Wed May 6th 2015 - Pelee Fallout?

This past Wednesday, I decided after work to drive out to Point Pelee after reading the daily report that is sent out through Ontbirds. The report always sound "optimistic" but I could tell by the wording that it was a great day to be out birding.

I birded the park for a humble 3.5 hours - between 3:30-7:00. I parked at White Pine and headed towards Cactus Trail, Chinquapin Trail and the Tildens Footpath and back, ... and I had almost 70 species! To be honest, I'm counting some of the shorebirds seen just outside the park, but still, this is one of my most populous PPNP checklists. Some people who were there all day mentioned that some people had over 100 species! One report that I read (once I got home) was that there were hundreds of American Golden Plovers near Hillman Marsh... I would have loved to have seen that!

At Cactus Field, I ran into a friend who mentioned that an Eastern Whip Poor Will was seen along Tildens Footpath! He then proceeded to point out a Northern Parula which was just meters away from where we were standing. 

One amazing bird that I saw near the Whip was a Golden winged Warbler that JB pointed out to me. The bird was skulky but it moved along the Tildens footpath and at one point, the Golden Winged Warbler was right next to the Whip! I tried to take a photo just to document the two birds in the same frame ... A Cape May Warbler was foraging in a tree just meters above the Golden winged!

This is my first Golden winged Warbler at Pelee! Looks like a female

Lots of Thrush species around - Robins, Veery and Wood Thrush filled the air with song. To end off the night I went back to my car at White Pine to have some birders point out another Cape May, Blue headed Vireo and a Prairie Warbler at very close range, and in beautiful golden sunlight. 

One of my favorite birds - a Prairie Warbler at White Pine. 

The Tiger Warbler - I have gone many spring migrations without seeing this beauty...

My first Northbound Orange-crowned Warbler

I stopped by Delaurier on the way out as I heard there was another Kentucky Warbler spotted. I was unable to spot this elusive warbler but a woman pointed out this Orange crowned Warbler!

A great evening of birding for sure. Great birds and great people!

Good birding,

Dwayne

PS: Summer Tanager and Eared Grebe from last weekend!

Birding Pointe Mouillee on Lake Erie's West Shore

The famous "Cell 3" at Pointe Mouillee. A great place to view shorebirds!

For the last three or so years, I've tried to do some shorebirding in late August at Pointe Mouillee (pronounced "puent moi-yee" - French for wet point) in Rockwood Michigan. I've had some awesome shorebirds here in the past... Marbled Godwits, Red Knots, Buff breasted Sandpipers and Phalaropes. Its about 30 minutes south of Detroit but right across the river from Amherstburg [Google Map, Gov Site, Gov Map].

This huge 4000 acre wetland has a man-made dyke that the US Army Engineers are using to store contaminated sediment from the Rouge River. I've learnt from experience that if you go, you need to bring a bike, water, granola, hats... Be prepared for a rigorous journey, because you are biking like 4 Miles (6.5KMs). I find that even with hat, water and snacks, I somehow get heat stroke when I go, but maybe I'm just out of shape!

Snowy Egrets at Pointe Mouillee

A recent trip gave looks at some pretty good birds. Some highlights were 5 Snowy Egrets, 1 American Avocet, 3 Wilsons Phalarope, 4 Red necked Phalaropes, 1 Black bellied Plover, 1 White rumped Sandpiper, 10 Stilt Sandpipers, 2-3 Probably LBDs (no LLBs) ... I think I saw over 50 species on this trip!

Wilsons & Red Necked Phalaropes at Pointe Mouillee

Stilt Sandpiper at Pointe Mouillee

Avocet, Wilsons Phalarope & White rumped Sandpiper at Pointe Mouillee

Grebes and Coots at Pointe Mouillee

A birder that I met out there asked me if I use E-bird, and I replied... "I want to"... Its just so daunting. I must have seen over 50 species though!

I will try to bird Pelee on Labour Day weekend, and then frequent the Holiday Beach Migration Observatory heavily during the fall. I also have 5-6 bird postings on the back burner. I'm just really busy right now with work and night school. Stay tuned!

Good birding!
Dwaynejava

Budding Birder

PS: I missed the Wheatley Brown Pelican, as I waited till Saturday morning to go see it (work). My son & I, along with Jeremy Bensette tried for it but found out it had gone back to Cleveland!

Curve-tailed Bush Katydid (Point Pelee)

After Work Avocet at Hillman Marsh

After work today, I stopped by Hillman Marsh in hopes of getting a look at some shorebirds at a location I had never even heard of... Couture Dyke in the Northeast corner of Hillman Marsh. Josh Vandermeulen had found an American Avocet (along with a Yellow crowned night Heron) three days ago, and posted its presence on Ontbirds. Oddly enough, Josh was walking the dyke when I arrived on site, and I joined him on the long walk out to the Avocet's location.

View Larger Map

While walking the dyke, I noticed a nice female Bronze Copper. I thought I was very lucky to see this butterfly again, but to my amazement, I saw 40 or more of these butterflies! They are abundant on the Hillman Marsh dykes! Viceroy, Monarch, Fiery Skippers, Eastern Tailed Blue, Grey Hairstreak, Checkered Skipper were all very present as well.

Every few steps, Leopard Frogs jumped out of our path as we walked the dyke.

Leopard Frog - Taken at Hillman (from kayak) on a previos date.

Last Weekend...
Other birds seen last weekend at Hillman include abundant shorebirds such as Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Green and Black crowned night Herons. Richard Carr pointed out a Sora foraging along a distant edge of reeds. Belted Kingfisher flew in from somewhere and perched very close giving nice looks as well.

Stilt Sandpipers

 

Foraging Sora. White balance in this photo is not very good... Sora about that.

 

Just driving around Essex Co this last week, I've seen hawks and falcons:

 

Juvi Red Shouldered Hawk?

Good birding!
Dwayne

American Avocet in Leamington

While driving on hwy #3 today, I noticed a large shorebird in a newly excavated area in field about 400m west of Talbot Rd East in Leamington.  I stopped to check it out and wow... American Avocet. I wanted to high-five somebody when I saw this bird, but I was by myself on the shoulder of highway three... lol.



I think this is a female Avocet. Female Avocets have a sharp curve near the last 1/3rd of their bills, as opposed to males that have an upward curve through the whole bill. Any thoughts?

It was a tricky day for photography, every 5 minutes it went from being sunny and bright to cloudy and dark. I found myself constantly switching my white balance from cloudy to sunny, then ISO from 200 <-->800. I've never worked so hard to take a photo of a bird! These Avocet photos are not that great, but at least they are diagnostic.

More on the American Avocet : http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Avocet/lifehistory.


I went on to look at Hillman Marsh which had many Egrets and Herons, but not much else of interest. The shorebird cell is completely dry. I can't understand why the shorebird cell is dry with major migration taking place in August and September. Does it cost ERCA money to flood this field?

***

Earlier on in the day, I visited Tilbury S.L., which had a good assortment of shorebirds... Nothing new though.

Some included...

Long billed Dowitcher
Short billed Dowitcher
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper

Good Birding!
Dwaynejava

Lifer Summary:
Lesser Black Backed Gull (correction, never counted #276)
Semipalmated Plover (Correction, never counted #277)
American Avocet #278