A couple of nice spring days at Rondeau Park

 

We had a few very warm days recently, so got our van out and spent a couple of days at Rondeau Provincial Park. We have camped here many times over the years, mostly in the spring enjoying spring bird migrations, like the small warblers.

Unfortunately we were a bit early for the warbler migrations. Apparently a few have arrived, but mid-May is usually the peak. We enjoyed the stay anyway, a couple of beautiful days.

Birding is very popular in Rondeau, especially in the spring. Many bird species migrate north across Lake Erie, then spend some time at Rondeau feeding and resting.

Some different housing tailored to Purple Martins:

Rondeau is a lovely wooded park, a peninsula really, situated between lake Erie and Rondeau Bay. Lots of hiking trails and wooded roadways, and gorgeous sunsets.

A campground road. Our van is just visible through the trees.

There are many large old trees in the park, some needing a hug

No public vehicles allowed on this roadway/path

No public cars on this road either

I remember my parents hunting morel mushrooms when I was a kid. I was a picky eater when young though, and don't remember ever sampling this spring delicacy. 

When we saw several healthy-looking specimens here though, we decided to pick a few and cook them up, after double-checking identification and how to clean and prepare them (simply saute with some butter).

Easy to identify, only about 2 inches tall, and hollow

No ill effects afterwards, so apparently we did it right, and they were quite tasty.

 

We did a lot of hiking on the one full day we had there, likely about 7km or more. That's a lot for us these days, and we sure felt it the next day. 

Rotting logs are bird favourites, home to much bird food

Lots of woodpeckers in Rondeau, some quite large

Trilliums are flowering

Red trilliums are more rare, and this was a beauty

 

We're not sure what this delicate flower is, about the diameter of a loonie

Lots of watery area and fallen trees, good for bugs for the birds

We did see some wildlife too:

A catbird I think

There were a number of cardinals around, a bit camera-shy though

This rabbit thought it was invisible

No idea what kind of tree this is

I wonder how old it is?

There are a number of cottages around the shoreline, with views like this:

 

Something unusual for us to see, a couple of fellows were practising their kite surfing out on Rondeau Bay. The Bay is ideal for this as it's not much more than waist deep where they were practising, and it's usually windy.

The boards they surf on have a hydrofoil on the bottom, so with enough speed they can soar well above the water. One fellow did earlier, but I wasn't there in time to video it:

One serious surfer has a trailer for his surf equipment

 

Here's a short video of some of the action. They were not always successful at liftoff, and beaching at the end looked like it could get exciting:

 

And an amazing sunset for our last evening at Rondeau:

We were tempted to stay another night, but decided to head home through the countryside:

Canola fields are ripening already

Likely the largest greenhouse operation we've seen. They sell citrus at a nearby local store too.

A cemetery for the Fields clan, mostly 1850-1860's, an eye-catching arrangement