Day Two Pelee Island

Getting up early, I headed to Fish Point with the group to see what the daily routine is. I walked with Adam around Fish Point as he conducted the daily census. Species of birds and their numbers are recorded during a 90 minute period. During this time, the other PIBO personnel are at the banding site checking the nets for birds.

It was early in the season, so birds were at a minimum. We did encounter Northern Waterthrush and Tennessee Warbler. A number of Yellow Warblers were moving through. At the Tip, the gulls and terns were congregating by the thousands. The terns are virtually all Common Terns here. The odd Caspian was seen. A couple of Semipalmated Plovers and a Ruddy Turnstone were among the shorebirds present. Needless to say, we noted thousands of Double-crested Cormorants heading to parts unknown.

Middle Island could be seen in the distance.

After the census, we headed into the banding area. There were a couple of Black-and-White Warblers and a Northern Waterthrush in the nets.

All of us had lunch at the Winery where we could BBQ our own burgers.

In the afternoon, Adam and I headed up to Middle Point Woods near the north end. It is another recent NCC property acquisition on the east shore. Part of it was donated by a couple who owned a parcel of land there. We could look towards Point Pelee and also see the Pelee passage shipping channel.

I wanted to see the old lighthouse so we walked to it. It was built in 1833 and restored a number of years ago. It was abandoned quite early in the 20th century, so it had been deteriorating for some time. It was a bit of a walk to get to, but worthwhile. Last time I was in the area was for the three Wood Storks in August 2001. This spot it included in the Lighthouse Point Nature Reserve which was obtained in the early 1970's.

Not too far south from there, we travelled along Brown's Road to some more NCC properties. These properties were obtained quite recently through a partnership of several agencies. Part of the Brown's Road portion is a significant site of rare Chinquapin Oak/Nodding Wild Onion savannah which is not known anywhere else in the world. All of these natural sites are important to maintain since so much of Pelee Island has been drained or cleared for farming purposes.

The highlight of my trip occurred here. Along one of the trails I spotted a White-M Hairstreak! This is a rare butterfly for Ontario, but this year a few have been seen. In fact, three were seen on the island in early August during the butterfly/dragonfly count weekend. One was also at Point Pelee in early August. It sort of has a similar look to the Southern Hairstreak!

I later walked the Stone Road Alvar again and noted more plants, but no new butterflies.

Smooth Solomons's Seal

In the evening, an Osprey sailed by the cottage along the shore.