May 30th 2016
Location: Skunks Misery
Weather: Wow .. another scorcher
Weather: Wow .. another scorcher
Mourning Warbler Steve came up with a great idea as to where to go today, on what is likely going to be our last trip of the month - Skunks Misery, a half hour or so past London. I had, or had Steve, never been there before but it has been programmed into my GPS birding spots for several years, so .... We arrived a bit before 8:00 and pulled on to the grass verge at a likely looking spot and almost immediately we saw a couple of Chestnut-sided Warblers in a tree next to the car (a great start to any day). In the next few hours we saw several Chestnut-sided, Indigo Buntings, Blue-winged Warblers and Great-crested Flycatchers. We met up with a couple of fellow birders who pointed out a Mourning Warbler high in a tree along the trail - one of the birds we had hoped to see, and it was a beauty male bird singing off an on. Same birders also mentioned they had seen and photographed what looked like a Blue-winged x Golden-winged hybrid, which had a lot of the traits of a Brewsters. I didn't photograph this bird, but I did get a 2-3 second glimpse of him - thrilled :)
May 27th 2016
Location: Grass Lake & area
Weather: Continuing hot
Weather: Continuing hot
Thought I would do the same route as yesterday ie Grass Lake & Alps Road, and as expected there were similar results .. but still no sign of the Hooded pair at Alps. However, I did spot an Ovenbird in the very close general vicinity. Initially when I approached the area I had spotted a small brownish bird scoot past at low level, but after waiting a bit to see if it would show (it didn't), I moved on to the Hooded spot. After giving up on the no-show Hooded, I went back to where the small brown bird had been seen earlier and as I approached a small sparrow like bird popped up on a log, then turned around to face me approx 10 or 12ft away - I was delighted to see that it was an Ovenbird, and after frantically trying to focus in on the bird it took off and landed in a nearby tree, obviously agitated, and started singing - a nice surprise. Before returning to the car I checked out a nearby spot where I had seen Indigos in the past and wasn't disappointed today there either. Some other shots from Grass Lake included. A Good day
May 26th 2016
Location: Grass Lake & area
Weather: Continuing hot
Weather: Continuing hot
On a this somewhat hot & sultry morning I headed to Grass Lake to check up on the annually summering species that habitat the grasslamd around the radio towers. As expected I found Bobolinks, Savannah Sparrows, Sandhill Cranes & Bluebirds. From here I ran around to the forested area along Alps road where a birding friend had informed that they had sighted & photographed a Hooded Warbler pair. Nice birds like that are always worth checking out so after a bit of confuion over the location map I was sent I was pretty sure that I had found the localle but after much waiting, listening and even a short burst of a taped call (very minimal) nothing popped up. I did however see Yellow Warblers, Scarlet Tanager and a very curious Red-eyed Vireo.
May 24th 2016
Location: Beverley Marsh area
Weather: Hot & Sunny
Weather: Hot & Sunny
Now that spring has finally sprung, as they say, it seems to have brought the migrants and summer birds. Hard to believe 2 weeks ago we were still having snow flurries, but believe me I'm not complaining - I much prefer the heat. Steve & I headed out for what was to be a short birding day up and around the Beverly Swamp area. Lots of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks around. We also spotted a Red-eyed Vireo and an American Redstart all of which in previous years had frequented the same spots. Next stop was down a couple of concessions to a spot where in other years I had seen Blue-winged Warblers. Today it was not to be, but an Eastern Towhee showed up and gave both of us some great views for about 5 minutes - I love it when they do that. It was a good birding day, as they often are at this time of year.
