Point Pelee weekend - part 2

On Saturday, I ended up sleeping in pretty late after hanging out at Jeremy's place, but eventually made my way into the park where I was able to renew my annual pass while it was still on sale.

The birding was slow as I checked out the Shuster Trail and the tip area, but eventually Jeremy Hatt and Kory Renaud arrived with their barbeques for a first of spring Pelee BBQ. Blake Mann and Mike Matheson both arrived, as did Jeremy Bensette and Emma Buck. Alan Wormington stopped by for a burger or two and Sarah and Emily Renaud joined as well. It was good to see so many familiar faces and it felt great to be standing in the sun, kicking off the spring birding season in proper fashion.

While we were at the Blue Heron parking lot, Jeremy Bensette spotted this chrysalis perched precariously on the bark of the tree, looking very much like a piece of the bark. I think it might be from a Giant Swallowtail.

Giant Swallowtail - Point Pelee National Park

As we were finishing up, Jeremy Hatt received a phone call from Kory, who had left a bit earlier. Apparently Richard Carr had found a swan in the onion fields that looked good for "Bewick's" Tundra Swan, the Eurasian equivalent of our "Whistling" Tundra Swans, and had flagged down Kory as he drove past. This is a very rare form to show up in Ontario, with only around three previous sightings for the province, the most recent being a bird at Ridgetown lagoons that Jeremy Bensette and Ken Burrell found independently in March of 2013.

The group of us raced over to the spot, where we joined Richard and quickly set up our scopes. It took a little bit of scanning as more often than not, the swans had their long necks underwater, probing for food, and hiding their bill colour which is the only easy way to ID a Bewick's. But eventually we all got on it and enjoyed watching it in the scope for quite some time. The yellow on the bill was quite extensive along the entire proximal bill edge and including most of the inner half of the bill. It had the bill pattern known as "Pennyface" commonly seen in Bewick's Swans as the yellow was separated by black on the top of the bill, though a small yellow bar remained between. Please excuse the poor photos - they were taken with my phone through my scope zoomed in to its maximum (60x).

"Bewick's" Tundra Swan (right of centre) - Leamington onion fields

"Bewick's" Tundra Swan (left of centre) - Leamington onion fields

"Bewick's" Tundra Swan (left of centre) - Leamington onion fields

While considered subspecies here in North America, Bewick's and Whistling Tundra Swans are considered separate species by others.  Regardless of its taxonomic status, it was a pretty awesome bird to get in the Pelee area!

 In time, the Ross's Goose which Alan and Richard had both found independently, also swam into view. Ross's Geese are becoming more regular in early spring in southwestern Ontario, but they are still rare enough and tiny and cute enough that they are enjoyable to come across.

Ross's Goose (right of center) - Leamington onion fields

I headed up to Muddy Creek later in the afternoon after following up on a tip from Richard. Here I found two drake Northern Shovelers, a single American Coot and a male Blue-winged Teal, all recent arrivals and all year birds. The lighting was nice and even though the angle was a bit steep, I tried my hand at some photos of the birds.

drake Northern Shoveler - Muddy Creek, Wheatley (Essex)

drake Northern Shoveler - Muddy Creek, Wheatley (Essex)

drake Blue-winged Teal - Muddy Creek, Wheatley (Essex)

Blue-winged Teal and ice - not a common sight.

drake Blue-winged Teal - Muddy Creek, Wheatley (Essex)

drake Northern Shoveler - Muddy Creek, Wheatley (Essex)

drake Blue-winged Teal - Muddy Creek, Wheatley (Essex)

drake Blue-winged Teal - Muddy Creek, Wheatley (Essex)

Common Mergansers, normally found out on the lake, readily adapt to the open water of Muddy Creek.

female Common Merganser - Muddy Creek, Wheatley (Essex)

female Common Merganser - Muddy Creek, Wheatley (Essex)

I concluded the evening by returning to the field where the Bewick's Swan remained with several hundred Tundra Swans, where I watched them with Paul Pratt and Jeremy Bensette until dusk. Around 7:20, the Bewick's Swan and a couple of Whistling Swans took off and flew high to the due south, in the direction of the Pelee marsh. Perhaps it was roosting there for the night and would return in the morning.

At the end of the second full day, my year list had crept up from 34 species to 69 species, plus one that doesn't technically "count" in "Bewick's" Tundra Swan. It had been a great weekend and hopes were high that the last day would provide some more exciting moments.