Day 3, May 12, '09 - Highlight: American White Pelican and a mini-fallout of new passerines

Can't believe I'm only at Day 3! I have to speed these posts up! Day 3 was definitely a good day for numbers as you'll see from my day list. I caught the 6 o'clock train on this one and was out until after 7pm due to an Eastern Screech-Owl. I was planning on heading home after the shorebird cell but a report of an easy-to-find Screech-Owl made it to my ears to I went back to the park to see the bird in case I couldn't find one later in the week (turns out the same bird came back to the same spot another day and I saw yet another bird on the Nature Trail. But if you're working on a list, it's always better to be safe than sorry). Another highlight was a pair of American White Pelicans on the lake at West Beach. Being such a large species, the two enormous white birds stood out in a raft of Cormorants.

This day also marked a mini-fallout at the tip area, a great day for new warblers and passerines. I spent most of my morning searching out all the birds that were being reported in the vicinity.

Here's my day list:

Canada Goose
Tundra Swan - same bird on Concession E
Gadwall
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Lesser Scaup - same bird at the shorebird cell
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck - a single bird at the shorebird cell
Common Loon
Ring-necked Pheasant
American White Pelican - 2 of West Beach
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Green Heron
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Sandhill Crane
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper - my first of the week
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs - first of the week
Ruddy Turnstone - first of the week
Sanderling - first of the week - 4 birds on the east beach of Pelee near the tip
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher
Bonaparte's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Black-billed Cuckoo - first of the week - a single bird near the south train loop
Eastern Screech-Owl - this bird was so camouflaged on its perch in front of a Sycamore tree that I had to follow the exact directions from another birder to pinpoint it.
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-headed Woodpecker - first of the week
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo - amazingly, this was the only Blue-headed Vireo I saw during my entire visit home!
Warbling Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo - first of the week; east side of tip
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch - same bird on Tilden Trail
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Veery
Gray-cheeked Thrush - first of the week - 2 birds at the tip
Swainson's Thrush
Hermit Thrush - a late bird on Tilden Trail (and my only one for the entire week home)
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Cape May Warbler - first of the week
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Palm Warbler - first of week
Bay-breasted Warbler - first of week
Blackpoll Warbler - first of week
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Total Species: 120
Total Warblers: 19

Day 2, May 11, '08 - Lifer! Lark Bunting

My second day in was quite an interesting one. Whoever set the date for Mother's Day wasn't a birder. The holiday falls right smack dab in the middle of birding season and my family gets together annually on the day. So, my day at the park was split up. Bird the morning for 4 hours, go to brunch at the Car Barn in Wheatley for Mother's Day Brunch, then back to the park in the afternoon (after a call from Marianne informing me of a Lark Bunting on the main road north of the train loop!).

I had actually just got home from brunch and was visiting with family when she called and I immediately informed my family what was happening. Seeing as it's May and they have come to understand over the years that I might drop everything and leave for Pelee any minute, they were understanding. Anyway, I got the bird so that's the main thing! And so did a lot of others.

When I arrived, there were already a lot of people on the main road searching/waiting for the bird to feed along the side of the road as it was reported doing earlier in the afternoon. After an hour or two, there finally came a yell from within Loop Woods on the east side of the main road, "I'VE GOT THE BIRD!!." After a mini stampede of birders rushed into the tiny seasonal trails of Loop Woods, the bird was eventually found by most who were willing to wait and provided great looks (and a few photos). Then, the icing on the cake was a call-out of the Black Vulture hanging out on east beach (about a 2 minute walk away). Missing the last train, a group of us walked over to see the Vulture then started our 2.5km walk back to the Visitor Center. Another highlight of my birding week by far as this species was on my most-wanted list for the spring.

