Point Pelee May 1st: TOWNSEND'S WARBLER!???!

So yeah, the Townend's Warbler was obviously the highlight of the day, but also super frustrating since we never saw the bird! For the real account of the TOWA, check out Brandon's blog...http://www.blog.peregrineprints.com/2013/05/the-real-townsends-warbler-story-may-1.html

Needless to say nothing could top the Townsend's Warbler, but we still had quite a few other highlights throughout the day.

We watched every single Black-throated Green Warbler migrating off of the tip, hoping to catch a glimpse of the TOWA. No luck on that front, though we did get a Prairie Warbler that Brandon managed to photograph in flight! The photo is also on his blog...

I photographed some displaying Surf Scoters off of the west side of the point.

Surf Scoters - May 1, 2013

Surf Scoters - May 1, 2013

My first Great Egret I have seen sitting on the tip of Point Pelee. The gulls didn't like it and scared it away.

Surf Egret - May 1, 2013

Some reverse migration action...

Red-bellied Woodpecker - May 1, 2013

Baltimore Oriole - May 1, 2013

Another highlight was finding a nice White-eyed Vireo near the tip - an overdue first of the year. I also managed my first usable photos of this species. Super stoked with these images!

White-eyed Vireo - May 1, 2013

White-eyed Vireo - May 1, 2013

The tip was absolutely crawling with birds on May 1. Among the many species was an exceptionally early female Tennessee Warbler and female Cape May Warbler. A very early Philadelphia Vireo was also present.

female Tennessee Warbler - May 1, 2013

female Cape May Warbler - May 1, 2013

Anyways, once again Pelee has been absolutely fantastic!! It was the second day in a row where I never left the south end of the park all day. I was at 111 species for just the park on May 1, and 159 for the past 3 days.  Rarities have been seemingly everywhere, so I thought I would list a few of them...All of these are since April 24.

Self found (or found along with others)
probable Townsend's Warbler (9 accepted records for Ontario)
Henslow's Sparrow (less than 5 annually in Ontario)
Lark Sparrow (around 5 annually in Ontario)
King Eider (very rare in spring at Point Pelee)
Northern Goshawk (accidental in spring at Point Pelee)
5 Grasshopper Sparrows
3 White-eyed Vireos
2 Yellow-throated Vireos
Golden-winged Warbler
4+ Blue-winged Warbler
3+ Louisiana Waterthrush
Prairie Warbler
Willet

Twitched
Kentucky Warbler
Worm-eating Warbler (x2)
Painted Bunting
Golden-winged Warbler
Long-billed Dowitcher


So yeah...Pelee is kinda the best.

Willet - May 2, 2013

Pelee - an amazing way to close out April

Pelee never ceases to amaze. Last night, the radar was lit up with migrant birds streaming north, and I was excited to see what rarities would drop in at the park. Needless to say, the park didn't disappoint, with year-birds coming frequently throughout the day. The reverse migration was also the best I had EVER seen (and I was getting paid to monitor the reverse migration every day, from April 25 to May 20, last year). Dave Bell and I  found several rarities. And we successfully chased others.

When it was all said and done, Dave and I spent 13.5 hours in the park, and minus a brief foray near Pioneer (to see a Worm-eating Warbler), we were south of the Visitor's Centre for the entire time. We ended up seeing 124 species - pretty good for April.

The highlight was obviously the extremely co-operative Henslow's Sparrow that David Bell, Jack Fenton and I found along the west beach footpath. More photos to come later, but here's one! This was my 4th Henslow's ever, and 2nd "self-found". It remained cooperative for most birders who looked for it later in the day, and I photographed it later in the evening with Jeremy H.and Dwayne.

Henslow's Sparrow - April 30, 2013

The second rarity came only 20 minutes after the first. After alerting birders of the Henslow's, Dave and I continued south. Near an opening in the vegetation about 200 m north of the tip, we looked out at the ducks offshore. A large brown duck flew by at very close range and we assumed it would be a scoter. Needless to say I was completely taken aback when I realized it was a female King Eider!! This is a pretty rare bird on Lake Erie, though there are previous April records for Point Pelee. We ran down to the tip (it looked like it was coming in for a landing), but the bird was nowhere in sight. If it turns up again it will probably be with the scaup and scoter flocks on the west side of the Pelee peninsula.

And the final "self found" rarity was a Northern Goshawk that passed overhead, being harassed by blackbirds. Luckily Dave and I each fired off a few photos. This is an extremely scarce spring migrant at Point Pelee, not occurring most springs, I'm sure!

