Pelee Island Adventure Day One

MV Pelee Islander

As part of my time off from work, I spent three days on Pelee Island. I stayed with the folks at the Pelee Island Bird Observatory (PIBO), and I must thank Adam Pinch for inviting me to stay there. The weather was great and birding and butterflying was interesting. I was really more focused on butterflies for this trip, but I did see some birds and saw how the PIBO operates.

I started my trip early Monday, August 11 by getting on the Jimaan ferry at Leamington. The ferry was about an hour late, but that did not matter.

Upon arrival at the island, I headed to Fish Point Nature Reserve to eat my packed lunch. I noted the sheer numbers of butterflies along the roads. I walked along the road at Fish Point and saw lots of butterflies. They were common species, but nice to see the sheer numbers. Red-spotted Purple were numerous all over the island.

I headed for the PIBO cottage at the south end of Stone Road. After some chatting, Adam and I walked along the rocky shoreline to Glacial Grooves. This is a well-known spot where the rock is exposed in a large flat area, and one can see the grooves of glacial action. It is quite impressive!

southeast shore

Along the shoreline we saw countless American Snout butterflies. It must have been a good day for them because we did not see anywhere near that number the rest of the week. Shorebirds included Least Sandpipers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Killdeer, Ruddy Turnstone and Spotted Sandpipers.

After that, we walked up Stone Road to the Ontario Nature property which is part of the Stone Road Alvar complex. The Nature Conservancy of Canada, Essex Region Conservation Authority and Ontario Nature own a number of properties along the road.

A good part of the trail goes through an open area that contained lots of Gray-headed Coneflower among other species. As well, Nodding Wild Onion is plentiful in this area. The best butterfly here was a Gray Hairstreak. Another one for the year! It was on Nodding Wild Onion. Red-spotted Purple butterflies were in big numbers here too. As well, one could not begin to count the number of Giant Swallowtails that were just everywhere on the island. One milkweed plant had four on it at once.

Stone Road Alvar showing Nodding Wild Onion

Not to discourage anyone, I must note that "chiggers" are terrible on the island. Although I took some precautions, I received numerous annoying bites. The Ontario Nature property was the worst spot for those it seems!

"Lilo" the PIBO cat