. Its not an insect, but these Northern Sunfish were just off the same dock! 

I visited the MNR parking lot and the Ipperwash Dunes and Swales in search of my main target species, Dusted Skipper. This is a very range restricted butterfly, and I believe that Lambton Shores may be the only place it is found in Ontario. It took a bit, but eventually I found some. 

I also ended up seeing another lifer butterfly in the form of a Common Roadside Skipper.

Several species of dragonflies were around as well.

Racket-tailed Emerald

Slaty Skimmer

Belted Whiteface

Lancet Clubtail

Beaverpond Baskettail

A couple of neat flies were seen too.

Bumble Bee Mimic Robber Fly

Golden-backed Snipe Fly

I next visited Fossil Road on the Ausable River, since it was more or less on my way home. I always enjoy stopping here, as it seems you never know what you will see!

I was mostly focusing on dragonflies, and came up with two species of clubtails, Midland and the rare Rapids Clubtail. I saw a couple Rapids about 4 kilometers up river last year.

Midland Clubtail

Rapids Clubtail

I also saw a Common Sootywing, a somewhat uncommon butterfly species.

A couple days later on June 7th I was back out to the Ausable River in search of a rare species of clubtail, Green-faced Clubtail. I worked the section of river near Rock Glen CA. It took a bit, but I finally managed to find a few Green-faced Clubtails, a new species for me!

There were a few males patrolling the river, and I caught a female later on.

One of my most notable sightings wasn't even of a live dragonfly. I spotted a dead Twin-spotted Spiketail caught up on some grass! This may be the first record of this species for the Ausable River, and perhaps Lambton County. On the 5th I had seen a spiketail sp. briefly while I was on Fossil Road, which is in Middlesex. If it was the same species, it would have constituted a new county record for Middlesex. Due to this individual's proximity to Middlesex, I can only assume they are present there too. 

After I was done at Rock Glen, I made another stop along Fossil Road. Completely different than just a couple days prior in that there were no clubtails flying around! I did however find an Eastern Red Damsel, a new one for my Middlesex list.

On June 10th I decided to check out some areas close to home for odonates. I figured it was about time for a visit to the Sifton Bog, so that was my first destination of the day. 

I was quite pleased to see that there were several Spatterdock Darners, which I first found here in 2019 (first Middlesex county record) out over the pond, indicative of a breeding population here. None came close enough for a swing with my net, other than this one when I only had my camera in my hand! At least I got a nice photo :)

There were many Painted Skimmers as well, including a couple pairs in copula and an oviposting female, also indicative of a breeding population. The only Painted Skimmer I had seen prior to this was also at Sifton Bog in 2019. Absolutely gorgeous dragonflies. 

My first "in hand" Carolina Saddlebags were seen as well. Another breeding species here.

There were a few damselflies of interest as well.

Azure Bluet

Boreal Bluet

Amber-winged Spreadwing

Boreal Bluet was a new Middlesex species for me.

I made a visit to Komoka Provincial Park next. Here I was in search of another potentially new species for my county ode list, Delta-spotted Spiketail. After a long and grueling hike, I eventually spotted one, but was only able to get off a quick photo. 

There were also quite a few of these cicadas around as well, Say's Cicada (Okanagana rimosa).

I made one last stop at a storm pond in North London, where I found an unexpected county lifer ode, Lancet Clubtail.

It was an enjoyable few days of tracking down insects! Not much else to do these days :-P