Northern Goshawk - April 30, 2013

We also had a fantastic reverse migration in the AM containing Blue-winged Warbler, Yellow-throated Vireo, Eastern Bluebird, Chimney Swift, all the regular woodpeckers, Clay-colored Sparrow, and American Tree Sparrow.
Hundreds of Nashville Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers comprised the bulk of the reverse migration.

We also successfully chased a Worm-eating Warbler that Matt Timpf found, and a Kentucky Warbler that Brandon and Eric Holden found. What a day!!!

The radar is all lit up again tonight, so I can only assume tomorrow will be great. I am sure lots of "firsts of the year" will be in store.

Painted Bunting at Pelee!!

Today was a great day of birding at Point Pelee. Right from the time we entered the south end of the park it was apparent that a new load of migrants had dropped in, and they kept coming with the morning fog. The numbers were not astounding by any means, but it sure was nice to have birds to look at! I'll mention some of the highlights in another blog post, but I thought that tonight I would post photos of the real star of the day - the Painted Bunting.

David Bell and I were birding the tip area around noon when Jeremy Bensette called (he works at Pelee Wings). Jeremy had news of a female Painted Bunting coming to the bird feeders across the street from Pelee Wings! Maris Apse had found the bird (chatting with him later, it was the first stop he made on his way to Pelee - a quck check of the feeders). Within seconds I had sent out text messages to any birders I knew were in the area and it wasn't long until Jeremy texted that he had seen and photographed the bird.

Eventually the shuttle arrived to pick us up from the tip, and we raced (at the speed limit of course) north out of the park. Without further ado - the bunting!

Painted Bunting - April 29, 2013

My photos at the time weren't very good, but I returned later this evening and had an absolutely amazing half hour, photographing the bird at eye level from only about 10 feet away. It was not too concerned with our presence - it just wanted to feed!

Painted Bunting - April 29, 2013

It appears to be a 2nd year bird based on the contrast between the primary and secondary coverts. It is in female type plumage but it could be a 2nd year male - I don't have any good resources on me at the moment.

Painted Bunting - April 29, 2013

Thanks, Maris for a great bird! As of the end of the 2011 OBRC report, there were 31 accepted records of Painted Bunting in Ontario. There are two previous for the Point Pelee birding area.

Painted Bunting - April 29, 2013

It will be exciting to see what tomorrow brings!!

Rainy times at pelee with a few good birds

Today was a pretty typical late April day at Point Pelee. Warblers and other migrants were extremely few and far between, with the odd mixed species flock being present (and containing mostly Pine, Palm, Black-throated Green and Yellow-rumped Warblers). But generally, I had to really work for the birds today!

The highlight of the day was when Kory texted me about a Sedge Wren he found - on the Woodland Nature Trail, no less. I walked to the site, and joined up with Marianne Reid-Balkwill and Jeremy Hatt. After staking out the area for a good 20 minutes, Jeremy and Marianne continued on their way. About 30 seconds later I nearly stepped on the wren as it flushed up into a brush pile! I called Jeremy, and he and Marianne arrived momentarily to enjoy the bird.

Sedge Wren - April 28, 2013

This was a new Point Pelee bird for me - my first new Pelee bird  in three weeks. At one point it hopped up onto a branch, allowing me an attempt at a clear photo. Unfortunately I was slow to the draw and just missed the opportunity!

Sedge Wren - April 28, 2013

After waiting out the rain for a bit, I grew restless and so bundled up to brave the elements. Parking at Sleepy Hollow, I walked all the way to Northwest Beach and back, looking for sparrows in the dunes and scrubby areas near the beach. This was actually a fair bit of fun and I found a few roving flocks. One flock held 15 Field Sparrows and a lone American Tree Sparrow, my first in a few days and likely my last until next winter.

Near the south end of Northwest Beach I flushed an Ammodramus sparrow - another Grasshopper Sparrow! This was my second in two days. I owed Kory Renaud for the Sedge Wren earlier - he managed to catch up with the Grasshopper Sparrow later in the afternoon.

From here I met up with David Bell at Hillman Marsh (he was looking at a flock of Willets), and after a bit of shorebirding we were about to call it quits when we received word from Jeremy Hatt about a Worm-eating Warbler at nearby Kopegaron Woods. Needless to say this was a great bird, so we drove up there and found it with Jeremy relatively quickly. Only my 4th ever.

