Birding Ojibway Park in Late October

 

The photo above was taken with my cell phone in the tallgrass prairie section of the park. (See this link to read more about Ontario's Tallgrass habitat).

 This past Saturday Oct 20th, was a pretty good day to bird Ojibway Park. My wife, two kids and I went for a 1 hour walk at Ojibway. We walked the main path through the main forested area, and of course, I brought my camera. It was pretty quiet until I was blasted with "tea kettle tea kettle tea kettle" from a nearby Carolina Wren. I pished for a few moments (to the chagrin of my wife and son) and was able to coax a great photo of this awesome Carolinian species. Amazingly, I hear this bird alot when I'm out birding but only see this bird 5-10 times in a year.

Just moments later, I turned a corner, and was on a path that another family was traversing (with portrait photographer in tow) and five or so birds were flushed, I didn't know where to look but incredibly, a blue headed vireo was directly above me about 10-15ft over my head. I managed a crappy shot, this was actually after I adjust the exposure on my camera to +1.5 stops.

Some other birds seen during this walk included: Hermit Thrush, Eastern Phoebe, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker as well as three White-breasted Nuthatches.

A late Wilson's Warbler

 I stopped by the feeders with my wife and son, but not a single bird around... Except for a black-capped yellow warbler...Wilson's Warbler. Crappy photo but still a cool bird for late October.

I just realized that I've never tagged a photo of an American Crow, so I figure I will have my first Crow shot on my blog as this nice shot I took in the Tallgrass Prairie of Ojibway. Thousands of Crows are moving through Essex County this week.

An Eastern Towhee, or possibly several were singing their "Cheweet" song and called my attention to them. For a brief moment, I thought this may be a Spotted Towhee, but no... Its an Eastern.

This birding walk had some great birds, especially considering I was pushing a stroller for most of this walk! The Blue headed Vireo was really nice, its actually my first self-found fall BHV. The Wilson's Warbler was a nice surprise as well. Hairy Woodpecker and Carolina Wren are residents at Ojibway but not often seen.

 This week after work, I had a Black Capped Chickadee eat some sunflower seeds out of my hand. I have video of it, but will post some other time... I can't find it on my youtube account!


Good birding!
Dwaynejava

American Pipits... Just by chance

Just a short posting tonight. I had gone out to look for Pipits once or twice this month on the advice that they sometimes hang out on compost piles at a landfill just north of Kingsville. After scoping the compost mounds for twenty minutes from the roadside berm, all I had seen was sky-blackening numbers of European Starlings and some doves in the area.  I left, dejected.

Then, while driving home, while still in the 'pleasent valley' area of Essex Co, I noticed four little sparrow-like birds perched on a power line on a gravel side road. I pulled over to see these buffy beauties! Lifer!!! #307! I took a few shots from my car, then walked out in a recently harvested soyabean field to get front lit shots. A nearby raptor flushed them, and I even got a chance to hear their tell-tale chirping flight calls.

American Pipits are also known as Buff-breasted Pipits or Water Pipits. They breed in the arctic north, and migrate to the Southern US for the Winter. My birding field guide lists them as 'common' in migration, but that has not been the case for me. Many birders have told me to listen for them flying over in flocks but, I'm old school, I prefer to see them perched or walking around on the ground. I guess they can be found along beaches, watery areas and fields. I had an impression that they could be seen in the Onion Fields or any birding hotspots along the north shore of Lake Erie.

This yellow rumped Palm Warbler was curious and bounced around in a leafless tree in nice sunlight.

Other birds seen in the area were some Yellow rumped Warblers, and a three separate American Kestrels. The Kestrel below had a huge insect, perhaps a Praying Mantis. Pretty cool!

I'm hoping to see Saw Whet Owls by the end of the month, it would be pretty cool to have three lifers in three blog postings. Any good advice to help me find one would be appreciated! ;^)

Good birding!
Dwaynejava

Lifer Summary: American Pipit #307

Sora and Virginia Rails at Point Pelee's Marsh Boardwalk

I took a quick trip out to Point Pelee this morning. After checking out Hillman Marsh, I quickly headed for Point Pelee. The first stop was the Marsh Boardwalk. I rarely walk the marsh boardwalk, but figured I would give it a try today. That turned out to be a good decision.

There were two buses in the marsh parking lot and about 50+ people on the marsh observation tower. I think they were from Dan Minnill's U of W Ornithology class, but I could be mistaken. On the boardwalk, the first two birds I noticed were Eastern Phoebes and Swamp Sparrows. Other highlights included: 5 Rusty Blackbirds, 5 Sora,  1 Virginia Rail (lifer #306), 10 Eastern Phoebes, and a pair of Ruby throated Hummingbirds.

Very Exciting to see this Virginia Rail. About the same size as Sora. I thought it would be bigger.

Rusty Blackbirds.

I saw 5 Soras today! It was a Sora Fallout.

After the marsh boardwalk, I did a quick tour of the Delaurier path. I ran into Kory Renaud and we birded the path together. Lots of Golden crowned Kinglets, Ruby crowned Kinglets, Winter Wren, White throated Sparrows (some singing "oh sweet Canada") a few seasonal warblers, Red breasted Nuthatches, Swainson's Thrush, Yellow bellied Sapsucker, Northern Flicker were seen as well. A Brown Creeper was seen as well as several Sharp shinned Hawks flying right above us. Kory and I both wanted to see Blue headed Vireo but it wasn't to be on this path today. Today I realized what the female call of an Eastern Towhee sounds like (Towhee?).  On the way out of the Delaurier, I ran into Rick & Dan from Leamington and Gerry Peltier. Good times!