May 17th - 21st 2016
Location: Magee Marsh & area, Ohio
Weather: varied
Weather: varied
It's been over a week since we got back from Ohio ... and with good birding happening all around me I have been a tad negligent in getting the blog back on schedule. Anyways, as per the previous trip to Ohio the week before it was a tremndous trip - a ton of birds including a couple of life birds as well. On this trip, along with another two good birding friends, we birded for a total of five long days (usually 12 hour days) primarily at Magee Marsh, but we also ventured to Maumee Bat State Park and Oak Openings Preserve. Tue the 17th was probably the best day at Magee with many warblers, often at extremely close range, giving us some marvellous photo opportunities. Highlights for me on this trip was the better views I had of a Canada Warbler (in fact we saw 3 individuals during the course of that one day), The Virginia Rail at Maumee (thanks to Helen for hearing it) and the several Red-headed Woodpeckers and sightings of a special bird for me - Summer Tanagers, at Oak Openings. On top of seeing some great birds during the course of the 5 days, the excellent company from my travel companions was probably the biggest highlight (thanks guys).
Like the previous week I have created a Gallery Page, which can be accessed from here.
May 11th - 13th 2016
Location: Magee Marsh & area, Ohio
Weather: varied
Weather: varied
Blackburnian Warbler Very early Wednesday morning (01:00) I started out for my 2nd annual visit to the "Warbler capital of the World" or sometimes described as the "Best birding in America" - Magee Marsh in Ohio, just east of Toledo along the Erie coast. I arrived at 06:30 to a parking lot that was starting to fill up - by mid morning several hundreds of vehicles would be lined up in a series of lots. I initially headed to the boardwalk - the most popular spot for most visitors and by 8 or 9 the boardwalk would be choked with hundreds of avid birders viaing for views of the hundreds of warblers that would ultimately be seen throughout the day. My first day netted me a warbler count of 20 species and several other species as well. Best Warblers of the day for me were an Ovenbird, Prarie Warbler and a briefly glimpsed Canada Warbler. Next morning I'm back bright and early hoping to have my list expanded. Following an excited group of people later in the day, I was fortunate to get a very brief glimpse of a Kirtlands Warbler .. my first life bird of the trip. I met friends who also mentioned that they had taken a side trip to Oak Openings and had seen a Lark Sparrow, as well as several Red-headed Woodpeckers. Around mid afternoon another birder had mentioned that a Curlew Sandpiper had been spotted at Oak Openings - an incredibly rare bird and I so heading the 40miles was a no-brainer. I found that this park was massive, and even after I rec'd directions from other birders I never did locate the spot, but I did spot a couple of Lark Sparrows ... another Life bird to my list. Along with a Common Nighthawk my life list adders was now at 3, and my warbler count up to 24. I missed out on a Kentucky Warbler and Yellow-billed Cuckoos (2) that it seemed everybody except me had seen. Friday was my last day, so with very tired and sore feet I trudged around hoping for good photo ops and new birds to add to my list. A Whip-poor-will was not easy to spot but fellow birders guided me to the sighting so I was able to add this final life bird, of the trip, to the list. A very cooperative Tennessee Warbler was my final warbler of the trip making my final count at 25 - and he gave me great photos, as he forraged 10' away in an apple tree covered in Blossom to boot!. Before heading back to Ontario later in the afternoon I took the car trail at Ottowa Refuge a 10mile+ drive only trail around ponds, lakes & swamps, and managed to add another few birds to my trip list, which totalled 92 after 3 days. I'm back next week so I'm hoping to better that count and maybe add some new Warblers. I live in hope !
Here is a link to a gallery of some the several hundred images I took. I have also a species list for download if anybody wants to check it out.... see below
| magee_week1__2016_.pdf |
May 7th 2016
Location: Stoney Creek, Hamilton & Halton
Weather: 7C rising to 23C in the afternoon
Weather: 7C rising to 23C in the afternoon
Palm Warbler On a continuing quest for migratory birds Helen & I headed first to Edgelake Park in Stoney Creek where a few warblers had been reported a day or two ago. Unfortunately, other than Yellow Warblers we found not too much. A Baltimore Oriole scooted about high in the trees which denied us a photo op. From here we headed to Grindstone Creek and took the less popular trail accessed from Unsworth Avenue. Again a few Yellow Warblers were around, but we also found a Palm and a Yellow-rumped Warbler. Other sightings were Grey Catbird, Green Heron, Rough-winged Swallow and House Wren.
