May 17-18 Birding: Pelee, Kopegaron Woods, and Oak Openings Metropark

Kopagaron Woods last Friday was pretty amazing. I had attempted to twitch a Scissor tailed Flycatcher in Wheatley, and figured I would stop by Kopagaron Woods. It was pretty amazing. There was a small group of warblers and migrants which were staying very low due to the cold temps that had moved in late last week. Right near the entrance to the forest path was amazing. Northern Waterthrush, Ovenbird, Canada Warbler were present with many Bay breasted Warblers, Chestnut sided, Magnolia, Indigo Bunting, Scarlet Tanagers all very close to the ground! Veery and Swainson's Thrushes were very present as well.

Female Blackpoll Warbler

The following day, I spend the morning at Point Pelee and upon arrival, I was able to see a Pacific Loon that Jean Iron had ontbirded just as I arrived at the park. She had it in her scope as I reached east beach! More Philadelphia Vireos were seen along east beach.  Some nice highlights as the afternoon progressed were: Northern Parulas at close range, Canada Warblers, Yellow breasted Chat and Ruby throated Hummingbird nectaring Wild Columbine Flowers!

Northern Parula right along Tilden's Woods footpath

Yellow breasted Chat - Perhaps on breeding territory? Lets hope! This guy was singing from a thicket making all kinds of weird noises... Trying to impress the ladies!

Hummingbird nectaring on Wild Columbine flowers

Some nice Thrush species were seen as well. On Saturday, Veery, Swainson's Thrush, Robins, Wood Thrush, Gray cheeked Thrush were all seen. In fact, I think all the Eastern Thrush Species were in the park with the exception of Bicknells! Along the Tilden Woods Footpath, I heard my first singing Wood Thrush for the season. It's song was amazing to hear. If you have a few minutes, and want an amazing read and description of the wood thrush, click here to read John James Audobon's account of this bird. You owe it to yourself!

Sunday, my family visited Toledo Zoo, but stopped by Oak Openings Metropark for a quick 20 minute walk. I hate rushed birding, but in that twenty minutes, I had seen:
Summer Tanager
Scarlet Tanager
Indigo Bunting
Eastern Bluebird
Lark Sparrow
Red headed Woodpecker - (seamingly lots - 4 seen along a 50m walk)
Eastern Kingbirds

Oak Openings is the Easternmost Stronghold for this beautiful western sparrow

I stopped by a small area withing the Oak Openings to look for the re-introduced Karner Blue butterfly. I spoke to a few women in the parking lot who informed me that the re-introduced Karner Blue is basically not "thriving" as their website suggests and that there is only one area which they might still be seen at, but it is off bounds to public, and hasn't been seen yet this year. Along the parking lot, Eastern tailed Blues and Dreamy Duskywings were visible along with Tufted Titmouse at close range.

Good birding!
Dwaynejava

Wild Lupine - Easily Seen at Oak Openings and the foodplant for the extirpated Karner Blue butterfly

Three Days ... Three Lifers

Chimney Swift over a Chimney!

Were you expecting something more rare? :-p

Saturday: Chimney Swift (#298)

Don't laugh, but this spring, someone had posted to Ontbirds that Chimney Swifts had arrived, and I thought to myself, do I have those on my life list?... The answer is NO! This Saturday, a birding friend from Kingsville (after chuckling at my desire to see a Chimney Swift) said to go to Kingsville and look up! lol... Thanks Kory! Now that I have officially acknowledged them, its interesting to read a little about them. They are at risk in Ontario due to the change in design of Chimneys (open brick design vs covered natural gas style). Also, they spend all their time in the air, eating and even bathing by dipping into water in flight. You never see them perched (like you see tree swallows) because their feet are not designed to perch. They have small claws that allow them to hang against the inner wall of a tree or chimney. So thats it, they are either in the air or in a chimney... pretty cool!

Friday: Whimbrel (#297)

As you may have read already, I lifered Whimbrel on Friday after work this week by twitching this bird at Hillman Marsh. Click here to read more on this bird.

Ten or so Whimbrel at Hillman... Did you know that a group of shorebirds is sometimes called a contradiction of shorebirds? I read this on my IBird App and thought to myself,... only a group of Solitary Sandpipers should be called a contradiction!!!

