Wow, what a great morning at Point Pelee! I showed up at about 8AM (on Easter Monday). The first thing I noticed was three giant turkeys crossing the road about 50m after the entrance. I stopped by the sanctuary pond lookout but only saw a few Canada Geese and Wood Ducks in the far distance. I stopped at a few west side beaches but did not see much. Finally, I arrived in the old homestead parkinglot and much to my surprise, I saw several Northern Flickers just taking their time rummaging thought the grassy edges of the parking lots!
Then, I noticed a photographer off to the west end of the parking lot so I joined him. He was eyeing an Eastern Towhee and sure enough... Lifer! (click any of the photos to see a larger version of the image)
Major birds I saw today were Yellow Bellied Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, Red Breasted Merganser (lifer), Eastern Pheobe, Eastern Towhee (lifer), I even photographed what I think might be a little gull (lifer)..... Overall, a great day! Perfect temperature, great sunlight.
I need not mention the bazzillion Grackels, Starlings and Robins.
Wow, is this a Little Gull in this photo above? (actually... probably a Bonaparte's Gull)
Happy Birding, April and May seem like they are going to be wonderful months for birding!
Very nice photos!
ReplyDeleteLifers are always exciting.
Red-breasted Mergansers are common right now. There were over a thousand at Rondeau yesterday. Last fall we counted over 50,000 going by Point Pelee Tip in about 3hours!
Lifers will come fast and furious now.
Thanks Blake,
ReplyDeleteI shot several hundred photos, and only posted the most interesting 6 or so. They were bound to be good.
It's funny though, the RB Mergansers I saw were all about 80+ meters off the shore, but I surprized three while I was waiting for the Point Pelee shuttle. I just walked over to the west side area where you can park and they were right there. They slowly drifted 10m, 15m and so on but never flew away.