Port Rowan Sewage Lagoons

Again I have returned to the mainland, this time for the end of my field season. I spent the day staring at a computer screen because just as the field season ends reports must be written. A long day in the office does have it's perks when you work at Bird Studies Canada headquarters though. There were a few birding breaks including my favorite moment of the day where someone on the west facing side called out "Peregrine" and a whole punch of people grabs the binoculars fro their desks and run over. I got my first peregrine of the year just by looking out of my office window. I also saw a fair amount of red tailed hawk and sharpie movement. A ruby throated hummingbird flitted its way up to my window for a brief second before zipping off.

A stilt sandpiper, yellowlegs and Sandpipers

Chris came to visit me after work and we both decided to take a look around the Port Rowan Sewage Lagoons (on Hunters Drive) where a red-necked phalarope had been seen earlier. I didn't share with him that I also kind of hoped the peregrine would be here since this was the direction it was headed and frankly shorebirds must be easy pickings for a peregrine.

Unlike the Blenhiem sewage lagoons the first pond we went to was quite shallow and  VERY empty of all birds. It was only after walking across pins and needles (aka freshly cut thistle) that we got to the second pond. Here we had amazing looks at many lesser yellowlegs and least sandpipers. In among them was a stilt sandpiper which was a first for my year.

As I am scanning the birds one further out in the water catches Chris's eye. It is whiter than the rest and has the plumage characteristic of a juvenile red-necked phalarope. We walk all the way around the pond to get better lighting. 

Red-necked phalarope juvenile

Phalarope taking flight

Chris spots a merlin flying away and while his attention is off in other directions I see a large dark thing try to hit the sandpipers and yellowlegs behind the phalarope. Chris had missed it but the peregrine was there!

PEREGRINE ATTACK!

Flying up after failure

Heading up and then going back for a dive

Apparently shorebirds are harder to catch than I thought and it came back around a few times. Tried to catch my lovely juvenile phalarope which of course ruined any chance I had at better pictures of the phalarope but the peregrine.... What a sight! That bird in action is... I am actually a bit lots for words here. It's a quick and agile killer. Very ninja like! But the peregrine flew off without a meal and scared off most of the shorebirds.

Osprey (Fish Hawk)

As it flew off it was quickly replaced by a pair of larger predators. Two osprey circled the pool a few times.

All in all a very nice evening at the Port Rowan Lagoons.. Nothing too rare but definitely some very amazing birds.

August at Long Point Tip

I have been lucky enough to have spent 2 months already at Long Point and now that August has arrived the birds are starting to as well.

American Black Duck

Long Point Bird Observatory is the largest banding station I know of in the world and I am lucky enough to be here for the start of fall migration.

On the way to the tip we saw American black ducks, great blue heron and a foresters tern.

 On my first afternoon back at the tip I was carrying stuff back to the cabin and found a spiny softshell on the path. This hatchling turtle was probably only a few days old and about 2 inches long.

Hatchling Spiny Softshell Trtle

I have gotten to see a lot of amazing birds such as:
Bald Eagle

Juvenile Bald Eagle

Near Gravely Bay Road I saw four wood ducks in a shallow marsh pond.These ducks are quite magnificently decorated.

Wood Ducks

Least Sandpiper

 I was walking through the grass and sedge higher up on the beach when I saw it. A tiny little thing with redish-brown on it's head and back with a white belly. I watched it poking around in the sand at the waters edge as it walked the same direction as I did. I cleverly walked quickly through the grass and without it noticing crouched down on the beach infront of it. Then it was just a matter of keeping still as it came closer. The excitement built with every step until it was about a metre away from me and I got the best look at a least sandpiper that I ever could imagine.

Least Sandpiper

Sanderlings

A walk along the South shore discovered a surplus of shorebirds including killdeer, least sandpipers and sanderlings. The sanderlings were often seen in small groups of about 3-8 birds.  Six sanderlings were in a single group near the CWS property border. These birds were not so bothered by me and I was able to watch them feed along the shoreline for about half an hour. 

Sanderling running away when I got a bit too close

 Ring billed gulls and a great blue heron surrounded a double crested cormorant and as I approached the heron flew.. then a few gulls took flight with a few more raising their wings as if to show they can fly.  The cormorant stood still raising its stubborn head to the skies and not budging while I passed higher up on the beach.

Double Crested Cormorant in chaos

 A walk down to the tip was definitely needed with all of the birds coming in but I was only rewarded with a close up look at at great crested flycatcher.

Great Crested Flycatcher

Mating Monarch Butterflies

 As well as birds, insects are beginning their migration as well. Dragonflies are zipping around in the evenings. Monarchs are starting their migration to Mexico and congregating at the tip. We have seen over 100 in a single day.

I was dropped off at the Breakwater station by a boat trip. A few days at breakwater resulted in more new birds for my year.

As with everywhere else in Ontario the fall wildflowers are blooming and the roads around breakwater were lined with flowers and hatched turtle nests.

Bouncing bet

Common mullien

American Copper

Phragmites

Sasafass tree

Morning glory flower and vine

House wren

I embarked on a 20 km night walk down the south shoreline in search for amphibian life.  This was a very nice night to walk and the amphibians were definitely plentiful. I stumbled across the largest American toad I have ever seen in my lifetime!

 The oddest thing I found on my walk was a gray treefrog on the beach! I have never seen one of these frogs on a beach before but I guess at the tip anything can happen! I believe I've mentioned it before but these are my favorite frogs in Ontario by a landslide. All of the ones I saw were in the green morph.

 Isn't it a cutie!

