Day 6, May 15, '08 - Resurrection. My highest day-count for the trip and a lot of new species for the week.

So I am ONCE AGAIN resurrecting my birding blog from the abyss after neglecting it for eons. And what a time to stop writing. Midway through my trip home during spring migration. I was hoping to get all of it finished the week after my trip. Then, a promotion at work occurred, I got right back into the Toronto life, and an array of other time-burglars arose, and next thing I knew, it was the end of June and I realized a month had passed since my trip. Well, it's going to be hard to write satisfying posts from the rest of the days I was home (my memory of specific events day to day has dwindled over the expanse of time) but I will include my lists. I also want to get to my "May Misses", which I was most looking forward to writing anyway.

Without further ado, here is my list for Thursday, May 15: (*Note: most times I would have described the weather or my route through Pelee for the day but once again, memory gaps and lapses will be evident with my next few posts!)

Canada Goose
Tundra Swan (same single bird on Concession E)
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Lesser Scaup
Mottled Duck
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Peregrine Falcon
Sora
Sandhill Crane
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Ruddy Turnstone
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
Eastern Screech-Owl (a second bird than the first on the main road provided decent views on the Woodland Nature Trail)
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Willow Flycatcher (the individual at the tip was identified through process of elimination by a large group including Ron Tozer. The consensus was Willow. Shortly after the group left, another smaller group that waited heard the bird singing. It was indeed a Willow).
Least Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher (surprisingly my first sighting of the week)
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Blue-winged Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Kirtland's Warbler (one of the spring highlights. Brandon Holden was the original finder when he heard the bird calling between the main road and west beach birding footpath south of the halfway bus stop. There was some confusion and groups of birders ended up on both sides but eventually everyone realized there were better chances at seeing the bird on the west beach. I believe it stayed for most of the morning/afternoon. I had to wait an hour with the bird constantly singing before it finally was spotted on a bush very close to the trail. Subsequently, I got great views).
Prairie Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Canada Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-coloured Sparrow (my first and only Clay-coloured Sparrow was a single bird at the tip but I think more than one was in the vicinity in the morning)
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp 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 (my best day of birding in terms of numbers. 120 was my highest count for the trip)
Total Warblers: 19

One thing I do remember about this day was that I had a number of new birds for the week that I hadn't seen previously. Many others shared the same experience.

Day 5, May 14, '08 - Marianne's Birthday, heavy rain, and a four hour nap

Wednesday was a write off. The morning started off o.k. in the park but by about 11:00 in the morning, it started to pour rain. Marianne decided to go home and wait for the rain to pass then re-enter the park. I took the chance to get some visiting in with family and to take a nap in the afternoon before a large group of birders got together to celebrate Marianne's marriage (congratulations!). Well, I guess the 6 hours of sleep a night had caught up to me because I laid down at around 1 in the afternoon and by the time I woke up, it was already 5 and I had to leave right away to get to the meal! Long story short, not a good day of birding, but a good day nonetheless.

I did manage to get a new species for the week though. Since the meal was at Freddy's, a restaurant right on Pelee Drive, and lasted till 9 at night, I decided to take a late trip into the park to watch the American Woodcock displays at the Delaurier Trail. As soon as I pulled into the parking lot, I could hear the tell-tale 'meep' coming from the grasses adjacent to the lot and within a few minutes, those present witnessed the spectacular display of the male woodcock. The male flies directly into the air and then performs a series of amazing aerial maneuvers to impress the females who watches from the ground. This was the first time I had went to the park late enough to witness the displays (at dusk, just before nightfall) and it was well worth it. This is going to become an annual event for me.

In closing, no list for Wednesday, just a lot of rain, a lot of sleep, and a lot of visiting. And knowing that Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were going to be long, long days of birding to make up for it!

Day 4 - May 13, '08 - Exclude Hillman and you don't get 100 for a day. That's what I learned this spring.

Whereas Monday experienced a mini-fallout at the tip, Tuesday experienced quite a drop in diversity and abundance (at least in my observation). However, it was the first day Marianne and I were able to spend a day birding together so I didn't mind a slower day of birding. We had a lot of catching up to do! I also didn't get out to Hillman Marsh on Tuesday so my day list once again is fairly low for a mid-May day.

Here's the list:

Canada Goose
Mallard
Greater Scaup (a late pair off the west beach. These were my only Greater Scaup for the period)
Lesser Scaup
Red-breasted Merganser
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Turkey Vulture
Killdeer
Laughing Gull
Bonaparte's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Forster's Tern
Mourning Dove
Black-billed Cuckoo
Chimney Swift
Red-headed Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Yellow-throated Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Marsh Wren (surprisingly, my first for the week)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Blue-winged Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warblr
Magnolia Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Palm Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Chipping 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: 77
Total Warblers: 16