American Bittern

 

American Bitterns are medium-sized herons with thick, compact bodies. They have shorter legs and thicker necks than typical herons and a slightly hunched posture. The daggerlike bill is long, straight, and sharply pointed.

American Bitterns are mostly warm brown, buff, and white. They are strongly streaked, especially on the neck, and they can be very hard to see against marsh vegetation.

Bitterns are stealth predators and typically stand motionless as they wait for prey to approach, or stalk it with barely perceptible motions.

Look for American Bitterns in shallow freshwater marshes.
All About Birds

Green Heron

 

There was an influx of Green Herons in Canatara Park yesterday morning. Up to seven Green Herons could be seen at one time, flying across the lake or roosting in trees.

Green Herons are short and stocky, with relatively short legs and thick necks that are often drawn up against their bodies. They have broad, rounded wings and a long, daggerlike bill. They sometimes raise their crown feathers into a short crest.

Green Herons stand motionless at the water’s edge as they hunt for fish and amphibians. They typically stand on vegetation or solid ground, and they don’t wade as often as larger herons.

Green Herons live around wooded ponds, marshes, rivers, reservoirs, and estuaries. 

Cornell All About Birds.

Pine Warbler

 

Pine Warblers have also arrived in our area. These warblers are hefty, long-tailed, and have stout bills.

Pine Warblers usually spend most of their time in pine trees and although insects make up the bulk of their diet, they also feed on fruits and seeds.
( All About Birds )

Lesser Yellowlegs

 

The Lesser Yellowlegs is a slender, medium sized shorebird with long legs and a long neck.

The bill is straight and thin, only slightly longer than the bird’s head.

Lesser Yellowlegs can be found in most wetland habitats ranging from tidal flats to sewage lagoons and flooded fields.

All About Birds

Burrowing Owl

 

On our first owl prowl to Florida, I was worried that perhaps we would dip on the Burrowing Owl. I needn’t have worried. We found dozens of owls everywhere. From parks and pastures to libraries, industrial areas, subdivisions, and in the middle of baseball fields.

Burrowing Owls are small, sandy coloured owls with long legs and bright yellow eyes.

They live in underground burrows they’ve either dug themselves or taken over from prairie dogs, ground squirrels or tortoises.

Unlike most owl species, Burrowing Owl sexes are the same size or the male is slightly larger.

They live in grasslands, deserts, and open habitats, where they hunt mainly insects and rodents.

We have been fortunate to observe not only the Florida Burrowing Owls but also the Burrowing Owls from the western side of North America in Utah and Arizona.

We had hiked all over the place looking for Burrowing Owls at this particular spot only to return and have one sitting in a tree directly over our camper. 

Palm Warbler

 

Warblers have started to arrive here in Lambton County. Yellow-rumped Warbler, usually the first to arrive, arrived about ten days ago. Followed closely by Pine Warblers. Yesterday we found our first Palm Warbler in Canatara.

Distinguishable by it’s rufous crown and tail pumping action the Palm Warbler can be found in grassy or weedy areas.

There are two versions in our area. The Brown western version and the Yellow eastern version which has a beautiful yellow belly.

Yesterday we found a beautiful Yellow version.

Palm Warbler – Yellow

Palm Warbler – Brown

Long-billed Curlew

 

I can still remember the excitement of photographing my first Long-billed Curlew. We were on an owl prowl on Antelope Island in Utah near Salt Lake City and were fortunate to be there during shorebird migration.

The Long-billed Curlew is a large, long-legged shorebird with a very long, curved bill that it uses to forage for earthworms, shrimp, and crabs in soft mud.

They breed in areas with sparse, short grasses, including grass prairies and agricultural fields. All About Birds.

Dunlin

Dunlin is another shorebird that goes through quite a transition into mating plumage

A chunky, small shorebird with medium-length legs, a short neck, and a long bill that is curved toward the tip.

Nonbreeding adults, which we observe on the Florida Panhandle, have grayish brown upperparts, head, and breast, and are pale below

Breeding adults have a bright rusty back and crown, black belly patch, and white underparts.

Dunlin walk slowly while probing in the mud.

They breed in the wet tundra and winter in coastal lagoons.

Marbled Godwit

 

Probably my favourite shore bird, the Marbled Godwit has beautiful barring of brown, white and cinnamon. They have an extremely long, slightly upturned, bicoloured bill that probes into sand or mud for aquatic invertebrates.

Marbled Godwit breed in shortgrass prairies near wetlands but during migration are found on mud flats, beaches and wetlands.

We enjoy immensely observing them on isolated beaches of the Florida Panhandle every year, sometimes numbering twenty or so in a flock, moving along the shoreline with the tide. We also have observe Marbled Godwits right here in Lambton county during migration.

