Todd had to work all day on Friday and I had some work that tied me up for the morning. Before meeting Todd at our carpool spot in Woodstock I made a quick trip to the end of the Port Weller pier and back. Late April is prime migration time and you never know what could be at the end of the pier!
While landbird migrants were a bit thin during my early afternoon visit, a Snowy Owl was a nice surprise, roosting in some trees along the rocky pier. With the huge numbers of Snowy Owls that moved south over the winter I was seeing migrant Snowy Owls on pretty much half my visits to Port Weller in March and April.
 |
| Snowy Owl - Port Weller east pier, St. Catharines, Ontario |
 |
| Snowy Owl - Port Weller east pier, St. Catharines, Ontario |
I enjoyed watching my first of the year Pine Warbler - a bright male - and I also photographed one of the local Cooper's Hawks before it was time to hit the road.
 |
| Cooper's Hawk - Port Weller east pier, St. Catharines, Ontario |
Todd and I made good time on the drive down, allowing us the opportunity to check in at the Ridgetown and Blenheim lagoons, as well as at Wheatley harbour. A large flock of Willets had been discovered there earlier in the day along with a single Marbled Godwit. It was late in the evening when we arrived but the Willets were still on the beach, 56 of them to be exact. The MAGO was nowhere to be seen, however.
 |
| Willets - Wheatley Harbour, Chatham-Kent, Ontario |
We checked Hillman Marsh next, where despite the cold temperatures we discovered a pair of Blanding's Turtles mating in the shallows of the shorebird cell. Due to the cold temperatures they were quite slow, even for turtle standards!
We drove over to the campground at Wheatley to pay the ridiculously expensive camping fees (almost 50$ a night with taxes!), and used the last remaining minutes of twilight to setup our tents and settle in for the evening. A pair of dueting Great Horned Owls ushered us off to sleep.
The air cooled near to the freezing mark overnight, leaving a thin layer of frost on our tents. We checked Wheatley harbour first, where not a shorebird was in sight, then drove towards the park. A stop at the Mersea Road 21 fields was productive as a small flock of migrant songbirds was working the woodlot at the south end. Ruby-crowned Kinglets and White-throated Sparrows comprised the bulk of the birds, but we also saw Pine, Palm and Yellow-rumped Warbler and a Hermit Thrush.
 |
| Hermit Thrush - Point Pelee National Park, Ontario |
Despite the cold temperatures migrants had evidently arrived; especially kinglets and Hermit Thrushes. We birded with Steve Pike for part of the day, and on our own for the rest. Heavy rain in recent days had flooded portions of the park and the sloughs were filled to the brim.
 |
| Slough in Tilden's Woods - Point Pelee National Park, Ontario |
 |
| Birding the Woodland Nature Trail - Point Pelee National Park, Ontario |
A group of birders were milling around near the Tip where there was apparently a Piping Plover that had been present. It must have flown off the tip seconds before Todd and I arrived. We received the classic "It was just here a minute ago!" responses, but the bird was gone. At least it was not a Snowy Plover or I would have actually been a little upset!
We saw our first Orange-crowned Warbler by the Tip Washrooms and our first Black-and-white Warbler, a sharp male, at the north end of the Visitor Centre's parking lot. Ah, spring!
 |
| Black-and-white Warbler - Point Pelee National Park, Ontario |
Our pishing which had attracted the Black-and-white Warbler had also excited several Ruby-crowned Kinglets. This one paused just long enough for me to obtain a sharp photo, not always an easy feat with this species.
 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Point Pelee National Park, Ontario |
As afternoon turned to evening Todd and I left the park to slowly make our way back to Wheatley. The sun had finally broken through the clouds by the time we had arrived at the Hillman Marsh shorebird cell. The birding was quite productive and in 75 minutes we had scored 54 species, compared to 57 in 10 hours of walking in the National Park earlier in the day.
 |
| Horned Grebe - Hillman Marsh Conservation Area, Essex County, Ontario |
A large flock of plovers was crouched with all the Dunlins in the shorebird cell, of which 39 we identified as American Golden-Plover. Eventually an adult Peregrine Falcon cruised over, sending everything into a frenzy and causing the plovers to fly right over our heads.
 |
| American Golden-Plovers - Hillman Marsh Conservation Area, Essex County, Ontario |
The bird of the day occurred a few minutes later as we were walking back to the cars, taking the scenic route near the little boardwalk north of the shorebird cell. Todd casually called out that a Common Gallinule was working the edge of the marsh. While this species presumably breeds at Hillman and Point Pelee it can be a difficult bird within the Point Pelee birding area. This was only my third ever within the circle, and first in seven years.
 |
| Common Gallinule - Hillman Marsh Conservation Area, Essex County, Ontario |
Sunday morning dawned cold with a brisk breeze but at least the sun was shining. A few new migrants had appeared as well, though the woods were still somewhat quiet.
At the tip the same Orange-crowned Warbler was easily found, this time working the cedar along the central path south of the Tip Washrooms.
 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler - Point Pelee National Park, Ontario |
We birded the park until late morning, adding year birds here and there. A Red-headed Woodpecker flew over us near the Tip, while Blue-headed Vireo and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher were also added.
 |
| Tree damage on the east side of the Tip - Point Pelee National Park, Ontairo |
With a strong northwest wind blowing Todd and I ventured over to Zion Road near Wheatley for some hawkwatching. This location can be spectacular in the right conditions. Barb Charlton and Ken Burrell were already there when Todd and I arrived, keeping a close eye on the situation. In our two hours of hawk-watching we did not see anything too spectacular. A Broad-winged Hawk, Bald Eagle and five Northern Harriers were nice to see, a few flocks of Black-bellied Plovers went over, and our first Chimney Swift of the year rocketed by.
Todd and I re-entered the park in mid-afternoon, though we did not discover anything too spectacular. We finished the day with another check of Hillman Marsh. Tons of swallows were flying over a part of the marsh so I tried my hand at swallow photography. Certainly not an easy task and I only had a couple keepers in almost 200 frames. Still lots of room for improvement, too.
 |
| Northern Rough-winged Swallow - Hillman Marsh Conservation Area, Essex County, Ontario |
Monday was our final morning in the southwest of the province. We headed back into the park but seeing as I did not even bother making an eBird checklist, I am assuming we did not see much! We did have an enjoyable walk along the Marsh Boardwalk where we tried our hand at fish identification as there were quite a few species in the shallows near the boardwalk. I also quickly snapped this photogenic Killdeer at some point.
 |
| Killdeer - Point Pelee National Park, Ontario |
We made one more stop at Hillman Marsh Conservation Area where we picked up our first Least Sandpiper of the year among the shorebirds, as well as the two continuing Trumpeter Swans. Following that we stopped in at one of the fish wholesalers near Wheatley to pick up some fresh Yellow Perch, then hit the road to head back home and to reality. My first spring weekend at Point Pelee had come and gone.
No comments:
Post a Comment