Little Blue Heron

Well, I haven't had a lot of time recently for birding or blogging however a really cool bird showed up in Lambton County recently. An immature Little Blue Heron, perhaps the first ever recorded in our county, was observed in a local marsh area. This bird drew the attention of many local birders as a chance to add it to their Lambton County bird list. With a little patience, some wading, and a fallen tree as a blind the bird allowed for some excellent photo ops.

We have previously observed many Little Blue Herons in places like Florida and Cuba as well as the Caribbean.

Little Blue Herons nest and forage in many kinds of wetlands, including swamps, marshes, ponds, streams, lagoons, tidal flats, canals, ditches, fish hatcheries, and flooded fields.

Ireland trip blog

 

Back in August of 2019 we toured around Ireland for two weeks with our son and his family in small camper vans. It was a great adventure, with lots of great food and scenery, and I thought long overdue for a post.

 Here is an image of our campervan at a campsite along the wild Atlantic coast.

The Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary is not strictly a castle, but a spectacular collection of medieval and ecclesiastical ruins on a dramatic limestone outcrop.

Legend says St. Patrick converted King Aenghus here in the 5th century and Brian Boru was crowned High King here in 978.

Dunluce Castle, in the image below, is a now-ruined medieval castle in Northern Ireland, the seat of Clan MacQuillan. It is located on the edge of a basalt outcropping in County Antrim, and is accessible via a bridge connecting it to the mainland. Dunluce is considered one of the most picturesque and romantic of Irish Castles.

One of Ireland’s favourite visitor experiences, the Cliffs of Moher tower over the rugged west Clare coast. You can walk the safe, paved pathways and view the famous Cliffs on Europe’s western frontier and enjoy the spectacular vistas over the Atlantic Ocean and the Aran Islands.

Their natural beauty has inspired artists, musicians, and poets for generations, as well as absorbing scientists and geologists, drawn by the unique landscape in which they sit. The Cliffs of Moher are the most famous cliffs in Ireland.

The Galway Hooker is a traditional wooden sailing workboat that originated in the Claddagh village and is famous for its dark black hull and rust-red sails. Developed after 1790, these boats carried turf, limestone, seaweed manure, and livestock across Galway Bay and supported a busy fishing trade.

The iconic brownish-maroon sails get their color from "barking," a treatment using a mixture of tree bark, tar, and butter to stop rot. The hull was built with a flat bottom and a curved shape, allowing the boat to rest easily against a pier when the tide goes out.

My personal favourite view point of our trip was the Slieve League Cliffs. The Slieve League Cliffs in County Donegal, Ireland, rise 601 meters (1,972 feet) above the Atlantic Ocean, making them some of the highest sea cliffs in Europe and are nearly three times the height of the famous Cliffs of Moher.

                                   Some images along the wild Atlantic way coastline.

                                                  Killarney National Park drive.

Some images of the roads along the coastal area of Ireland. These are all two way traffic roadways. So not only are you driving on the wrong side of the road, with the gear shift also on the wrong side, but you have to carefully navigate some pretty narrow passages. And even when you get two lanes there are other obstacles to navigate. Needless to say neither my son nor myself got our deposits back!

Cushendun is a small coastal village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits off the A2 coast road between Cushendall and Ballycastle. It has a sheltered harbour and lies at the mouth of the River Dun and Glendun, one of the nine Glens of Antrim.

Cushendall is a coastal village and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is located in the historic barony of Glenarm Lower and the civil parish of Layd, and is part of Causeway Coast and Glens district. While camping along the coast near Cushendall we got to experience a game of Hurling between teenagers of two local towns. It was a very thrilling and exciting game. Hurling is Ireland's ancient national field sport, widely recognized as the fastest field game in the world. And of course my son, grandson and myself all bought hurling sticks to bring home.

It was extremely cool to stop and listen to this young lad entertain us with some banjo tunes.

The European Robin, known simply as the Robin or Robin Redbreast in the British Isles, is a small insectivorous passerine bird belonging to the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is found across Europe, as far east as Western Siberia, and as far south as North Africa.

The Robin is found in a wide range of wooded habitats, including forests, gardens, hedges in farmland, and heathland, usually fairly near cover and hops perkily on the ground, pausing to look around, often flicking its wings and cocking its tail. Also feeds by dropping to the ground from low perches, snatching up prey and flying back up to a shady perch.

