Yellow bellied Sapsuckers at Black Oak Heritage Park in Windsor

Saturday, I stopped by Ojibway Park hoping to see Yellow bellied Sapsuckers and eventually found some (3!) at Black Oak Heritage Park. Seeing this particular species during spring migration brings great joy. They are common enough that you will most likely see them yet rare enough that you might need to look for them or perhaps know their call.

I went to Point Pelee today with high hopes of seeing several new migrants but Pelee was a little quieter (bird wise) than I was expecting!

Forster's Terns and Common Loons up close were nice to see at Leamington Marina.  Rusty Blackbirds, Fox Sparrow and a Rick M sighting were Pelee highlights. I had my first of year Spring Azures which was exciting to see.

Good birding, botanizing and leping!
Dwayne

Late May Birding - Whimbrel at Hillman Marsh

 

The last week or two have been busy with work and life, so its been a while since my last posting. I've enjoyed watching a Robin's Nest outside my front window, and watching humingbirds visit my hummingbird feeder in my back yard. Occasionally while I'm outside, (perhaps BBQ'ing) I am sometimes blasted by the song of a chipping sparrow on my neighbor's roof!

Three new Peregrine Falcons at the bridge...

I've also looked for some local breeders at Ojibway Park but things seem to be a little late this year. I only saw (and heard) my first Indigo Bunting on Wednesday this week. The falcons at the bridge have nested again and have three fledglings. Always neat to stop by and see them. 

I was informed that there was a Black-headed Gull at Wheatley this week, so I tried on Thursday to go find it. I figured if I missed the target bird, I should find something interesting at the Hillman Shorebird Cell.

While driving into Wheatly from the 401, I drove past Two Creeks Conservation Area and noticed a Bluebird Perched on a wire. I'm still amazed by bluebirds. They are rare to me... I might only see them a few times in a year. (Note: I just noticed on the link to Two Creeks Conservation Area... they used one of my warbler photos without asking me! I recognize that Bay-Breasted Warbler!)

At Wheatley Marina, I arrived to find hundreds of gulls and shorebirds on the beach, and just as I was walking around a sand dune to get better looks, a woman with a dog flushed every single gull... I saw many black headed gulls, but did not convincingly see a Black-headed Gull.  I found myself confused looking at the various gulls. I was assuming the Black-headed Gull would be a breeding-plumaged male, with a dark-red bill and a crescent-shaped white eye-ring. No such luck, but I did get breathtaking looks at Ruddy Turnstones and breeding plumaged Semipalmated Sandpipers.
  

I figured I would try the Hillman Marsh Shorebird Cell to see if anything good was around, and to my amazement, there were 23 Whimbrel! I had just done a very brief count and quickly ontbirded my finding with a conservative count of 15 birds. Jeremy Bensette and Rick had just arrived as I was leaving, and they did a better study than I did. (I only had 20 minutes there). Another cool bird seen was a treetop flycatcher, probably a Willow or Alder Flycatcher. I found myself on that path to the shorebird viewing platform, hearing a raspy flycatcher call, but being unable to find the tree it was perched on. I must have spent a minute trying to find the bird, and just when I found it, I bolted! Alder Flycatcher would still be a lifer for me.

I just can't seem to get a good photo of Whimbrel!

DESIRED OFO & SUMMER TRIPS

I wanted to go to the Carden Alvar Trip this year, but I screwed up the dates!?!?! Reading the trip report by Jean Iron was painful, as they had three potential lifers (Golden-winged Warbler, Vesper and Grasshopper Sparrows)... but I guess I will try again for next year.  Even Ivana (my wife) felt bad ... She has encouraged me to go to Skunk's Misery OFO Trip this weekend. Perhaps seeing an Acadian Flycatcher will be a consolation. I also wanted to go to the Napanee Trip, but getting there is almost logistically impossible from Windsor if one is unable to take time off work.

Two other trips that I'm thinking about are a Sisters Oregon Woodpecker festival in mid June. This weekend features almost every Western Woodpecker (11 species), including Williamson's Sapsucker and Lewis's and White-headed Woodpeckers. One blogger had 70 species on a scouting tour of the area, 20 of which would be lifers.  ... I think I would die of happiness attending this festival. Another dream trip would be the Gulf-Coast States... Where Scissor-tailed Flycatchers are common summer breeders.

