Point Pelee Birding in Late October

A good birding friend mentioned to me this past Friday that Sturgeon Creek had incredible shorebirds so I figured I would try my luck on Sunday morning. It was gorgeous out, but my time at this pleasant pelee peninsula was brief.

Before entering the park, I stopped by the Hillman Bridge, which gave looks at Cormorants, Herons and Egrets but nothing too noteworthy. An Eastern Bluebird along with some yellow rumped warblers caught my eye at a residence near the marsh.

The promised shorebird show at Sturgeon Creek was decent, but difficult to take in with the eastern sunshine back-lighting the shorebirds. I did see a Sandhill Crane, as well as some Yellowlegs, Killdeer and groups of distant Plovers. Some Dunlin and one Semi-palmated plover were around but I left hoping to go back later during the afternoon sun.

Upon arrival to PPNP, I birded Delaurier trail. I did not see anything out of the ordinary. Lots of Juncos, Kinglets, Sparrows as would be expected. I think I may have even seen Pine Sisken but not too sure on that. I heard a Carolina Wren, but did not really see much. As I approached the Delaurier parking lot, I heard a bird singing its heart out, as I rounded the corner, I discovered that it was a female Purple Finch. It sounded like a red-eyed vireo!

I was thinking while driving home about how a birder could easily set up a chair at the Delaurier Trail on the south side of the parking lot (looking north) and just watch raptors and huge flocks of migrating birds stream by overhead. Buteos and Accipiter Raptors were constantly streaming by! Huge flocks of Crows were in the Onion fields as well as flying overhead.

Broad winged Hawk being mobbed by a Sharp Shinned Hawk

Singing Purple Finch... very cool! I always see females, almost never males of this species.

 Shuster trail was my next and last destination on this short trip. All the seasonal birds that one might expect to see were seen. A nice treat though, was a Winter Wren. Overhead, more raptors were flying overhead, including this nice, low Red-shouldered Hawk.

'Shoulda

Winter Wren scolded me on Shuster Trail

East beach, at the terminus of Shuster Trail gave nice views of a pair of distant Bald Eagles. 

Back at Sturgeon Creek, I tried to scope out any shorebirds that were hopefully front-lit, but nothing too noteworthy. A few plover species.

The Saturday prior  to this trip(Oct 13th), I had birded Pelee with the Ojibway Birding Group and had a chance to see some cool birds. Off the top of my head some birds seen were:

Tip:
Vega Gull
Lesser Black backed Gull
Greater Black Backed Gull
Sanderling
Red breasted Nuthatch (many)
Blackpoll Warblers
Yellow rumped Warblers (many)
Golden & Ruby crowned Kinglets
Carolina Wren (heard)
Brown Creeper
Rafts of Scaup
Horned Grebes
Purple Finch
Northern Flicker (8 or so perched in trees near the tram loop)

Sparrow Field:
Hundreds of Chipping Sparrows
Lincolns' Sparrow
American Pipit
Yellow bellied Sapsucker
Overhead Raptors (Sharp shinned hawks, Coopers Hawk, Merlin)
Perched  Turkey Vulture
Palm Warbler
Indigo Bunting (seen by some)

Good Birding!
Dwaynejava


PS: The latin name for Winter Wren is "Troglodytes Hiemalis"... Troglodyte being a Greek word meaning "Cave Dweller". Hiemalis is latin for Winter. Winter Wrens live in the underbrush in damp, rotting wood thickets. I've had some luck finding them at Shuster Trail in the Spring and Fall, as well as Holiday Beach near the Hawk Watching Tower.

Winter Wren is one of three images that Cornell University's Allaboutbirds.org website is using of mine.

It can be seen at this link:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Winter_Wren/id

Other images they are using include: Golden Eagle, Yellow bellied Sapsucker

I couldn't help but try to recall where I heard the word "troglodytes" before, and I recalled reading the word this summer and not really knowing what it meant. I found the cartoon I had read a while back using a quick google search. It was from a political cartoon in Windsor. So go ahead and incorporate the word "troglodyte" to your vocabulary!

Image Source:
http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2012/06/23/mike-grastons-cartoon-for-june-23-2012/