Week 29 ended up being a non-birding week with only one backyard checklist added to ebird. We enjoyed a few days looking after our grandkids and we had a few caretaking tasks for Jerry’s mom. It was also the week of rain and floods so I was not interested in trying to bird under those circumstances. It continues to be quiet on the birding apps but there are trickles of birds starting to move down from the north. When will something good arrive?
On Sunday, the last day of week 29 we headed up to Carden Alvar in hopes of running across an American Goshawk or, at the very least, getting better pictures of birds on our list. Carden Alvar is a magical place for birds. Alvars are naturally open habitats with little to no soil over a base of limestone or dolostone that set the stage for natural communities that don’t exist any where else. Carden Alvar is one of the largest in the world. We arrived at 7am and by 9 we had seen 44 species of birds. Upland Sandpipers, Wilson’s Snipe, Bobolinks, Meadowlarks, Various Sparrows and the endangered Loggerhead Shrike all breed in the Alvar. Yellow and Virgina Rails, Bitterns, Soras, Sedge and Marsh Wrens breed in the nearby marshes. Jerry managed to take many great pictures and I got some nice video of a juvenile Virginia Rail as it walked along the road undaunted by our presence. I’ve included a video of an Upland Sandpiper we came across a few weeks back as we didn’t get pics and video at Carden.
Upland Sandpiper
Wilson’s Snipe
Virginia Rail – Juvenile
On Wednesday, with Discord still silent for new species, we birded locally trying to add some species to our Brant County list. An Acadian Flycatcher had been heard singing by a few birders but we did not manage to hear it. The wetland and forest area where it was heard is bisected by a very busy road with trucks traveling at 80-100km so it is very difficult to hear anything and there is very little shoulder to walk on. I am always nervous there but it is an excellent wetland with lots of species of birds. We managed to add a few birds to our Brant list and packed it in early as thunderstorms rolled in.
On Thursday I opted to head to Lake Erie to check out Rock Point PP. We have not been in many years but we know the rocky shore is good habitat for shorebirds. I wanted to scope it out for later in the season and it was a gorgeous summer day for a beach walk. We had nothing else to do. As we left Rock Point that familiar ding was heard – Ruff at Blenheim Lagoons! Of course, 3 hours west of where we were! GRRRRR! If we had stayed home it would have only been 2 hours! It seems I have not been able to ever be in the right place LOL! Anyway, we drove. Again. The 4 or 5 single lane construction through London on the 401. The inevitable trucks trying to overtake another truck at the excruciatingly slow speed of 105km! We arrived at Blenheim Lagoons to hear that it had flown 10 minutes before we got there but it had done that a number of times that day. We waited. There were many other shorebirds to amuse us, including FIVE Stilt Sandpipers, the bird we had been chasing two weeks back. After 45 minutes the Ruff made a brief appearance, Jerry got a decent look, I was just getting the scope on it when it flew again but managed a brief view of the orange legs in flight. Trish, who had arrived after us managed to get a quick look too. A few minutes later it returned and this time we could all rejoice with great views and pictures. It was a LIFER for Trish! It was bird #312 for us! A nice rarity to get!
The weekend was filled with family and social gatherings, catching up with friends and so we close out week 30 with 312 species seen.
Week 29 & 30 1 new rarity added 312 J&E