The Rook is a large, glossy black crow. The adult is easily passed off as another crow species unless you see the diagnostic pale patch at the base of the bill. They inhabit farmland and other semiopen areas with hedges and groups of tall trees, where they nest in rookeries. Rook forages on the ground, usually in flocks, and associates readily with crows and jackdaws.

Although definitely not a birding trip we did manage to observe some local birds in our travels. In all we did manage to observe 21 new lifer birds.

                                                                         The End

Nutria or Not

 

Well, we had a rather interesting observation while birding at The Pinery recently. While I was photographing birds a lady hurriedly approached me and was frantic about me getting an image of this creature in the water, which I assumed to be a Muskrat. She insisted and was adamant that it was a Nutria, something I’d never heard of. We realized that this indeed was very large for a Muskrat and had an enormously long round tail (there is even more tail under the water in my image) and that it definitely was not a Beaver. Personally, I was extremely skeptical until we questioned Pinery staff which, to my surprise, had very mixed reactions from like us skeptic to yes, it’s possible. They asked me to send in all my images, which I have done. When I posted on iNaturalist all replies were Muskrat. However, it got me curious, and here is some info on this incredibly invasive species which was brought to North America for its fur, is all over the United States apparently and has just started to invade Canada, especially in British Columbia.

The Nutria is a large, invasive, semi-aquatic rodent that resembles a beaver or muskrat and originates from South America. They typically inhabit areas adjacent to bodies of water but can adapt to a variety of habitats. They are most active from dawn until dusk but can be seen at any time of the day. Female nutria are highly reproductive, capable of giving birth multiple times in a single year. Beyond their native range, there are no natural forms of population control, allowing nutria populations to establish and grow rapidly. They are voracious herbivores, known for clearing areas of their vegetation before migrating. Coupled with their proficiency in traveling both on land and in water, nutria pose a significant threat to the environment, particularly wetlands. They serve as vectors for a number of pathogens and parasites that are harmful to humans and livestock.

Nutria measure approximately two feet in length and weigh between 15-20 pounds, with males being slightly larger than females. Upon first impression, they closely resemble and are often mistaken for beaver or muskrat. Nutria, however, are smaller than beaver but larger than muskrat. They have a large head, dark-brown fur, and solid body that often appears hump-backed when on land. Their eyes, ears, and nostrils are located higher up on their heads allowing them to remain above the waterline while swimming. The females’ four mammary glands, situated on either side of their body, supposedly facilitate a similar function, allowing their young’s noses to remain above the water’s surface while they feed. Their hind feet are partially webbed, making them highly effective swimmers.

Nutria have relatively large front teeth that are typically yellow or orange in colour. They have long white whiskers that protrude from both sides of their nose and are noticeable from far away. Their tails are large and rat-like in appearance, measuring up to 45 cm (17.7 inches) and containing thin bristly hairs on the surface. Comparing the nutria tail to the flattened, broad tails of beavers and the thinly flattened tails of muskrats effectively distinguishes them from one another.

All information here was garnered from the Invasive Species Center website.

Killbear 2026 birds

 

Killbear, as usual, was extremely good for birding the first three weeks of June. There is always a great variety of birds, all down low busy feeding on the local insect population. As usual, for the first couple of hours early every morning I rode my bike around to my favourite birding haunts. Most mornings I’d end up with an eBird list around 40-60 species. Here are the first images of some of the birds encountered.

                                                    Yellow-throated Vireo

                                                       Chestnut-sided Warbler

                                                           Least Flycatcher

                                                    Red-headed Woodpecker

                                                    Northern Yellow Warbler

                                                       Black and White Warbler

                                                        Pileated Woodpecker

                                                            Northern Flicker

A distant image of a Black-crowned Night-Heron. The last couple of years I've observed. and reported, a BCNH in one of the ponds at Killbear Provincial Park to which I got the distinct feeling that the local eBird moderator was skeptical. However this year I was finally able to capture this image. BCNH nest way out in Georgian Bay on the Limestone Islands and the OFO yearly runs trips out to the islands to observe them and the terns that nest there. After I posted this image on my eBird report local birders were showing up early the next morning trying to locate the bird. I was unable to attend the OFO trip this year but plan on making the trip next year. Through canoe trips and sailing I have been to many of the islands, including the Mink, McCoy, Franklin, the Pancakes and Snake Islands, but never made it out to the Limestones.

