Kayaking Rondeau & Merlins in St Thomas

 I kayaked Rondeau this morning, starting at the entrance gate parking lot along the marsh edge well past the tower and back. With respect to birding, I'm surprised that I saw so little! I saw the expected birds, RWB, Swallows and Spotted Sandpipers. It was nice weather out, but a little windy. I hardly needed to paddle on the way back. One thing I noticed was a 1-4 meter edge of soap scum along the waters edge along the shore. I can't help but think that although it may not be toxic, birds that look for fish at water's edge can't do that with 4 meters of soap scum. Just saying.

I biked a few KM's of the Marsh trail, walked the Spicebush trail and visited the nature center. ... Nothing too exciting to report! The Marsh trail was covered with butterflies. Particularly Red Admiral, Question Mark, Monarch, Red Spotted Purple, and the odd Giant Swallowtail.

Later, I drove up to Port Stanley to meet a few friends at the beach, but also, I wanted to stop by a man's home who reported Merlin Fledglings in his backyard. So, I emailed this man who posted to ONTBIRDS and he invited me to visit his yard. I used GPS to get from Rondeau to St Thomas. I took Talbot Trail, which I previously did not know about. What did people do before GPS?

Upon arrival, I did not see the Merlins, but then , moments later, I heard the siren-like screach they make. It's amazing how similar they sound and behave to Peregrine Falcons!  I must have took 200+ photos but only a few good ones came out.  Below I post a few:

Good Birding,
Dwayne