Ojibway Park this week gave nice views of 3 Yellow bellied Sapsuckers, Tennessee and Nashville Warblers, Ruby crowned Kinglets, White and Red breasted Nuthatches, Red bellied and Downy Woodpeckers. Always nice to walk Ojibway after work on a weekday.

Seeing the Virginia Rail today was very exciting. I have wanted to see this bird for at least two years. I think I saw one at Pointe Mouillee once, (I remember flushing a small bird which flew a short distance with its legs dangling) and I think I heard them in Carden Alvar's Sedge Wren or Prospect Marsh. My view of it was a fleeting 3 seconds. I'm amazed I even obtained a photo of it.

I'm looking forward to October. I'm dying to see Saw Whet Owls as well as American Pipits. Like the Virgina Rail above, they have eluded me for too long! Any winter finches would be nice to see as well.

Good birding!
Dwaynejava

Recent Lifers:
American Bittern #300
Willow Flycatcher #301
Upland Sandpiper #302
Bank Swallow #303
Cliff Swallow #304
Olive Sided Flycatcher #305
Virginia Rail #306

Could Essex County Have Some of its Natural Areas Restored? v2

Wow, I read this short blog entry from the Windsor Star today, along with an excellent comment from Pelee Wings. I will simply re-post both comments in this blog posting.

Long story short, birding has brought to light something that I never realized about Southwestern Ontario. There is no significant forested area for at least a two or three hour drive. Every last acre  of land was converted to farmland and most of the swamps drained.

One of my best blog postings describes how Point Pelee was dyked and drained around the year 1895. Check it out here if you care to:  Nerdy for Birdy: Pondering the Origins of Point Pelee's Onion Fields

This Windsor star blog posting does not give much information, but would be incredible news if there is some truth and some real action and dedication to get things done. Here goes:

Canada’s first priority natural area is in Essex County

September 27, 2012. 1:42 pm • Section: Essex County, News, Windsor

About half of Essex County has become the first priority natural area in Canada.
“It is historic,” Essex MP Jeff Watson said after he made the announcement on Fighting Island Thursday.
The Western Lake Erie Watersheds priority natural area is a defined area for protection that includes land in western and southern Essex County. It stretches from Tecumseh, Windsor and LaSalle east to Leamington and includes areas that drain into the Detroit River and Lake Erie.
Environment Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Essex Region Conservation Authority have agreed to work together and focus on this area.
“Our region is important because we have the most species at risk of both plant and animal anywhere in Canada and we have the most fragmented habitat here,” Watson said.
It may involve land acquisition projects and it is hoped the new focus will encourage landowners to voluntarily agree to continue to keep their lands in a natural state, Watson said.
About three per cent of the area is protected as a national park or conservation lands which is the lowest amount of protected areas in any region in Ontario.
Richard Wyma, general manager of the Essex Region Conservation Authority, said the agreement recognizes the importance of the Carolinian habitat and expresses a sense of urgency in improving and protecting it. The agreement is a model that could be used elsewhere.
Wyma said the agreement will focus existing grants and he hopes it will attract more funding. He said there is a lot of work to do.
“It is more about how do we do more tree planting. How do we do more of our water quality improvement projects?”
source: http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2012/09/27/64147/?fb_comment_id=fbc_118515151632800_98935_118599614957687#f17dafa5ed2ff42

On Facebook, Pelee Wings commented on this article:

Pelee Wings Natureoptics Paddlesports commented on blogs.windsorstar.com.

Sounds like the impetus we need to get on with restoring the drained wetlands in South-east Leamington adjacent Point Pelee National Park so Hillman Marsh would once again connect with the Point Pelee National Park marshes after it was drained on a big scale 140 years ago. It appears all of the big players are on side - Environment Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Essex Region Conservation Authority..... now if we could just get the Municipality of Leamington and its narrow-minded agribusiness barons to pull their head out of the sand and recognize the national significance of our region we may make some progress in restoring habitat in this area which sadly hosts the largest list of species at risk in all of Canada. Imagine our up-and-coming wine region coupled with one of Canada’s very best ecotourism destinations which includes Point Pelee, the Big Creek marshes at Holiday Beach and wetlands of Cedar Creek then add in our warm climate making south Essex County a unique 3 season recreational haven ….. or imagine that we continue to turn every last square foot of our rich natural heritage into more corn and soybean fields. I applaud the vision our federal, provincial and County agencies have laid out today for restoring south Essex; now let’s get on with it.

This image highlights some natural areas that could be targeted with respect to southern Essex County. Imagine hearing a Pileated Woodpecker, or seeing Cerulean Warblers and Acadian Flycatchers in Essex! I can't help but think of Chief Seattle's famous quote: "What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected."

Jeff Watson just went up a few notches in my books. I think its cool to hear a politician use the term 'Fragmented Habitat' in a speech... I'm blown away really. Any actions that government and NGOs take to restore some of our natural history is worth celebrating. Is this just another empty headline? Only time will tell.

Good Birding!

Dwaynejava

 

 PS: Nashville & Tennessee Warblers, along with more Red-breasted Nuthatches at Ojibway tonight. 

PSS: Recent recognition of Holiday Beach causing some media stir: