May 11 & 12th Highlights - Kirtlands, Cerulean, Golden winged and More

On Wed May 11th, I went to Point Pelee after work as the daily report hinted that it was an excellent day to be at Pelee. Some birders hinted that it could have been the best day in ten years. It was good but I don't know if it was any better than a good day from last year. On Wed, I caught up with a Cerulean that was report at the Northwest Beach parking lot. Later, I went to the West beach footpath and had really close views of a Kirtland's Warbler! The Kirtlands was skulking around in some low lying dwarf juniper plants. Occasionally it would pop into view -at point blank range - then go into skulking mode again.

I took the day off on today, May 12th and had a pretty good day. I stopped off at Hillman first - and there was not much around in terms of shorebirds. So I went to Pelee. I had to park at Delaurier - and walk the anders footpath to tilden. Today was excellent for birding but of course, yesterdays volumes of birds were not present.

I saw this Northern Parula at eye level near Cactus Field. It was singing its heart out in the early morning light. Its so small, it took me a few moments just to find it.

I then took the tram to the tip - in hopes of finding a Cerulean and Yellow billed Cuckoo. The Cerulean was amazingly close to the trail, and singing its heart out. I took boat loads of photos but they were poor as the lighting was terrible.

Next- I ended up trying to go to "Dunes" which had a recent sighting of Golden Winged Warbler! I took the tram back to the VC and walked---- 2km??? Birding is great exercise isn't it? I was able to find the Golden Winged and later I ran into J.B. and Jeremy Bensette who were looking at YB Chat!

I birded with Jeremy and Tim(?) for the remainder of the afternoon. We attempted to see the Kirtlands again this afternoon but couldn't find it. Along west beach footpath, our consolation birds were: Wilson's, Cape May, Scarlet Tanager, and Morning Warbler!

Good birding!

Dwayne

Sora and Virginia Rails at Point Pelee's Marsh Boardwalk

I took a quick trip out to Point Pelee this morning. After checking out Hillman Marsh, I quickly headed for Point Pelee. The first stop was the Marsh Boardwalk. I rarely walk the marsh boardwalk, but figured I would give it a try today. That turned out to be a good decision.

There were two buses in the marsh parking lot and about 50+ people on the marsh observation tower. I think they were from Dan Minnill's U of W Ornithology class, but I could be mistaken. On the boardwalk, the first two birds I noticed were Eastern Phoebes and Swamp Sparrows. Other highlights included: 5 Rusty Blackbirds, 5 Sora,  1 Virginia Rail (lifer #306), 10 Eastern Phoebes, and a pair of Ruby throated Hummingbirds.

Very Exciting to see this Virginia Rail. About the same size as Sora. I thought it would be bigger.

Rusty Blackbirds.

I saw 5 Soras today! It was a Sora Fallout.

After the marsh boardwalk, I did a quick tour of the Delaurier path. I ran into Kory Renaud and we birded the path together. Lots of Golden crowned Kinglets, Ruby crowned Kinglets, Winter Wren, White throated Sparrows (some singing "oh sweet Canada") a few seasonal warblers, Red breasted Nuthatches, Swainson's Thrush, Yellow bellied Sapsucker, Northern Flicker were seen as well. A Brown Creeper was seen as well as several Sharp shinned Hawks flying right above us. Kory and I both wanted to see Blue headed Vireo but it wasn't to be on this path today. Today I realized what the female call of an Eastern Towhee sounds like (Towhee?).  On the way out of the Delaurier, I ran into Rick & Dan from Leamington and Gerry Peltier. Good times!

Ojibway Park this week gave nice views of 3 Yellow bellied Sapsuckers, Tennessee and Nashville Warblers, Ruby crowned Kinglets, White and Red breasted Nuthatches, Red bellied and Downy Woodpeckers. Always nice to walk Ojibway after work on a weekday.

Seeing the Virginia Rail today was very exciting. I have wanted to see this bird for at least two years. I think I saw one at Pointe Mouillee once, (I remember flushing a small bird which flew a short distance with its legs dangling) and I think I heard them in Carden Alvar's Sedge Wren or Prospect Marsh. My view of it was a fleeting 3 seconds. I'm amazed I even obtained a photo of it.

I'm looking forward to October. I'm dying to see Saw Whet Owls as well as American Pipits. Like the Virgina Rail above, they have eluded me for too long! Any winter finches would be nice to see as well.

Good birding!
Dwaynejava

Recent Lifers:
American Bittern #300
Willow Flycatcher #301
Upland Sandpiper #302
Bank Swallow #303
Cliff Swallow #304
Olive Sided Flycatcher #305
Virginia Rail #306

23,480 Broad winged Hawks today at Holiday Beach

I stopped by Holiday Beach today after work (Friday Sept 16th). I figured it would be a good day as I drove down Howard Ave and noticed roadside flags blowing in a Southeasterly direction indicating North-West winds. Also the weather on Friday was dramatically colder which may encourage some movement as well.

Upon arrival to Holiday Beach, I started off by scanning the forest edge along the beach, but not much was  seen. Later from the hawk tower, 16 species of warblers continually streamed by the trees bordering the area around the tower. Several flycatchers were noticed as they perched on a leaf-less branches. The one below might be a Least Flycatcher. Red eyed Vireos, various Thrushes and Cardinals were present as well.

