Major Birding... nuff said!

I went a little overboard birding today. I covered several locations in Essex and Chatham-Kent. I will leave the birding/location lists below. One highlight was that I officially saw/heard/photographed a Marsh Wren (lifer). I swear I've heard this on many occasions, maybe even seen a brown bird disappear in a flash. But today, I finally got a Marsh Wren, even in its classic split leg pose on two seperate reeds.

St Clair NWA
Double Crested Cormorant
Belted Kingfisher
Least Bittern
Marsh Wren (lifer)
Yellow Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Common Grackel
Red Winged Blackbird
Black Tern
Great Blue Heron
Barn Swallow
Song Sparrow
House Wren
Eastern Kingbird
American Goldfinch

Blenheim Lagoons
Great Egret
Lesser Yellowlegs

Erieau Marsh Trail
Bonaparts Gull
Least Flycatcher
Marsh Wren
Willow Flycatcher


Wheatley Docks/Muddy Creek
Great Blue Heron
Various Gulls

Hillman Marsh
Great Blue Heron (50+)
Great Egret
Eastern Kingbird
Indigo Bunting
Cedar Waxwing
Northern Cardinal
Caspian Tern
American Goldfinch

Just a final note, I stopped by Wheatley today and picked up a pound of fresh Yellow Perch Fillets. I fried them along with some onion rings and local corn. It was quite delicious. It was ironic though because I was looking at onion/corn/soya fields all afternoon and grumbling about the monoculture that we were left with from 150+ years of farming and urban sprawl with mimimal concern for the local ecology.

Good Birding!
Dwayne

Point Pelee May 15th... Quick Morning Walk

This morning was a little slow at Point Pelee. I arrived at the park at 7:45 AM and went to the tip... It was a little bit of a dud. There certainly wasn`t a fallout this morning. I found the footpath near the 42nd parallel sign had some good birds this month, so I quickly took that  path to the where it meets the East Beach. Several birders pointed out a singing Blackpoll Warbler singing its squeaky wheel song. Very cool!  We all complained how badly our view was of this bird and left. About 1 hour later, I returned to find him singing at a much more open perch! (lifer!)

I went on South towards the tip on the east beach and saw a few interesting birds

Blackpoll Warbler (lifer)
Canada Warbler
Mourning Warbler (lifer)
Indigo Bunting
Chestnut Sided
Least Flycatcher
Yellow Billed Cuckoo (lifer)
Eastern Kingbird (unofficial lifer)
Red-Eyed Vireo (unofficial lifer)
Common Yellowthroat (unofficial lifer)

I met up with Rick again, and he graciously pointed out this beautiful Yellow-billed Cuckoo. I also ran into Blake on Tildens Trail. Great people!

The photos above were all near the tip. I did hear a Red-Headed Woodpecker in the Woodland Nature Trail. Tildens was a little bit of a dud. I did have the pleasure of hearing many Wood Thrushes. One group of birders stated that I had just missed a Kentucky Warbler... I think I`ll have to save that bird for next year.

This little energy ball of a bird is a Common Yellowthroat. It has eluded me for one year! Anyway, I went onto the boardwalk on Friday May 14th and got a few great photos of this shy bird. I think I have seen this on Tilden`s Trail... probably two males doing an in flight dog-fight over territory.... But this is my first photo. Its an unofficial lifer.

Post Script: I shot this May 1st. Do you think this is an indigo bunting ? ...I think I`m seeing chestnut wingbars.