Worm-eating Warbler - April 28, 2013

Worm-eating Warbler - April 28, 2013

While it was another slow day, the few quality birds made up for the weather and general lack of Passerines. Tonight looks like interesting weather and it will probably be better tomorrow in the park. It certainly can't get any slower!

Pelee update

I have been at Point Pelee for a few days now, and the migrants have slowly been trickling in. The birding has been relatively slow, but it is spring and new year birds are being seen daily!

In the last few days, some of the highlights include:

-13 species of shorebirds (including 2 Long-billed Dowitchers, a Willet that flew into the shorebird cell this evening as we were watching, and an early Semipalmated Plover)

roof vulture

-8 species of warblers including great comparisons between Louisiana and Northern Waterthrushes

-12 species of sparrows (13 if you include the Lark Sparrow from April 24)

-Eastern Whip-poor-will: 1 bird sitting on the main park road at 9:00 PM on April 24

-year birds in Blue-headed Vireo, House Wren, Eastern Kingbird and Wood Thrush

Today was pretty slow for songbirds, however while walking the west beach footpath with Steve Pike, Jeremy Bensette, and Jeremy's friend Chris, we flushed a streaky sparrow. It ended up being a nice Grasshopper Sparrow, perching out in the open for several minutes. My earliest I've had in Ontario! Jeremy took some half decent pics.

Later on in the day, I was at De Laurier parking lot with Jeremy and Blake Mann, when a small sparrow flew by calling. The call sounded off for it to be a Chipping Sparrow - it was a Clay-colored Sparrow! One had been found there that morning by Ross and Sandy Mackintosh.

Clay-colored Sparrow - Point Pelee National Park

Clay-colored Sparrow - Point Pelee National Park

I'm excited for what the next few days will bring. Ken Burrell had 10 species of warblers (including a nice Prothonotary) and 100 total species on Pelee Island today,  so I think it is only a matter of time until new migrants flood in. We're hoping for some overnight rain to ground migrants at Point Pelee.

Lark Sparrow!!

I'll make a post with the rest of the day's sightings sometime tomorrow, but I thought I would get the Lark Sparrow photos up now.

After checking the pier and then the harbour at Erieau, I was walking back to my car, cursing the cold weather, strong north winds, and rain. My first day of birding after taking care of a bunch of errands and job/house stuff, and this is what I was being greeted with!

Suddenly I noticed a sparrow with white edges to its tail flush, with a strange call as it flew up in the air and landed. That immediately snagged my interest, and a quick look in the bins revealed my suspicions - a Lark Sparrow!!

Lark Sparrow - Erieau, Ontario

Lark Sparrows usually occur about 5 or 6 times a year in Ontario and they have occasionally bred in the province. However they are a tough one to get and most years I don't see any. This was my second "self found" Lark Sparrow, after a bird I had on the Bruce Peninsula a few autumns ago.

After some quick looks at the bird, I carefully made my way back to the car without flushing it again. After texting some people and posting to Ontbirds, I grabbed my camera and took my first photos. The rain made it tricky and the bird was a bit skittish, but eventually I was able to hide behind a concrete block with a red boat resting on it. I snuck around the corner and rested my camera on the concrete (to prevent shake due to the strong winds) and took some better photos.

Lark Sparrow - Erieau, Ontario

Lark Sparrow - Erieau, Ontario

Steve Charbonneau, a Rondeau area birder came by to take a look at it. I called James Helmer, who is doing a big year and was in the area, and he saw it too. Perhaps half of southern Ontario's Lark Sparrows seem to hang around for a few days so there is a good bet it will be there in the morning.

Lark Sparrow - Erieau, Ontario

A great start to my Pelee trip!

I'm moving to Newmarket.

It is official as of today - I have a place to live near Schomberg, ON for the next while. Not too long ago I accepted a full time, permanent job as a Biologist for a consulting firm and I will be based out of their Newmarket office.

While Newmarket isn't the best location for a birder to live, I'm looking forward to the new job. The birding possibilities near my new place will be something different - I haven't really birded York Region before, so check the Ebird Top 100 for York later this year and I might be near the top. ;) I will also be visiting Dufferin and Simcoe Counties more thoroughly, as well as the northern end of Durham Region. While these counties are not particularly noted for their huge rarity potential, they do have some fun breeding birds, I guess. And I will be in a more central location for all of southern Ontario with a similar distance to both Ottawa and Point Pelee. Additionally, I am within an hour from some fantastic herping areas! Today I scoped out the area around my house. Within a few kilometers are the Schomberg "sewage lagoons" (basically a couple of storm water ponds) which has been host to Red-necked Grebes and a Ross's Goose the last few days. No luck with the goose today for me though! Red-necked Grebe was a tough one to get for the "patch", so I was happy. And I have a good patch bird from last year - a Hudsonian Godwit from the spring which was year bird #299 on my Big Year!