A Least Flycatcher

Some raptors seen today ... well so many were seen... Merlins, Coopers, Sharp Shinned, Bald Eagles, Osprey, Broad winged Hawks, Common Nighthawks, and Northern Harriers... wow... that was in one hour that I was on the tower! Five Wilson's Snipe passed over the tower at one point and obviously ducks and herons were everpresent.

I had forgotten my binoculars, so I could not really enjoy the numerous kettles of Broad winged Hawks, but at times, some were low enough to see with the naked eye, and I attempted to take some photos. Even at 5:30pm, streams of Broadwings were still going overhead.

 

This video... well, it's not that good, but is worth watching if you've never seen a good kettle of hawks. When I take video with my camera, I must hold the camera away from my face, as I must look at the preview screen. With the heavy lens and manual focusing, it really makes it too wobbly to make for decent video footage. Still pretty cool though.


Good birding,
Dwaynejava

Point Pelee May 13th ... providing a generous helping of lifers!

Even with cloudy rainy weather, I talked myself into driving about 1 hour to Point Pelee after work.  In a twist of good luck the sun slowly came out as I arrived in Leamington. I walked Tildens Trail and really got a look at some great birds! I also ran into a good birding friend, Rick. Birders are always such nice people. They're willing to take you under their wing! (joke). Four lifers I got today are Bay Breasted, Wood Thrush, Common Nighthawk, and Lincoln's Sparrow.

Anyway, for a fleeting moment, I photographed a Bay Breasted Warbler! (Lifer!) At the same time, I photographed my second Canada Warbler.

Blackburnian, Nashville and Tennessee Warblers were abundant! In one area of Tildens, Tennessee was literally just sitting around at low range, posing for photographers. A Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher was getting food for and bringing it to its nest. I also saw a nesting Robin family.

 Rick pointed out a gorgeous Black Throated Blue, which hopped around the same tree for 10 minutes while I took many photos of this wonderful bird.

I even photographed a cool looking sparrow, which afterword, I identified as a Lincoln's Sparrow (Lifer!) I knew there was something special about it because it had really nice chestnut browns and light brown streaks on its sides. It also had a rust coloured mohawk. I must slowly becoming a better birder, because in 2009, I swore I would never get into sparrow identification... I thought it was too boring, but now that I have a few under my belt... I realize they're pretty cool! I photographed a White-Crowned as well, but I've already posted a few of those already.

One really nice thing during tonight's walk was the constant (new) sound of Wood Thrushes. It is a really nice, distinct call. But, for the two hours I've walked, I could not see one. Until at the very end of my walk, I finally saw the polka-dot breasted Wood Thrush! (Lifer... but really, I saw a dead one at my parent's house last year... but a dead bird doesn't count by my stringent lifer criteria)  In the same slough, Rick pointed out a Veery at close range. Just a wonderful after-work walk.

We also saw Cape May Warbler, Orchard Oriole, Scarlet Tanager, Blue Grey Gnatcatcher, Chestnut Sided, Palm, Great Horned Owls in their nest, And just to throw in one more lifer.... Common Nighthawk!!!

Good birding to you all!
Dwayne

Rondeau Delivers...

Wow... I started birding 11 months ago, I started right after the ``May rush`` of 2009 ... and waited a year to see warblers. What would be the odds that the last 4 weekends had crappy weather? To add insult to injury, the weekdays have been unseasonable warm, so I get my first May birding experience with full 'leaf-out'!!!

Getting into Rondeau is expensive... $15 ???  Why so much??? I will have to send Rondeau Rick an email asking why so much!?!?!

Ok, enough complaining... I actually had a great day at Rondeau. I walked Spicebush Trail as soon as I arrived at the park... twice! Then I drove the the visitor center, and walked Tulip Trail. This second trail was absolutely beautiful, but not birdy at all. I did see an Baltimore Oriole, an Epidomax Flycatcher (Least, Alder, Willow... they are all so similar, you need to do an autopsy to differentiate them!) , and a Ruby Crowned Kinglet. I also photographed a White Crowned Sparrow behind the visitor center. I also met Blake at the nature center at this point.

First Lap around Spicebush...
YellowWarbler
Tennessee Warbler
Yellow Rumped Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
American Redstart
Black Throated Green

Second Lap....
Blackburnian Warbler (lifer)
Black and White Warbler
Palm Warbler
Canada Warbler (lifer)
Hairy Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker

(This Canada Warbler was awesome... a fleeting 5 seconds... then gone!)

Third lap...
Black Throated Blue (lifer)
Chestnut Sided Warbler (lifer)
Ovenbird (lifer)
Veery

(What a treat to see this CSW... I had to walk away from it!!!)

I was thinking about how some Ontbirder emails lately have been pitting Rondeau vs Point Pelee... I kinda felt after today that Rondeau may be a little better. But really, there are too many variables to really say for sure. Rondeau is absolutely beautiful.

Seeing five new lifers today (Canada, Blackburnian, Chestnut & Ovenbird along with a Least Flycatcher) was really a nice treat. There are a few warblers that I would still like to add,,, Bay-Breasted, Wilsons, a male Hooded Warbler... overall though... I really felt like I got a solid Saturday Morning birding session on.

Good Birding!
Dwayne