My first week of banding at Long Point

My days here are now numbered and I as I wrap up the season of reptile and amphibian work I am moving my attention specifically to birds. My contract ended Monday. For the next week I will be volunteering at Old Cut field station as a bird bander.

I have already banded a fair number of Magnolia warbler, Swainson's thrush, gray cheeked thrush and gray catbird. The most interesting birds I have banded were Tennessee warbler, Wilson's warbler and a Sharp-shinned hawk.

Although the herping season is coming to a close Old Cut was visited by a group of Queensnake researchers who were surveying the area around Norfolk County. As much as I have enjoyed the birding and banding it was a great opportunity that I couldn't resist. I went out with them for three days and showed them around the tip on their second last day here. We had no luck despite finding some actual nice flowing creeks for them east of Port Dover.  This snake continues to elude me.

The herping trip to the tip wasn't a complete loss though. Two peregrines were seen at the tip where the gulls kept a far (and wise) distance. A few garters and painted turtles were still holding on despite the weather getting colder. On the way there and the way back we stopped at Bluff bar which is a sandbar in Lake Erie on the North side of Long Point. This bar is quite the pain to boaters which frequently get stuck on it but right now is surprisingly visible standing a foot out of water. Here we saw many gulls, peeps, Sanderling, Black-bellied plover, Baird's sandpiper, Bald eagle, Rudy turnstone and a Hudsonian godwit! The Hudsonian godwit was a lifer for me so I was quite pleased but unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me that day. 

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)

July at Long Point

Tree swallow adult male

 Another month spent at the tip of Long Point, Ontario... This one was a bit slower than the last. Since the weather was so warm reptiles have had little need to search out good basking spots to heat themselves up and are less active after the urges to mate and nest have gone away. I did still see many garter snakes and mostly painted turtles.

Juvenile melanistic garter snake

My volunteer Alia, and the garter snake for perspective in size

 Can't forget the fowler's toads! Night brings out most of the amphibians I have seen. One night as I was searching for fowlers on the beach with Alia she asked me what that was and pointed n the direction of a long dead piny softshell turtle on the beach. I told her what it was and she said no not that the frog beside it. There was a huge bullfog sitting beside this rotting turtle getting what I assume to be a very large meal of flies. It shouldn't surprise me that insect eating animals should be drawn to carrion (dead things) for an easy meal like this one.

My name is Jabba the fat toad...

Fowlers (left) and American (right) toads for comparison

GIANT bullfrog!

The birds I have been seeing for the most part are local nesters, however, a few odd sighting and some early arrivals have managed to appear at the tip. The most interesting bird I have seen and a lifer for me with regrettably no pictures was a long tailed duck seen on the boat ride back to the mainland from the tip.

Brown thrasher

Eastern kingbird nest

Ruby throated hummingbird

Bank swallow nests

Bank swallow in flight

Juvenile barn swallows were fledging in the nests on the sides of our buildings

Ring billed gull

 Many predatory insects were enjoying the season so many tourists curse at. Stable fly season!

Tiger beetles on the beach

Orb weaving spider

  One afternoon after a morning of hiking 10 km Alia and I found that a racing pigeon actually had walking right into one of the UNSET traps. Our curiosity could not be helped so we found out his band number and discovered he was a first year bird on a training run.

Luke our visitor at the tip after a large thunderstorm

 Plant life always seams to be quite photogenic...

Unknown mushroom species on sand dunes