Here's my list for the day (shorter because of the break in the afternoon and I didn't go to the Shorebird Cell):
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Wood Duck
Mallard
Red-breasted Merganser
Wild Turkey - astonishingly, this was the only Wild Turkey I saw in the park for my entire week home! They must make themselves scarce when so many people are around.
Common Loon
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Black Vulture - this was my second bird for Pelee, but congratulations to Blake for finally seeing his nemesis bird!!
Turkey Vulture
Sharp-shinned Hawk - this was a lucky find; a single bird flying over my Grandma's residence in Wheatley. Many struggled to find or simply missed this bird for their May lists.
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper - 4 birds on the east beach
Bonaparte's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Forster's Tern
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Yellow-throated Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow - most days, good numbers of swallows were feeding off the tip and east/west beaches. On mornings where there was not much activity, I'd admire their aerial maneuvering as they dipped, dived, and turned for insects.
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch - a single bird hanged around the east side of Tilden Trail for most of the week I was home
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Nashville Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
American Redstart
Kentucky Warbler - only heard, not seen on Tilden Trail
Common Yellowthroat
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Lark Bunting - !!!!!
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Total Species: 77

Day 1 - May 10, '08 - Lifer! Mottled Duck

When my alarm went off at 6:00am on my first day, I had one thought on my mind: Mottled Duck. Throwing together everything as quickly as humanly possible, I hopped into the silver bullet. That's what Marianne calls my family's Ford Windstar when it's used as a birding vehicle...mostly because it does a lot of speeding for rarities. Years ago, when a stunning 'orange' Ruff was present at Wheatley Harbour, I drove 140 without my license to see the bird. Well, I'm a bit smarter nowadays (back then I was in highschool, you see) and as surprising as it might sound, I do put more value on my life than a lifer.

Well, good news. I saw the bird!!! When I got to the shorebird cell, Kevin Maclaughlin was already there and we started to scan for the bird. Eventually we found a bird that looked good and after careful study of the appropriate field marks (thin neck, darker overall body tone than female Mallard, black pockmark at the gape, and warm, buffy throat), I added one more species to my life list. Fortunately, the bird stuck around for my entire week home to I got quit a few good looks with better lighting on later days. This bird is certainly out of its range (Florida and the Gulf Coast) and it's thought that it probably joined up with a flock of Black Ducks or Mallards and made its way north). Whether the bird will be accepted by the OBRC is the next question, but I doubt they won't accept this one. The bird had no leg bands, it's not tame, and it looked and acted like a wild bird to me). This was the first time this species has ever been seen in Canada so it was definitely one of the highlights of my week off at Pelee. Also nice was a trio of Cackling Geese that was swimming in the shorebird cell near the Mottled Duck. Not a bad start.

My first day was a mix of heavy birding and visiting. Seeing as I was out of Pelee last May, there were friends I hadn't seen for over a year, which meant a lot of catching up.

Here's the day's list:

Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Mute Swan - a single bird in the shorebird cell
Tundra Swan - a bird has been hanging out on Concession E for quite some time apparently. Maybe it's an injured bird?
Wood Duck
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mottled Duck - !!!!!!!!!!!
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Redhead - a single bird in the shorebird cell at Hillman
Lesser Scaup - a lingering pair at the shorebird cell
Red-breasted Merganser
Ring-necked Pheasant - heard at Hillman
Common Loon - 2 birds flying over the shorebird cell towards the lake
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Green Heron - a single bird at the north dyke on Concession E
Turkey Vulture
*Northern Harrier - I saw this bird outside of the Pelee birding circle so couldn't count it on my day list
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk - flying over the Visitor Center parking lot in Pelee
Sandhill Crane - heard calling from the back of the Nature Trail
Black-bellied Plover - at least a thousand flying off the east side of the tip
American Golden-Plover - a single bird at the Shorebird Cell
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Phalarope - a male bird at the Cell
Bonaparte's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Forster's Tern
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo - I don't know if I just got lucky, but I saw so many Yellow-throated Vireo's this year. I felt spoiled!
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Purple Martin - this was my 100th bird for the day
Tree Swallow
*Northern Rough-winged Swallow - seen outside the Pelee Circle
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Prothonotary Warbler - 2 birds, male and female at the Woodland Nature Trail bridges. The Nature Trail was the place to be for passerines on Saturday. There was a great diversity and abundance of warblers at the water areas on the trail.
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Canada Warbler
Scarlet Tanager - it took me until midway through the week to see a male!
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
*Vesper Sparrow - 2 birds outside of the Pelee Birding Circle. I never did end up getting this species within the circle, which is always frustrating.
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
*Bobolink - this was one of my most frustrating species! For all the effort, I never saw or heard a single bird within the Pelee Circle during my week off.
Red-winged Blackbird
Rusty Blackbird - Woodland Trail is always reliable for this species
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Total Species: 113
Total Warblers: 20 (I think this was my best warbler day in fact)

