Holiday Beach Friday September 10 &11th 2010

I stopped by Holiday Beach in Amherstburg after work on Friday, and it was really a nice day for birding! Along with birds, I met the Official hawk counter as well as Sarah R from PPNP.  I was only at Holiday Beach for 2 hours, but I must have seen close to 30 species!!! Some include:

Ruby Crowned Kinglet
Cedar Waxwing
Downy Woodpecker
Blue Grey Gnatcatcher
Red Breasted Nuthatch
Belted Kingfisher
Black Capped Chickadee
Empidonax Flycatcher

Blackburnian Warbler
Black Throated Blue Warbler
Yellow Rumped Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
American Redstart
Common Yellowthroat
Chestnut Sided Wabler

Merlin
American Kestrel
Sharp shinned hawk
Bald Eagle

Some photos from Friday night after work:

Ruby Crowned Kinglet ~  a nice September treat

My first Windsor area RBH since Feb 2010

Blackpoll Warbler (I mis-labeled this as a Cape May)

Oddly enough, my first Yellow Rumped Warbler since May! (this was taken from the top of the tower)

First adult Bald Eagles in a long while (since summer 2009)
LOL ... side note, my wife commented that this photo looks like two dots. They were just a distant flyby.

On the way into the park, at Howard and Highway 20, I found this roost of European Starlings. They have done very well since being released in the late 1800s. They have made life difficult for native cavity nesting birds. Maybe these guys are the reason you see so few Eastern Bluebirds. I wonder if they have ever culled large numbers of these birds?

European Starlings ~ a blight on the landscape

I also returned to Holiday Beach with my family Saturday morning but oddly enough, I did not see many birds today. All the photos above are from Friday night between 4-6pm.

Good birding!
Dwayne