Hudsonian Godwit - Schomberg, ON (May 18, 2012)

However, I do not start work until May 6th, meaning that you can probably guess where I will spend the majority of the next 13 days! That's right, either tomorrow night or early Wednesday morning I will drive down to the Pelee area and plan to bird until I drop!

Hudsonian Godwit - Schomberg, ON (May 18, 2012)

Mike Burrell wrote a great blog post today about some of the rarities that have shown up already early in the season. Normally April 25 to May 25 is the big peak rarity time for Ontario, though we have already had such notables as Swallow-tailed Kite, Chuck-wills-widow, Say's Phoebe (which I unsuccessfully chased on the weekend), and some rare herons and warblers. Check out Mike's blog for the full recap, with links to photos or Ebird/blog reports of the notable species. 

Hudsonian Godwit - Schomberg, ON (May 18, 2012)

Anyways, I am off to Pelee soon! Visions of White-tailed Kites will be in my head....

Welcome to winter

The snow is falling as I type this. It is April 20 in southwestern Ontario and it is SNOWING. It is during weather like this that I reminisce about a different time - back when it was hot and sunny, with a gentle south breeze blowing spring migrants north to us. A time when Eastern Comma and Mourning Cloak butterflies flitted through the woodlands. And a time when reptiles and amphibians awoke from their months-long slumber to bask in the rays of a spring sun. I will take you all the way to April 18, 2013.

It was a beautiful spring day with the thermometer reaching the low 20s, so after my four day trip in the Point Pelee area I made a stop at a local herpetofauna goldmine near Cambridge. I have talked about this site many times in the past and have seen 25 species of reptiles of amphibians that call this place home. However there was one species that makes its home here that I had not yet seen - the Blanding's Turtle. Despite visiting the site several hundred times in the past, this was the one species that eluded me. So despite the promise of a hot shower and warm meal not in the too distant future, I first made a stop at this site to search for ol' yellow-chin.

Long story short, I wasn't successful despite checking some sizable wetlands in the area. However it was not in vain as I observed several reptiles out for a bask.

This Midland Painted Turtle was out for a cruise and was partially across the road when I rescued it. Turtles move around a lot early in the spring as they navigate to favorite ponds for feeding and basking. Since I saved her life, I figured that I could bother her for a few moments to take some photos before releasing her in the nearby wetland.

Midland Painted Turtle - April 18, 2013

Midland Painted Turtle - April 18, 2013

A wary grackle or two kept an eye on me as I released the turtle.

Common Grackle - April 18, 2013

One of my favorite things about this site is the huge population of Northern Ribbon Snakes - a species designated "Special Concern" in Ontario. This is the lowest designation of a Species at Risk. Northern Ribbonsnakes can be common in some areas of the province though they are absent in most of southwestern Ontario away from some large wetlands. This population here is holding strong, and it was not long until I encountered the first Northern Ribbonsnake basking alongside a wetland.

Northern Ribbonsnake - April 18, 2013

At this site, Eastern Gartersnakes and Northern Ribbonsnakes (both in the genus Thamnophis) coexist, though they occupy slightly different niches. I find that I encounter both species about equally here, though perhaps with a slight edge being given to the generalist - the Eastern Gartersnake.

Several of the garters were basking along the hillsides, or crawling along, smelling the air. I followed a male for some time as it appeared he was on the scent of a female. In the past this has led me right to a large female, often with several smaller males in the vicinity, vying for a chance to mate with the female.

Eastern Gartersnake - April 18, 2013

Several more individuals of each species were seen, with the final tally being 5 Northern Ribbonsnakes and 9 Eastern Gartersnakes. 6 other species of snake occupy the site, listed here from most abundant to least abundant (and with the total number I've found here in brackets). Northern Brownsnake (~40), Northern Redbelly Snake (~30), Northern Watersnake (8), Eastern Milksnake (2), Smooth Greensnake (1), and Northern Ringneck Snake (1).