MAY AT PELEE '08 - a summary

After seven intense days of waking up every morning at 5:00am, birding for 12 hours almost every one of those days, scarfing down whatever available food I could find (I actually bought out of all the Nature Nook's stock of Snickers bars), chasing rarities, chasing common species, tick checks, sun burn, back pain, neck pain, leg pain, stomach pain, headaches, day lists, May lists, life lists, Ontario lists, Pelee lists, socializing, and few (but heavenly) naps, I'm back in Toronto regrettably shutting the door on another amazing trip to Point Pelee during spring migration. Phew, as run-ons go, that one's a marathon.

The trip was far too short. My greyhound left Friday night from Toronto at 6:45pm and I didn't get home until after 11:00pm. After quickly unpacking and preparing for the next day, I set my alarm for 5 in the morning and tried to get a wink of sleep before my first exciting day of birding commenced. Each day brought new surprises, new birds, sometimes new disappointments, but in the end, I think I put in a good week of birding. Before May, I debated the best time to take a week off during the month. Do I take off the first week and catch the early migrants but risk missing a lot of the later arrivals and rarities? Do I go at the end of the month when there are fewer people but the opportunity for some late migrants and potential late migrant gems? I ended up deciding on May 10th to May 18th, relatively in the middle but still early enough to catch some of the earlier migrants. I think I made the right choice as I ended up with 2 lifers, 4 Pelee/Ontario birds, and a final count of 170 species, the exact goal I set out upon arrival to Pelee on Saturday (hilariously and stupidly, I original set an unreachable goal of 200 species and quickly altered that number. I hope next year to get the first 2 weeks of May off and then that number will be achievable). Now, the spring season in Pelee goes on without me.

Aside from the birds, Pelee in May is simply my favourite place to be for the people as well. Birders are a special breed. Encouraging, friendly, upbeat, witty, a tad bit strange...sometimes, but always passionate. It's always great to meet up with friends that I only see once a year during spring migration, or at the odd convention or special meeting. To hear of the trips people have taken, the birds they've seen, and the experiences they've had is a pleasure and inspires me each and every time. There is one group in particular that I love to birdwatch with at least a few days, unofficially led by Ron Tozer and Mike Tate. To them, May is a time to see as many species as physically possible during their short stay, over 200 species this year, and to rack up the numbers every day they bird. To a lesser degree, I try to do the same thing. There were a couple days that I could have gotten much higher counts but decisions to stay dry or catch up on some needed sleep made my numbers slip on a few occasions. It might sound like listing, but that's simply not the case. I still appreciate all the birds I see (except for maybe Yellow Warbler, which becomes just a check-mark after the first day of birding). If I already have 1 Prairie Warbler, I'm not going to walk by a second one if it's right in front of me just because I've already ticked it off. Unless of course there's a new bird for my May list down the trail. Hmmm, maybe I'm not sounding convincing here (please note the firm placement of tongue in cheek). For me, a May list sometimes makes a common species a spectacle. Harder to find birds during spring that I see year-round elsewhere become birds to chase after. White-breasted Nuthatch, Bobolink, American Kestrel, and Pine Siskin to name a few. Mind you, it can also have its downsides. I spent a ridiculously outlandish amount of time driving around trying to hear a Bobolink while I could have been searching the under-birded sections of the park, but that's all part of the fun (or frustration depending on how you look at it). I guess the point is I'm still there to study the birds and appreciate their beauty...but there's just a kind of silly excitement I get from keeping a May list. And you still find new birds, even if you are on the hunt for a specific species.

