Black Oak Heritage Park ... after work!

I stopped by Black Oak Heritage Park today in West Windsor. I was hoping to run into a Red-Headed Woodpecker (Considering they love Oaks) but ended up seeing a few other decent birds. I also ran into a few cool butterflies! I have been to Black Oak Heritage Park twice this spring and both times, it was crawling with the Mourning Cloak butterfly!

Black Oak Heritage Park has recently had 34 acres experience a prescribed burn. This exposes the rich topsoil to more sunlight and it is already rebounding wonderfully. 

On my way into the park, I heard lots of woodpeckers drumming

 I also watched a pair of Easter Comma butterflies wrestle in the leaves and stones on the path I was walking. And on my way out of the park, to my surprise.... Eastern Towhee! I've never seen this bird in my life until two weeks ago, and now I see it again... on my own. It was really cool to behold. I would describe the call of the Eastern Towhee as ' You-Are- Cheap Cheap Cheap....'. I got some incredible looks at this bird!

Happy Birding!

Short trip to Point Pelee

Saturday morning, I took a quick trip to Point Pelee. I am presently in the market for a Kayak, so I had been planning to pick one up at Pelee Wings and possibly go out into the Marsh with it. But, I just did not have enough time to do all these things, so I differed the purchase of my Kayak for a later time.

Interestingly, as I drove over Sturgeon Creek on the bridge, in the corner of my eye I noticed the tell-tale white-navy-blue flash pattern of a Belted Kingfisher in flight, so I put on my hazard lights and pulled over on the bridge. It was really 'birdy' there!

Sturgeon Creek Bridge birds:
Purple Martin (lifer)
Barn Swallow
Tree Swallow
Double Crested Cormorant
Belted Kingfisher
Great Egret (flying in the distance)

Upon arrival at Point Pelee, I quickly noticed a single pair of ducks in Sanctuary Pond (only one pair?) They were wood ducks.

Several west side beach areas were pretty quiet. I would have liked to have seen a Mourning Cloak butterfly, but none were to be found.

I walked Delaurier Trail and Tildens Trail. Both were pretty quiet. Sturgeon creek was almost a little more interesting. I also walked about 50 meters up the board-walk (or 'bored'-walk) and noticed a single American Coot in the Marsh. That would have been a lifer had I not gone to Florida in March.

On Tilden's trail, its funny,,, I did not really see too many birds (RWB's not included) but I noticed it was nicely flooded on each side of the trail. I also heard on occasion very unique bird songs that I was unable to identify. Looking out from the East beach, I noticed many windmills lining the horizon! I can't believe they put Windmills on a major north american migration route! I guess time will tell how this will effect birds in migration. Will the wind turbine owners disclose any statistics on their effect on birds?

Point Pelee Birds:

Cardinal
Eastern Phoebe
Great Blue Heron (flying overhead)
Northern Flicker
Downy Woodpecker
American Coot (in the Marsh)
Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher? (Just a faint glimpse @ Tildens Trail)
Red Tailed Hawk
Various Gulls and Scaup in the distance
Huge numbers of Red Winged Blackbirds, Grackles and Robins

Overall a quiet day at Point Pelee. I was really only there for about 2 hours, almost not worth the drive out from Windsor. But... this is what birders do. If nothing else, its good exercise and practice for my photography skills.

Happy Birding!

(Click image to see larger view)

Great Morning at Point Pelee (three lifers!)

Wow, what a great morning at Point Pelee! I showed up at about 8AM (on Easter Monday). The first thing I noticed was three giant turkeys crossing the road about 50m after the entrance. I stopped by the sanctuary pond lookout but only saw a few Canada Geese and Wood Ducks in the far distance. I stopped at a few west side beaches but did not see much. Finally, I arrived in the old homestead parkinglot and much to my surprise,  I saw several Northern Flickers just taking their time rummaging thought the grassy edges of the parking lots!

Then, I noticed a photographer off to the west end of the parking lot so I joined him. He was eyeing an Eastern Towhee and sure enough... Lifer! (click any of the photos to see a larger version of the image)

Major birds I saw today were Yellow Bellied Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, Red Breasted Merganser (lifer), Eastern Pheobe, Eastern Towhee (lifer), I even photographed what I think might be a little gull (lifer)..... Overall, a great day! Perfect temperature, great sunlight.

I need not mention the bazzillion Grackels, Starlings and Robins.

Wow, is this a Little Gull in this photo above? (actually... probably a Bonaparte's Gull)

Happy Birding, April and May seem like they are going to be wonderful months for birding!

Listing of April Migrants

April Migrants to Point Pelee and local area

This particular posting is more of a data dump than a typical posting, but I actually refer to this list throughout the month for my own reference. I plan on going to Point Pelee and other birding spots at least once a week until the end of May. Some of my destinations that I am planing are to Magee Marsh in Ohio, Holiday Beach, Rondeau Park and St Clair NWA.

This is a listing from the Point Pelee website for April migrants. Out of the list below, I am really going to look for the following birds, which are not on my life list... Eastern Towhee, Common Loon, Virginia Rail, White-eyed Vireo, Red-headed Woodpecker. If I only add one more bird to my life list this year, it would be the red headed woodpecker. 


Early
Greater Yellowlegs
Pectoral Sandpiper
American Bittern
Lesser Yellowlegs
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Turkey Vulture
Black-crowned Night Heron
Savannah Sparrow
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Vesper Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Common Snipe
Great Egret
White-throated Sparrow
Common Loon

Mid April
Double-crested Cormorant
Purple Martin
Brown Thrasher
Osprey
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Pine Warbler
American Golden Plover*
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Forster's Tern
Common Tern
Caspian Tern
Swamp Sparrow
Bank Swallow
Rough-winged Swallow
Chipping Swallow
Louisiana Waterthrush (rare)

With an exceptional warm front in the last few days of April a surge of typical May migrants may appear. If, however, the weather is more-or-less normal, only the following are likely to be new arrivals in the last ten days of the month.

Late
Green Heron
Marsh Wren
Broad-winged Hawk
Gray Catbird
Virginia Rail
Wood Thrush
White-eyed Vireo
Sora
Common Moorhen
Solitary Vireo
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Nashville Warbler
Dunlin
Yellow Warbler
Whip-poor-will
Chimney Swift
Palm Warbler
Red-headed Woodpecker
Cliff Swallow
Northern Waterthrush
Red-breasted Nuthatch*
Purple Finch*
House Wren
Grasshopper Sparrow
Henslow's Sparrow (rare)
Black-and-white Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler


Happy Birding