Snapping Turtle

 

In celebration of Earth Day.

The prehistoric looking Snapping Turtle is the largest freshwater turtle in Canada.

They inhabit almost any freshwater habitat including small wetlands, ponds and ditches.

In Ontario females do not begin to breed until they are 17 to 19 years old and a single clutch usually consists of between 40 and 50 eggs in a sandy soil nest.

They feed on various aquatic plants and invertebrates, as well as fish, frogs, snakes, and aquatic birds.

Adult Snapping Turtles have few natural enemies and adults normally live up to 70 years in the wild. ( Ontario Nature )

We have had many encounters with snapping turtles on our hikes and canoe trips through the years and have been fortunate to observe mating a half dozen times. This image is from Canatara Park, Sarnia.

I always loved this image. I loved that it made you look closely to see what it was all about, the reflections, the soft colours, and that it was nature, pure and simple. 

Red Knot

 

Red Knots occur on all continents except Antarctica and migrate exceptionally long distances from the High Arctic to wintering spots in southern South America, Africa and Australia.

Their numbers have declined in North America in recent decades owing in part to unsustainable harvest of horseshoe crab eggs. All About Birds.

Look for Red Knots on sandy beaches.

Red Knots are plump sandpipers that turn from a non descript bland grey into a stunningly beautiful shorebird in the mating season.

I catch the lazy ones on the beach at Cape San Blas Florida in late February.

Northern Map Turtle

 

The Northern Map Turtle is a species of “special concern”.

The Northern Map Turtle gets its name from the lines on the carapace that resemble the lines on a topographical map. Both the head and legs also have an intricate pattern of bright yellow lines.

Female Northern Map Turtles may take more than 10 years to reach maturity.

They nest from June through July and a single clutch may contain between 10 to 17 eggs. The eggs hatch in the fall and in some cases the hatchlings overwinter in the nest.

 ( Ontario Nature )

Blanding's Turtle

 

The Blanding’s Turtle is a is a medium sized turtle that is easily identifies by its bright yellow throat and chin. Also distinguished by its domed shell that resembles an army helmet.

Blanding’s Turtles usually live in large wetlands and shallow lakes with lots of water plants.

Not endangered but they are considered threatened.

Like most turtles they hibernate in the mud at the bottom of water bodies from late October till April.

The Blanding’s Turtle is found in the Great Lakes Basin and in isolated areas elsewhere in Canada and the United States.

When we purchased a truck camper for our pickup truck back in 2010 I knew right away we had to name it Terrapin. We removed all the manufacture logos and had a special decal with the name and the image of a terrapin modelled after the rock carvings at Petroglyphs Provincial Park.

Petroglyphs Provincial Park is a historical class Provincial Park that has the largest collection of ancient First Nations rock carvings in Ontario. The carvings were created in the pre-Columbian era and represent aspects of First Nations spirituality.

In addition, the idea that the camper fit on the back of our pickup and was our home fit with the image of the turtle. See below.

This image was taken in Canatara Park May 2014.

This image was taken in Canatara Park May 2020

This image was taken on Pelee Island May 2016

This image was taken at Hillman Marsh June 2016

This image was taken in Killbear Provincial Park June 2010

We were in Yellowstone to photograph grizzly bear and wolves and had spent a few days in the Lamar Valley. The road to Hayden Valley opened on this day and we were the fourth vehicle through the Hayden Valley that spring. We could have been first except for a couple of sleepy heads that day. We had our grand daughter River with us on that trip. We had taken her out of school for three weeks in grade 8 to travel through Yellowstone and hike in Utah.

An image River got that day of a Grizzly ripping apart a Bison that had frozen in the Yellowstone River.

Barn Swallow

 

The Barn Swallow is the most abundant and widespread swallow species in the world.

Barn Swallows dart gracefully fields and open water in search of flying insects.

They have a long deeply forked tail that sets it apart from other North American swallows.

An interesting fact.

It was the millinery trade’s impact on Barn Swallows that prompted naturalist George Bird Grinnell’s 1886 Forest & Stream editorial decrying the waste of bird life that led to the first Audubon Society.  All About Birds

Cliff Swallow

 

Cliff Swallows make their mud nests under horizontal overhangs and usually nest in colonies.

Sometimes a Cliff Swallow will lay eggs in another swallow’s nest.

The oldest recorded Cliff Swallow was a male that was at least 11 years 10 months old when he was recaptured in California in 2004. Originally banded in Nebraska in 1993.

All About Birds

Bank Swallow

 

The Bank Swallow has a chunky body, large head, relatively short pointed wings, and a slightly forked tail.

Bank Swallows breed in open lowland areas near water.