Getting back to the birders, it's always hard to say goodbye when the days are dwindling down, and birders have to go back to their other lives and routines. Each time another birder leaves, a little bit is lost as a large part of the thrill of birding for me is the sharing of sightings. It's exciting being part of the radio system at the park where someone will throw their sighting on the airwaves while anyone listening rushes to get the bird. When you have something good, you want others to share the experience.

In the next few days, I will provide readers with each of my day list statistics, a few posts dedicated to lifers, and a heaping helping of the experiences that go into making May what it is. It's certainly been my best week of birding yet this year hands down.

Mottled Duck....there's still hope

A helpful Ontbirds post by Bob Curry and Glenda Slessor tells me that the Mottled Duck is still at Hillman Marsh as of May 5th. As Marianne tells me, this is probably the first record for not only the Pelee Birding Circle but for Ontario and Canada as well. That means it's the biggest sighting since the Neotropic Cormorant of 2005. I'm starting to develop a nervous twitch as I anxiously check my hotmail hoping that another sighting will appear telling me the duck is still around. Only 4 more days until I go home. The optimist in me wonders where a Mottled Duck would decide to go. It's not as if it's migrating. It's going to be hard-pressed to find a mate. Saturday, May 10 will be the deciding day. I see myself spending my first day of birding at Hillman Marsh desperately searching...just 4 more days, 4 more days, 4 more days.

As an added bonus to some of those searching for the Mottled Duck, a Mississippi Kite made an appearance. My last sighting for a Mississippi Kite is also my first...May 6, 2000. Another painful miss! And how nice would it be to be able to take a trip to try to see the adult male Scissor-tailed Flycatcher?! I love spring migration!!

Now for something a little lighter - IT'S MAY AND I'M HEADED SOUTH!!

Spring migration has once again started without me. Fortunately, I've been able to get out birding in some of Toronto's prime locations to witness the first of billions of birds that will make their way across North America on their way towards their breeding grounds to the north. It's difficult to check my email daily and see the reports from my stomping grounds to the south, especially when there are great birds that I might have to miss. Of course, I'm talking about the Mottled Duck, a species that has never before been reported in the Pelee Birding Circle. Now, one is present at Hillman Marsh, being seen by hundreds while I eagerly await getting on the Greyhound to come home for the middle part of May. It's been seen at various locations and I hope hope hope hope hope it will stay for the next week. This is a species I don't want to miss.

For a quick sightings update (I'm doing this by memory so I'll probably miss some), at High Park this week I've noted the following:

- Good numbers of Cormorants are starting to make there way into the area.
- More Great Egrets are around now, displaying their magnificent plumes.
- The common, early migrants have been around for a while now and some of them are already collecting nesting materials including Red-winged Blackbirds, Robins, Grackles.
- Spring migrants include a good number of cheb-ecking Least Flycatchers, Tree and Barn Swallows, Blue-headed Vireo, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Veery, Gray Catbird, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, and Blackburnian Warblers, high numbers of White-throated, White-crowned, Song, and Chipping Sparrows, and quite a few striking American Goldfinches.

Not an hour goes by where I don't think about getting home to Pelee. My trip will last from May 9th to May 18th and my goal (perhaps a bit of a challenge with the time constraint) is to get 200 species for the week I'm home. That will not be nearly enough time and the week will go by way too fast but that's what I somehow hope to miraculously manage.