Today I participated in the OFO's Warbler walk at Rondeau PP. It started out with a beautiful sunrise and I joined an impromptu sunrise flight at the park store. So many warblers flying in, fortunately the young fellows were quick to i.d.! Lots of Chestnut side Warblers, Palm Warblers, Redstarts, and my first Orchard Orioles of the year. If anyone has been to Rondeau you know about the swallows! Many barn swallows, tree swallows and purple martins make this area their home for the summer.
Stewart gathered the group and we made out way to Warbler Way. We had gorgeous weather, 15C and sunny, no rain for a change! We've had a cold harsh winter followed by a cold wet spring. One of the members of the tour from Owen Sound said that migration is roughly 2 weeks later than normal in her area.
The group was enthusiastic and a good mix of more experienced birders and newbies. I had been to Rondeau only a handful of times, though it is only an hour from my house. Some folk came from Toronto and area! It was an extremely active morning, with lots of good views of all of the warblers that you would expect to see this time of year at migration. We also got good looks at all of the vireos (white eyed, blue headed and yellow throated) as well as the thrushes ( wood thrush, Swainson's thrush and hermit thrush) Stewart is very organized and made sure that all of us got on all of the birds that we saw, and that we didn't lose anyone! There were so many birders in the park, hard to tell who was with whom! Stewart Macdonald is an expert birder and tour guide extraordinaire! He leads many OFO outings and we were lucky to have him today. He said that this mornings walk was the best warbler walk he's had all year, even more productive than Pelee!
The highlight for me and for most I would think was first hearing and then spotting the endangered Prothonotary Warbler Protonaria citrea. A beautiful male put on a good show for us in its habitat of Carolinian wooded swamps, flooded bottomland forests, and wooded areas near streams and lakes. The only known breeding area is sw Ontario, primarily along the north shore of Lake Erie. Over half of the small and declining population breeds in Rondeau PP.
We also got some good views of the Scarlet Tanager Piranga olivacea. These gorgeous songbirds are often difficult to spot as they forage in the topmost canopies of the tallest trees. They are long distance migrants that winter in South America, the fly across the Gulf of Mexico at night.
There are also many Rose Breasted Grosbeak
Pheucticus ludovicianus throughout the park. Here is a nice male singing his heart out. The RBGB is a long distance migrant, the eastern population winter in Panama and northern South America to their breeding grounds in open deciduous woods across much of Canada and NE U.S.. They fly at night across the Gulf of Mexico but will at times take land routes.
The Chestnut sided Warbler Setophaga pensylvanica were plentiful throughout the park, These lovely little warblers are unusual in that they thrive in young, regrowing forests, thickets and other disturbed areas. They are typical in their migration in that are long distance migrants wintering in the south and migrating at night.
The gorgeous Blackburnian Warbler Setophaga fusca is unmistakable in its markings. This is a gorgeous male in breeding plumage. They are forest canopy specialists and thus are tricky to spot, but their call is brilliant. No other warbler has an orange throat! They are long distance migrants that breed in the Great Lakes region and southern Canada.
I will give you a little break with your eyes and show you the sweet Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica that are plentiful around the park store along with the Tree Swallows and Purple Martins. Barn swallows are the most widespread of the swallows , though they are considered as Threatened under the Species at Risk Act, 2002 (which Ford needs to leave alone) because of lack of habitat. They are also a long distance migrant.
I will leave you with this photo. See if you can spot the bird (its a vireo) Now you have an idea how difficult it is to spot birds this time of year, and will be even trickier as the leaves come out!
Here is a link to my ebird checklist for the day
I was happy to add 2 new birds to my life list!
After lunch with the gang, I decided to tour the Marsh Trail on my new bike! Last year I walked almost to the end (almost 7Km) and I was unprepared to say the least! This time I went until the trail became grass and was treated to many yellow warblers, Carolina Wren and Sandhill Cranes calling. Also saw a pretty good sized mink run in front of my bike. It is different on a bike, not as slow and I may have missed some photo ops, but it was definitely easier on the old bod!
I was constantly buzzed by our most common warbler Yellow Warbler Setophaga petechia much to my delight!
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