Northern Ribbonsnake - April 18, 2013

Most snakes have relatively poor eyesight. If one moves slowly without any sudden movements it is possible to get quite close to these snakes without disturbing them. All of the snakes in this post were photographed "in situ", translated to "as is" or "in position" (meaning I did not disturb them prior to the photograph).

Northern Ribbonsnake - April 18, 2013

And of course, some Mourning Cloaks were flying around. These butterflies will overwinter and appear on the first warm days of the spring.

Mourning Cloak - April 18, 2013

Herps at Pelee

A few days ago, a friend from Leamington, Rick, pointed out an Eastern Foxsnake hibernacula along a busy road in the Pelee area. It was an overcast and windy day, yet a single muddy Foxy was resting near the entrance.

I returned the following day and was pleasantly surprised to see a few Eastern Foxsnakes basking in the area. One individual was lying in the short grass, about 50 cm from the asphalt.

Eastern Foxsnake - Hillman Marsh CA

Eastern Foxsnakes have always been a favorite of mine, and I was thrilled to spend parts of two summers directly studying them and radio-tracking them along with my co-workers. The southwestern Ontario populations of this species are directly threatened by a myriad of things. I guess that's what happens when most of their former habitat (including marshes and prairies) is converted for agricultural use. Some of these threats include increased road mortality, direct human persecution, and unsuitable habitat. The direct human persecution aspect is what really bothers me. This is one of the most docile species of snakes out there, they are stunningly beautiful, they eat a lot of "pests" including rodents, and they are absolutely harmless. Unfortunately misconceptions about snakes are often passed down from parents to their children and the cycle continues.

Eastern Foxsnake - Hillman Marsh CA

This beautiful Eastern Foxsnake, still caked in mud, has survived the long, cold winter. Hopefully she will be able to avoid any vehicles and humans with poor intentions for another season.

Blanding's Turtles are another beautiful species with their gaudy, yellow chin. They are quite rare in my part of the province, but much more common in the Point Pelee area. I was able to see a few of them basking on the 17th, the first sighting of the year for me. My photos weren't the greatest, so here is a photo taken at the same location (and possibly of the same turtle).

Blanding's Turtle - Hillman Marsh (April 17, 2013)

Blanding's Turtles are also at risk in Ontario. Nearly every single nest is predated by other animals - usually raccoons, foxes, skunks, or corvids. Fortunately they are long-lived, increasing the chance that each female will have a successful nest at some point in her life. Additionally this species is well known for its long-distance travel at certain parts of the year. Its not unusual for an adult to travel several kilometers to reach a preferred nesting ground! With the vast network of roads in southern Ontario, this often doesn't bode well. However Blanding's Turtles are still a common sight in large wetlands in southwestern Ontario and are holding their own towards the Kawarthas and southern Georgian Bay.

Conclusion of the Pelee trip

After my post a few days ago, things really slowed down at Point Pelee. Highlights were few and far between, and included:

-1 Cackling Goose with some Canada Geese on April 17 at Hillman Marsh
-1 Common Tern at the tip, April 17 (first of the year!!)

Merlin

-lots of sparrows arrived in the park on April 16. I spent quite a bit of time unsuccessfully searching for a Henslow's or Le Conte's! All the expected species were present, however.

Red-winged Blackbird

-ducks: I spent quite a bit of time one morning combing through the massive scoter/scaup flock along the west side of the park. Mixed in with the scaup were about 200 Surf Scoters and several dozen each of White-winged Scoter and Black Scoter. A highlight was picking out a sleeping male Long-tailed Duck, a fairly rare bird on western Lake Erie. It called a few times as well. Unfortunately I couldn't pick out an eider of Tufted Duck in the group!

mostly scaups

-Louisiana Waterthrushes: at least 3 birds on April 16!! and that was just on the Woodland Nature Trail. Probably quite a few were in the whole park. The only other migrant warblers seen in the last two days included some Yellow-rumped.

first gnatcatcher of the year - April 15, 2013

-yesterday, a minor hawk flight took place, mainly including Turkey Vultures, Red-tailed Hawks, Cooper's Hawks, and Sharp-shinned Hawk. I also saw singles of Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, and a surprise dark-morph Rough-legged Hawk. My first Bank Swallow of the year whipped by overhead, as did several Purple Martins.

male Purple Martin

Today I birded Elgin County for a few hours before heading home. I did some herping in the afternoon, and I'll put up some photos from that soon. As well, with this minor 2 day heatwave we are in the midst of, tomorrow could be very good for migrants!! I am going to spend the day birding the Hamilton area - something I've never done before in the middle of spring migration.