Good birding!
Dwayne

A local radio-tower field often has Bobolinks, Meadowlarks and Savannah Sparrows

Common Redpolls at Rondeau!

My first look at Common Redpolls!

Well, for the last three weeks, I've really made an effort to seek out Common Redpolls on my brief weekend birding outings... but I've had no luck!  Even the hawkwatcher reports would hint that flocks were easily seen during the afternoons, but when I visited the tower... Nothing! So today (Saturday), I woke up early and headed to Rondeau and while heading into the park, I noticed a large Birch tree with bird activity in it. I pulled over to the side of the road and amazingly... Redpolls!

A funny thing happened though, it was generally dark and cloudy and the sun came out as I was lifering these amazing birds, I found myself fumbling for gloves, and trying to get my camera to stop giving me an error message. A dog-walker then came by to ask me what I was looking at, and I told him they were Common Redpolls. He then proceeded to tell me about how he gets Cardinals and Deer in his back yard but I was like, OK, great meeting you... Have you ever been deep into a birding moment, then only to have it interupted by someone going on and on about Cardinals in their back yard?? Anyway, I realize everyone is at a different place in their birding so I politely finished the conversation, and went back to photographing these Arctic beauties, the clouds rolled back in. Actually a few Bald Eagles went overhead while this guy was talking to me!

Just a side note. Everyone knows Rondeau (along with Point Pelee and Long Point) are major migration stops along Lake Erie, but its been noted by various birders that the road leading into Rondeau from the mainland is a bit of migration funnel in itself! The *asterisks on the google map screenshot shows how narrow that part of the park is. It might only be as wide a 2 city blocks between the Bay and the Lake. This is where I found these flocks of Redpolls. There you have it, a migration funnel within a migration trap!


Before visiting the park, I attempted to visit Erieau and Blehneim SL. I didn't see much of note, but enjoyed the geography of this amazing area. At the end of this pier, a nice flock of Bonapartes Gulls were playing in the fierce westerly wind that was blowing. It was nice to get a nice close look of some Greater black-backed Gulls.

Greater black backed Gulls... Have pink legs!

Would have been nice to have a Little Gull at Erieau (Nov 2012)

From Rondeau, I figured I would take the long way home, and took Talbot Trail, a highway that travels from Leamington to Niagara Falls, but follows along the North Shore of Lake Erie. Very scenic, but I was just amazed at how many windmills they have installed and are in the process of installing. This image below is typical of the drive between Rondeau and Point Pelee. Hundreds of windmills. Just in this photo below, there are 12 windmills. I don't know what to think of windmills, I don't know much about them! Here is an interesting quote about how much power one windmill produces: "A single wind turbine (660 kW) in an average year will produce 2,000 MWh of electricity, enough power for over 250 PEI homes. Using wind to produce electricity rather than burning coal will leave 900,000 kilograms of coal in the ground and reduce 2,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases annually, the same positive impact as taking 417 cars off the road or planting 10,000 trees. Newer and larger wind turbines will result in an even greater positive impact. Source: Canadian Wind Energy Association" (Wind Energy in PEI).  New windmills are well over 1.3MW so one windmill now would probably power close to 500 homes! This article here states that farmland prices in Ontario have increased 46% in the last 4 years... Incredible!

The blue line in this image is a nice drive between Rondeau and Point Pelee

Twelve or more windmills in this almost random photo along the lake erie shoreline

I didn't mean to end this posting on the politics of Windmills and  Ontario's Energy mix... Its exciting to finally get a soul-satisfying look at this amazing Arctic Finch. Look at its tiny eyes and beak, adaptations for surviving in the Arctic cold. They also have a physiological adaptation that allows them to store seeds in their throat as an energy store to survive the cold. They also sometimes burrow into the snow to survive cold winter nights. Even on extremely cold nights, they can burrow under snow and be nice and warm at an insulated -4 (C).

I have some exams coming up between now and Dec 10th, so I probably will take a small hiatus for about two weeks. Wish me luck!

