Twin Elm and Richmond Conservation Area

 April 30, 2022

We went to the Twin Elm dead end still hoping to see Rusty Blackbirds, teals and migrating warblers.   On the way, Barbara got some good shots out the car window along Cambrian Road.

We drove directly to the flooded fields near the dead end to look for shorebirds and teals.  Several Greater Yellowlegs put on a good show for us.  

The Solitary Sandpipers we had seen last time were not showing.  The Blue-winged Teals had left, but a half dozen Green-winged Teal were sleeping at the back end of the small pond behind the lager one - scope view only.

We walked the road to the west through the wetland swamp.  There were lots of kinglets, yellow-rumps and woodpeckers.  Some of the latter were mating.

Time to move on to the the Richmond Conservation Area.  There were 2 male Northern Shovellers and a pair of Blue-winged Teals on the second cell.

We encountered an Eastern Comma and a Mourning Cloak butterflies.

Barbara also photographed a male Brown-headed Cowbird and an Eastern Garter Snake.

All of the bird house boxes had Tree Swallows buzzing around, on top and inside.  It's that time of year!

Trend-Arlington Park

 April 29, 2022

We wanted to go for a short walk before supper, so why not go back to the park and se if there were any kinglets still around.  It turned out far better than we expected!  First, we saw Brown Creepers 3 times, possibly 2 individuals.

Then we did see several kinglets, first a Golden-crowned, then some Ruby-crowned.

We crossed over and came back along the creek.  On the hillside, we spotted a Hermit Thrush and an Eastern Phoebe with food.

Finishing our walk, we saw an American Black Duck in the creek and a White-breasted Nuthatch.  Not bad for a block from home!

Mud Lake

 April 29, 2022

After a morning of physio and shopping, we dropped into Mud Lake so see it there were any new arrivals.  A large number of Yellow-rumped Warblers had come along with a smattering of Ruby-crowned Kinglets.

Dobson Lane, Richmond & Twin Elm

 April 26, 2022

Peter told us of good birding he had had when hiking as far as possible west on Dobson Lane, so we decided to give it a try.  We parked at the corner of McBean so as to not drive through the huge potholes. When we got to the communication tower, we walked in a saw a Palm Warbler, FOS.

The road got muddier and muddier, but we had been warned, and wore our boots.

There were lots of birds singing, mostly Song Sparrows.  But we also saw some Ruby-crowned Kinglets and White-throated Sparrows.

At the end, there was a huge pond, so we could go no further.  We flushed a couple of American Bitterns and a Red-tailed Hawk.  We heard many Wilson's Snipes winnowing, but did not see any.  We met a lady walking her dog who told us that she lived at the white house at the corner of McBean.  She said that they had three pairs of bluebirds at their many houses.  But we did not see any of them upon our return.

Peter emailed that there were owlets visible at the GHOW nest, so we hurried over.  We are fortunate that Peter lets us view this owl on private land.  He does not want the location disclosed.   When we got there, the mother was back on the nest, the male flushed and no babies were in sight.  We'll have to try again another day.

There had been some good sightings at Twin Elm, so we stopped by on the way home.  The Rustys and Teals had left, but a Solitary Sandpiper was still present.

We walked the road looking in vain for Rusty Blackbirds, but we did spot a few warblers.

We crossed over the Jock and started for home, but Barbara called out STOP.  She had spotted an Osprey right by the roadside with a fish it had caught.

We were kind of pooped from our long hike, but were well satisfied with our morning's sightings.