Pelee Area August 10

With the poor weather conditions, I decided against a trip to Blenheim Sewage Lagoons today even though I really wanted to look for Long-billed Dowitcher there. On a nicer day, I'll head over and see if I can find one amongst the many shorebirds that have been there in the last week.

Instead, I decided to birdwatch around the Pelee area including the Onion Fields, Hillman Marsh Conservation Area, Leamington Marina, and Pelee Days Inn/Sturgeon Creek.

I didn't have a lot of luck today, but a few interesting birds nonetheless. The Onion Fields produced a few shorebirds but still no Buff-breasted (later in the month I expect to get one before I head up to James Bay for the shorebird surveys). I ended up seeing 4 Semipalmated Plovers, a single Semipalmated Sandpiper, 9 Leasts, and a total of 31 Killdeer. Tons of blackbirds and starlings are present now and along Mersea Rd. 19, it sounds like gun-fire noises are being made periodically to keep them away from the crops.

At Pelee Days Inn, I unfortunately couldn't get a good view of any mudflats so I only had a quick view of a flyovers including peeps and yellowlegs; however, I did see a Green Heron in the harbour area, a nice addition to the day list.

Next stop was Leamington Harbour, where there was a Laughing Gull reported from the boat launch, but I didn't see it. I was birding from the Pelee Island ferry terminal so I wasn't at the right side of the Marina to get this one. I'll be trying for it tomorrow though. A long-staying Pied-billed Grebe was still in the area and I had a group of 4 Ruddy Turnstones at Seacliff Beach among the Bonaparte's, Ring-billed, and Herring Gulls.

I made a brief stop at Hillman Marsh before heading home and got another Pied-billed Grebe for the day as well as a 2nd Green Heron and a Black-crowned Night-Heron juvenile. I viewed all 3 from the bridge at the northwest end of the conservation area (Mersea Rd 2 and Mersea Rd 19).

Good numbers of Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons are in the vicinity. I had 34 Great Blue Herons: 1 in the Onion Fields, 7 at Sturgeon Creek, 1 at Leamington Marina, and 30 at Hillman Marsh, and 17 Great Egrets: 6 at Sturgeon Creek and 11 at Hillman Marsh. I didn't check Muddy Creek this evening but I'm sure there were a number of both of these species present.