Birding Books... & Life list wishlist

Today, I had a box from Amazon dropped off at my house containing two recently ordered books! I bought the Sibley Field Guide for Eastern North American Birds and the Atlas of Ontario Breeding Birds! I think both resources will help me make better diagnostics of the birds I'm seeing.

I have had the ROM Field guide which is good, but not great. They typically have a photograph of a male in breeding plumage. Tom Hince's book "A Birder's Guide to Point Pelee" has been an incredible source of information to me. I would say that the information about the local hotspots really ignited my interest in birding and challenged me to get out there and see these locations. Its several years old now (from the publishing/authoring standpoint) and I find it funny how things have changed, but things are still the same in a way. Blake and Paul have been equally excellent in sharing knowledge, as well as many of the blogs that I'm following.

Some birds that I would like to see but still haven't include:
Bobolink
Eastern Meadowlark (I saw one in Florida but very far away from me)
Marsh Wren ( I think I've seen them at St Clair NWA, but hardly enough to identify)
American Bittern
King/Virginia Rail
Red Eyed Vireo (I've seen this as well but would like to see it and photograph it better... isn't this common?)
Assorted Shorebirds
Assorted Warblers that I've missed
Assorted Gulls (that I have not bothered to identify)
American Woodcock
Black Billed Cuckoo
Caronlina Wren (haven't really seen one since April!)
Northern Shrike
As well as a few Winter Finches


I think I'm being realistic with the above list, its not like I want to see a Crested Caraca! Eventually, I will be in the 200+ birding club. When that happens, I think I'll throw a party with/for my blog readers... all three of you!

I'm really wanting to do some Kayaking, hopefully to Rondeau and/or PPNP very soon.

-Dwayne

Ojibway Park Butterflies

I've photographed several butterflies since late June. I'm still a noob (newbie) with butterflies and I would not even classify myself as a butterflyer
... I should buy a guide before I do that! Here are some that I've photographed since late June. I figured if I don't post these beauties to my blog, they will get buried in my computer and forgotten about. The odd thing about photographing butterflies with my birding lens is that I have a minimum focal length of 8 feet, so I can really only take horizontal shots. 

I'm still learning alot about Butterflies so these may be mis-labeled. A recent butterfly count in the Ojibway area had over 50 species identified.

I've always wondered why a Question Mark butterfly was named like that. This photo actually shows the question mark symbol on the bottom of its wings. It looks like someone drew a question mark symbol with a metalic silver marker.

This photo was composed from two photographs... One with the tops of its wings, and the other with the bottoms.

And this one from last fall at Point Pelee a Giant Swallowtail  ...

Least Bittern at St Clair NWA

Wow, I finally got a chance to see a Least Bittern! It only took 14 months of birding to see this guy! I'm pretty excited, because Cornell's Site (all about birds.org) declares "Least Bittern is one of the most difficult North American marsh birds to spot". Whats great about today's sighting is that I spotted it within 10 minutes of arriving at St Clair NWA. I spent another hour there, but did not see too much else, as is expected when birding in July. 14 months of birding and I get 5 seconds of viewing time of this guy. Incredible!

I'm being optimistic here, but I think the photo below may be a Yellow Headed Blackbird, possibly a female. This photo hints that it could be a female.  (post script: or... it could be a red-winged blackbird!)

I also think I spotted a Lincoln's sparrow... it might also be a Swamp Sparrow, it would make more sense actually...

I also saw:
RWB
Black Terns
Great Blue Herons
Mallard Ducks
Common Yellowthroat
Least Bittern (lifer, #178)
Yellow Headed Blackbird? ( lifer #179)

I was also getting eaten alive by bugs, so I did not stay long. It was really bad out there. Worse than Skunks Misery!

I was about to drop by PPNP, but decided to bird Tremblay Beach and Ruscom Shores. I figured, Lake St Clair has been good to me so far, why not check out the ERCA hotspots along Lake St Clair as I drove home? Both made for great walks, but not nothing too special showed up.

Tremblay Beach: Awesome spot... but will someone please post a sign of its whereabouts?   Tremblay Beach produced a gorgeous Red-spotted Purple Butterfly in the parking lot. I don't get this butterfly. Wild Flowers blooming everywhere... he prefers to lick gravel! With the power of Photoshop, I put two successive photos in one. I also saw a Spotted Sandpiper, Killdeer and Mallard Ducks. Its my first time there. 

Ruscom Shores was a really nice walk as well. I did not see much, at one point, I swear I was hearing a Brown Thrasher make its round of 30 sounds, in pairs. Later, I was pishing and really seemed to anger a Grey Catbird (I think he was pished off). They also cut down the 14' tall Phragmites there. I was hoping I would see something interesting (with respect to Avifauna) , particularly because of yesterdays storm, but no such luck. One cool thing I witnessed was a flycatcher chasing a moth, and the flycatcher was almost hovering in air, darting its neck to get the moth, but I think the moth escaped!

Seeing the Least Bittern today was... a great birding moment for me. I've really wanted to see it, and today, as I stood there and watched a small heron like bird take off from a patch of reeds, and my camera coming in and out of focus on its beautiful plumage... it was delightful! I would say its my third favorite lifer this year, after The Pileated and Red Headed Woodpeckers.

Good Birding!
Dwayne

Birding Hillman Marsh

I'm dying to add American Bitterns and/or Least Bitterns to my life list... But these are really difficult birds to spot. I've been to St Clair NWA once last year, and for a few minutes this year, and I did not really see anything either time. I contacted someone from ebird.com that posts in the Essex county area and he liked Hillman Marsh as a place to possibly see them.

So last night, I went to Hillman Marsh to see what I could see in the Marsh area. I was hoping to also go to Point Pelee, but there was just not enough time. That's the funny thing about birding and being from Windsor. If you want to go birding in the Leamington area, St Clair, or Rondeau, you have at least 2 hours of driving time (round trip). And its a huge gamble because sometimes, you do not end up seeing much! I recall going to Point Pelee in March and thinking that I typically see more at Ojibway. Whats the point of going outside of peak migration times?


Upon arriving, I met a wildlife photographer, named Brad who pointed out a perched Kingfisher nearby.

I continued past the Hillman Marsh main entrance to the side road just past HMCA, with the famed bridge over a side marsh. I was hoping to surprise an American Bittern there but not this time.
I then went into the HMCA area and parked and walked a little. As I walked, I kept upsetting a Killdeer that made it very apparent that a human was walking around! I did get a chance to get a close up look at a Least Spotted Sandpiper (Juvies). I think these guys did not realize I was there on the muddy beach, because they came within 8' of me!  (Great link for southbound shorebird identification http://www.ofo.ca/reportsandarticles/southboundshorebirds.php )

I then did a quick walk on the wooden boardwalk on mainly saw Wood Duck Families scrambling to get away. I did see some flycatchers, (I'll say they were least flycatchers). I did not walk much farther than 25m each way on the dyke. From fhat location though, I did see some Common Moorhens and Black Crowned Night Herons, both mature and immature which hints that they might be breeding at HMCA.

A quick summarized list is:
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Black Crowned Night Heron
Belted Kingfisher
Least Sandpiper
Killdeer
Common Moorhen
Wood Duck
Least Flycatcher

I would appreciate any advice on seeing Least/American Bitterns. Is it too late this summer to even bother seeing them?

Good Birding, Butterflying and Herping!