Killbear 2026

Well, we have just returned home from our annual Killbear Provincial Park camping trip. It was a great time as 3 of the 4 kids, our daughter in law Theresa, and 5 grandkids all made it up. We had our usual four sites right on Georgian Bay and thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

I always enjoy birding there this time of year as the park has everything from a great selection of warblers and woodpeckers, bittern, night herons, a heron rookery that had 12 nests this year and was very active, loons and of course lots of Barred Owls.

Our granddaughter Evelynn came back from biking and excitedly announced she had discovered a mother Red Fox and 5 pups. So off we took and these shots were taken as we just sat and watched the pups playfully wrestle around.

Our grandson Ben also had an incredible experience with a pair of loons. While he was out swimming, maybe 50 yards off shore, a pair of loons swam by busy fishing. They didn’t flush and as he just stood still, they continued diving and swimming all around him maybe 15 feet away for an extended period of time. Very cool indeed.

Marthaville Pasture walk

This week I had another excellent walk along one of my favourite pastures. According to my images I’ve only been walking this pasture going back 10 years. Todays walk was extra special as I had the opportunity to discuss the pasture with the local cattle rancher. It was very interesting to listen to his stories in regards to soil and water conditions as to how they relate to his cattle.

The pasture showing the cattle rancher and the students gathering stool samples from the cattle.

A little later a research group of three students from Guelph University arrived. These students were majoring in microbiology and were there to analyze the water and soil as well as the cattle. All in all, a very interesting time and I’m glad they included me in discussing their work.

No images of Upland Sandpipers on fence posts today so this is a reworked image from a decade ago.

Today, on my third pass walking along the roadway, I was able to locate three Upland Sandpipers that were all on the ground.

The pasture always has other favourite birds like Bobolink and Meadowlark.

An image I just couldn’t pass up.

Dow Wetlands Birding

 

Interestingly Clay-colored Sparrow young leave the nest before they can fly. They hop to the ground from their nest in a shrub and run an average of 40 feet to seek cover in a thicket, where their parents will continue to feed them. They won’t fly for the first time for another 6 to 8 days. Cornell All About Birds

Sedge Wrens forage low in vegetation or on the ground, where they are difficult to see. They probe for insects at the bases of plants or in the soil, using their fine bills and strong legs. Males sing on territories, sometimes from exposed perches near the tops of bushes but often from hidden perches. Cornell All About Birds

Northern Cardinal

 

I know that Northern Cardinals are very common in our area however I absolutely love this image for it’s colouring, sharpness and texture. Because it was taken on an overcast dreary day I believe it really helped the image stand out.

Wood Thrush

The Wood Thrush has a pot-bellied body, short tail, straight bill, big head, and upright posture. Definitely one of my favourite calls in the forest early morning.

Wood Thrushes are warm reddish-brown above and white with bold black spots on their underparts. Juveniles show a somewhat muted version of the same pattern. All have a bold, white eyering.

I love this image as it shows the bold black spots, the pot belly, the straight bill and upright posture as well as the beautiful reddish brown colouring.

The reclusive Wood Thrush hops through leaf litter on the forest floor, probing for insects, bobbing upright between spurts of digging and leaf-turning. The male's clear, flute-like song echoes through the forest in spring and early summer, and both sexes make distinctive, machine-gun-like alarm notes.

The Wood Thrush breeds in deciduous and mixed forests in the eastern U.S. where there are large trees, moderate understory, shade, and abundant leaf litter for foraging. They winter in lowland tropical forests in Central America. Cornell All About Birds

Orchard Oriole

 

The Orchard Oriole swaps the typical flame-orange of other orioles for a deep, burnished russet. Hopping among riverine shrubs or scattered trees, male Orchard Orioles sing a whistled, chattering song to attract yellow-green females. The smallest of North America’s orioles, it gleans insects from foliage and builds hanging, pouchlike nests during its brief breeding season, and then heads back to Central America for the rest of the year. Orchard Orioles also feed on fruit and nectar in orchards, gardens, and elsewhere.

I was able to capture this image of an Orchard Oriole at Wawanosh Wetlands recently.

Orchard Orioles migrate north late in the spring and head southward early, with some returning to their wintering grounds as early as mid-July. Because of the short breeding season, researchers have trouble distinguishing between breeding orioles and migrating ones in any given location. Cornell All About Birds