Hudsonian Whimbrel ... at Black Oak Heritage Park?

 

One less butterfly... can anyone id the caterpillar?

I birded Black Oak Herritage park with 2-3 target species today:

Yellow Bellied Flycatcher

Olive sided Flycatcher

Whimbrel

I had been speaking to another birder (black oak) recently saying that hudsonian godwits are common at Pointe Mouillee in late may - which is in Michigan about 20km south of detroit. So ... if whimbrell are 20 km due south of Black oak (which borders the detroit river corridor) could some whimbrel go through the detroit river - up towards lake st clair then up towards lake huron? My birding friend suggested no - they go towards point pelee to lake erie and lake ontario.

 So I was birding at black oak today and it was pretty birdy. Lots of bird song... and lots of leaves! I had a generous look at a mourning warbler, as well as a mid forest butteo hawk which was a broad winged hawk!

Willow Flycatcher

Well - I stood along the detroit river and attempted to do a 10 minute shorebird sit. Nothing of much interest. Then a Willow Flycatcher caught my ear. I was photographing it when I noticed a flock of migrants streaming overhead. After waiting what felt like an eternity, my focus kicked in and I snapped as many photos of this flock of birds as I could. Photograph first - id later!

Well low and behold... your blogger's whimbrel wishes came true. His hypothesis was correct. Whimbrel at pointe mouillee can go towards point pelee as well as use the detroit river corridor to continue migrating north.

I was pretty amazed. Nobody in all the years of ebird had seen whimbrel here until my sighting today.  I feel like I made some onitholgical history. I guess every dog has his day. 

Good birding!

Dwayne

Snowberry Clearwing Hummingbird Moth ?!?! v2

Snowberry Clearwing Hummingbird Moth

On the way to my parents house tonight, I stopped by Ojibway Park for a quick walk. I had been seeing Broad winged Skippers lately and wanted better looks. Upon walking up to a small meadow in the Spring Garden area of Ojibway, I saw a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth to my right, then to my left, I noticed another Clearwing Moth, ... with more of a yellow-black colouration... Snowberry Clearwing Hummingbird Moth?!?!?!? Are you kidding me?  I literally have two frames of this moth and it was gone.  Its funny, if you approach them very slowly, they seem to not mind your presence, but if you make a quick movement, such as move a camera strap, they can be a little shy.

More Reading:
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Hemaris-thysbe (Hummingbird Clearwing)
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Hemaris-diffinis  (Snowberry Clearwing)

Just a Clearwing Moth - Common as dirt...

I saw another Clearwing Moth moments later as I was leaving. Its funny, once you "see" a new species, your seem to then see it more easily from that point on.

It seems like butterfly life has really died down a little ... are we between broods? I did get some really nice looks at Broad winged Skippers though... I have male and female and dorsal ventral combinations... See below!

Branded Skipper Butterflies are a little difficult to identify because there are some strange wing positionings. The two photos above show a male and female dimorphism, but it is more clearly seen in the dorsal perspective. The dorsal perspective though, for skippers can be strange because skippers hold their forewings up at a 45degree angle, so depending on the angle you are looking at the butterfly, you may see the upper forwing on the right, and the upper hindwing on the left. I don't know if I'm explaining that very well, but I think any butterfly watcher has to come to terms with that sooner or later!

I took my son to a playground near my sisters house this week, and noted several birds:
25 brown headed cowbirds (I hate seeing big groups of cowbirds :-(  )
15 Starlings
10 Goldfinch,
25 Barn Swallows,
2 Song Sparrows,
Willow Flycatcher! (to my amazement)

Regarding Willow Flycatchers, I must say I am delighted to find them. I usually hear their scatchy call then try to find them perched atop a small bush or shrub... I only see them a few times during the summer in more expected areas such as Hillman Marsh. Not easy to find close to Windsor, but I may be mistaken on that...

That playground had a few housing lots slated for development with lots of weeds. These two beauties flew by me in the mater of a few minutes. The top being a Black Swallowtail (see that small dot at the very bottom of its wings?) and a Spicebush Swallowtail, which has no "dot", and the band of orange dots is pierced by the blue colouring. Very cool eh?

Good birding!
Dwayne

Grasshopper Sparrows at Wheatley

 

About two weeks ago, I was informed that Grasshopper Sparrows were at a field in Wheatley. Of course, I wanted to go and see them myself but couldn't really make it out there until the last couple of days. Sure enough, from the roadside you can hear their buzzy call! I was lucky enough to find (lifer) this bird in Ottawa in late June, but seeing it so close to home (this weekend) was a real treat. Over the last two or so years, I had been trying to find this bird at Pelee during spring migration but could never seem to catch up with it!

I did not even think Essex was in its breeding range [map], but yes, its well in this birds breeding range. Its just that the lack of ideal habitat (large grassy/weedy fields) that this bird requires renders this bird to the vast list of Essex & Chatam-Kent's extirpated birds. From my understanding, one would generally need to drive from Windsor to Glencoe (1.5 hours north of Windsor) to see one [See ebird map for grasshopper sparrows in Southwestern Ontario in 2013]. Lots of Dickcissels still singing and chasing each other around as well at this site. I can't help but wonder why this 50-acre field at Talbot Trail and Campers Cove Road has been spared from agriculture? I'm thankful to whoever it is that owns this field.  I've had amazing birding moments here seeing Dickcissels, Eastern Meadowlarks, Bobolinks and now Grasshopper Sparrows.

Couture Dyke at Hillman
I walked Couture Dyke at Hillman Marsh [map] to see if there was much butterfly action going on, but not much really happening. Its still a great walk, just brimming with wildlife. Leopard Frogs scatter as you take each step, Osprey and Great Blue Herons flying overhead... Lots of biting flies as well! Some personal highlights were Bronze Copper Butterflies, Least Skippers and Question Mark butterflies!

Bronze Copper 

This image shows the sexual dimorphism of Male and Female Bronze Copper. The female has a solid bronze colour on its upper forewing.

Dorsal and Ventral view of the Question Mark butterfly. Do you see the Question Mark on the underside of its wing?

I only had two hours on this particular afternoon, so I walked the main Hillman shorebird circuit quickly. I saw a Common Buckey butterfly but not much of note other than that. Another Willow Flycatcher was seen. It was singing actually!





Out of time, I swung by the grassy meadow at the south end of Pelee's Northwest Beach for a final 20 or so minutes of butterfly watching. Some butterflies seen include two Viceroys, two fresh Question Mark butterflies and this dopey looking Tawny Emperor butterfly.

Tawny Emperor - Dorsal & Ventral

Good birding!
Dwayne

I dislike deer, because they are vectors for ticks... but, I rarely see an 8-pt buck!

Willow Flycatcher and the Challenge of Empidonax Flycatchers

Amazingly, Willow Flycatchers were not on my life list.

I've seen many of the empidonax flycatchers over the last few years, but have reluctantly added them to my life list, because to be honest, I felt that adding them would be insincere. I'm not alone in this confusion. I was happy to know that even bird banders at the Holiday Beach banding station in the fall admitted to not knowing which of Alder/Willow a flycatcher in hand was. In fairness, it did not vocalize and the wing length ratios did not help either. The bander marked it down as a "Trails" flycatcher. Even the whole North American birding community was unable to realize the distinction between the species before the 1970s! So this week, as I was walking the Ojibway Tallgrass Prairie, I was happy to hear a very loud, clear, distinct, raspy and scratching "Fitz-bew!" and was able to take the above photo of it. I even took video, so that I could really go back and compare the sound in my video to the sounds of the Willow Flycatcher page on Allaboutbirds.org.

Its been said that the flycatchers are a very prehistoric bird. Their simple foraging strategy has served them well. Perch, wait for bugs to fly by and catch them, then return to your perch in a predictable looping flight pattern. This behavior along with their simple call is built into their DNA. Cornell University's site Allaboutbirds.org states: "Flycatcher songs are innate, not learned like those of most songbirds. Young Willow Flycatchers reared in captivity with Alder Flycatcher tutors sang typical Willow Flycatcher songs" (allaboutbirds.org). That is a very cool thought!

I think Flycatchers (and Gulls) might offer some of the most challenging identification problems to birders, so I would image that they are the last area that birders venture into. If you have the time, treat yourself to a quick scan of the following two or three links. This will really help you appreciate how greatly differentiated the flycatcher family is!

Here is an incredible list of South American Flycatchers:
http://carolinabirds.org/HTML/SA_Flycatcher_Tyrannidae.htm

And a much shorter list of North Amercan Flycatchers:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/browse_tax/65/
http://www.birds-of-north-america.net/flycatchers.html

Here are some Flycatchers I've seen and photographed over the last two or three years:

Least Flycatcher Holiday Beach (Fall 2010)

Yellow bellied Flycatcher - Point Pelee (Fall 2011)

Eastern Wood Peewee - Common in Eastern Deciduous Forests

Eastern Kingbird - Common and obvious to identify

Great Crested Flycatcher - Local breeder, but not often seen.

Western Kingbird in Windsor -Summer 2011

Western Wood Pewee (BC -Summer 2011)

Eastern Phoebe - An early Spring migrant

Vermilion Flycatcher, often seen in Belize, Mexico and SW US

Say's Phoebe - A western beauty

Some Flycatcher Notes:

Flycatcher	Call*	Notes
Eastern Wood Peewee	Pee- ya –weeeee (whistled)	Common Summer breeder in Essex Co.
Willow Flycatcher	Fitz-bew (buzzy and rhaspy)	Summer breeder in Essex Co.
Alder Flycatcher	Free Bee Yeer (buzzy and rhaspy)	More common north of Essex Co (Carden Alvar Breeder)
Acadian Flycatcher	Peet-ssah	Breeds in large tracts of forest (Rondeau, Skunks Misery)
Least Flycatcher	Che-beck	Seen in migration
Yellow Bellied Flycatcher	Chebunk	Seen in migration
Great crested Flycatcher	Weeeeap!(whistled)	Essex breeder at Ojibway and Point Pelee. Not easily found in my experience.
Olive sided Flycatcher	Quick-three-beers!	Have not seen one yet. Migrates late in May in a small window of time (usually while I’m working).

*Some call descriptions referenced from (Kaufman)

 

Wheatley Dickcissels & Other Pelee Area Birds

This Saturday, I woke up early and birded Wheatley, Hillman Marsh, Point Pelee and Leamington (each very briefly) and was able to get good looks at Dickcissels, Bobolinks, Savannah Sparrows, among others.
Wheatley gave nice looks at Dickcissels & Savannah sparrows. While scanning though, I was unable to find more than singles of the aforementioned birds. Robins and Red winged Blackbirds were abundant.

Savannah Sparrow

Hillman Marsh Grassland Birds
Bobolinks, Dickcissels, Indigo Buntings, Yellow Warblers and Willow Flycatchers were seen at Hillman Marsh.

Willow Flycatcher... singing next to Hillman Marsh Parking Lot

Point Pelee & Leamington
Point Pelee's Delaurier Trail at Point Pelee had Eastern Bluebirds, Orchard Orioles, Rose breasted Grosbeck, Cedar Waxwings, Black billed Cuckoo among other more common birds. Leamington docks had Red headed Woodpeckers (two pairs?) and a Northern Mockingbird!

I would love to see a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher one day. Perhaps a quick trip to Texas is in order... Probably not going to happen any time soon.

Good Birding,
Dwaynejava

Sources:
Kaufman, Ken. Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. Print.

Allaboutbirds.org, Willow Flycatcher, Cornell University, ND, WEB, June 17th 2012, http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Willow_Flycatcher/id

Life list summary: Willow Flycatcher 301