 Here's a bunch of pictures of them! These amazing climbers with their enlarged toe pads looked very out of place to me sitting on the beach.

Gray treefrog (Hyla versicolor)

Blenheim Sewage Lagoons and Rondeau Provincial Park

Chris is photographing plants instead of birds?!

While visiting Chris in Chatham we took the chance to look at the birds around the Blenheim sewage lagoons. We left early in the morning and had a romantic walk around the sewage lagoons. Yes that sounds like an oxymoron and almost impossible but it happened.  There was a lot of activity in the first pool at the lagoons.




Greater scaup
Rudy duck
Wood duck
Canvasback
Great egret
Lesser yellowlegs

Lesser yellowlegs

Least sandpiper
Killdeer
Tree swallow
Barn swallow
Eastern kingbirds
Cedar waxwings
American black duck
Semipalmated plover

Semipalmated plovers

Despite not seeing the red-necked phalarope we were both hoping for it was a nice walk around the lagoons. As well as birds, there were a lot of butterflies around the wildflowers at the lagoon;
Skipper butterflies
Buckeye

Mating pair of buckeye on sweet white clover

Painted lady

Painted lady on a yellow flower

Cabbage white are very common butterflies in Ontario and a few of them were frequenting flowers around the lagoons.

Cabbage white

Black swallowtail

Later in the afternoon we stopped by Rondeau Provincial Park to help with the turtle project and to find some of our own herps in the wild. We found three five lined skinks. Two were adults and we were even lucky enough to find a juvenile with a bright blue tail characteristic of the species. Two blue-spotted salamanders surprised us when they were in an unexpectedly dry areas by the beach. 

Two blue-spotted swallowtails

Many wildflowers such as swamp rose mallow, queen Anne's lace, butterflyweed and jewelweed were blooming and attracted tiger swallowtails and red admirals.

Jewelweed/ spotted touch me not (Imatiens capensis)

Impatiens capensis

Close up of jewelweed flower

Jewelweed or the spotted touch me not is an annual succulent plant that has bright orange flowers with a hooked conical spur at behind the lobes. These bright flowers turn into hanging seed pods that explode o touch. Well you aren't going to get blown to bits here but it does help with seed dispersal and they are so much fun to pop! My first memory of discovering this plant was seeing a springer spaniel dog running through it in early fall. All of the seed pods sprung up into the air right after the dog raced by.

Queen Anne's Lace/ Wild Carrot (Daucus carota)

Queen Anne's Lace is one of the most common roadside wildflowers that I can think of. It has brilliant white flowers which resemble lace. These flowers often get it confused with its toxic relative wild parsnip which has tall yellow flowers and produces a rash when touched.  

Anemone

Anemone

Swamp rose mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos) on a floating mat

 The pink flowers poked out of the marsh shielded from view by cattails swaying in the wind. These large showy pink flowers resemble the cultivated hibiscus plants people might be more familiar with but unlike the cultivars these bright flowers are in much less hospitable places than your living room. These shrubs grow in amidst cattails on the floating mats and mudflats of marshes. Swamp rose mallow is a species at risk with a restricted habitat of wetland habitats in southern Ontario.

Butterflyweed

The brilliant orange flowers of butterflyweed really do hold it to it's name. This plant is great for attracting pollinators including butterflies and has played a large part in the restoration of natural habitats in southern Ontario. This attractive plant is one that many people have chosen to plant when they desire butterfly gardens or to plant with native species.

Tiger swallowtail on the beach

And last but not least... some parting advice for all who visit Rondeau Provincial Park: As you are leaving the park there will be a small store on your left.... STOP THERE FOR ICE CREAM!

Ojibway Tall Grass Prairie

It's always nice when a group of like minded individuals get together and this occasion was definitely a great example of that.

A guided tour of the Ojibway tall grass prairie led by Tom Preney attracted many of the great local naturalists including Russ Jones, Steve Marks and Steve Pike among others. We hiked the trail through this unique habitat that is home to many prairie specialists that I might have walked by completely had it not been for the knowledge of the others.

Steve Pike in the prairie

The main focus of the hike was plants but many birds and insects were also seen. The highlight of the birds were indigo buntings which I had not seen yet this year although they are not rare in Ontario. These are gorgeous birds with brilliant blue body and dark wings.

But back to the beginning now... This melanistic tiger swallowtail was the most interesting butterfly on our walk and it was found a few meters down the trail. Melanism is a lack of pigmentation that leads the creature to be all black. This can be quite rare and I have never seen it in a butterfly before today.

Melanistic Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)

Other Lepidoptera sightings were monarchs, question marks, tiger swallowtails, skippers and a neat geometer moth.

Geometer moth

Skipper butterfly

The prairie plants were blooming and the butterflies were doing their thing! We saw prairie plants such as dense blazing star, wild bergamot, prairie milkweed, tall ironweed, woodland sunflower and many others.

Culver's Root (Veronicastrum virginicum)

The dense blazing star and prairie dock were my favorites. The dense blazing star had stems almost as tall as I am had many bright purple flowers going down them.

Dense blazing star (Liatris spicata)

Prairie dock has a bright yellow sunflower like flower and large rounded basal leaves.These are both plants very unique to prairie habitat and are quite rare in Ontario.

Prairie Dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum)

Prairie dock flower bud

Unfortunately all good things come to an end and the hike couldn't last forever. As the sun was setting common nighthawks darted across the skies and we headed out of the prairie. Naturally we then headed out for a few beers at a nearby pub.

After a nice hike there was naturally some beers.

More on Ojibway can be seen on their website > http://www.ojibway.ca/index.htm