Sunday: Lark Sparrow (#299)

This weekend, my wife and I decided we would make a day trip out to the Toledo Zoo. Toledo is about an hour south of the Windsor so it made for a good trip. But since we were going to be in Toledo, I figured I would try to sneak in a little pre-zoo birding walk at Oak Openings Metropark. Oak Openings is known for some cool breeding birds such as Summer Tanager, Acadian Flycatcher, Lark Sparrow, Blue Grosbeck, Pileated Woodpecker (see here for more).  Since the zoo trip was the days' focus, we only had about 30 or so minutes to bird this park, so I decided on the Girdham Road Sand Dunes area. Lark Sparrow was easily found (conspicuous), and I took a few photos of these beautiful birds and headed off to the zoo with the family.

Two Lark Sparrows, one banded and the other not.

This is an amazing sparrow. Very distinct plumage in the face, and a very nice song. I was really happy to see this bird today.

Regarding butterflies, I also saw an American Copper as well as many Pipevine Swallowtail butterflies during my brief walk at OOMP. I was hoping to see a Karner Blue Butterfly, but dipped. Here is a link to a Butterfly Checklist for Oak Openings in Ohio.

Oak Openings Habitat @ Girdham Road Dunes

Wild Lupine

I would really like to make it out to Carden Alvar for the OFO Field Trip in early June. I am going to try my best to make that happen. That amazing trip would probably give me a few lifers (Upland Sandpiper and Sedge Wren to name a few)... The logistics of getting there and back are killing me though... We'll see.... Virginia Rail or American Bittern would be really nice to see as well.

Good Birding,
Dwaynejava

Life List Summary:
Chimney Swift #298
Lark Sparrow #299

Birding Pointe Mouillee and Oak Openings Metropark

Black crowned Night Heron with Fermi cooling towers in the background

Pointe Mouille is about 30 minutes south of Windsor if you were to cross the Ambassador Bridge. There are some incredible shorebirds that show up to this 700-acre manmade wetland. Its interesting to read about how this area was made and how duck hunters, birders and government use this area. According to the US Army Corps of Engineers:  "The primary purpose of the Pointe Mouillee Confined Disposal Facility is to contain 18 million cubic yards of contaminated dredged material that will be removed from the existing navigation channels in the Detroit and Rouge Rivers" (USACE).

I brought my mountain bike because the distances required to navigate this area are in the units of miles. Bring water, portable snacks and sun protection if you go. Also, print out a map. I was not feeling too good when I arived at this park, so I did not stay long. In my short time there, I did see Green and Black Crowned Night Herons, GB Herons, Great Egrets, A flyby Least Bittern (seen near the middle causeway and the long-pond and vermeet areas)... Not as good a look at one as I had last summer at St Clair NWA. Hooded Mergansers and Pied billed Grebes were seen. A recent blog posting had incredible birds here including: Little Blue Herons, American Avocets and White faced Ibis. I did not make it to Cell 3 (the shorebird cell) because the middle causeway was blocked with a gaggle of geese!

 

 

I really like Pointe Mouillee but I must say I hate crossing the border. I find the border guards to be unneccesarily rude... "Wutz a matter,,, don't they have birds in Canada no more?" is one of the nicer comments I've had in my three birding visits. Give me a break. I'm sure Americans on their way to Point Pelee are not treated in the same manner.

Oak Openings is an awesome metropark in Toledo (Swanton Ohio actually). Check out this website for more details. Its about 1 hour from Windsor, or 30 or so minutes past Point-Moo-Yee. This park is similar to Ojibway Park in Windsor but it boasts breeding species including Blue Grosbeaks, Lark Sparrows, Prarie Warblers and Yellow breasted Chats. See the ebird.org chart for this hotspot for more details.

Upon arriving to the park, I birded a few fields which are highlighted on the websites' literature as hotspots but really did not see too much. I would imagine its just way too late in the season to bother seeing some of the rarities. I will try to return in June next year. Some things seen in my short time at Oak Openings were Red headed Woodpeckers, Indigo Buntings, Chipping and Song Sparrows, American Copper, and Pipevine Swallowtails.

Cylindrical Blazingstar

An interesting thing about this park is that the visitor center is unstaffed. It has some interpretive displays and nice pamphlets but nobody in the room. Great park nonetheless and the visitor center is still really nice.

A little closer to home, things have also been quiet. Holiday Beach produced my first Hackberry Emperor as well as Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. Common Moorehen and the common herons and egrets were around as well.

 

Anyone know what flower this Giant Swallowtail is feeding on?

Good birding,
Dwaynejava


Sources:
USACE, "Pointe Moullee - Beneficial Use", April 24, 2005, obtained: July 26, 2011,
http://www.lre.usace.army.mil/newsandevents/publications/publications/pointemoullee-beneficialuse/