Last stop of the day was around Mounstberg Reservoir (one of my all time favorite local spots). Here we saw a few more Yellow-rumped and Yellow Warblers, House Wrens and an unusually early Warbling Vireo. Not a bad day
Last stop of the day was around Mounstberg Reservoir (one of my all time favorite local spots). Here we saw a few more Yellow-rumped and Yellow Warblers, House Wrens and an unusually early Warbling Vireo. Not a bad day
May 5th & 6th 2016
Location: Point Pelee, Hillman Marsh & Rondeau
Weather: Cool mornings but warmed up to ~20C in the pm
Weather: Cool mornings but warmed up to ~20C in the pm
Black-throated Blue Warbler I headed down to the Pelee area to see if the warbler invasion was underway yet. Unfortunately cooler weather seems to be delaying the bulk of the songbird arrivals, but a few birds were around (not many though). Day1 (Thursday) I arrived at the point at approx 6:00am after the 3 hour drive from Kitchener (yes I was up real early ) and expected to see lots of birds, but other than a few Yellow Warblers and a few Kinglets there was not much going on. After several hours exploring several of the trails things had improved very slightly, with sightings of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Hooded Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler and a few others. Unfortunately I missed on the rarities that had been reported - Kentucky & Connecticut Warblers, Brewsters, Golden-winged & Laurences Warbler. Late in the afternoon I headed over to Hillman Marsh, but it appeared that all the unusual species that had been there a few days ago had moved on (Avocets, Black-neckes Stilts, Willets, Dowitchers, etc) All I could see at a significant distance away were a few Yellowlegs, Caspian & Common Terns and a single Golden Plover.
Day2 (Friday) after having stayed at a local motel for the night I was back on the trails again at 6:00am, with still sore feet and shoulders from day before (we suffer a lot sometimes for our passions). Same trails with similar results but did add a few birds to my list including Blue-winged Warbler, House Wren, Orchard Oriole and a brief sighting of the only life bird of my trip - a Lousiana Waterthrush. If it wasn't for Yellow Warblers I wouldn't have had much to photograph at all. Around noon I headed over to Rondeau hoping for an improvement in the bird photography opportunities, and it was slow here as well but did spot a Yellow-throated Vireo, as well as a few more Yellow Warblers and a cooperative Eastern Phoebe.
Day2 (Friday) after having stayed at a local motel for the night I was back on the trails again at 6:00am, with still sore feet and shoulders from day before (we suffer a lot sometimes for our passions). Same trails with similar results but did add a few birds to my list including Blue-winged Warbler, House Wren, Orchard Oriole and a brief sighting of the only life bird of my trip - a Lousiana Waterthrush. If it wasn't for Yellow Warblers I wouldn't have had much to photograph at all. Around noon I headed over to Rondeau hoping for an improvement in the bird photography opportunities, and it was slow here as well but did spot a Yellow-throated Vireo, as well as a few more Yellow Warblers and a cooperative Eastern Phoebe.
May 2nd 2016
Location: Point Pelee
Weather: Dull, damp & 10C
Weather: Dull, damp & 10C
Blue-headed Vireo 1st trip to Pelee this year to catch the start of spring migration and although the weather was dull (not great for photography) Steve & I had a good time. We left KW at 04:00 for the 3 hour drive to one of North Americas birding hotspots - Point Pelee near Leamington, Ontario. We started off at the tip, but by the number of people on the returning trams we were pretty sure that the tip was slow. However we did see a few goodies, including Whirte-crowned Sparrows, Black-throated Green & Yellow Warblers. As well as a snake (Eastern Hognose Snake) coiled up in a tree. We also visited West Beach Trail and the Woodland Trail and spotted a few Hermit Thrushes, Veerys, Winter Wrens, a Brown Creeper and several Blue-headed Vireos. Later on we re-did the Tip and then on to Delaurier Homestead but other than more Veery's, Hermit Thrushes and single Yellow, Yellow-rumped & Palm Warblers that was about it. From the tram we spotted a FOY Rose-breasted Grosbeak (male). 3:30pm saw us back in the car heading back to KW ... an acceptable day, indeed!
