A DAY OF BIRDING IN POINT PELEE

Many sparrows, such as this Song Sparrow, are on the move now in southwestern Ontario. Photo by Marianne Balkwill

I haven't posted for a while now, so I'll make a quick post of some birding in Pelee today.

I went down to the tip this morning hoping that the prediction of southwest winds would stay true. Unfortunately, the winds were mainly west. It was also rather warm, too warm for the species I wanted to see, such as Sabine's Gull or any species of Jaegers. In fact, I maybe saw only 20 Boniparte's Gulls and they didn't seem to be in any hurry to migrate. Species I saw at the tip included 2 Common Loons, 2 Horned Grebes, 1 fly-by White-winged Scoter and of course Scaups and Surf Scoters, Red-breasted Mergansers, Double-creasted Cormorants, Ring-billed and Herrring Gull, along with 1 Great Black-backed Gull.

Walking back north, from the tip I noticed the Sharpies continued to terrorize the passerines around the tip, which included White-throated Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Song Sparrows, and one Field Sparrow near the parking lot. Passerines flying over included migrating Red-winged Blackbirds, Tree Swallow and American Goldfinches.

I tried my luck next at the the Delauriar parking lot. There were fewer sparrows than I had hoped but I saw Song Sparrow, and about 10 Dark-eyed Juncos, and 2 Phoebes. Pishing brought out more White-throated Sparrow, Downy Woodpecker, Yellow-rumped Warbler and the ever present Eastern Towhees.

Driving along the North Dyke and onto Mersea Road 19 seemed more active than in the park with plenty of Yellow-rumped Warbler, White-crowned Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Junco, Red-winged Blackbirds, both species of Kinglet, Phoebes, 2 male House Finches, and even a Ruby-throated Hummingbird along the ditch banks. The onion fields themselves were not as bountiful in the bird department, with just some Killdeer, American Pipits and Horned Larks.

Not much of a hawk flight from where I was at today.

Along a laneway off of Mersea Road 12, I had 12 Eastern Bluebirds, and 3 more Yellow-rumped Warblers.

I ran into Karl Overman, and he said he had both Hudsonian and Marbled Godwit behind the Pelee Days Inn but he couldn't see them from the platform. I didn't have the proper footwear to go into the Phragmities to go looking for them. From the platform I did catch a glimpse of some other shorebirds including 14 Dunlin, 5 Greater Yellowlegs, and a Killdeer.

I guess the most exciting thing that did happen today is that I got a new pair of Binoculars. I finally purchased a pair of 10X42 Elites.