Marine Blues

In my previous post, I mentioned a morning of birding (but it mostly turned into a search for butterflies). A short while ago, the first record of Broad-winged Skipper for the Pelee Birding Area was seen along Concession E north of the park. No matter the time of year, whenever I am home, Marianne and I make it a point to go out birding at least once. This weekend was no exception and although we only had 3 hours, we still had a fun time (minus missing the aforementioned Broad-winged Skipper).

We decided to start our search for butterflies (and possibly shorebirds) at Hillman Marsh. After poisening ourselves with bug spray (I had already applied sunscreen earlier in the morning so I felt like I had just waded through toxic sludge at this point), we set off. It was a typical July day with no shorebirds found but some highlights in the birding department included a few Willow Flycatchers, both species of Cuckoo, 2 Belted Kingfishers, a ton of Common Yellowthroats and Yellow Warblers, as well as the usual summer suspects (a huge flock of swallows over the Pelee Marsh was a highlight for me). Note to self: even the strongest bug sprays do not deter Deerflies...ouch!

We ended up with 14 species of butterfly in total:

Black Swallowtail
Eastern Tiger-Swallowtail (black and yellow forms)
Summer Azure
Cabbage White
Orange Sulphur
Bronze Copper
Eyed Brown
Painted Lady
Eastern Comma
Pearl Crescent
Orange Crescent
Monarch
Viceroy
Least Skipper

I also learned this weekend of a butterfly listserv that I need to find and become a member of. If I had been on it, I may have heard about the Marine Blues that were featured in the Toronto Star!

I wish I had had more time to stay out today but only having 2 vehicles on a farm where 4 busy people live causes obvious scheduling conflicts. In other news, it's been made official! I am the membership secretary of the Toronto Ornithological Club! *Currently floating on a cloud*

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

OFO Convention - 25th Anniversary

Well, the OFO weekend is over, I'm back in Toronto, and I'm reflecting on how great the weekend really was. I think Marianne summed up the weekend exceedingly well when she said, "Good food, good friends, and good birds." Really, what more could you ask for?

And good birds there were. On Saturday morning, I joined Marianne's group. Marianne was the assigned leader for the hotspots within the Pelee birding circle, but outside of the park boundaries. This included places like Hillman Marsh, Wheatley Harbour, the Onion Fields, and Pelee Days Inn. We ended up only checking out the North Dyke past Concession E and the mudflats behind Pelee Days Inn (a highlight of the weekend) but this was O.K. because we got some great species in that time. Surf Scoter, Purple Finch, Eastern Bluebird, Long-billed Dowitcher, White-rumped Sandpiper, Peregrine Falcon, Virginia Rail, and Orange-crowned Warbler were among the highlights. Other interesting sightings include large numbers of migrating Double-crested Cormorants, a huge number of Swamp Sparrows along the reeds at the north end of Point Pelee, huge numbers of Turkey Vultures, 3 Bald Eagles, Stilt Sandpiper, a late Barn Swallow and Eastern Wood-Pewee, and a number of others (check out my weekend list below).

This is just a quick update for the weekend and I'll post more soon (including details of how I became a makeshift leader after being volunteered to do so completely unexpectedly!). I also plan to make a post on my number 1 bird of the weekend, Northern Wheatear. What an experience.

Here's my overall list for the weekend (not including other birders' sightings from Saturday and Sunday...those will probably be tallied and sent out soon):

Pied-billed Grebe (1 bird at the end of Concession E at the north end of Point Pelee marsh)
Double-crested Cormorants (huge numbers flying over Pelee marsh and elsewhere)
Great Blue Heron (a fair number at Pelee Days Inn and Hillman)
Great Egret (about a dozen birds at Hillman Marsh)
Canada Goose (a fair number of migrating birds, especially in the Onion Fields where hunters have placed decoys)
Wood Duck (1 heard on Concession E)
Green-winged Teal (a group of birds behind Pelee Days Inn)
Mallard
Surf Scoter (a group of 3 birds flying east over the Onion Fields)
- note: my list is very low on waterfowl mostly because we were never at the lake, therefore, I missed out on either Scaup species, Mergansers, Scoters, etc.
Turkey Vulture (huge movement of migrants; I counted 60 birds within a few minutes flying past the Roma Club parking lot where the convention was held. Later at home, I counted 280 birds fly over my backyard in a span of about 15 minutes)
Bald Eagle (a total of 3 birds for the weekend)
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk (a few birds migrating)
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel (only a single bird within the Pelee Circle, but a few birds on the hydro poles north of Leamington)
Peregrine Falcon (a single bird in the Onion Fields that may have been responsible for the lack of shorebirds in the vicinity)
Virginia Rail (a single bird at the north end of Pelee Marsh. Out of our group of 7, I think 4 people ended up seeing the bird. I had a decently long glance at it before trying to point out where I had seen it)
American Coot (I only saw one bird, but there may have been more behind Pelee Days Inn)
Semipalmated Plover (1 behind Pelee Days Inn)
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs (a good number of birds at Hillman Marsh; at least 20+)
Lesser Yellowlegs (fewer present than Greater in all areas)
Semipalmated Sandpiper (at least one behind Pelee Days Inn)
Least Sandpiper (unknown number behind Pelee Days Inn)
White-rumped Sandpiper (1 behind Pelee Days Inn)
Dunlin (the most abundant shorebird behind Pelee Days Inn)
Stilt Sandpiper (at least 1 bird present behind Pelee Days Inn)
Long-billed Dowitcher (unknown number behind Pelee Days Inn)
Bonaparte's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker (1 heard at the end of Concession E)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (probably 2 separate birds at the Onion Fields)
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee (I actually heard this late migrant at the location of the Northern Wheatear in Shrewsbury near Rondeau Provincial Park)
Eastern Phoebe (at least 2 birds over the weekend)
Horned Lark (many in the Onion Fields)
Tree Swallow (large numbers in the Onion Fields. Interestingly enough, we initially mistook them for shorebirds because of their similar flight patterns and the birds were landing on the soil. However, closer inspection revealed a flock of swallows)
Barn Swallow (1 bird on Concession E)
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee (a few birds calling at Concession D)
Brown Creeper (1 bird at the east end of Concession E)
Winter Wren (1 bird at Concession D)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (a few birds)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (quite a few birds)
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Northern Wheater (a lifer and by far the highlight of the weekend. I'm dedicating a full post to this species soon)
American Pipit (a few flyovers)
European Starling (enormous numbers in the fields north of the park. In one field, half of the soil was blackened by the flock and it was amazing to see the entire group of birds take flight)
Orange-crowned Warbler (4 birds in total)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (1 female)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (the most abundant warbler)
Palm Warbler (at least 3 birds)
Common Yellowthroat (a couple birds along Concession E)
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow (1 at north dyke)
Fox Sparrow (1 bird at Concession D)
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow (huge numbers of birds along Concession E; I wish I could have got a count)
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco (a few birds)
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Purple Finch (at least 3 birds at Concession D)
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Rough total for the weekend (I call it rough because I'm trying to remember everything from Saturday and it's already Tuesday): 71
More to come.