Rondeau in the Morning, Essex Later On

First things first...I missed the White-winged Dove.

Okay, now that that's out of the way....

Today my dad and I checked out a few locations in southern Ontario, starting with Rondeau Provincial Park. The day started with American Robins, American Woodcocks, and a Fowler's Toad on the road.

Continuing along Rondeau Rd., we added Wood Thrush, chickadee, and White-throated Sparrow to our list. Mammals include White-tailed Deer, Raccoon, and Virginia Opossum.

South Point Trail was one of the best stops of the day. Pine Warblers were singing first thing, and soon I found a Yellow-rumped Warbler. FOY Common Yellowthroat as well.

There were some birds braving the insane east winds and waves. I wouldn't doubt a few of the swallows perished today in the harsh conditions of Lake Erie.

My first "good" warbler of the day was a singing Blue-winged Warbler. After following it in the brush for a while, I got some photos that I'm happy with.

There were a decent amount of Eastern Towhees around today.

I saw three Red-headed Woodpeckers today. This one came in when I was looking at the Blue-winged Warbler.

There were a few Blue-headed Vireos around. I heard a White-eyed a bit later.

There was a decent movement of Common Loons today, and I saw close to 40.

On the way back, a fellow birder found a Yellow-breasted Chat, which was a lifer. Unfortunately, just as I was to take a picture, auto-focus decided it liked the leaf in front of the chat better than the bird. What I was left with was a yellow blob (if you stare at it long enough you can kinda see a YB Chat).

The VC feeders are always a great place to check out, and today it was quite busy.

Blue Jay

Tufted Titmouse

Eastern Towhee

Chipping Sparrow

Carolina Wren

White-crowned Sparrow

There were a couple of birds near the start of the Tulip Tree Trail, but other than a FOY Gray Catbird, it was a very quiet walk.

Baltimore Oriole

Black-throated Green Warbler

Spicebush Trail was also fairly quiet, however there were some birds to be seen, including a pair of Wood Ducks, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, White-throated Sparrows, and a Black-and-white Warbler

Black-and-white Warbler

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Dutchman's Breeches was a plant that I've always wanted to see...I saw it.

Maintenance loop was dead except for the first Eastern Phoebe of the trip.

The Pony Barn and Log Pond revealed my first Yellow Warbler of the trip, some House Wrens, and a pair of Gray Catbirds.

Yellow Warbler

Gray Catbird

Finally, we checked out the docks, where we found some FOY birds like Purple Martin, Bonaparte's Gull, Forster's Tern, and Palm Warbler.

Purple Martin

Red-breasted Merganser

Forster's Terns and Bonaparte's Gull

Palm Warbler

Forster's Tern and Bonie

After checking ONTBIRDS from Tim Hortons, we decided to forgo Blenheim Sewage Lagoons and make a beeline for Hillman.

When we got there, the American Avocets and godwits were nowhere to be found, but a nice group of 50+ Willets and a Stilt Sandpiper were a nice consolation prize.

Willets

Stilt Sandpiper...uncommon spring migrant

Willets are becoming increasingly common in Ontario, and I'm sure it won't be long before they regularly breed here.

There were some other birds at Hillman too, including a pair of Trumpeter Swans.

Dunlin

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Caspian Tern and Bonaparte's Gulls

Bonaparte's Gulls

For the final stop of the day, we went to Tilbury Sewage Lagoons in pursuit of the Black-necked Stilt, which is a very good bird for Ontario, and their numbers are increasing.

With the help of another birder, I was able to find the stilt soon after arriving. What a beaut!

The final bird of the day was this American Kestrel with a mouse.

It was a pretty good day, considering the conditions. I can't wait to get out again!

Rondeau Christmas Bird Count (CBC) 2016

Yesterday (December 18), my dad and I left London at 5:00 am for the 1 hour 45 minute journey to Rondeau Provincial. Why? For the 2016 Rondeau/Blenheim Christmas Bird Count. I assisted Blake Mann (aka the 'Burg Birder) on his route south of the VC.

Our General Area

We arrived too late to get any owls, but we got on the South Point Trail by twenty to eight.

Quinten (Me) and Blake on the SPT
Photo by Dad

Quickly we picked up Juncos, Tree Sparrow, American Pipits, Downy Woodpeckers, a Lapland Longspur, and a Bald Eagle. Hermit Thrush and the typical winter woodland birds soon followed.

Downy Woodpecker

One of Five Hermit Thrushes 

The lake was quite busy and we quickly found Common Goldeneye, Red-breasted Mergansers, Scoters (of the Surf and White-winged variety), gulls, Common Loon and a highlight of the day...Red-throated Loon that I found off the South Point Trail. The loon is an awesome count bird and it was a lifer.

RT Loon

A Rough-legged Hawk flew in off the lake.

A large flock of Tundra Swans flew by early on as well.

This seems to be a good year for Tufted Titmice throughout the area. Blake and I had 5 or 6 in our area alone. First ones I've seen all year.

No White-winged Dove :-(

American Pipits seemed to be everywhere. I saw one flying up to get insects from the siding of cottages.

One bird seemed to be very lost and confused. He came within a few meters of Blake and I on Lakeshore Rd. The bird was there a couple hours later as well.

We added a few species at the VC feeders.

Blue Jay

Red-winged Blackbird

Goldfinches

Tree Sparrow

The Eastern Towhee continues.

Nothing of note along Harrison Trail other than Winter Wren and a few Robins.

Bald Eagles were seen all day.

Lunch at the VC was highlighted by Fox Sparrows, the Towhee, and Chipmunks.

After lunch we went to the Campground to see what we could find. Blake seems to have a knack for finding Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. He found two, and my dad found a Red-tailed Hawk. I found a starling :-)

We said good bye to Blake and went our separate ways. He continued to bird in the park (and found woodcocks and bluebirds), and I went west to Blenheim Sewage Lagoons and Erieau.

Not too much is still at the lagoons. Lifer Short-eared Owl was definitely the best bird.

Crows are everywhere, but that's normal since we're in Chatham-Kent.

Muskrats were swimming around in the only cell open...the back bubbler.

Although eBird flags them as rare, Pipits were still around in small numbers.

Erieau was next.

Greater Scaup

There was a surprising numbers of Black Ducks and Mallards.

Still a couple Ruddy Ducks hanging in.

Pied-billed and Horned Grebes were swimming in the channel.

I was told this was a sunken lake freighter. What do you think?

I found it Allen :-)

Rail Trail was last. Only birds of note there were Marsh Wren and a flock of 65 Sandhill Cranes.

It was a great day to be out, and between Blake and I we saw around 57 species on our route. The whole CBC tallied 111 species, down from some years, but still good considering the recent cold snap which caused many of the birds to leave or perish. You can check out Blake's post on the CBC for more information.

Rondeau's eBird Checklistcan be viewed here.

I've got to get down to Rondeau more often....