Read more about Common Redpolls here:
http://www.cwf-fcf.org/en/conservation/wildlife/featured-species/fauna/birds/common-redpoll.html
http://birdweb.org/birdweb/bird/common_redpoll
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Redpoll/lifehistory


Good birding,
Dwaynejava

Hooded Mergansers at Sanctuary Pond (taken from my car)

Lifer Summary: Common Redpoll #310

Source: 
Wind Energy Development in Prince Edward Island February 2010, WEB, Nov 2012, http://www.employmentjourney.com/industry_profiles/RenewableEnergy.pdf

Birding Peche Island

 I did a quick two-hour kayak trip to Peche Island today. It was exciting to get out there for the first time in many months. It was birdy. No lifers or un-expected species but a nice listing of birds. Some firsts for the year etc.

 Wood Ducks were seen as well as Hooded Mergansers and Mallards. Many Canada Geese were around as well as some swans.

First Belted Kingfisher of the year. Two were seen. Many Northern Flickers were heard. Two Bald Eagles were seen, as well as a Sharp Shinned Hawk. Turkey Vultures glided overhead as well.

My first non-wintering Warbler of the year. This Yellow-Rumped Warbler was a welcome sight. I had a hard time pish-ing him into view from a thicket of branches.

Only one or two Yellow Bellied Sapsucker were seen. It was amazing how many trees were tapped for sap though. Its funny how much more observant I am this year than last. Last year I saw 4 YBSS all year. This year, I must be close to twenty just in the last week! This bird is a keystone species making life better for many other species. For example, I have read once that the sap-wells give food for Ruby throated Hummingbirds. Even today, I saw an Eastern Comma butterfly feeding off the sap, as well as many flies and insects. Incredible. (See this article about how pileated woodpeckers are keystone species as well)

 This Eastern Comma butterfly was enjoying the sap-tapped tree. The Yellow Bellied Sapsucker got a really nice flow from this tree. Drops of sap were pouring out.

 Tree Swallows were everywhere.

Bonapartes Gulls were flying by the Windsor Shoreline at Kayak Cove as I was leaving. About 50 flew right by me. I took several photos and even saw a juvenile BGs with the classic "M" pattern on its wings and back. Almost easily confused with the Black Legged Kittiwake we saw earlier in Jan this year, minus the black bar across the back of its neck.

Good Birding,
Dwaynejava

Birding Point Pelee and Hillman Marsh

 

I headed out to Point Pelee this morning with the intention of being home in 5 hours. 2 hours of commuting to and from Windsor and one hour each for Delaurier Trail & the tip of Point Pelee and one hour at Hillman. I was hoping to see some early spring migrants such as Eastern Meadowlarks or Eastern Bluebirds but no such luck today. I did see the great horned owls near the Park entrance (no big surprise .... it lives there).

I started at Delaurier Trail, which is one of my favorite paths to walk at Point Pelee. I just love walking on the wooden pathways that cross over the flooded sloughs and channels. It was generally quiet though when I walked it though. Ander's Footpath was a little quiet as well, with the exeption of an Eastern Phoebe and some common blackbirds. The tip of Point Pelee did not seem very birdy to me today either. Just a few gulls and common birds around. East beach had some nice looks at Red breasted Mergansers and distant flotillas of ducks that I did not have the time nor optics to scan :-).

Some birds seen out at Point Pelee today include:
Great Horned Owl
Eastern Phoebe
Swamp Sparrow
Common Merganser
Red Breasted Merganser
Common Grackles
Northern Flicker
... as well as the typical regulars one would normally see.

After Point Pelee, I then proceeded to Hillman Marsh for about an hour. I ran into an excellent birder, Richard C. who had a fantastic scope that gave breathtaking views at some of the great birds at Hillman Marsh. I would almost say Hillman Marsh was a little better bird-wise today than Point Pelee.

My first looks at male Green Winged Teals.  This was a target species for me today.

Only the second time I've seen Wilson's Snipe. Many (7-9) were around Hillman today.

Hillman Marsh Birds Include:

Wilson's Snipe (several... 7 at one point)
Greater Yellowlegs (one)
Green winged Teal
Gadwal
Northern Shoveler
Bufflehead
Mallards
American Coot
Bonaparte's Gull
Ring billed Gulls

Tree Swallows
Killdeer

One G-Yellowlegs, a Killdeer, and 7 Snipe in the background!

Lots of gulls (Bonapartes Gulls) on the Hillman Shorebird Cell

There are three Wilson's Snipe on the left and one on the right

Tree Swallows were flying over the shorebird cell at Hillman this morning

I hope to bird these areas every weekend from April to May this year. Good times!

Good birding!
Dwaynejava