Tuesday, June 03, 2008

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!

1 comment:

Blake A. Mann said...

It sure rained at Rondeau! I was way down a trail when the big downpour came, and needless to say I got soaked. Took hours with the car heater to dry out! Getting back to the campsite, I had a sapsucker working a cedar tree. Good bird for mid May.