Hillman Marsh Nature Centre near Leamington, Ontario (Location)
The most famous birding area around Leamington, Ontario is Point Pelee National Park. Less well know is the conservation area at nearby Hillman Marsh. The area has been diked so on one side of the dike is open water habitat of the river and on the other side of the dike is the controlled marsh land.
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) – I enjoyed watching quite a battle as the five terns squabbled over the one bit of fish.
Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) chowing down on a bit of vegetation that it had brought to the surface. The muskrat is a semi-aquatic rodent found throughout Canada.
Yellow Warbler on nest (Dendroica petechia)
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)
Carp (likely Tachycineta bicolor sp) spawning in the shallows of the river.
As I was heading back to my campsite along Onion Road I saw this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) just standing in the ditch. Light was quite dim and at first I thought it was plastic (until it flew away :-))
A female Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) and her family swim through the duckweed alongside Onion Road.
