Eastern Bluebird @ Ojibway Prarie Reserve

After work today, I was tempted to drive from Windsor to Wheatley Provincial Park to look at some Trillium flowers... but I thought to myself... 2.5 hours (round-trip) in a car to (maybe) see some Trilliums? I might stop by after my next Pelee visit. Instead I figured I would try to bird the recently 'burned' Ojibway Prarie Reserve. Which is just minutes from where I live. I've tried to bird a little closer to home in the last week, so I've really focused on the Ojibway area. (Black Oaks, Spring-Garden, Ojibway Prarie, and Ojibway itself.


Well, for the third time in my life, I saw a pair of Eastern Bluebirds. Its funny, I thought to myself... there are thousands of Robins, Hundreds of Grackles, Brown Headed Cowbirds, countless Starlings... but I only get the pleasure to see this super-shy bird just once or twice in my one year of birding. Doesn't that suck? You see thousands of these other birds, then... one rare gem. It dawned on me though that maybe its that rareness that makes them special. Maybe if there were thousands of EB's and you saw a Robin, you would be blown away by seeing the Robin.

Oddly enough, I saw this bird Jan 7, 2010 in basically the same spot of the park! The other time I saw EB's was in Florida, in Everglades National Park oddly enough.


I think I saw some Clay-Colored Sparrows, but my birding resource, www.allaboutbirds.org does not list that bird?!?!? So I'm not too sure.

I heard some American Woodcock. I saw for the 4th consecutive nature walk an Eastern Towhee... I've seen these so much, I've stopped taking photos!!! Incredible. One year of birding, no Towhee, the last 1.5 weeks, 4 Towhees in 4 forests. As I add more birds to my life list, I slowly get to know their calls, their habitat, and you can just see them better.

Click photo for larger view

Ojibway has some really nice habitat. There is part of the Prarie reserve that is forested with huge sloughs and flooded areas. I'm thinking this will be an active spot to bird on work-day afternoons in May.

Happy Birding!
Dwayne