Cave Swallow at Point Pelee !?!?!

Back in late October - I was at Point Pelee and enjoyed a nice sunny afternoon walk at the Delaurier Homestead pathway. I had a great walk --- I had seen Fox Sparrows, Pine Siskin, Eastern Bluebirds, Purple Finches, Rusty Blackbirds and Eastern Phoebes. At one point though, I looked up and noticed a swallow-like bird. I was not sure if it was a Cave Swallow - but I had made an attempt to capture it in photos --- flying around. I was eager to get home later and compare my photos to my fields guide photos. Luckily, Jeremy B had reported seeing this bird from Delaurier as I was driving home. 

Good Birding!

Dwayne

4-20 Weekend Birding @ Ojibway & Pelee

The weather this weekend in Windsor & Essex was finally spring-like and I made an effort to get outside and do some birding!  Some highlights this weekend were nice looks at Pine Warbler at Point Pelee, Eastern Towhees singing on location at Ojibway, and Carolina Wrens and Winter Wrens.

Some of the areas that I walked/biked on Saturday was Ojibway's Black Oak Heritage Park and Spring Garden  - both of which are great areas to walk.

Some new birds for the year at Ojibway included 3 Eastern Towhees singing on territory along the Titcombe pathway.

Oakwood Forest (adjacent to Ojibway Park) has some surprisingly good birding and botany opportunties. Hepatica flowers have finally broken though the oak leaves that litter the forest floor. A female Yellow bellied Sapsucker was present as well a nice breeding-plumaged Yellow rumped Warbler. A Ruby-crowned Kinglet showed me its Ruby Crown feathers as I foolishly tried to photograph it.

Butterflies seen over the last week include what one might expect: Mourning Cloak, Eastern Comma and Cabbage White.

I noticed a huge flock of noisy blackbirds at Black Oak Heritage Park last Friday and it slowly dawned on me that there were hundreds of Rusty Blackbirds in the tree-tops!

Sunday morning (this morning) I was at Point Pelee at about 10am and started off at Delaurier Trail. I was happy to see Ellen Smout and a group of OFO birders as I got out of my car. Ellen found this nice Pine Warbler. She hinted that this might be the best bird of the day (it was).

At the risk of stating the obvious, things see to be a little later this year than normal. The winter like conditions of the last few weeks may have something to do with that.  Good birding!

PS: I had an Eastern Phoebe in my back yard, as well as a Hermit Thrush this weekend!

Yellow bellied Sapsuckers at Black Oak Heritage Park in Windsor

Saturday, I stopped by Ojibway Park hoping to see Yellow bellied Sapsuckers and eventually found some (3!) at Black Oak Heritage Park. Seeing this particular species during spring migration brings great joy. They are common enough that you will most likely see them yet rare enough that you might need to look for them or perhaps know their call.

I went to Point Pelee today with high hopes of seeing several new migrants but Pelee was a little quieter (bird wise) than I was expecting!

Forster's Terns and Common Loons up close were nice to see at Leamington Marina.  Rusty Blackbirds, Fox Sparrow and a Rick M sighting were Pelee highlights. I had my first of year Spring Azures which was exciting to see.

Good birding, botanizing and leping!
Dwayne

Backtrack birding - Late April at Point Pelee

Back in late April of this year, I had joined the Essex County Field Naturalists on a field trip to Pelee Island [link]. But before I boarded the ferry at 9am... I did a quick walk at Pelee in the early morning hours. I hindsight, I had a pretty good morning. (lol!)

Some highlights included: Rusty Blackbird, Orange Crowned Warbler, Blue winged Warbler, both Waterthrushes and a few other goodies...

Bloodroot  

On the ferry ride home from Pelee Island, I had read that a Black neck Stilt was found in the onion fields near Hillman Marsh. This was my second Stilt that I've seen near Hillman Marsh. A fantastic shorebird for sure!

Good Birding!

Seasonal November Birding Observations

Lapland Longspur

Rusty Blackbirds

I've had mediocre birding observations over the last few weeks. I haven't had as much time to bird as I'm taking night school courses at the U of Windsor along with full time work and parenting duties. I've had two or three major highlights though - I had my first Common Redpoll in Essex County yesterday at Point Pelee. Common Redpolls are a great bird for me. I've only seen them on a few rare occasions at Rondeau, never in Essex County.  A female Purple finch, as well as some seasonal raptors were seen at Point Pelee. I also had a Richard C. sighting aka LLB.

I think the photo above is a Franklin's Gull - I could be wrong- (let me down gently if I am).  I photographed it at Wheatley Harbour flying Southwest towards Hike Metal products (Essex Co). I'm quite certain I saw Franklin's Gulls in Calgary Alberta a few summers ago, so this is not a life bird, but its a first for Ontario and now a Chatham-Kent and Essex bird. It was exciting to read about these birds from Allen and Blakes' blogs over the last few days. Hopefully some stick around for more closer observation and study.

Closer to home, I've had some cool nature sightings just from my back porch. I've seen a Fox Sparrow briefly every weekend for the last three or four weeks, but when I grab my camera, its gone! But today, I finally saw this sparrow foraging along my fence line and had my camera close. Along with seeing a Fox Sparrow this morning I had 2-3 Eastern Bluebirds - ***mind blown*** perched on a tree in my back yard! Last weekend, I had an American Kestrel perched in my back yard as well. As I was looking at the bluebirds (couldn't get more than a diagnostic photo) and Fox Sparrow, a male deer walked by- pretty cool! I've also had Coyotes howling and barking after sunset last week, which is kind of scary. Red bellied Woodpeckers have been seen and heard with surprising regularity over the last few weeks as well.

Diagnostic Backyard Bluebird

I've had decent back-yard birds since I moved in this summer and fall migration season. I will need to compile a list of everything. I'm trying to keep an ongoing list with Ebird as well.

Good birding!
Dwayne