Hudsonian Whimbrel ... at Black Oak Heritage Park?

 

One less butterfly... can anyone id the caterpillar?

I birded Black Oak Herritage park with 2-3 target species today:

Yellow Bellied Flycatcher

Olive sided Flycatcher

Whimbrel

I had been speaking to another birder (black oak) recently saying that hudsonian godwits are common at Pointe Mouillee in late may - which is in Michigan about 20km south of detroit. So ... if whimbrell are 20 km due south of Black oak (which borders the detroit river corridor) could some whimbrel go through the detroit river - up towards lake st clair then up towards lake huron? My birding friend suggested no - they go towards point pelee to lake erie and lake ontario.

 So I was birding at black oak today and it was pretty birdy. Lots of bird song... and lots of leaves! I had a generous look at a mourning warbler, as well as a mid forest butteo hawk which was a broad winged hawk!

Willow Flycatcher

Well - I stood along the detroit river and attempted to do a 10 minute shorebird sit. Nothing of much interest. Then a Willow Flycatcher caught my ear. I was photographing it when I noticed a flock of migrants streaming overhead. After waiting what felt like an eternity, my focus kicked in and I snapped as many photos of this flock of birds as I could. Photograph first - id later!

Well low and behold... your blogger's whimbrel wishes came true. His hypothesis was correct. Whimbrel at pointe mouillee can go towards point pelee as well as use the detroit river corridor to continue migrating north.

I was pretty amazed. Nobody in all the years of ebird had seen whimbrel here until my sighting today.  I feel like I made some onitholgical history. I guess every dog has his day. 

Good birding!

Dwayne

Connecticut warbler sings heart out at Black Oak

Connecticut warbler has eluded my camera for my 12 years of birding. I have some subtle recollections of getting a glimpse of this bird in the past at Pelee's post woods trail. I also feel that I heard its song a few years ago at black oak in west windsor. But today, this morning at about 9am - this bird was singing loudly perhaps 10-15 feet away from me. 

Having just heard Morning (Mourning?) Warblers yesterday and not getting a visual... I knew I had to give my full attention to this bird... and after a few moments, I was able to see it in the vine tangles of a nearby tree. 

I have had some good birding efforts at black oak herritage park. I bird here alot because its quite close to my house.  I have not found the level 5 rarities here  (think Kentucky, scissor tailed flycatcher)... but for the mainstream warblers and migrants, I have had better luck here than at pelee!

I also feel that Ive found so many Harvester butterflies here that there must be a colony! Today I saw three more!

Male Zaboulon Skippers seemed to have emerged today as well as many were seen.

I had a modest 50 species at black oak this morning. My next best bird (*imho*) was a few Canada Warblers.

Summer Tanager was seen early in the morning, and I had "heard it" through merlin but was not able to find it. 

We are entering the later phase of migration. Leaves are out. But we still go out to find these avian migrants because nature is the greatest show on earth. 

Good birding!

Dwayne

Five recent birds - and a butterfly

 

A breeding pair of mockingbirds are showing off at Black Oak as of late.

We are in the midst of a wonderful time of year. To witness bird migration and see it unfold between April and May is pretty amazing. This year, I have not really left Windsor --- with the price of gas I have decided to just stay a little more local. I might treat myself to a trip still to pelee though... who knows.

I typically try to go birdwatching after work - maybe at 4pm. Its not the most ideal time to go... but you take what you can get. 

I could probably list out many birds I've seen but the following made the cut for this posting.

Sunday May 10th - backyard- Orange Crowned Warbler! I turned on merlin and this songster was the first to be ID'ed!

May 10th - Scarlet Tanager along the edge of ojibway park. The road - Broadway st. cuts along the north edge of the ojibway park forest and can be surprisingly good. Its like drive through birding. 

Thursday May 7th - Golden Winged Warbler

Ojibway park (Black oak) was eerily quiet as I walked into the park but a small pocket of wablers gave looks at Cape May warbler, along with some other common warbs. This golden winged was present for a brief moment and boom. I had lost sight of it. It wasnt singing.

Bird #4 - American Woodcock during the day!

This might be the first time I've seen one, during the day-  without instantly flushing, in my many years of birding.

Bird 5 - A bunch of seasonal warblers and vireos: 

Ok - so the butterfly sighting that I mentioned in the title is pretty exciting (in my opinion). On Friday May 8th, after work at 4pm - a friend and I walked into black oak heritage park and we flushed up an orange-brown butterfly. It landed after a moment and to my amazement - it was a Harvester!!! 

I have been a butterfly watcher since 2011 - and never even imagined seeing this species in Windsor! (Ihad seen it once at the pinery many years ago).

Carnivorous Cutie - Harvester Butterfly at Black Oak

Then, the following morning (Saturday).... A second Harvester at a nearby spot!

I was quite amazed at seeing this butterfly again and I had looked closely at both photos and they seem to be two different specimens. I had a chat with chatgpt and it suggested that this sighting is not a migrant, its a local colony! I asked chatgpt about the Alder hostplant and aphids and it suggested that Oak and Hickory have suitable aphids that this butterfly can dine on as well. Both seemed to enjoy the sandy soil pathway... but this is dangerous as many bikers and dog walkers could hurt this little lepodopteric gem.

So  --- I was pretty stoked to find this butterfly and to perhaps come to realize a small colony exists here. I am finding some good birds close to home even though I will likely miss out on the premium rarities that can be found at pelee.  My time and fuel budget are keeping me closer to home this season and I'm ok with that.

Good Birding!

Dwayne

999,998 - 999,999 - 1,000,000 ... Thanks a Million

 

Back in 2009- 2010 I started birding and blogging and enjoying photography and now after 15-16 years.. Im still at it!

Sometime over the last week or so - this blog clicked its millionth view!!! 

To be honest, I think many views are maybe "bots" that scan the web , and some are probably people who might have google imaged a bird species featured on my blog..  but still. Its kinda neat to cross that seven figure threshold.

This morning, (saturday april 18th) I spent a few hours at black oak herrirage park in west windsor. 

I had a surprisingly good morning --- there was a warbler fallout at black oak - close to the detroit river - where I saw betwwen 50-100 breeding plumaged yellow rumped warblers, 10 Pine, 2 Yellow and 2 Nashville warblers. Lots of house wrens were singing. First of season blue grey gnatcatchers.  I noticed as I was leaving that merlin picked up a Baltimore Oriole!

Note: I might be the first person to see a Nashville Warbler in Canada in 2026!

Its fun to look up species for "current year" in the springtime in ebird.

As I write this.. Im tempted to twitch a mega rarity in Leamington - the Bakail Teal? (Sp?) but I have been cheap with my gas expeditures lately!

Lastly, I have been checking my rapberry pi bird sound analyzer which is running 24-7 off my back porch. Nothing too rare has been sensed so far... but one neat thing Ive noticed is that BrownThrashers have been very present this April so far!

Anyway.. Thanks for checking out the old blog... even after 15 years and a million pageviews (mostly bots) later...

Good birding,

Dwayne