Birding the other side of the pond - Patch Birding - May 2014

One of the advantages of coming to the same destination for holidays is that you get familiar with the area and get to find local sites that become regular haunts for birding, my own local patch abroad. The nearest that I have to a local patch near Oakville, other than the trails around the house, is the lake shore and creek around Bronte. My patch consists of a network of parks, Riverview Park, Bronte Harbour Park, Bronte Bluffs Park and Bronte Beach Park, they are all interlinked so I can walk between each one. In typical years Riverview Park has been my preferred spot since it is a wetland habitat that has produced a good mix of waders including Short-billed Dowitcher, Spotted, Solitary and Least Sandpiper, Sora and good numbers of Caspian Terns. 

Unfortunately this year, due to the long cold winter and wet spring, the water levels on Lake Ontario are high, and therefore there are no marginal areas for waders. In fact the best birds on RiverView Park were two pairs of breeding Red-necked Grebes. One pair was actually on the the creek but the other pair was in the process of building a nest fairly close to the shore on the main pool. I watched them building the nest for a while, it was like synchronised nest building as they visited the shore collected a beak full of weed and returned to the nest site, all in perfect time together. In previous years this area has been mud so they will have to get to work quickly if they are going to successfully raise their young before the water levels subside.

Red-necked Grebe - Riverview Park, Bronte

Red-necked Grebe - Riverview Park, Bronte

Red-necked Grebe - Synchronised nest building

The reedbed is also a breeding site for Red-winged Blackbirds. I have resisted taking photos of them before, as my attention is usually on something else, but when a male bird landed in front of me it was too good an opportunity to miss. 

Male Red-winged Blackbird - Riverview Park, Bronte

As I stood watching the Red-necked Grebes, several Chimney Swifts and Cliff Swallows came into the pool to drink. They were more distant than most of the other birds but I managed to get a couple of record shots. 

Chimney Swift - Riverview Park, Bronte

Cliff Swallow - Riverview Park, Bronte

By contrast a Caspian Tern flew past almost overhead giving some excellent views. When I have been over in May before there have been large numbers of Caspian Terns feeding around the harbour, the most I have seen so far this trip is seven. They usually roost on the various piers, but today these were all full of fishermen, so I presume they have moved off elsewhere.

Caspian Tern - Riverview Park, Bronte

I left the pool and headed to the beach area I noticed a small flock of Cedar Waxwings feeding. As usual with this species they were very approachable and gave excellent views. Being from the UK I associate waxwings with winter, so it still does strike me as slightly odd to see so many in the spring sun.

Cedar Waxwing - Riverview Park, Bronte

There was nothing of note at Bronte Bluffs or Harbour Parks but at the Beach Park there was a summer plumaged Spotted Sandpiper and three Killdeers. The Killdeers were a breeding pair with a fairly recently hatched chick. The adults were being very trusting of the people as they passed by, and allowed them to walk right past the chick, although they were alarm calling much of the time. 

Killdeer Chick - Bronte Beach Park

The adults even seemed unconcerned by a Raccoon that was curled up asleep in the middle of the grass. It was the strangest place that I have seen for a Racoon to choose to sleep, and it too was very trusting of people who were approaching it for a closer look. 

Raccoon - Bronte Beach Park

Occasionally it would wake up, have a quick wash and brush up, and then go back to sleep. I would have thought that this Raccoon would have taken the opportunity to grab the Killdeer chick had it passed too close, but the parents did not seem to recognise it as a threat.

Birding on the Other side of the pond (Part 3) - Point Pelee and Hillman Marsh - May 2014

The plan for 21st May was another early start at Point Pelee, unfortunately at dawn and for a good two hours after it poured with rain. Undeterred I headed down to the harbour at Leamington as on previous visits this had been a good place to see Forster’s and American Black Terns. I arrived during a torrential downpour and thunderstorm, but managed to find a shelter to view from. There were very few birds but what was there included six Forster’s Terns, two Bonaparte’s Gulls and a Herring Gull.

With the weather appearing to ease I decided to head down to Pelee so I was in place for when the birds started moving around. On the way I stopped at the mariner just north of the Pelee as this can often be a good spot for Belted Kingfisher, alas in the rain there were none, but a drake Scaup was present. 

Drake Scaup - Note shape of head and size and shape of black on tip of the bill

After entering the park my first stop was the North-west Beach, there are shelters at most of the trails so it is possible to bird undercover, that is if you are a fair weather birder like me. I don’t actually mind getting wet, but it is not a great way to start the day! There was very little moving in fact a single Eastern Kingbird was the only thing of note. A quick look off the beach though produced four American Black Terns.

American Black Tern

American Black Tern

American Black Tern

The Point
It was still raining hard at this point, but with the sky appearing brighter behind the weather I made the decision to head for the point. My timing was perfect as no sooner had I got off the bus, the rain eased. The conditions were calmer than the previous day which made birding a more pleasurable experience, and immediately I was into the warblers. Tennessee was first followed by a Northern Parula, another Wilson’s, Common Yellowthroat and American Redstart. 

Male American Redstart

Several Black-throated Blues, alas all females, Magnolia, Nashville, Chestnut-sided, Blackburnian and a Black-throated Green. Flycatchers were more abundant with Eastern Wood-Pewee, Least, and a probable Willow seen, plus many more Eastern Kingbirds. Red-eyed, Warbling and my first Philadelphia Vireo of the trip were also seen.

Red-eyed Vireo

Philadelphia Vireo

The weather had now cleared and so I decided to walk the trails back to where my car was at the visitor’s centre. Species wise the mix was much the same as at the tip but I did manage to see Swainson’s Thrush, Blackpoll Warbler and Red-bellied Woodpecker, which were all new for the trip.

DeLaurier Homestead and Trail
With things quietening down at the point I decided to head to Hillman Marsh for some wetland birding, but thought I would make a quick stop at this trail before leaving. The trail passes through patches of scrub, poplar woodland and includes a boardwalk section. A White-throated Sparrow was feeding in the car park as I arrived and on the trail there were more American Redstarts, a pair of Common Yellowthroats, two Tennessee Warblers and a couple of Black and White Warblers.

Black and White Warbler

Black and White Warbler

Despite being one of the least colourful warblers these birds are real characters and one of my favourites. The black and white striping gives them a striking appearance and their habit of running up and down branches and trunks makes them appear more similar to the nuthatches than New World Warblers.

Hillman Marsh
I had visited Hillman Marsh back on the 19th May, my first day in the area. I had arrived at around 3pm and the wetland was full of waders, but most things were very distance since the water levels were too high. The most common species was Black-bellied Plover, Grey in the UK, with the other wader species including Dunlin (100+), Turnstone (15+), Short-billed Dowitcher (5), Semi-palmated Plover (15), Killdeer (1), Least Sandpiper (1, that I could see) and two Stilt Sandpipers. The Stilt Sands were just coming into summer plumage and looked very smart. Several duck species were also present including Northern Shoveler, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal and Gadwall.

Today the waders were even more distant, so combined with the the haze caused by the afternoon sun, viewing was not good. Black-bellied Plovers were again the most numerous but there was also a flock of 159 Hudsonian Whimbrel. Other waders included over 100 Dunlin, five Least Sandpipers, three Turnstone and a Spotted Sandpiper. Around 200 gulls and terns were also present, mostly Ring-billed Gulls, but also Herring and Bonaparte’s, three Caspian Terns and 15 Forster’s Terns. As I headed back to the car I picked up a flock of 30 Cedar Waxwing feeding on some berries from a Viburnum species. 

Cedar Waxwing