Holiday Beach on Labour Day Weekend

 I had a wonderful morning of birding on this past labour day weekend.  I had several warbler species as well as flycatcher species.  The photo above shows the lake erie beach dune habitat. 

Holiday beach has the classic lake erie scrub/swamp habitat thay migrants love to visit during migration. I spent two hours sorting through tonnes of birds. These photos are some that I managed to photograph...

As a final note - I have had a new hummingbird feeder that immediately attracted hummingbirds. There are three or four that I see fighting over access to the feeder. Amazingly i have noted that they perch in a tree close to my back deck, affording incredible photos occasionally. 

 

I have also noted two different olive sided flycatchers over the last week or so as well. ... Just from my back yard!

Good birding!

Dwayne

Olive Sided Flycatcher, Comet 13P/Olbers July 2024 and Stuff

Olive Sided Flycatcher @ South Cameron Woodlot in Windsor ON

I have been trying to "birdwatch" in my backyard for the last few days --- and its been really good! For late August and the whole month of September - I have come to find that there are usually a few warblers in my back hedgerow behind my house. My yard list is growing! This gorgeous Olive sided Flycatcher caught my interest, mid-afternoon, when it was flycatching off a dying White Oak behind my house. It was an unmistakable ID. It was neat to see it catch bugs and then eat them while I was sitting on my back porch. 

Edit: This bug might be the famous "Giant Ichneumon Wasp" (long ovipositor)

Some neat birds seen over the last 3 days:

Monday Aug 26th:   Bobolink (new bird to yard list), Olive Sided Flycather. Least Flycatcher

Sunday Aug 25th:  Tennessee & Nashville Warblers, Least Flycatcher, Ruby throated Hummingbird

Saturday Aug 24th: Cape May Warbler, Warbling Vireos, Least Flycatcher, Baltimore Oriole

 

Female Bobolink - a new yard bird!

Nashville Warbler

Cape May Warbler 

A while back, I had made a few attempts to photograph Comet 13P/Olbers. Using star-mapping software --- I was able to find it. You start by finding brighter nearby stars, then star-hop until you get an exposure of the comet. This photo has the comet in the center of the frame but only appears as a tiny fuzzy blur. 

Some Neat butterflies that I had seen this summer - Zabulon Skipper and Horrace's Duskywing were seen which was really nice.  These photos below are not about a month old. It was neat to see two broods for Zabulon Skippers. 

Zabulon Skipper

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail nectaring on Dense Blazingstar

Horraces' Duskywing - Seen at the Ojibway Tallgrass Prairie

Good Birding & Butterfly Watching!

Dwayne

Golden-Winged Warbler + Olive Sided Flycatcher - May 12th Ojibway Park

This morning, I was heading out toward Black Oak Herritage Park and I was driving along the northern boundary of the Ojibway Park Forest. I drove slowly, listening for anything interesting - and sure enough, a Golden Winged was singing his heart out!

Later at Black Oak Heritage Park , an adjacent park that I like to frequent - I had a decent morning --- one of my highlights was an Olive-sided Flycatcher!

Both of these birds are sadly becoming more and more endangered, at risk. 

On Saturday, I had attempted to bird at Point Pelee for a bit. Someone had reported a Cerulean Warbler in Cactus Field - and sure enough, it was being seen by many upon arrival. Another Highlight was seeing some Hummingbirds nectar from Eastern Redbud Tree Blooms. 

Its the most beautiful time of year. 

Good birding,

Dwayne

 

I took tonnes of photos of the Cerulean Warbler here - but sadly, my White balance was set to "indoor" so the colours are not the best.  Still - this is not bad for 25m away and 20 meters up.

Point Pelee Birding on Labour Day Weekend

This morning, I joined Kit McCann and Mike Austin for a birding walk at Point Pelee. We birded the park from about 7am to 12:00 noon. I managed to see about 63 species today [ebird list]. 

Some of the best birds seen - (in my opinion) were Cape May Warblers, Olive sided Flycatcher, Blackburnian Warbler, Bay Breasted, Blackpoll, Yellow bellied Flycatchers... So many species that I only get once-a-year looks at ... if I'm lucky!

Mike, who birds the park daily hinted to us that yesterday was a much better day with 16+ warblers seen. 

As we left the park, we went through the onion fields- (which were pretty quiet), a freshly ploughed field along hwy #3 in Leamington (which gave looks at Black Bellied and Golden Plovers). We even stopped at the Essex SL Plant to see a few seasonal shorebirds. 

Labour day weekend is always a favorite birding weekend for me because there are lots of southbound migrants and its a nice long weekend. Funny though, for the last two years, I did not go birding on Labour Day weekend. 

Hermit Thrush (Or Grey Cheeked Thrush?)

Good Birding!
-DM

PS: I've added some bonus pics from Holiday Beach Last Night. There was a nice Egret Roost just outside of Holiday Beach near "ducks on the roof". Common Galinules easily seen at "carp crossing".