Friday 17 May 2019

Spring Rondeau Rambles

Yesterday was certainly a great day to be out and about and as it happened, I had arranged the day off to make the trek to Rondeau park.

First up was Spicebush trail.  Nothing unusual although several Tennessee warblers and a single Chestnut-Sided warbler were nice to see.  Also had my first Scarlet Tanager of the year.

American Bullfrog


A stop at Tulip Tree trail was in order.  Warblers were very active here including nice views of Magnolia and Bay-Breasted.  The popular Prothonotary warblers were also present, but views were brief.



Peek-a-boo Prothonotary
A drive down Lakeshore Rd did not produce the resident White-Winged Dove, but I can't really complain since I did see it a couple years ago.

The Black Oak trail was next and although nothing out of the ordinary was seen, it was nice to travel a trail that I don't think I've walked before.

I enjoyed checking out Warbler Way aka The Maintenance Trail.  Warblers were scattered along, but the most cooperative were a pair of Philadelphia vireos.  The camera didn't want to focus so no photos of them.



The final trail of the day was a short jaunt down South Point Trail.  I had my best views of several Scarlet Tanagers along here.  A bonus on the way back to the parking lot was a brief view of the earlier reported Golden-Winged Warbler.  A great finish for the park.  

I had received an Ontbirds email earlier in the day that there were a couple Black-Necked Stilt being reliably seen outside the park near the Keith Mclean CA.  It wasn't long before I was watching them through the scope as they fed in a flooded portion of the field.  A life species!

Walking at Keith Mclean was somewhat difficult as the ponds had expanded their boundaries and my footwear was not adequate to wade over to the viewing tower.  Despite this, I enjoyed watching Osprey activity at a nesting platform.  A pair was checking the platform out and they were soon joined by a third.  Would be interesting if they nest there.  

I've always enjoyed previous visits to the Rondeau area and this trip was certainly no exception.

4 comments:

  1. You were lucky to be at Rondeau that day for the Black-necked Stilts!
    Interesting that the Ospreys are hanging around. They have not used that platform in the past.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those stilts were certainly an unexpected bonus. Glad that they stayed around for you as well. I hadn’t realized until later how unusual it was to have osprey activity around that platform.

      Delete
  2. Roundeau is a great place to visit. We have been going there instead of to Point Pelee for several years now. It is not quite so crowded and aesthetically more appealing in my opinion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for checking out my page Dave. I agree Rondeau certainly is a special place. It also helps that it’s not as long a drive for me as it is to Pelee.

      Delete